To reply to a digest, insert the relevant message header; don't reply to the digest header ------------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 07:50 sean mcbride wrote: >IIRC Australian Aborigines seem to have walked >about 15km per day in their food quest. >Some of this may have involved short sprints >after goannas or whatever but I've never >seen anything about jogging or long runs. >I don't think it was necessary. Sean, you give me the opportunity to ask a question that has been buzzing around in my mind for a couple of years: "What about those tales we learnt in [Australian] primary school about young Aborigine men running down a kangaroo till it was exhausted over a few days as part of their initiation? Were they just a whitefella myth?" And, while I'm on the air, my earlier comments against running (more specifically, jogging) were made to distinguish: (a) modern-day aerobic jogging - for the sake of exercise and fitness, undertaken solely at the volition of the runner with considerable foreknowledge and preparation (so the runner would be sufficiently rested, not having a full stomach), with shoes on a paved track and on reasonably level ground over a small number of set distances, at a reasonably stable pace and over a roughly predetermined distance and with adequate hydration, with (b) Paleolithic running - barefoot, with a definite purpose (catching game, escaping an enemy etc.), over virgin terrain, through long grass and scrub, up and down hills, boulder hopping etc. - whatever the occasion called for and pretty much always at a pace and for a duration over which the runner was at the mercy of another person or animal. We should feel quite comfortable in emulating - as far as possible - running of the latter kind in our activity. Brisk hill walking, with occasional fartlek sprints should fit the bill. Keith ----------------------------------------------------------------- The FAQ for Evolutionary Fitness is at http://www.evfit.com/faq.htm To unsubscribe from the list send an e-mail to [log in to unmask] with the words SIGNOFF EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS in the _body_ of the e-mail.