A couple of months ago when I was first starting my marathon training I picked up this book at the bookstore (with my own hard-earned money, I might add)

{Source - which also has a great review on the book and quotes many passages that give you a better sense of McDougall’s writing style}

I’ve been reading it slowly over the last few months – not because it wasn’t a great book, just because I don’t have a lot of time and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo distracted me for a good week

The Book

Born to Run is a book about running (obviously). It tells the story of the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico who are considered the best runners in the world. The entire book builds up to a fifty-mile race in the Mexican desert and canyons between the Tarahumara and modern-day ultra-marathoners like Scott Jurek.

While telling this story, McDougall also delves into the history of the running and shows through some pretty compelling evidence that people are in fact meant to run, and the fancy schmancy shoes we are wearing are what is actually causing us injury, not the action of running itself.

The main storyline is the race that takes place in the Mexican canyons and the characters that run it. But in different chapters McDougall jumps into narratives about other ultra-marathoners and ultra marathons, like the Leadville 100-mile race, he goes into the history of the running shoe and emerging theories about barefoot running and more. However, every chapter has a common theme that ties back to the main point of the book: We were Born to Run.

His writing is clever, quick-witted and descriptive without being overly descriptive. The book held my attention easily every time I picked it up.

Here’s an interesting quote about running shoes:

Page 168: “A lot of foot and knee injuries that are currently plaguing us are actually caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak, cause us to over-pronate, give us knee problems. Until 1972, when the modern athletic shoe was invented by Nike, people ran in very thin-soled shoes, had strong feet, and had much lower incidence of knee injuries.”

That part of the book also goes on to say that between 65% and 80% of runners will have some sort of injury every single year! That’s a lot.

Of course, he quoted several different studies showing that people who ran with highly-cushioned, stable shoes suffered more injuries but I won’t get into it because then this post will be far too long. You’ll just have to read the book

My Thoughts

First, as a runner I really enjoyed this book. It made me want to run an ultra. I know what you’re thinking “Amber, calm down, you haven’t even ran your first marathon!” But have you ever read a book that’s so compelling it makes you want to do the thing its telling you about? That was this book for me.

I find the whole barefoot running thing absolutely fascinating and I’m actually hoping to score myself a pair of Vibram’s while I’m in the States this week. I don’t know if I will ever fully convert to being a barefoot runner but I’d love to have some Vibram’s to wear around on the weekends while I’m running errands and maybe even work up to a few shorter, 2 to 3 mile runs in them. I’m curious to see if they actually do strengthen my leg and foot muscles to make me a better runner. If they really do that then I’m sold!

Also, this book confirmed what I already knew about our bodies being meant to run. I am so sick of people saying “Running is ruining your legs” “Running is ruining your body” “Running is bad for you”.

Our bodies are meant to move. If you look at generations before us you can see there lifestyle is far more mobile than ours. Do you really think our bodies are meant to sit at a desk all day and then sit on the couch all night? No. Why do you think more people than ever before have heart disease and back pain. This isn’t a coincidence.

My body is meant to run and move and I’m going to keep running and moving my body in different ways through yoga and biking and strength training for as long as I physically can.

Giveaway

After reading the book, which I want to stress I bought with my own money, I contacted McDougall’s publisher at Random House and asked if I could have a copy of the book to give away on the blog, she happily agreed.

I highly recommend this book if you are a runner, wannabe runner or have someone close to you who is one of those things, or if you just like to read – it really is a thought-provoking, well-written book.

Here’s how you enter. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each one please.

One.

Leave a comment on this blog post telling me YOUR thoughts on the barefoot running phenomenon? Do you think that shoes with all this extra support, gel etc. are ruining our feet or do you think that’s a load of crap? Why or why not?

Two.

Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway and then leave me a comment with a link to your tweet or facebook post.

I’ll make it easy for you, here are a couple of sample tweets:

I want to win a copy of Born to Run from @AmberYake: http://bit.ly/at6sAh

Want to win a copy of Born to Run? Check out @AmberYake’s blog: http://bit.ly/at6sAh

Three.

Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to your blogpost.

This giveaway will be up until a week from now, Monday October 11 at 10:00 PM PST. I will choose a winner using random.org and announce it on Tuesday, October 12.

Good luck!

In case you missed it:

• I ran 20 miles yesterday!!!!

Back in April, right before we left for Europe, I did a Hot Yoga Challenge where I went to a 90-minute Hot Yoga class every day for 7 days.

Back in July the studio had a deal where you could get one month unlimited for only $50. $50/month is SO CHEAP for Hot Yoga (it’s regularly $165) so I snapped it up! My punch card JUST expired so that unlimited month was activated on September 5.

How convenient that from September 5 – October 5 I will have unlimited Hot Yoga. Right before the marathon!

Obviously I’m not going to attempt to go every day for 30 days + marathon training. My goal is 3-4 times per week and I’d like to go for a minimum of 12 times in this month (I’ve already gone once, and tonight will be 2 so it shouldn’t be too hard!)

I’m excited for this little challenge, I think doing hot yoga regularly will really benefit my last month of marathon training!

Speaking of yoga, let me show you my new yoga mat from CSN Stores!

Pretty huh!?

When I was contacted a couple months ago about doing a review + giveaway I started poking around their websites and discovered they sold fitness equipment and accessories!

I was in dire need of a new yoga mat as my old one is FOUR YEARS old! That’s right, I got it my first year of college!

And Webster has kind of destroyed it!

Apparently he thought it was his scratch pad :S

I have used my new mat for Hot Yoga twice now and it’s worked great both times! On Sunday we did an intense warrior series in the middle of the Bikram poses (I adore the fact that when the instructors at this studio teach Bikram they aren’t all cult-ish and strict and *sometimes* waive from the 26 poses, warrior sequences are my favourite!)

Anyways, holding lunges + a 40 C room = LOTS of sweat. But I didn’t slip at all on my new mat! It worked great!

Well, I’m sure you guys have entered a million CSN giveaways by now and know the drill! I am giving away a $30 CSN Gift Card to any of CSN’s over 200 stores.

All you gotta do is comment on this blog post and tell me if you practice yoga or not, what your favourite kind of yoga is and why! I’ve decided to only allow one entry per person for this giveaway but it’s an easy one to enter

I’ll go first.

I do practice yoga regularly. The Hot Yoga studio I go too teaches mostly Bikram, but they occasionally have guest instructors come in and teach Moksha and Flow (Vinayasa) Yoga. Bikram is growing on me (I hated it the first few times I tried it). Anyways, now that I practice Bikram regularly I do enjoy it more but Vinayasa Yoga will always hold a special place in my heart. I LOVE flowy yoga with downward dogs, warrior series and chataranga’s!

I have to say, though. Practicing in the hot room is amazing. Any kind of yoga in the hot room is A-OK with me! I am SO relaxed at the end of a Hot Yoga class that I end up lying in the hot room in savasana for 10-15 minutes every time. Something about sweating that much makes your body feel so amazing.

So, tell me, do you practice yoga AND if you do, what kind is your favourite and why? If you don’t, why not?

*This giveaway will end at 9:00 PM PST on Tuesday, September 14*

I’ve been doing a lot of bullet-point-type posts lately, haven’t I?

I wonder if that alludes to the random-all-over-the-place nature of my life lately?! Maybe. I’ll try to have some more thought-out posts for ya next week!

One.

I’m sure you’ve all entered a million of these lately, and you can enter one here soon too! I’ll be doing an upcoming giveaway + review for CSN. I was excited when I was contacted by them to do a giveaway and review of a product because they have SO MANY different products to choose from. Need some furniture? No problem. A Dutch Oven? Sure. Any kind of fitness equipment or workout DVDs? Yup!

Watch for that review + giveaway in the next couple of weeks!

Two.

After the urging of many of you in the comments section yesterday I finally hooked up the air conditioner! It takes up a ridiculous amount of room and is a bit of a monstrosity in my teeny-tiny apartment but O M G, so worth it. I can sleep again! And for those of you who asked, the heat has been around 36-37 C here the last couple of days, 97-98 F. Because of the desert that I live in it’s a very dry, hits-you-in-the-face kind of heat.

Three.

My work life has been really, really, really busy these last couple weeks. I went from having a few freelance projects here and there to several in one week and with people on holidays I’m taking on a lot of extra responsibility and projects at my full-time job. I didn’t even get my “day off” this week I was so busy! Thank goodness this weekend is a long weekend! I have to wrap up freelance projects on Saturday but I’m hoping to just relax/recoup on Sunday/Monday.

What are your Three Things Thursday this week?