I picked up a copy of "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall last week. Let me start by saying that this turned out to be a great book! It is one of the best books I have read in years. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop and read the whole book within 24 hours.
The book reads like a detective story, where the author is trying to answer a very simple question: why does it hurt to run? The story takes him to many places, such as discussing running with Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman or talking with barefoot gurus. Primarily, his story takes him to Mexico, where he attempts to learn about running from the Tarahumara Indians.
I don't want to give away too many details about the main story. Instead, I want to focus on the many interesting things that were mentioned in the book related to long-distance running. First, there is much more scientific evidence than I thought to show that humans evolved as long-distance runners. I am not saying that is the proper conclusion, but just that there is a good amount of evidence. It is one thing to read scientific papers on the evolution of human running; it is another to listen in on conversations with the scientists, as you can in the book.
Next, there were some concepts in the book that I have been mentioning here on the blog. One example is the idea of open-ended running. Today, many runners go for a training run with a set distance in mind. In hunter-gatherer times, there was no way of knowing how long you would have to run that day. Therefore, the strategy is a little different - you don't want to run too fast too early and wear yourself out.
This also connects to the concept of easy running. According to the book, most of the running done on endurance hunts by hunter-gatherers was at an aerobic pace. An occasional sprint might be thrown in, but the idea was to keep moving at a moderate pace. This relates to my recent post on running versus racing. Humans might be built for moderate speed long-distance efforts and not high-speed long-distance runs.
Finally, there is the subject of modern running shoes. They are heavily criticized in the book. As said here recently, it is really running shoes themselves that often lead to incorrect running form. If you use minimal shoes or go barefoot on natural surfaces, the odds are that you will learn to run with better form.
All in all, it was a great book, and I highly recommend it. I will also probably do a few follow-up posts related to the book.
