OK, Dave
Ill play. I rarely post, but this is an intriguing topic for me. I think there is some merit in what you are saying. I have been to Africa, Uganda, to be specific, several times, and one thing I do see less of over there is distractions. There simply is less to occupy their time, so if their necessities are met and are not a concern (food, clothing, shelter) than the African can focus more intensely on running. An African runner who shows potential would be well taken care of, so they could focus on running, which brings great pride to countries with so little. The elite American runner will likely have family and friend commitments and just everyday distractions.
Elite African runners do watch what they eat, as do American runners. As a people group Africans eat a lot of starchy foods, but they burn so many more calories than we do. They have to work hard for everything. We pop things in a microwave, stick clothes in the washing machine, drive around the corner to visit a friend. Life is harder over there. When you look at the people it is amazing to see how beautiful Africans teeth are, even when they dont brush. They dont have the endless variety of processed foods we have. You do see a lot of kids chomping on sugar cane, but that is about it. Also many of the kids actually run to school, some for many miles. So they start off very early running.
The majority of elite African runners come from Kenya and Ethiopia, and some studies are showing that there may be a genetic advantage for certain African tribes. Certainly they have an adaptive advantage. They live at higher elevations, they have higher VO2 maxs, which allow them to go faster with less oxygen, they have higher lactate thresholds, which allow them to maintain faster pace for longer periods. It is similar to the way Sherpas make the best climbing guides for Everest expeditions. Their bodies have been adapting since birth.
There training is actually very different than ours. It is very very intense. They run long, but they certainly dont run slow. Christopher McDougall writes in Outside Magazine, the Kenyan style "mandates a combination of huge mileage, relentless race-caliber intensity, and an every-man-for-himself attitude," combined with "a ruthless process of elimination that leaves many promising runners injured or demoralized.
An interesting book that brings points of this style into American training is Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger. In a nutshell, make your hard workouts harder, and your rest/recovery workouts easier. It is an excellent book and does talk a lot about nutrition and the elements of training and how we can improve in certain areas of our current training.
I think it is a combination of factors that make African continent runners so dominant.
Are we looking for a magic pill? Who isnt? I think there is a lot to be said for the average runner like us who take supplements, who cross train and who eat healthy. They really do positively affect us average Joes. Most of us werent born in the conditions, circumstances or motivations to make us elite runners, but every single one of us could find room for improvement. We need to focus on the big things that have the greatest impact on our health and performance. Will buying shoes that are 2 grams lighter have an impact on your racing performance? It may for the elite runner, but probably not for the rest of us. So I will continue to cross train, otherwise my body would by wrecked; continue to fill my body with the appropriate fuel; and continue to train with increasing intensity. My personal problem is that I dont do recovery runs slow enough. I feel I peak at week 10 of an 18 week schedule, because I start to hurt. For example mid training I ran a 10 mile tempo run in 1:07 (6:46 mpm avg). I was flying, and feeling great. But I came back the next day and did a 5 mile recovery run with a 7:55 avg and the following day another 10 mile averaging 7:44. WAY too fast for recovery days. It's a total pride/ego thing to run those days faster than I should.
I have May 9th circled on my calendar to sign up for Marine Corps Marathon. This time I am I going to practice what I am preaching.
Anyway that is my 2 cents on a very interesting topic.
Dave
I am speaking from experience. It was not that long a go that I was 30 lbs heavier and could not run more than a few minutes on the treadmill without walking. Now 2 - 1/2 Marathons later I am here to say it can be done.
It is so hard when you are in the middle of it, not seeing results but consistency (no matter how frustrating
) is what made the difference for me. Keep going!
