A Hidden Tribe, Super-athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall is a book that makes you want to run as you read it. At other times you get tired thinking about the many miles these people run (I mean who runs 100 miles in a day? ) and still have energy to do other things instead of laying dead for 3 days!
It also takes you to a tour to strange places in Mexico where one would to visit not to run, but maybe hike. Who runs in steep hills?
How do you run without injury? Maybe you run fast, tall and happily. I am not making it up. If at the end of a run you are not laughing/ happy you are doing it too hard or wrong. You should enjoy running. So your pace should be such that you can smile during your run. I smile sometimes, especially when I am going fast (maybe because i can’t believe I can run that fast).
You can outrun a horse, if you are fit enough over long distances. And maybe even hunt without a weapon. Just run the antelope to death, literally. It has happened before, so I read.
What Christopher’s argument basically is human beings are running machines. We can outrun almost if not all animals on the planet.
Even if you don’t like running, the book makes for good reading. You may actually disagree with all he says about running injury and all but find the story intriguing, especially about the Tarahumara country and their running.
Get off that couch and get running.
Random thoughts 
I remember reading about the Inca Empire of the 14-15th centuries, and how at the height of its power, the whole vast territory along the spine of the Andes from Chile to Ecuador was linked by a system of messenger-runners and way stations at standard intervals. Breathtaking!
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You have been quite lately, Tish. Is all well with you?
That’s breathtaking. It must have paid well to be fit.
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Hello, Mak. I have been quiet lately. Keeping my fuming to myself – the appalling lies we are told! But thank you for asking. I’ve also been delving into my ancestors – wondering what the hell they would have thought of us – all my lead-mining, cotton-weaving, soil-turning great grandfathers and mothers. Apart from that I am growing tomato seedlings and cauliflowers, and turning my compost heaps. Hope all is well with you. Tx
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The lies they say are for your safety. It is backed by science.
It’s interesting here there should be a night curfew from 8am & you still see so many people out. It’s a good time to ask the ancestors what they think of us, I agree.
Enjoy farming.
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Interesting about ‘the science’. When it comes to the public arena, actual science flew out the window long ago. Now we all believe in the prophecies of modellers who forget to include reality.
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Here people make jokes about the restrictions for example the night curfew. Guys are like corona only walks at night & that’s the reason for the night curfew, which has been a mess lately. People just flout it.
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Funny you should mention a tribe of super-athletes, I just watched this a few months ago.
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This is the whole book in 10 minutes. I thought about running barefoot, looked at our roads and said hell no. Not happening. It’s never that serious. But I would try it maybe on a lawn and see if it feels different. Maybe I should buy minimalist shoes now that I should be changing shoes.
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Walking barefoot feels great, but like most things you have to start slowly and build up the callouses. Begin by walking around barefoot at home and slowly extend your range and duration.
This guy explains the ins and outs of it and how he transitioned into walking barefoot pretty much all year round:
There are also videos specific to running barefoot.
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I walk barefoot at home. I don’t think I could run on our roads barefoot. There are lots of broken glass and other debri. I could do it on a lawn or on the beach
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And thanks for the video. It didn’t show on the phone. I may go minimalist shoes instead of barefoot. I decided also to just try and push my shoes for much longer. They are feeling much more comfy than when they were new.
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Sadly you assume running is appropriate for everyone. Those of us with arthritis are warned at dx NOT to run. Running is stressful to the joints something arthritics cannot tolerate. After dx I got into hiking rather than running and even with that I am heavily deformed in old age. That is difficult for someone on a runners high to comprehend.
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Jeanne, I don’t expect everyone to be able to run. Most people should be able to, though. Hikes through technical terrain is even challenging for me.
Hope you are not in much pain though
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There was a time in my life I did run. It’s quite invigorating once you get past a certain threshold. Where you can just run with ease, your breathing is perfectly timed, the legs take on another level of power that easily pushes you along. You can feel the power, you can feel the muscles working in harmony, it’s almost as if you are feeling like a freaking superman, and seeing what’s over the next hill is your new challenge. The runners high is a real thing.
These days my running is at the other end of the leash, trying to keep up with the dog. (Think Marmaduke! lol!) I have to say though, I’ve been doing more running with the dog lately, I can feel the legs getting stronger, the body tolerating it better. But I’m a LONG way from running again. I am jogging maybe a bit less than a half mile a day though, just with the dog. Certainly better than not running at all. My back isn’t very willing to cooperate though. I pay for the running I get in, but it’s worth it. I know I need the exercise. And I’ve always been a certain level of fit, which has declined in the last decade or so. So, I’m willing to work on it a bit.
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Running on the other end of a leash can just be as hard, i imagine.
The other day when I was home with my old man, i was telling him instead of paying more attention to school, he should have encouraged me to be actively involved in sports, maybe i could be winning some medals- as the slowest runner in a race or something.
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My feet are really, really flat. As in, “the specialty therapeutic shoe store owner wanted to take photographs of the feet as a case study” flat. I will stick with bicycling. Less impact on the knees!
Speaking of that, spring is really here! And, being older, one benefit is my immune system seems slightly less hypervigilant than it used to be. I am not gasping for breath and coughing like some years! Hope that doesn’t mean the COVID vaccine won’t work well for me! 😦
So I did 70 “easy” miles today. I think I would rather climb hills than face 20 miles of steady, relentless head and side winds! Damn, that is exhausting!
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I like the 70 easy miles. That must be really flat foot. I think my foot is arched but maybe not so high.
The rains are here and that means fewer rides and more runs. Hopefully I will get enough bike miles though.
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“than face” I live in the boundary between the cooler Bay Area and the warm to hot Sacramento Valley. The temperature differential creates a persistent…and exhausting…wind pattern. Even this early in the year.
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I hate cross winds or head winds. I would rather climb hills forever
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