First off, athletic acts aren’t natural. They’re our invention, so the comparison really isn’t applicable.
It’s much more like what St. Paul said. Food is for the Stomach and the Stomach for food.
With that said, I do think we can overthink the act. Indeed eating involves our senses. We smell our food, we taste our food, we chew our food. This is all natural. But imagine if we obsessed so much about the sin of gluttony that we told people that they must eat as quickly as possible, that they should avoid smelling their food or prefer the blandest food in the world. Certainly, you’ll probably find some Catholics in history who DID indeed approach gluttony this way.
The point is just follow the natural design. Don’t thwart it. But do practice temperance.