Born to Run, baby!

So I'm reading an article in my Discover Magazine entitled "Born to Run" which has the underlying theme: Biomechanical research reveals a surprising key to the survival of our species: Humans are built to outrun nearly every other animal on the planet over long distances.
From our abundant sweat glands to our achilles tendons, from our big knee joins to our muscular glutei maxemi, human bodies are beautifully tuned running machines.

"We're loaded top to bottom with all these features, many of which don't have any role in walking," says Harvard University paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman.

Specifically, it's our butt that helps us out here. It isn't involved much in walking, but in running however, the body leans forward so that each time the leading foot strikes the ground, the trunk wants to topple forward. The gluteus maximus prevents that: It fires just before the foot slams to the floor, creating a braking action that keeps the torso from falling down. Meanwhile, the way we pump our arms in a trot helps steady us too.

The motions of our shoulders and arms actually help counterbalance the head, preventing it from pitching forward on each landing. Simultaneously, with each heel strike, certain shoulder muscles contract and put tension on the nuchal ligament (a ligament found in running animals such as horses, dogs, or rabbits that keeps the head steady while running), pulling up the skull and keeping it level.

There are hunters in Botswana that run down prey to exhaustion when the temp reaches 100 deg Fahrenheit. Three men gulp a lot of water and set out running for anywhere from 2 to 6 hours averaging 4 to 6 mph. Eventually, the animal will reach it's limit and just collapse from exhaustion. Scientists think this type of hunting is precisely while we have evolved to be long distance runners. We may not be fast like a cheetah, but give us enough time and we will overtake the cheetah with ease.

I don't know about you, but it kinda makes me feel good that we are built to be runners...you know, since I started running and all. So it's not like I'm pushing my body to do something crazy or abnormal. Quite the contrary, it seems that the most natural state for our bodies to be in is a running one. Thinking of my body as a well-oiled machine specifically designed for this running task also provides me with a highly motivating mental image.