Tarahumara | pudding girl

I started joining fun runs early this year. I’m not a pro in running but I enjoy doing it. A very dear friend of mine Reverie Llanes-Aniñon told me to get this book about running which she and her hubby has been reading. Rev,has been my long-distant-walking-book-review-adviser. She is 10x more of a book worm as I am. I recall college days when we spent out mall hours digging books on any book sale we can find or killing time browsing the books trying to get free-reads on book shops. She told me the book was truly inspiring and she will share thoughts with me about it once I’m done reading it. I promised her I will get the book as soon as I can and true to my words, I purchased one:

BORN TO RUN

A Hidden Tribe , Superathletes and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen

by Christopher McDougall

Category: Sports;Memoirs

Published by: Vintage Books a division of Random House ,Inc

New York

First Vintage Books Edition,March 2011

I walked inside the bookstore, normally, I will stop at the first shelf of books and work my way to the last shelf browsing and reading back covers. This time, I knew what I wanted and I went straight to the bookstore associate. I asked if they have available copy of BORN to RUN by Christopher McDougall and the lady told me there’s two left. As soon as she handed me a copy I smiled, held it in my hands like a priced possession and went straight to the counter to pay for it. Normally once again, I will never walk to the counter to pay for a book not until I have my arms loaded with books that I want and has to stare at them for almost an hour before I will decide which one I would take home and the ones I need to come back for.

Since it was getting late, I haul my self to a bus before the rush hour. Sitting at the bus, I tore open the package and signed my name on the first page with a date. I always do this on all my books so I can remember when I got them. I wasted no time flipping the pages and started reading.

Running. Why do humans run? Do they have to? Why does animals do the same? Do they really have to? Christopher McDougall’s story, a.k.a “El Oso”(the bear) is not just incredible. It will not only engage our mind but inspire our body the moment we realize that you, in fact all of us were BORN to RUN. As humans, we are designed to have two lower extremities not only for the sake of posture or form. These extremities we called legs and feet are designed to walk, swim, jump, leap gallop…. RUN.

As I was reading each and every page , chapter by chapter I had lots of realizations on why we are all born to run. *"We run when we’re scared, we run when we’re ecstatic, we ran away from our problems and run around for a good time, and when things look worst we run the most*” The book featured not only the world’s champions and ultra runners but the most distinguished experts and researchers, the respected sports medical specialist as well as the giant sports shoe companies that up to this date are still working hard to find solutions and remedies on how to avoid fatal running injuries which basically pushed El Oso to this epic adventure that began with his one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Aside from these known personalities in the running industry, this adventure lead them to the hidden tribe of super athletes isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the fascinating Tarahumara Indians who have the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. They are The Running People sans expensive designer running shoes, sans training, sans stretching and warm-ups prior to race, sans power bars and energy drinks.

What made me love this book?

With this book, I realized I made the right choice purchasing barefoot minimalist shoes.Ha! Ha!… It’s pretty obvious I love this weird-looking toe-shoes called Vibram Five Fingers as I have mentioned in my previous blog. Naturally, a human don’t need shoes to run good. According to Barefoot Ted “*our feet follows the concept of bricolage—that less is more,the best solution is the most elegant. Why add something when you are born with everything you need*” I have been using it for months, I got myself two pairs and I seldom suffer from leg cramps lately. I guess it is working good for me.

On one of my recent blog To Do List, losing weight and working out is my To Do list that I can’t seem to finish off. Hopefully, as inspired as I am with this book, I will be able to mark it done by RUNNING. “* If you’re tougher than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can*”. So, there is nothing impossible. I will run and I can be good if I want to. “*You don’t’ have to be fast, you’d better be fearless*” . I’m fearless enough alright. I know I am. Slowly but surely. I don’t have to go speeding off right away. I am walking now as much as I can and so is my friend Rev. According to the phantom Caballo Blanco’s lessons on running, just think of these four words EASY, LIGHT, SMOOTH and FAST. “* start with EASY, if that’s what you get, that’s not so bad. Make it LIGHT- effortless,don’t give a sh*t on how high the hill is or how far you will go. SMOOTH- smooth enough your embracing running that you forgot you’re practicing the first two words. FAST- get those first three and one will be FAST in no time*” Four words to remember and master. That would be easy. For us who are now inspired that we can be ultra runners (wishful thinking ), to truly conquer something is to truly love it. Way to go Rev! Who knows?, We will be cruising with the Raramuri someday!

As I closed the book , few of El Oso’s words remain to linger on my mind. “Nothing works out according to plan but it always work out” Well then, I may still won’t be able to mark running as done on my To Do list soon but definitely, I will be running.

“* When you run on the earth and you run with the earth, you can run forever!”

Happy Reading!

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