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  • Sept. 26, 2009

    Blog: Runners provide life lessons for all

    By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

2 comments posted

The Rift Valley is a narrow ribbon of geography stretching more than 3,000 miles throughout East Africa, encompassing Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

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It's home to the greatest concentration of world class distance runners in history. Because of the tremendous success of these runners, who have dominated distance running, they have been exhaustively studied.

I'm struck by how these athletes train. Their strategies can benefit athlete and non-athlete alike:

  • Keep it simple. Many runners will leave their villages to go to training camps where they can stay focused and not be bombarded by family and business demands.
  • Work together. Runners train and work together as a group. The group provides support and encouragement.
  • Take time out. Intense training is punctuated by rest and recuperation. Intuitively, these runners understand that sleep-deprivation not only impacts our physical performance but also our psychological and spiritual well being.

What else can we learn from these athletes so that we can finish the races in our lives?

2 comments posted

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MY00965

Sept. 26, 2009

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