Training

Kenyans do it better

March 27, 2010
By Rebecca Gardiner

Day 69 of 130
Ks covered: 453
Ks to go: 649
General mood: Discouraged (see below)
Running highlight: Not so sure…
Equipment status: In the laundry
Body status: Lost my first toenail (this season)
Weight 145  (still)

It’s official, Kenyans are better runners. Surprise!

In his blog this week, running science guru Alex Hutchinson dives into yet another study about the country’s elite athletes. If I understand it right, the study debunks ancestral and blood oxygen theories to conclude that Kenyans are better runners because their fairy godmothers made them so.

I’ll admit, I found this news discouraging. I really thought that if I just tweaked my muscle morphology and got creative with my family tree, I’d be in with a shot. Turns out, the nerds are just as confused as the rest of us. What does a girl have to do to become Kenyan? I’m seriously considering becoming a giraffe.

I’ve got a race tomorrow. I’m running the 30K Around the Bay in Hamilton, Ontario. I wasn’t going to put it out there until after I’d run it. Some weird way of trying not to put pressure on myself. But I’m nervous and I don’t think it will make a difference. I keep telling myself it’s only a “practice run,” but there’s something about bib numbers and chip timers that gives me butterflies.

What can I do about these nonsense nerves? It’s so stupid — I’m shooting to be the back of the middle and ultimately, no one cares what my time is. I shouldn’t be so restless. But, I am.

So I turned to the reccent study for advice. And… BINGO! I found it. Follow this my friends and you too will run like a Kenyan:

“(absolute tHb-mass from 813 +/-90 g to 767 +/-90 g, p<0.001; BV from 5,828 +/-703 ml to 5,513 +/-708 ml, p<0.01)”

On the bright side, the study also concludes Kenyan runners are better than “elite caucasians” even when they’re fat. So there could be some hope for this chubby girl after all…

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