Day 13: Running Speed: A Scientific Break Through

Almost two weeks in and I feel like I am starting to go over the hump of soreness that comes from a body unaccustomed to exercise.  My legs, although they still hurt, are not killing me.  Unfortunately muscles that feel fine do not translate into speed for me.  I have a theory as to why some people naturally run faster than others, and since we have learned from the book “The Hot Diet” all you need is observation and anecdotal evidence and you have a scientific theory good enough to write about. 

The proof is in my observations.

People run faster than me.  They always have.  Kelly ran with me today and averaged a little over 11 minutes a mile.  While that may not be Olympic speeds it was way better than my average of almost 14 minutes a mile.  Why does she run faster than I do? Here is where my crack pot theory, you see it all has to do with fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers in the legs. 

Running is an exercise that utilizes the fast twitch muscles.  They fire more rapidly than slow twitch allowing a person with an abundance of these muscle tissues to kick their leg out fast and thus run faster. Genetics, I believe, has a lot to do with whether you are a fast runner or slow jogger. 

I have always had powerful legs and larger thighs than most (not necessarily fat thighs), but power is a slow twitch muscle fiber.  If you put us on a bicycle, which utilizes slow twitch muscle fibers to peddle, I can maintain a 25 to 27 mile an hour pace with no problem while my Kelly has a hard time keeping up. 

Back in the day of red sweat pants and black and white high tops I had a friend of mine come over to exercise with me.  We lifted weights and hit the road for a jog. He jogged two miles backwards talking to me the whole time while I fought to breath at my break neck speed of 13 minutes a mile.

I ran for three years in college and decided that I was going to add speed to my run.  I got to where I could maintain a 10 minute mile on a consistent basis but had a very hard time getting faster than that.  I could do a decent 40 meter dash but over the long haul could not keep a pace that fast up. 

One time I decided I wanted to break the 7 minute mark on a mile.  I even got a book on adding speed to your run from the library.  I followed a three month training guide that was suppose to prepare you for a 4 minute mile, and at the end I was ready. There I was in sweat bands and running shorts determined to destroy a mile in less than 7 minutes.

I did it in 6:56 and thought I was going to die.  I sucked in air like a fish out of water.  My legs were shaking and I thought I was going to pass out.  I tried several times after that but could only maintain a little better than 9 minutes. 

There is my scientific proof that my body was not built for speed. 

Daily Recap:

Matt – 40 Min slow jog

Kelly – 30 Min fast run