Christopher McDougall's Blog, page 19

The Petraeus bodyshop, in perspective

If one thing unites the great commanders from Attila to Washington, it has been their raw ability to sleep less, eat less, and drive harder than anyone else on the battlefield. The Duke of Wellington caught some nice breaks at Waterloo, but he also made his luck by spending 10 hours a day in the saddle on a single cup of tea, sleeping two hours a night, and limbering up each morning by walking briskly for 30 minutes while swinging a riding crop.

Judging by thousands of years of military...

Petraeus in perspective

He's not doing too much; the rest of us are happy with too little.

" Barefoot Ted is most definitely one of a kind…"

BFT was in Europe recently for a series of barefoot running workshops. Oddly, a guy named Olly signed up for a multi-day, overnight- camping clinic out in the freezing English countryside, even though the last thing he wanted to do that weekend, or any other, was run:

I've always been something of a running skeptic and have run very infrequently and inconsistently, perhaps because I've never considered myself to be a runner, or any good at running.  Running is just not something I've ever...

Hammer of Glory Tour, 2010

In all its hammerous glory.

America's coolest running club, the Fishtown Beer Runners, has been chosen as honor guard for the glorious Hammer of Glory in the final stage of its journey across Philadelphia for the opening day of Beer Week. The HOG is Philly's official keg mallet, and by time-honored tradition, it will be passed Olympic style across the city from hand-t0-hand, except instead of being attached to broken-down ex-athletes, those hands will belong to strippers, booze hounds...

Yijoo Tracker: Heads up, Ohio

Catch him while you can

Just check out his numbers: May 26, 34.01 miles; May 27, 34.01 miles; May 28, 34.04 miles…

Unreal.

Yijoo Kwon, the 64-year-old diabetic who began beating his disease the day he began running, is still blazing across the U.S. on his solo transcontinental run. He expected to be back home in Queens by July 9, but he's moving so fast, he'll almost certainly be early. He's in Ohio right now, but at an average pace of 34 miles a day, he won't be for long. Scroll to the...

June 4: Barefoot Lesson from the Master

No Shoes + Big Smile = No Coincidence

Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton, the shoeless sensei and a truly exceptional teacher, is barnstorming the U.S. this summer to give free barefoot-running workshops. i'll be hosting him in Lancaster,PA before he moves on to the Univ of Delaware, New York, Harvard, and points beyond. It's totally and truly free, although donations to cover Ken Bob's travel are appreciated if you feel so inclined (Ken Bob insists that people donate only AFTER each workshop, and i...

An ultra a day

After running halfway across America nonstop and averaging a solid 50k a day, 64-year-old Yijoo Kwon is feeling the consequences: he's getting faster.

He's now almost out of Kansas and bearing down hard on Missouri. If you can meet him for a few miles, you'll make his day and have a great story for the grandkids. His route and contact info are here.

Dr. Runner's World and Mr. Hyde

What a delight to see that Runner's World got rid of the "Sports Doc" who made the embarrassing, fearmongering comments about running shoes, and replaced him with a guy who makes it his first order of business to pen one of the most poised, knowledgeable and honest appraisals of barefoot running I've ever read. Oddly, or maybe not so much, Dr. Roberts posted his column about 24 hours before HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" is due to air a segment examining the myths and misinformation o...

Talk about born broken…

"If everybody stopped wearing shoes from the moment they are born, maybe it would be an easier transition, but right now, for someone to transition all of a sudden to doing barefoot running, I don't think it's a good idea."

—Dr. Michael Lacy, podiatrist.

I guess in Indiana, they're pulling newborns out by the laces. Read the full story. Lacey goes on to explain that in his professional judgement, those who ought to be fitted for $400 orthotics are… everyone. Yes, even though only 3% of us...

Memorial Day 5k, West Chester, PA

Back in 2006, I spent a long, hot day and night in the Vermont woods with Billy Bonehead as we crewed for Jenn Shelton in the Vermont 100. One of the best parts of that race (apart from running under the stars with Bonehead and Brujita for the last 25-plus miles) was vagabonding from aid station to aid station with a total livewire named Maria. She was support crew for her husband, who was busy shredding a ferocious course on a steaming hot day. Recently, Maria contacted me about a race in...