A book review? If i had to make a list of 50 things I thought I’d blog about, a book would be number 51. I’m a bit ashamed to say that I rarely ever read a book, not that I don’t enjoy them when I do, but I just usually can’t be bothered. The exception being when I go on holiday, I could easily read a couple a week.
So since I’m into running just now I thought I’d find something in this area that looked interesting. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall fitted the bill and the reviews on Amazon are positive. The catch line of ‘The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen’ was indeed catchy.
I can honestly say I loved it. I won’t go into too much detail but aside from the main story there is several side stories that really get you thinking about what we casual runners put our body through and how we can improve. Your taken from the one extreme that distance running is unnatural and truly bad for you, to the other that it’s the most natural thing in the world for human beings.
The author really extols the virtues of minimalist running. When you read the story about a US university coming to the conclusion that their athletes run faster and are less injury prone when running barefoot then it does really make you wonder. I’d like to at least experiment with minimalist running trainers in the future. I did a trail race a few weeks back and the guy that finished behind me was wearing Vibrams. I remember coming home and saying to my Wife that the guy was mental running a trail race with them. I take it all back. In fact, much respect.
Enjoy the read.
coast runner 