When I picked up Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, I was expecting some sort of anthropological how-to manual on running. What I ended up with is a fascinating story of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, crazy ultra-marathoners, and the ultimate ultra-race between the two.
Plus, there’s lots of information on how everything we know about running is wrong. I buy his arguments — well, mostly. I would have preferred a few more citations when he’s quoting all these research studies, rather than the layman’s attitude that anything written by someone with a PhD must be true. Still, he makes a pretty solid case against the running shoe industry. Although I don’t think I’m going to start running barefoot anytime soon , it will certainly change how I think about my shoes and influence my next purchase, and definitely makes me think a lot about my running form
I’m also a sucker for reading about amazing feats of the human body and about the crazy people who’ve gotta keep pushing the endurance envelope. Definitely an entertaining, quick and light read. All in all, good fun!
Having just run a half marathon yesterday and actually enjoyed it perhaps I should look at this book – but not because I want to run any further than 13 miles – but I agree, reading about human endurance is always interesting – like Joe Simpson’s book Touching the Void….
My coworker and I were just talking about running shoes this morning. Running shoes hurt her feet apparently but I always thought you need that cushion/support to prevent injuries; thus, the bulky running shoes. I told her about Nike Free running shoes, which is supposed to be like running barefoot. I tried them on in the store but couldn’t get myself to buy them. I wonder if any regular runners out there has tried them?
Di: It’s definitely an entertaining read in that respect!
Reza: I just had a friend comment to me on Facebook that the Nike Frees are the only thing that really work for her, and that she’s been running injury free ever since! I’m seriously considering a pair…
Congrats on the half marathon! I need to check out this book – it sounds good. I have been sneakily picking up some of your recommendations for the summer reading season.