WGOM Fitness

Born to Run

4 Comments

Got out and did 19 miles this morning per the training plan.  It was about 40 degrees out, nice running temps.  We decided to skip Saturday as it was 33 and raining, and ice everywhere.

Weird thing was when I got home, it took the longest while for me to get warmed back up.  I got the shakes and the ends of my fingers were yellow and somewhat numb.  I got under the covers and that didn't seem to help.  The wife made me some beef bouillon broth and that seemed to help, also I think the extra sodium was needed.

I read this strange book earlier this year called Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall.  The book is about a lot of things about running - a hidden tribe in the Mexican desert who drink chia fresca and run super long distances in sandals, super athletes and the things they do.

One of the interesting things in the book was the author's positing about how humans evolved they way we did.  How we went from basic survival thinking to higher level functions like logic, speech, creative imagination, etc.  He argues that it was running and tracking down animals that separated us from other earlier versions of us.   And since man can sweat to cool down (other animals have to stop to cool down),  he was able to outlast other animals that might be faster, but eventually have to stop to lower their body temperature.

Weird book on a number of counts, but an interesting read nonetheless.

4 thoughts on “Born to Run”

  1. I haven't read that yet but I plan on it.

    Here is a pretty good documentary I saw on PBS. It's a little like Hoop Dreams except for cross country in place of basketball.

  2. I've been a longtime reader of a blog written by a woman who met the author of Born to Run while living in Mexico. She has an interesting take on the book.

    So be warned - read the book for the information about the shoes (or lack thereof), not for an accurate description of the Tarahumara people. The book is a well-written fiction, based loosely on the reality on the ground.

  3. I enjoyed the heck out of that book. Got it from my running-obsessed younger brother who does most of his runs in something akin to these. I haven't made it quite that far yet...but I do walk around in bare feet sometimes!

    1. My fastest 5K was wearing the Vibram 5-fingers. Not sure if it was because of the barefoot meme or less weight without my running shoes.

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