You Were Born to Run - Book Review

" There's something so universal about the sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time."  So says Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run.

This may have been the most entertaining and inspiring book I read all year.  In fact, soon after I finished I ran a half marathon barefoot, with very little barefoot experience prior.  Odds are this book  - many times while you are reading it - will inspire you to go out and run, maybe even in minimal or no footwear. 

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book.  Many people had asked me about it or recommended it since they knew I had an interest in barefoot and minimal footwear running.  Indeed I am. Interestingly, my journey there was not via this book. It was largely through doing my own research and talking to others who knew a bit about the activity.  So I finally read the book when a gracious friend allowed me to borrow it.  

I can hardly give a high recommendation.  You will learn about anatomy, human history, a hidden tribe in the Copper Canyon, and some pretty amazing (and crazy) characters who run ultra-marathons.  The book is a page turner from page one. McDougall begins with his original frustration of doctors telling him he couldn't run due to injuries.  Hence begins his quest to see if that was really true.  Incidentally, people can run hundreds of miles nonstop with very little or no footwear.  And it's our foot wear (and by extension posture and form) that happens to be causing all the running injuries you're hearing about.

A fascinating read. Do make an effort to put this on your lest and get a chapter a day. It'll be hard for you to do less than that.