Geoff Burns

The idea of co-writing an essay is a bit of a tricky proposition. Writing has always been an independent exercise for me, one to explore and organize the chaos in my brain to find something coherent (and hopefully interesting). The ideas and the language have to fit together holistically, so stitching together someone else’s process can easily feel foreign and translated.

But there’s no one better to stitch with than Michael Crawley. He’s an anthropologist and an academic. I’m a physiologist and an engineer. But we both love and study the same things: distance running and sport. We have different lenses and different languages to observe and describe what we see. And that’s when collaboration works–when you can marry distinct perspectives to more holistically engage with the subject matter.

We worked together on this essay to explore two training methods that are winning global medals. The “Ethiopian” approach and the “Norwegian” approach.

My interest was piqued when I read Mike’s descriptions of the Ethiopian prioritization of “energy” as an abstract, pseudo-spiritual entity driving performance and improvement. My brain immediately tried to start mapping this onto the thermodynamics of it all. How does this abstract energy relate to the physical energy–joules, watts, calories, etc.–that we routinely measure and manage in training?

Thus the polemics: one group understands and nurtures abstract energy, primarily though social connection and group dynamics. The other measures and monitors physical energy, primarily through individualized prescription and tailored execution. Both are seeing incredible success. What’s each approach uniquely capturing, and what might each be missing?

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“So do Ethiopian runners and those with similar methods succeed in spite of, or because of, their training philosophies? Viewed through the dual lens of anthropology and sports science, we believe this question runs deeper than athletics results, speaking to what it takes to stretch the limits of human ability, and how expertise is used, assessed, embraced or rejected.”

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The piece is available on aeon.co and is titled “The Ethiopian running secret”

@aeonmag @mikecrawl