Born to Run

Born to Run is potentially a life-changing book for me, if I can act on everything I want to act on. I feel by getting in to the St. George marathon this fall I'm taking the first step. My sweet sister Jackie recommended this book to me and I'm forever in her debt for encouraging me to read it. Just thinking about the book makes me want to go for a run.

When I ran my first half marathon last month my feet were KILLING! Yes my legs were sore the next day but my feet hurt so bad I couldn't walk normal for over a week. But even with my feet killing, I was thinking to myself "I can't believe I actually did that. I need to step it up a do a full marathon sometime!" But the hurt feet part was definitely scaring me. Why would my feet hurt so bad from doing something that is supposedly natural, or is it? Well, it was something similar to destiny to get the book from Jackie and start reading right when my feet were in ultimate pain because Chris McDougall had the same thought: "Why do my feet hurt when I run?" And thus was the beginning of his journey. I started to read, and have been addicted to all things running ever since.

The book mostly is a story about the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico that routinely run 100 mile races, through the mountains, in homemade sandals. That story alone would make the book great, but I also loved reading about the history and science of running. Did you know that humans are indeed "born to run"? Did you know that running shoes essentially force humans to use improper form when running, thus causing the foot pain? Because of this book I've overhauld my running form to great results (meaning no foot pain) and I find myself looking at the form of virtually every person I see outside running (and notice pretty much 100% of the time that they are using incorrect form). Basically you're supposed to keep your legs under your body and land on the ball of your foot on each step. Running shoes "encourage" longer strides and striking your heel with each step, which is what I notice pretty much all runners doing and that is what causes the injuries. While I haven't abandoned shoes to go barefoot as the book encourages, I have altered my form and haven't had any foot pain since changing, even on long runs.

No I have not magically transformed into an elite runner or anything like that; in fact with my new form I'm slower than ever as I try to change the habit, but I am now to the point where I don't "fear" or "hate" a run, which is progress for sure. I think this book reads great. It's non-fiction but reads just like a story. Rachel kept asking me "are you done with that yet?" because I couldn't put it down. The book talks so routinely about ultra-marathoners (50-100 mile races, usually in mountains) that the thought of this St. George marathon in October seems a tad anti-climactic. Well, I certainly can't even sniff even a "regular" marathon at this point and I probably have about 50-100 lbs to lose, not 50-100 miles to run. In any case, I loved this book and am more stoked than ever to train for a marathon as a result of reading it.