Only two more days until the launch my free e-book, A Newbie’s Guide to Fitness! On with with today’s article:
Yesterday, while riding back from Nashville, I started reading Born to Run, a book I had borrowed from my friend Chappy (who reviewed the book for Nerd Fitness here). I didn’t actually plan on writing about the book because last week’s review. Welp, things change.
I read the book for the entire four-hour car ride, then plopped down on my couch for another three hours and finished it entirely. I don’t like running at all, but after finishing this book I can’t wait to strap on my Vibram Five-Fingers and give it another shot. If you have ever gone running before or plan on running again, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. It’s a fantastic read that has already inspired me to push myself to become a better person physically, mentally, and spiritually. I realize that sounds like a lot of hippy new-age crap (no offense to hippies), but I’m serious! Born to Run manages to be a thrilling and highly educational page-turner, mixing equal parts autobiography, science, myth, legend, and mystery. I literally could not stop reading it once I started.
Born to Run has motivated me to give running another try, with a much different attitude. I actually ran a year of Cross Country in high school before realizing that I hated running. Weekly shin splints compounded an even greater problem: my heart wasn’t in it. Since then, I’ve forced myself to run like a hamster on a treadmill for miles and miles because I thought that was what I supposed to do. I hated running, and running didn’t like me.
However, I’m now at the point where putting on some funky shoes and hauling ass through a park sounds like a great time. I can’t wait to put on my iPod, pick a direction, and just start running. No watch to track my progress, no pre-defined route to run over and over again: I want to run in a direction I’ve never been, on a trail I’ve never seen, and just see what’s out there. I think the greatest lesson I took away from book is that you can only be successful in running if you have a great attitude. If you consider it a means to an end, you are going to fail miserably. For the ultra-marathoners of this book, running IS the end. These aren’t people who have trained their whole lives to run either: most of them didn’t recognize their gift until often halfway through life when some major event got them running and they just never stopped. Born to Run is so thought-provoking and inspiring that it has me wondering what my true potential is. Could I ever do something like a triathlon, marathon, Ultra-man competition, or 100 mile death-race through the Copper Canyons? The mere thought of putting myself through such “torture” had NEVER entered my mind until yesterday. Now that I know what the human body is capable of, I’m not going to rule anything out.
For those of who you don’t like running but force yourself to do it because you think you’re supposed to, read this book. If you have ever been injured because of running, read this book. If you like running and haven’t been hurt yet, read this book. If you don’t like running but you love a great story, read this book. For those of you who are on the fence, read this article, and then read this book.
-Steve
