I have just finished reading the incredible book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  This is bound to be Nike's least favorite book of the year.  The book begins with Chris' exploration of why he - and so many other people running today are so frequently injured (he claims 80% of all runners experience some injury each year).  It's then that he learns about the Tarahumara indians who live in the Copper Canyons of Mexico, some of the harshest terrain on earth and they run 30, 40, 50 miles or more just for fun - in homemade sandals.  No orthotics.  No high engineered shoes with million dollar research budgets. No physical therapists, podiatrists, or orthopedists.  Injuries are for them are extremely rare.  So what's up with that Nike?

Okay, so maybe it's not all Nike's fault, but the book does go into a significant exploration of the evidence that running shoes prevent injuries.  Guess what - there really isn't any.  Say what?  In fact, the more expensive your running shoes, the more likely you are to be hurt (See http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm).  All that R&D on protecting and padding the feet and legs, seems to actually protect us from the sensations that tell us we aren't running right.  You run barefoot - your form will completely change.  Your body will inform you.

I learned this at some level many years ago.  In middle school we had a grass track and you could choose to run barefoot or with shoes.  One day I took off my shoes and realized that I was a lot faster, in fact I went from being middle of the pack to one of the fastest kids in school.  Then I thought - maybe I'm gifted at running, I should join the track team.  At track meets you have to wear shoes.  For me I was always significantly slower at meets that I was running barefoot on the home track.  I also learned I liked running less when running in shoes.  I started running barefoot on road and hiking barefoot, but eventually enough people looked at me strangely and telling me I'd get hurt that I started wearing shoes again.  Looking back now that's when I actually started getting hurt.  Lots of hurt.  In fact I haven't stayed healthy as a runner long enough to reach any of my big running goals.  I am so invigorated by this new movement to minimal footwear that I intend to begin barefoot running and hiking again - for the sheer fun of it.

The book is written as a great adventure story as he tracks down the history and mythology of the Tarahumara, ultimately culminating in a race in the Copper Canyons between some of America's best Ultramarathoners and the traditional runners.  A great story and well told.  I had a hard time putting the book down.  In between the story Chris masterfully weaves in an exploration of the science of running - and ultimately the evidence that humans were literally born, or evolved to run.  I was fascinated by the description of persistent hunting (check name).  This is where primitive hunters, our ancestors, would literally hunt by running an animal to death - since humans can out distance any other animal on earth.

In addition to all of the above, I love this book because it challenges accepted wisdom that many have taken for granted for a long long time and challenges the notion of what it means to be human. It will almost surely open up your sense of what is possible for humans and you may not just get the idea that our species is not only built to run long distances, but it can be joyful and fun.

Whether you are a lover of running or just a good story, this book is highly recommended.

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 The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body's Power to Rejuvenate It by Pete Egoscue.

When I was 18 years old I developed a strange knee problem that resulted in excruciating pain so severe I could not put weight on the leg and sometimes the knee would just buckle and I would fall.  The pain came and went and was extremely intermittent, but the fear of it was always there.  It would come out of no where several times a day.    I couldn't really do sports out of fear of the pain and normal everyday walking made me a bit nervous.  I went to physical therapy and tried a number of things for several months with no success until someone recommended this book.  I read it quickly and immediately started doing the exercises in the book and 3 days later the pain was gone.  I did the exercises continuously for a few months and then stopped.  Occasionally the pain would come back and I would resume the exercises until they went away.  I still use the exercises on and off on a regular basis almost 20 years later.

The book is really quite a miracle.  I've since lent my copy to a number of people who have all had similar results.  Another quick example is a friend who couldn't run a quarter mile because of her knees, but really wanted to run a marathon.  I lent her the book and she diligently did the exercises and within a couple of months was running 10K races.  She now regularly runs half and full marathons and she attributes that to the exercises in this book.  This is not a sales pitch, but seriously the book is quite remarkable.

The basic idea of Egoscue's work is that pain is created by misalignment of the body.  The book helps you diagnose how/where you are imbalanced and then provides a set of exercises based on your condition that will help to restore the balance and alleviate the pain.  It's not just good for knee pain, but ankle, hip, and back pain.  The exercises are very easy to do, but will require some amount of commitment to do daily - like anything else worthwhile.  If you or someone you know is having pain in these areas I would really strongly recommend you get the book.  It's been nothing short of a miracle for me.

ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer

Now that my knee pain was gone I began to enjoy running again, although with a busy schedule there was never enough time for it.  It didn't really matter because there was a point whenever I run 3 miles or more that I would immediately develop shin splints.  Shin splints are no fun and the only way I ever discovered to eliminate the pain was to just stop running until they got better.  Then I would start running again, get to about 3 miles, develop shin splints and repeat the cycle.

Then I discovered ChiRunning.  It teaches you how to run.  It might seem like a strange idea, but really did anyone ever teach us how to run?  Somewhere along the line most people have lost track of their natural way of running and Chi Running helps you re-discover your natural form.  The technique greatly reduces the energy required to run by utilizing gravity to pull you forward and your legs are for keeping you from falling.  There is more to it than that, but that's the basic concept.  Beyond technique and form it is a great guide to the mental and emotional aspects of running as well.  If you are into running and haven't read this book or want to be into running this is a great place to start.  The shin splints have completely disappeared and I can far exceed 3 miles now.

 Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster By Exercising Slower by Stu Mittleman and Katherine Callan

Stu Mittleman is one of the worlds most accomplished ultramarathoners.  In 1988 he succeeded in running 1000 miles in 11 days, 20 hours, and 36 minutes.  In the year 2000 he ran from San Diego to New York City (3000 miles) in 56 days.  This guy knows how to fuel his body for the distance and this book is how he discovered the keys to burning fat rather than sugar and muscle during extended runs and how you can do it too.  It contains very specific and easy to follow guidance on thinking, diet and heart rate management to let you burn fat during exercise.

I haven't experienced any miracles with this book but I do think it has helped me build more lasting running practices (although I have a long way to go).  My natural tendency is to really go all out, push myself too hard, injure myself, heal, start over.  I enjoy running more when I run this way and find I make significantly more progress towards my goals.  If you want to burn more fat during exercise and train for long distance aerobic events this book is a really great resource that you should take a look at.

Hopefully this quick summary of a few books on fitness has been helpful.  What are your favorite books on this topic?

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joyful and fun exercise

In light of the last post on saving time I wanted to explore the topic of efficient exercise.  Experts say that you should exercise daily and recent research suggests that even moderate daily exercise may not be enough.So how much exercise do we really need?  In my own mind I usually figure that I will need to exercise 30 - 60 minutes in order get into reasonably good shape?  And let me be clear I'm not exercising much these days - and to be honest, trying to find 3-7 extra hours a week to really exercise seems daunting and keeps me from really getting started again - since I'll only run out of time to do it right anyway.  

If we use our 1 year calculation that is between 6 and 16 days in a year just spent exercise, realistically more if you include time driving to a gym or the extra showers and changing one might do.  So it's definitely a topic worth exploring if we want to use time efficiently

Let's pretend for the sake of discussion - and this is an invitation for discussion, that you can get significant gains from short periods of the "right" exercise.    But what is the right exercise?  This is what I'm looking for input from readers.

The question

If you budgeted 15 minutes a day for exercise, what would your exercise routine include each day?  

(The goal should be to be well rounded and build strength, flexibility, and endurance.)

I plan to take all the input and feedback and build it into a personal workout plan to try out personally and document the results.

Please comment...

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