To my surprise I enjoyed reading this book. Many people had recommended it to me, but I just never picked it up because I was expecting some dull non-fiction read detailing the science behind why we, as humans, were born to run.... Instead it was an amazing and intriguing story!
McDougall weaves the science and history of humans as runners masterfully with his own journey to becoming an injury free runner and participating in "the greatest race the world has never seen" I loved the characters that McDougall met and the ones that joined him along his journey, I loved the interesting side journeys he took along the way to the big race. I loved the inspiration I received as an "injured runner" to continue my pursuit of running injury free.
The big idea... modern running shoes ruined us as runners, caused us to become heal strikers and bypass the natural shock absorption our feet were created for. This is an almost irreverent over simplification of McDougalls work, and I got so much more out of his book!
LEARNED:
Probably my favorite quote from the book: "The worst mistake I could make would be getting lulled into someone else's race." (so true for running, but even more relevant to the race of "life")
A close second was: "Just beat the course, no one else, just the course...only compete against the race course, not the racers." (this will soon become my race mantra...as I am determined to have a good half marathon finish... the real competition comes from within, the ability to conquer a course, not the person ahead of you.)
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