Born To Run
01OCTOBER13
Born to Run; Christopher McDougall Summary Are we as humans truly “born to run”? If this is true, why do we need orthotics, knee supports, fish oils/supplements, ice packs, and top of the line name brand running shoes? Christopher McDougall asks exactly that in his journey to find the answer to these questions. His journey begins with his own simple question: “Why does my foot hurt?” Now, I’m sure this is a question we all have when it comes to running. Whether it’s your feet, shins, or knees… none of which should really be an issue according to McDougall. He discovers this fact after visiting a couple doctors in the beginning of his story. The first of these doctors instructs him to buy $150 custom orthotics, and even pricier running shoes just in order to run properly, but later tells him that his body isn’t “made” for running, and recommends that he should stop entirely. The next visit McDougall makes, runs along the same lines as the previous one, until he hears of another doctor that finally takes the time to sit down with him, and actually video tape a recording of his running performance. She then plays the video back for him, in slow motion, so that he can fully grasp what exactly it is that he is doing wrong when running. He watches “in disgust”, saying that his legs sloughed along and his back was hunched over and he described himself as “flopping around like a fish on a hook”. It wasn’t until this realization that McDougall really understood what it was that he was failing at when it came to his “relaxing” sport of running. It’s not that he wasn’t “born to run”, it’s that he didn’t understand how to. He needed to comprehend the mechanics of running, make his body flow more easily, and relax his form as opposed to the clenched, rigid, and thundering form he had originally possessed. Christopher McDougall is actually a writer for the Men’s Health magazine, and in his studies for athletic performance, he ran across data stating
Born to Run; Christopher McDougall Summary Are we as humans truly “born to run”? If this is true, why do we need orthotics, knee supports, fish oils/supplements, ice packs, and top of the line name brand running shoes? Christopher McDougall asks exactly that in his journey to find the answer to these questions. His journey begins with his own simple question: “Why does my foot hurt?” Now, I’m sure this is a question we all have when it comes to running. Whether it’s your feet, shins, or knees… none of which should really be an issue according to McDougall. He discovers this fact after visiting a couple doctors in the beginning of his story. The first of these doctors instructs him to buy $150 custom orthotics, and even pricier running shoes just in order to run properly, but later tells him that his body isn’t “made” for running, and recommends that he should stop entirely. The next visit McDougall makes, runs along the same lines as the previous one, until he hears of another doctor that finally takes the time to sit down with him, and actually video tape a recording of his running performance. She then plays the video back for him, in slow motion, so that he can fully grasp what exactly it is that he is doing wrong when running. He watches “in disgust”, saying that his legs sloughed along and his back was hunched over and he described himself as “flopping around like a fish on a hook”. It wasn’t until this realization that McDougall really understood what it was that he was failing at when it came to his “relaxing” sport of running. It’s not that he wasn’t “born to run”, it’s that he didn’t understand how to. He needed to comprehend the mechanics of running, make his body flow more easily, and relax his form as opposed to the clenched, rigid, and thundering form he had originally possessed. Christopher McDougall is actually a writer for the Men’s Health magazine, and in his studies for athletic performance, he ran across data stating