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Monday, December 22

Why Humans Run - Revisited

Kelly Lambert a behavioral neuroscientist professes,
“We’ve abandoned physical interactions with our environment.”
In the old days we had to build our homes and plant food for our own survival. Nowadays, most of us no longer have any control over our environment.

“We don’t engage the brain’s “effort-driven rewards circuit.”

So that’s where running comes in. (And why it is so important to many of us.)

Going for a run involves:

Planning - How far should I run? Should I incorporate some intervals or do a long run? What amount of free time do I have? I go over some running routes and check mileage. What is the weather like?
Deciding – I will run one of my favorite 5 mile loops and keep a steady 9 min pace.
Implementing – I head out for a 5 mile run. Water and gear onboard.
Evaluation – This is the reward stage. We enter our miles in the logbook. Some of us even like to view it in Google Earth. “Yeah – I ran 5 miles before breakfast and I feel great!”

Have a great Monday!

PS.
I finally started reading the book Why We Run: A Natural History for a more insightful analysis on running. (Thanks to TED for the suggestion.) I will do a review when I’ve finished and then pass it on to one of you : )

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