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2.52k reviews for:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Christopher McDougall
4.26 AVERAGE
2.52k reviews for:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Christopher McDougall
4.26 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This book was good. I enjoyed it. The writing was interesting and extremely well researched. I don't want to spoil the read so I'll just say the book made me seriously interested in the science and physiology of running. It also made me want to run. And to run in different shoes (and even without shoes). I will follow this read with more research about running. Well done, McDougall.
Until this book, I didn't know how to appreciate running.
Once I edged into the latter half of the book, I was so impressed by all this book was accomplishing. It’s compelling running stories with larger-than-life people + interesting exercise science + fresh ideas about human anatomy + smart jabs at the running shoe market.
Stories like these keep me motivated as I'm running and my goal is to make it out to my first 5k before I roll off the face of the earth for a year and a half.
Some takeaways:
1. Our bodies were built for endurance running quite unlike other animals. Our ancient ancestors could run an animal down by sheer stamina.
2. However tempting it is to think 'no pain, no gain,' it just doesn't make a good run.
3. The number of running accidents decreases in tandem with the price of the running shoe being worn.
4. You're better off running like a Kindergartner.
Once I edged into the latter half of the book, I was so impressed by all this book was accomplishing. It’s compelling running stories with larger-than-life people + interesting exercise science + fresh ideas about human anatomy + smart jabs at the running shoe market.
Stories like these keep me motivated as I'm running and my goal is to make it out to my first 5k before I roll off the face of the earth for a year and a half.
Some takeaways:
1. Our bodies were built for endurance running quite unlike other animals. Our ancient ancestors could run an animal down by sheer stamina.
2. However tempting it is to think 'no pain, no gain,' it just doesn't make a good run.
3. The number of running accidents decreases in tandem with the price of the running shoe being worn.
4. You're better off running like a Kindergartner.
BORN TO RUN REVIEW
running to the rhythm of beat poetry
Reading this book is almost like a rite of passage for runners, amateurs and professionals alike. Running is deceptively difficult, so when an entire tribe of people makes it look so easy, you pay attention. And that's what McDougall did, flaws notwithstanding. His voice is the most American, white, and male, that I've ever read. It's like if you made an action movie a narrative voice. That's not inherently wrong, but it is what it is: entertainment. It's only a little hmm when you factor in the borderline exoticization. But y'know. That's America, baby. This book allegedly tells the story of the Raramuri of the Copper Canyons of Mexico, a legendary running tribe, but McDougall expands this into a sort-of primer on the history of running. For a lot much longer than it is welcome, actually, so much so that I really wondered if we'd ever get back to the actual Raramuri themselves. He talks about barefoot running, going vegan, ultrarunning in the mountains of the US, and a bunch more stuff I've forgotten (the constant detours probably made me rate this that low, as well, but I am reviewing this a bit late and am probably forgetting a lot of my critique). Eventually, he does get back to the Raramuri and he tells the story of how he tracked down Caballo Blanco (a legendary foreigner eccentric runner who lived in the Copper Canyons), and how he participated in the first ultra Caballo organized--alongside a couple other famous American runners (Scott Jurek and the two insane college students), and the Raramuri themselves. I listened to this while hunched over drafting plates 6-8 of AR33 and I was entertained to no end, so plus points for that. This sent me on a deep dive about the Raramuri, and they're honestly amazing. This also got me thinking about joining an ultra (way, way later in life!). Fun popcorn movie of a read, if you ignore the weird exoticizing overtones.
Notes:
constant Ahabness to hook a big one
the team captain looked like a Keebler elf
his ferrari of a body
running to the rhythm of beat poetry
Reading this book is almost like a rite of passage for runners, amateurs and professionals alike. Running is deceptively difficult, so when an entire tribe of people makes it look so easy, you pay attention. And that's what McDougall did, flaws notwithstanding. His voice is the most American, white, and male, that I've ever read. It's like if you made an action movie a narrative voice. That's not inherently wrong, but it is what it is: entertainment. It's only a little hmm when you factor in the borderline exoticization. But y'know. That's America, baby. This book allegedly tells the story of the Raramuri of the Copper Canyons of Mexico, a legendary running tribe, but McDougall expands this into a sort-of primer on the history of running. For a lot much longer than it is welcome, actually, so much so that I really wondered if we'd ever get back to the actual Raramuri themselves. He talks about barefoot running, going vegan, ultrarunning in the mountains of the US, and a bunch more stuff I've forgotten (the constant detours probably made me rate this that low, as well, but I am reviewing this a bit late and am probably forgetting a lot of my critique). Eventually, he does get back to the Raramuri and he tells the story of how he tracked down Caballo Blanco (a legendary foreigner eccentric runner who lived in the Copper Canyons), and how he participated in the first ultra Caballo organized--alongside a couple other famous American runners (Scott Jurek and the two insane college students), and the Raramuri themselves. I listened to this while hunched over drafting plates 6-8 of AR33 and I was entertained to no end, so plus points for that. This sent me on a deep dive about the Raramuri, and they're honestly amazing. This also got me thinking about joining an ultra (way, way later in life!). Fun popcorn movie of a read, if you ignore the weird exoticizing overtones.
Notes:
constant Ahabness to hook a big one
the team captain looked like a Keebler elf
his ferrari of a body
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
This was unexpectedly wonderful. I was interested in the topic of this book, but I didn't know I was going to get taken on an emotional rollercoaster too.
McDougall is a great storyteller. He takes us through the scientific side of running, why we seem to be terrible at it now when our bodies are perfectly suited to it from an evolutionary perspective, how we came to figure that out by doing some anthropology and as usual, the evils of capitalism (this wouldn't be identifiable as one of my reviews without mentioning that at least once). He then turns this book into a love story with running, and all it encompasses for us as a species. It's about collaboration.
I was familiar with the idea that we evolved to be persistence hunters to supplement our diet of foraged plants. This book goes into detail. It does fall into the same pitfall that most single topic books fall into, and that's trying to attribute everything we are and can do to that single thing. Running is only one piece of the puzzle. Becoming bipeds happened in conjunction with a whole bunch of other happenings, like freeing our hands to make tools and wield weapons, learning to process grains and seeds into flour, using fire to cook, defend ourselves and see later into the night. This allowed us to make more calories bioavailable for the same amount of work, our jaws to get smaller, our brains to be bigger, our airways to be more efficient. With bigger brains came better communication and collaboration, and the smarter we got, the better hunters we became by developing a theory of mind for other animals. It's really all one big ball of developments that came together to make us the top of the chain predators we are today. This book does, in the end, do a great job of explaining most of this.
If the anthropology portion was fascinating, then we get to meet the people. Caballo Blanco is a strange and loveable character, but so are the rest of runners he rounds up. The culture of the Tarahumara is as secretive as it is kind. They sound like beautiful people. The race at the end of this book was thrilling and emotional. A little bit transcendent in a "we really can do anything!" kind of way.
That is, of course, not really true. Being ultramarathon runners may be in our genes, but living like this is diametrically opposed to existing in Western society. If you want to be a forager and a persistence hunter you pretty much need to abandon everything you're doing and go live in a cave in the mountains, or the savanna. Which you can absolutely do, but it's not exactly practical.
As far as diet goes, this book focuses on the people who live in hot places. A prehispanic diet is great for people living in the Andes, but I'm from Spain. My diet is mostly Mediterranean and the ingredients and dishes I eat are different, but essentially, the same. It's not like that if you live above the Arctic circle. There is no such thing as a universal ancestral diet, and while we did evolve to be great runners, we're also good at other things. Like swimming and diving. For a very long time. Above all, we're an endurance species.
This also applies to footwear. It's wonderful if you can wear very minimalist shoes or even go barefoot. Unfortunately for me, I'm currently in a climate that goes below freezing temperatures for at least 5 months out of the year. I can't go outside barefoot if I want to keep my toes. If anybody has minimalist shoe recommendations for walking around in snow, I'm all ears!
This is a complex book that covers a lot of ground (pun intended), and I loved it. I would suggest reading it as a companion book to other single topic anthropology books, like [b:Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art|48890486|Breath The New Science of a Lost Art|James Nestor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575339793l/48890486._SY75_.jpg|74281999], [b:Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation|15811496|Cooked A Natural History of Transformation|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601146168l/15811496._SY75_.jpg|21536760], [b:The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History|23013818|The Triumph of Seeds How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History|Thor Hanson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416445819l/23013818._SY75_.jpg|42580092], [b:Languages Are Good For Us|56281201|Languages Are Good For Us|Sophie Hardach|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607969443l/56281201._SY75_.jpg|87685473], [b:Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams|34466963|Why We Sleep Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams|Matthew Walker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556604137l/34466963._SY75_.jpg|55587034], [b:Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle|4420281|Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle|Daniel L. Everett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320405439l/4420281._SY75_.jpg|4468447], or even [b:Why Calories Don't Count: How We Got the Science of Weight Loss Wrong|56897688|Why Calories Don't Count How We Got the Science of Weight Loss Wrong|Giles Yeo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612712121l/56897688._SX50_.jpg|88975582].
McDougall is a great storyteller. He takes us through the scientific side of running, why we seem to be terrible at it now when our bodies are perfectly suited to it from an evolutionary perspective, how we came to figure that out by doing some anthropology and as usual, the evils of capitalism (this wouldn't be identifiable as one of my reviews without mentioning that at least once). He then turns this book into a love story with running, and all it encompasses for us as a species. It's about collaboration.
I was familiar with the idea that we evolved to be persistence hunters to supplement our diet of foraged plants. This book goes into detail. It does fall into the same pitfall that most single topic books fall into, and that's trying to attribute everything we are and can do to that single thing. Running is only one piece of the puzzle. Becoming bipeds happened in conjunction with a whole bunch of other happenings, like freeing our hands to make tools and wield weapons, learning to process grains and seeds into flour, using fire to cook, defend ourselves and see later into the night. This allowed us to make more calories bioavailable for the same amount of work, our jaws to get smaller, our brains to be bigger, our airways to be more efficient. With bigger brains came better communication and collaboration, and the smarter we got, the better hunters we became by developing a theory of mind for other animals. It's really all one big ball of developments that came together to make us the top of the chain predators we are today. This book does, in the end, do a great job of explaining most of this.
If the anthropology portion was fascinating, then we get to meet the people. Caballo Blanco is a strange and loveable character, but so are the rest of runners he rounds up. The culture of the Tarahumara is as secretive as it is kind. They sound like beautiful people. The race at the end of this book was thrilling and emotional. A little bit transcendent in a "we really can do anything!" kind of way.
That is, of course, not really true. Being ultramarathon runners may be in our genes, but living like this is diametrically opposed to existing in Western society. If you want to be a forager and a persistence hunter you pretty much need to abandon everything you're doing and go live in a cave in the mountains, or the savanna. Which you can absolutely do, but it's not exactly practical.
As far as diet goes, this book focuses on the people who live in hot places. A prehispanic diet is great for people living in the Andes, but I'm from Spain. My diet is mostly Mediterranean and the ingredients and dishes I eat are different, but essentially, the same. It's not like that if you live above the Arctic circle. There is no such thing as a universal ancestral diet, and while we did evolve to be great runners, we're also good at other things. Like swimming and diving. For a very long time. Above all, we're an endurance species.
This also applies to footwear. It's wonderful if you can wear very minimalist shoes or even go barefoot. Unfortunately for me, I'm currently in a climate that goes below freezing temperatures for at least 5 months out of the year. I can't go outside barefoot if I want to keep my toes. If anybody has minimalist shoe recommendations for walking around in snow, I'm all ears!
This is a complex book that covers a lot of ground (pun intended), and I loved it. I would suggest reading it as a companion book to other single topic anthropology books, like [b:Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art|48890486|Breath The New Science of a Lost Art|James Nestor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575339793l/48890486._SY75_.jpg|74281999], [b:Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation|15811496|Cooked A Natural History of Transformation|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601146168l/15811496._SY75_.jpg|21536760], [b:The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History|23013818|The Triumph of Seeds How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History|Thor Hanson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416445819l/23013818._SY75_.jpg|42580092], [b:Languages Are Good For Us|56281201|Languages Are Good For Us|Sophie Hardach|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607969443l/56281201._SY75_.jpg|87685473], [b:Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams|34466963|Why We Sleep Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams|Matthew Walker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556604137l/34466963._SY75_.jpg|55587034], [b:Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle|4420281|Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle|Daniel L. Everett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320405439l/4420281._SY75_.jpg|4468447], or even [b:Why Calories Don't Count: How We Got the Science of Weight Loss Wrong|56897688|Why Calories Don't Count How We Got the Science of Weight Loss Wrong|Giles Yeo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612712121l/56897688._SX50_.jpg|88975582].
One of the best books I have read in awhile. Both interesting and motivating...not just for runners!