Gotta live with it

I have personally never liked using genetics as an "excuse" for why one person is able to run significantly faster than another. As the old saying goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work. The East Africans that become champions work very hard indeed, often over a period of many years. Mo Farah was mediocre on the world level until he switched up his training after joining Alberto Salazar (I hope it's really only strength training that resulted in such dramatic improvements). However, I cannot disregard the fact that genetic potential is a reality; if I started training tomorrow to become a sprinter and run equivalent performances to my longer distance PBs, I believe it unlikely if not impossible that I would achieve such a goal. 


When I stop and think about it, my body spends a lot of time and effort suggesting that I am not built to be a runner at all. Overuse injuries aside, I have some peculiar issues that make running less than ideal. 

For starters, I don't seem to be built for any particular climate, hot or cold. In the winter I have to layer up my extremities more than would seem logical, wearing thick mittens on my hands, with the material from the arms of my long sleeve pulled up as far over my wrists as they will stretch. I tuck the bottoms of my tights into my socks in order to prevent inevitable frost bite if I leave my ankles exposed below zero. In running with many groups over the years I have learned that neither of these levels of protection is necessary for most of the general running population. Despite my efforts, the skin on the front of my ankles often still darkens from exposure over the course of the winter and I often lose feeling in my wrists and hands by the end of runs on particularly cold days. 

In warmer temperatures, I sweat excessive amounts in comparison to just about anyone I've ever run with. I would love to be tested just to see what my perspiration rate is, because I can almost guarantee if would be several standard deviations above the normal level measured. One of the more daunting prospects of running a marathon is my expected fluid loss, and by extension how much liquid I will have to consume to keep within the range that does not result in diminishing performance.


It seems I'm more aptly built for sweating competitions they have on gameshows in Japan than for running. But I enjoy it enough, so I guess I'll just keep running. 

This past week was a good one from a mileage standpoint. I'll be interested to see how the Boxing Day 10 Miler goes and if there's any residual lead in my legs.