Migrating birds, eels, sea mammals can travel thousands of miles, without a boat or plane, each mile accomplished by the efforts of their own bodies. Here’s what happens. When migrating, you are in continuous motion. All of your organs work together on the same rhythm. Your heart beats without your worrying about it. Your lungs expand and contract, expand and contract, and you don’t think about that. Breathing comes naturally. When your arms and legs, or wings or flippers are fully integrated with the heart and lungs, the motion of the limbs becomes as rhythmic and unconscious as breathing. You no longer are aware of the effort. Kinda like standing still, but with more scenery. And in groups, like migrating cranes or stingrays, it’s possible there is a shared pulse, a cohesiveness. So you have your lungs in synch with your limbs in synch with the creatures traveling with you.

That’s my view of the story of the long distance runner, the long distance swimmer, the long distance flyer, the long distance walker. The story of the sprinter is totally another thing.