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Sheila
read and liked
Laura Gardner's
review of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen:
"I LOVED this book. The story of the Tarahumara and Caballo Blanco's 50 mile race on the Tarahumara's home turf in Copper Canyon is interspersed with side stories about why we (humans) run, how we can run better and how we have evolved to run. The ult...more
I LOVED this book. The story of the Tarahumara and Caballo Blanco's 50 mile race on the Tarahumara's home turf in Copper Canyon is interspersed with side stories about why we (humans) run, how we can run better and how we have evolved to run. The ultramarathoners profiled in the book are fascinating characters. Barefoot Ted, Scott Jurek, Ann Trason and all the Tarahumara... I especially fell for Jenn and Billy, two young runners who fight, booze and love just as hard as they run. Some of the theories/findings that McDougall talked about in his book:
1. We are built to run with certain muscles in exactly the right places and an ability to sweat that allows us to run for very long periods of time. One of my favorite parts in the book was the end when McDougall explored how we evolved to run and beat out Neanderthals because Homo Sapiens could run down an animal. Some people out there can still do it. No lie.
2. Running shoes don't prevent injuries, but actually cause them. One of my favorite lines in the book compared the effect of running shoes on our feet to the atrophying effect of a cast on a leg. Runners in running shoes land on the heel, whereas barefoot runners land on the forefoot, which allows the legs to absorb the shock. pretty revolutionary!
3. To be a better runner, you have to enjoy it and do it in community with others. The Tarahumara are competitive, but they are also willing to help each other in a run AND they will run a hundred miles with a smile on their face.
What does all this mean for me? I don't think I'll go as far as my husband (call him Barefoot Will) and start running barefoot all the time, but I'd like to try doing a bit of running barefoot in the woods. I also like to think that this book will help me change my perspective on my own abilities as a runner. Maybe I can run another marathon...could I ever run an ultra? I can't believe I even wrote that, but this book was incredibly inspirational...
Some links related to the book:
national geographic article about tarahumara: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/1...
barefoot ted's blog: http://barefootted.com/
caballo blanco's website: http://caballoblanco.com/
pictures from the race: http://allwedoisrun.com/tarahumara.htm
JENN!! http://allwedoisrun.com/jen_smile.htm
Scott Jurek: http://allwedoisrun.com/scott_jurek.htm
NY Times article: http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fgst%2Ffullpage.html%3Fres%3D9802E0DD1E3BF930A15755C0A9639C8B63%26sec%3D%26spon%3D(less)
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