Over-Geared & Under-Gritted by Mark Hatmaker

July of 2017

Puebla, Mexico

Athletes from around the world have gathered for the Ultra Trail Cerro Rojo, a 31-mile ultra-running competition.

In the women’s division there is a 22-year-old from Chihuahua named Maria Lorena Ramirez. She is of the Tarahumara tribe. [More on that in a minute.]

Lorena won the women’s division.

Why is this of note to readers of a blog titled “Indigenous Ability?”

First, a few more details.

· Lorena was a 22-year-old goatherd with no special running training at the time of her victory.

· She arrived wearing sandals and skirt.

· Race organizer, Orlando Jiménez remarked, “She carried no special accessories. She didn’t bring any gel, or energy sweets, walking stick, glasses, or those very expensive running shoes that everyone wears to run in the mountains.”

Readers of Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run will likely point to her being of the Tarahumara tribe as “explanation” for how she ran so well.

In fact, this explains nothing. McDougall’s book [and its follow-up] are rife with special pleading, post hoc ergo propter hoc, cause-confusion and a handful of other thinking and sampling errors.

[See Daniel Lieberman’s Exercised for an elegant knockdown of these “easy” explanations.]

The answers as to how are likely complex—they are definitely not the result of genetic endowment or by simple dint of being Tarahumara. Such arguments do disservice to those who do the work, akin to “Asians are good at math.” Sloppy thinking slides into racist compartments.

We will leave the complex factors that may be involved for another time.

For now, it is sufficient to say what we do know for a fact. Much of the gear, the apps, the training methods, the garb we assume are necessary for athletic performance may be nothing more than “scientifically verified” marketing scams that we adopt in lieu of what are the real essentials.

The Old Timers make a good argument that much of what we consider necessary to do great things are mere impedimenta.

For more thoughts in this vein on the subject of athleticdiets see here.

For conditioning thoughts in this tack—see here.

And here.

[Excerpted from our book ROUGH & READY: Old World Strength & Conditioning for Modern Warriors. See here for more Old School Tactics and Evil historically accurate and viciously verified http://www.extremeselfprotection.com .]

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