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Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen?
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35 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
I completely concur with this statement. Read the book "Born to run" It'll give you a little insight into the barefoot running culture. I blew out my knee at one point, and I'm back up to running like a fuckin champ.
But they don't use weapons. The advantage we have is that we can make tools which allow us to wound the creature. Then we can track it by sight or by clues left by the animal.
Check out Born to Run. It's a great book about humans and running. There's a story in there of a tribe that will still occasionally run down it's food. They run until the animal tires out.
If you want some inspiration about running try reading this book. It will also point you in the rigth direction for alot of information.
'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall.
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303
I've had problems with knee and some hip pain while running. I've found running on the balls of my feet completely relieves the pain with the added bonus of a horrendous calf workout. I'd also recommend reading Born to Run really interesting book and the author had the same problem you are having.
Barefoot shoes have completely changed my outlook on running.
I read about this in Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
It's about a guy who learns about running through his own injury. It includes a large section on persistence hunting. It's a really great read, I'm actually suprised by how many times I've recommended this to all my friends.
And read Born to Run. I ditched the shoes and run barefoot or in cheap sandals now, no more plantars fasciitis for me!
Born to Run by Chris McDougall.
It really changed my perspective on running, and working out in general. It was the first book in a long time that I was sad to be over with. The characters, the race, and even bits on human evolution. Excellent stuff!
Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303
Get it now. Read it. If you do nothing else posted in this forum, read that book.
> Is it safe to run with sore legs?
Yes. In fact, I find when I'm sore, the only thing to relieve the pain is to run lightly.
> "Yeah fattie, good luck with that." my embarrassment keeps me from exercising because it's so obvious that I need to. Thoughts?"
OK. Why are you concerned with what other people think? Fix that, it has nothing to do with your running. Anyone that's serious about running will do nothing but encourage you. Anyone who says anything like this is jealous and can't get off the couch.
> Does anyone have any suggestions for alternative forms of cardio or any tips to make running more enjoyable?
If you're running and doing it right, it's not a chore, it's a joy. You'll wake up early and jump out of bed excited because you get to run today. It changes your life.
Running is not about muscles. Running is about converting energy(food) into work. Your muscles are along for the ride and will adapt quickly.
It's not about training, routine, etc. All those things aren't bad - but frankly the human body is more or less made to run a lot. An hour or so into a good run, a serenity/exhaustion comes over you and suddenly everything is clear.
It's highly unlikely you'll really injure yourself while running. If your stride is improper you can have some knee pain, but fix that with some thin/light shoes and focus on your stride and your body will heal quickly. Don't pound your heel on the pavement - let the ball of your foot absorb the hard impact.
> concerning what can be done (or eaten) to become a physically and mentally healthy person!
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables." Also, run/jog. Details are not as important as doing this.
Try reading a book or two about running. Generally speaking, anything can become somewhat interesting if you know a bit about it. Then you can get excited to apply that knowledge, or even just feel like you're 'in the know'
I JUST started running (seriously, I've gone three times now in the past week), and I would say I owe two of those runs to motivation as I casually read through the book Born to Run.
Today, I had a HUGE leap in progress, and my motivation was literally by (artificially) relating myself to the characters in that book and saying "I can do what they are doing!"
Edit: I just realize I made it sound like Born to Run is fiction...it's definitely not.
No, my point is that the general aged twiggy-like appearance of Scott Jurek can not be adscribed to his ultrarunning endeavours, using as a counterexample Mr. Karnazes.
This addresses especifically your "I would think his lack of muscle was more likely from being the kind of guy that runs over a 100 miles at a time than from his being vegan" opinion.
> If you are just saying that eating meat helps athletic performance then I would definitely agree with you.
Well, not exactly athletic performance but overall health and well-being. Maybe you can manage with a vegetarian diet, but you'll really have to dial it in, and be really obsessive compulsive on macronutrient composition and supplements. An omnivore has it really easy, just partition your plate in thirds, and have meat/fish in 1/3, and veggies in the other 2/3rds. Add moderate fruit if not trying to lose weight, and presto.
> EDIT: Have you read Dean's book? It's really great!
Nope, it's on my wish list along with Born to Run.
Right, humans can definitely be fat and lazy, and I'm not saying the average american could get off the couch today and run 25 miles to hunt down an antelope. But it's how we got to where we are, and anyone is capable if they live the lifestyle.
This Born to Run book?
(also, *heel)
I hear ya man. I wasn't huge huge, but I was 185 at my biggest. I'm at 145 now. 138 at my lowest.
If you have an extra hour you should check this out Why we get fat
And also get this on audio book. It's very well done, enlightening, and entertaining. Born to Run (Acquirable on the internet)
I don't know how serious you are about health, but looking back I really wish someone would have sent me those two links when I started.
Read <em>Born to Run</em>. You'll find both the desire to run and some tips for form as well.
Read "Born to Run" http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303
Read this book, then do this program to transition into the running form.
The book's a damn good read and will tell you pretty much what you need to know about form, as well as the arguments for a barefoot running style. It'll also make you want to get off your ass and run for the sake of running. C25K is a great way to slowly ease yourself into running barefoot.
My calves also noticeably grew bigger after doing this. And I've always had decent sized calves.
you should check out this book - Born to Run
From your list it definitely sounds like refined sugar is your primary source of satisfaction. There is definitely a physiological element of consuming sugar that your body responds to. The sugar increases your insulin levels and temporarily spikes your dopamine.. essentially giving you a momentary high. I'm not an expert on this by any stretch of the imagination, but here is a good article about the types of sugars, what they do and how you can be healthy about it:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/06/what-sugar-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body/
At this point, your best approach is education. Learn about why you crave what you crave and what can be done to help offset that.
Oh.. and on a note of running, check out this book for inspiration:
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303
You may be in a bad neighborhood, but do you have the option to drive/commute out of it to somewhere nicer? I think most people grow tired of indoor running. :)
Anyway. Good luck.
Whoa whoa ok. So you really need to go read Born To Run.
Here's a short thought for you to consider. At some point millions of years ago, early humans began to evolve into developed homo erectus. This is very likely due to the intake of energy dense food, aka meat and fat.
Now, how do you think early man (whom we base our diets off of) actually went about capturing live game? Well, Born to Run suggests that we chased it. We chased it until it literally died of exhaustion. The author asserts that we humans evolved to be the ultimate long distance running animal. And we did this all without any kind of processed carbohydrate.
TED talk by the author about this idea (16min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-iGZPtWXzE
I am really finding it difficult to understand why anyone would advise against athletic activity such as running. If anyone can provide some kind of argument, I am very curious to hear it.
edit: homo erectus*
Try reading this, it's lightweight reading but helped me a lot with motivation.
Recently, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
I just finished reading "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. That's my citation.
*edit - actually the article that this comment thread is based on is already a pretty good citation.
>"Heel-striking is painful when barefoot or in minimal shoes because it causes a large collisional force each time a foot lands on the ground," says co-author Madhusudhan Venkadesan, a postdoctoral researcher in applied mathematics and human evolutionary biology at Harvard. "Barefoot runners point their toes more at landing, avoiding this collision by decreasing the effective mass of the foot that comes to a sudden stop when you land, and by having a more compliant, or springy, leg."
You may also consider huaraches for an even more barefoot experience, you also make them yourself so they're sure to fit. Once you've trained properly in these you can go for...oh as long as you'd ever want to run. I've been running in some homemade huaraches for almost a year now, mostly on concrete, and am now moving to completely barefoot. The only pain I experience is muscle fatigue from running, no joint pain, foot pain etc.
read this it has helped me so much. also check out the barefoot reddit.
It would help if I got the name right. It is terraplana:
http://www.terraplana.com/the-evo
They are expensive, but I had been running in the vibrams for a while and they didn't quite fit my toe layout right. I love the terraplanas because they are good for running and can be worn with just jeans as well.
You may also want to read the Born to Run book which helped promote a lot of new barefoot runners and explains why the author thinks barefoot running is better for people and reduces injury.
There is this book about them and some ultrarunners running with them.
Also a lot of people enjoy reading Born to run - http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280702502&sr=8-1
This subreddit might be of interest http://www.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/
And the Vibram Five Fingers are liked by some people who like minimalist footwear. They seem expensive until you find them on DealExtreme for $30 http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.fivefingers (I bought some myself and they look really good quality). They look weird but they do the job+the sole is likely to be v durable.
Those people are stupid. Then again, starting running barefoot is also stupid. Read Born to Run. After all, this book is the reason this conversation is happening in the first place. You should realize that the claim is valid. Then again, you haven't been walking in bare feet since you were young like the Tarahumara.
The funny thing is that the claim that running in bare feet comes up about every 10 years, then eventually dies away because it becomes widespread past the early adopters (the athletes) and into the general public. Once this happens, these people get hurt, and they start to realize "oh shit, maybe I really do need to wear shoes".
This is all personal opinion, of course. There are numerous sources saying either way (I think that site is satire, it's just the first site that showed up in a google search... I'm sure i could find more credible sources if you want though), so it really comes down to one thing: do what is good for your body. I had a friend that would constantly get injured (his knees). He ended up reading Born to Run, took off the shoes, and slowly worked his way up in mileage. This had the side effect of slowing him down, and as a result he stopped getting injured. This stuff can work both ways. What i'm suggesting is that you wait until you know what is and isn't good for your body (meaning do the tried-and-true wear shoes), and go from there.
You can buy toe socks ... I believe they are called Injinji socks.
An excellent book to read on barefoot running: Born to Run.
Has someone been reading Born to Run?
This will sound stupid so feel free to ignore if your like.
Try your favorite library (or other source) for a book titled Born to Run by Christoper McDougal. Long story short: shoes themselves may be the cause or a contributing factor to some modern pain and many doctors refuse to even consider it. On the other hand, the greatest long distance endurance runners in the world ("Tarahumara Indians of Mexico... practice techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it") employ nothing that could be described as modern footwear.
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