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Born to Run

Usually I leave book reviews in the far more capable hands of Valet Reader, but every so often I’ll step in his territory and take a stab at a book review myself.

I recently finished Chris MacDougall’s Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

It’s a great book and I highly recommend it – especially for runners or other endurance athletes, but it’s also got science, sociology and adventure mixed-in which should make it interesting to non-runners as well. Also, if you’re one of those people who think that running long distances is “bad for you” or that you shouldn’t run past age 30 – or 40 or 50 – this book will teach you a thing or two about that idea!

I finished the book last week and I’d been working on this blog post for a few days when I found out that McDougall was speaking at Traveler’s Bookcase in LA last night. I decided to hold off finalizing this review until after seeing him there and I’m glad I did. Chris spoke about his experience, read from the book and mingled with us for a while. Caballo Blanco – one of the “stars” of the book – was also there hanging out. Meeting Chris and Caballo Blanco at the event made me even more excited about the book, about barefoot running and about my fall running season. Chris seems like a really nice guy and was psyched to talk running, sign books and just answer questions. He took some jabs at running shoe companies and traditional sports medicine doctors (especially at the bullshit “stop running, get orthotics, go to PT” advice so many of them automatically dole out, which has so frustrated me in the past). He, and Billy, a local runner who organized the night, served up some iskiate and Tecates. Iskiate is a Tarahumara “super drink” made out of water, chia seeds, lime juice and honey. Many of the people in the book swear by the concoction as the best sports drink ever invented. It tasted fine and I like the fact that it’s all natural, but I’m not swearing off my InfiniT just yet. (You can find Billy’s review of the book reading, along with a lot of pictures and more info about LA running at his blog, L.A. Runner.)

A little about the book: The book is about ultrarunning and more specifically barefoot/natural ultrarunning. The story is built around the Tarahumara Indians (or Raramuri, which is what they call themselves) who live in the Copper Canyon in Northern Mexico and have been running long distances (50 miles is a short race for them) for centuries. The Tarahumara start running when they’re young and do it until they’re way older than what we traditionally consider “too old to run”. And they do it barefoot or nearly so, in their “flimsy” huarache sandals. (That link gets you to “Barefoot Ted’s website where he sells huaraches. Barefoot Ted is another interesting character in the book!) They don’t worry about pronation or arch support and don’t get runner’s knee or achilles tendonitis. They run 50 or 100 or more miles at a time. And not only do they run, they run fast!

Chris went down to Mexico to write a story about the Tarahumara and their incredible running ability and, through Caballo Blanco – one of the few gringos who is close to the Tarahumara – subsequently got to know some of the Tarahumara.

Chris writes about running science and biology, making a very strong case that human’s are actually the perfect running machine. He supports the idea that it’s not running that causes injuries, it’s running “wrong” that causes injuries. And he mostly blames two things for causing people to run “wrong”. First, he explains that our expensive, cushioned, medial-supported, heel-strike-reinforcing running shoes distort the natural human stride causing inefficient running, joint pain and stopping people from being able to have fun running. Second, he writes a lot about the value of just plain enjoying being alive and letting running be an expression of that. The Tarahumara, and some of the other best ultrarunners in the world, run because they love it, not out of obligation or the drive to get rich from sponsorship dollars. Chris backs up his theories with scientific studies and real-life examples, including some of the top ultrarunners in the world and his own running. I especially liked the section of the book about how animals run and why humans are actually built to be superior distance runners.

The other parts of Born to Run that I really had fun reading were the stories about ultrarunning in the US. Scott Jurek and Jenn Shelton, two of the top US ultrarunners are prominently featured. I met Jenn at Badwater and heard (and have since read – here’s a little taste, also by Chris for Outside Magazine) some pretty interesting stories about Jenn’s wild side. Chris backs it all up (and then some) in the book!

There’s a subplot in the book about testing the Tarahumara against the top U.S. ultramarathoners at U.S. races, particularly the Leadville Trail 100. And the whole book leads up to an informal ultramarathon in the Copper Canyon, pitting Tarahumara against some top U.S. ultrarunners. I’m not going to tell you any more or what happens in the race – you should read that for yourself! (You can find out more about running races in Copper Canyon and the Tarahumara at Caballo Blanco’s website.)

Born to Run is the best sports-related book I’ve read in a long time. It’s also one of my favorite books of any kind that I’ve read this year. Do yourself a favor and read it!

Strength/core – October 12

Run – October 13
Distance: 10.5 miles
Time: 1:25
Average heart rate: 150
Course: Griffith Park
Conditions: Overcast, some light rain, low 60’s

Indoor ride – October 13
Time: 50 minutes
Average heart rate: 113

Run – October 14
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 141
Course: West Hollywood, Hollywood
Conditions: Rain, low 60’s

Swim – October 15
Distance: 3,500 yards
Time: 1:10

Speed work – October 15
Distance: 5.75 miles
Time: 1:00
Main set: 4×800, 4×300