5 Ideas Learned (so far) from Lore of Running!

Well, I told you I was on fuego with my reading lately. I just finished the a.w.e.s.o.m.e Born to Run, so figured I'd keep the running ball rolling and dive head first into this Bible: Lore of Running. I'm only on page 58 (out of 931 DENSE pages), and have skimmed probably one third of the 57 pages, but, I'm still learnin' stuff. Here's what I can recall so far. I figured I'd bullet mark the ideas, sorta like if I were studying for some big test or something, which gracias a dios I'm NOT): 


1. We have 2 types of muscle fibers: Type 1 and Type 2. Higher Type 1 muscle fibers  help make endurance runners rock, higher % of Type 2 muscle fibers make sprint runners rock. However Noakes believes these high % of Type 1 fiber muscles alone aren't a significant factor for prolonged long term endurance success.


2. Inborn characteristics of certain skeletal muscles may explain why most world class sprinters originate from West Africa, and why East, North, and South Africans, especially Kenyans dominate long distance races.


3. A runner's VO2 (maximum oxygen consumption) alone does not predict a runner's ability or performance. Joan Benoit has a higher VO2 max than Alberto Salazar, but Alberto is a faster marathoner. Running economy (the amount of oxygen used when running at a constant speed) is a greater predictor of athletic performance than VO2 max.


4. Bobbing up and down when running takes more oxygen/energy than more economical runners who glide with very little vertical movement.


10. Running in nylon will make you faster than running in cotton! Okay, lemme say...it makes a difference at the world class level. It can shave ~13 seconds off a world class runner's marathon time. That's a lotta time! 


Again, I'm only on page 57, but despite the book being uber dense and well, HUGE...I'm still motivated to read peruse it each night. Now my question: Have you embarked on this book? If so, did you gain a lot from it? Or, have you learned anything new about running/performance lately? I'll be in a lil' dressing room for 5.5 hrs today (for work) and would LOVE to hear from the outside world;-)