Sunday, February 27, 2011

Born To Run

We are part way into author Christopher McDougall’s book about the Tarahumara runners. “Born To Run” – subtitled “A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” is a wonderful story with lots of interesting characters and insights into the world of ultra-running. At the same time it is a look at human performance that is spell binding. We are pretty safe when we say that there is something in this book for everyone, athletes and non-athletes alike.

On page 111, “Don’t fight the trail,” Caballo called back over his shoulder. “Take what it gives you. If you have a choice between one step or two between rocks, take three.”

Then this mesmerizing paragraph:
“Lesson two,” Caballo called. “Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

Enough said for today .

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