It’s Marathon Monday! In fact as I sit here typing this at 9:32 am the Elite Women have begun to race. In 28 minutes the Elite Men will follow and the rest is history. Running 26.2 miles at ridiculously fast speeds might seem a little ridiculous. Heck, running 26.2 miles at any speed seems a little ridiculous.
I had the opportunity this weekend to spend time with people who say that not only is running long distances not insane, it is in fact what we were BORN to do!! Let me explain…
By now many people have heard about Christopher McDougall and his book Born To Run. A national best seller, it was just released in paperback and in celebration, Chris embarked on what he calls the Naked Tour. I’m not here to write a book review, but I will urge those of you who haven’t read his book, to pick up or borrow a copy. It is an easy, interesting read even for those of you who wouldn’t consider running unless something was chasing you.
Full disclosure: I used to be one of those people who wouldn’t run unless something was chasing me. In fact, despite having several 5Ks and a Half Marathon under my belt, I still hesitate to call myself a “runner”. But on Saturday, runner or not, I found myself running through the streets of Boston with some of running’s finest.
The Naked Tour started on the steps of the Boston Public Library where Chris welcomed us.
This is my friend Trisha and me with Scott Jurek. Scott is one of the world’s greatest ultra runners. In 2010 he set a US record by running 165.7 miles in 24 hours. He was featured prominently in Born to Run and I must confess, I was a bit giggly to meet him. (Fairly apparent from the goofy grin on my face, huh?)
We set off on the run and everyone was amazing and friendly. The pros hung back with the pack and answered any and all questions that people had. The run itself was hosted by the New England Barefoot Runners group. This group is a invaluable resource to anyone looking to become involved in barefoot or minimalist running and everyone was very friendly and welcoming even to a shod runner like me! You can check out their website at NewEnglandBarefootRunners.net
That’s Trisha & Chris crossing the Charles River. I find it important to mention that Chris was not running barefoot. He was running in a pair of Vibram FiveFingers. Trisha asked him about this and he said that proper form is most important, barefoot or not. I’m paraphrasing there, his language was a bit more colorful.
After the run there was a book signing, and of course a picture of me with a goofy look on my face.
Then the Naked Cabaret began. A lecture style talk featuring Christopher McDougall, Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Dr. Irene Davis, Lee Saxby, John Durant and Marshall Lewy, and Scott Jurek. The information was fascinating, but one of the things that struck me the most was that this information WASN’T new to me.
Dr. Lieberman spoke on how our ancestors ran out of necessity. He argues that the whole reason that we’re not still hunched over dragging our knuckles is so that we could run. Running is part of our survival as a species. It was a social activity and an integral part of every day life. This may explain why we still gather in groups to run long distances. (Speaking of which, Ryan Hall just reached the 5K checkpoint at 14:29 which is embarassingly much closer to my mile time than my 5K time will ever be!)
Dr. Davis spoke about how important proper form is for the body. Did you know that when you land on your heels your body absorbs an upward force 6-7x your body weight? With a forefoot strike? Only 1.4x your body weight. Lee Saxby also spoke about proper the body mechanics of running.
That sounds suspiciously like telling people to “Move well” doesn’t it?
John Durant was another interesting speaker. While he is a barefoot runner and very involved in the NYC Barefoot group, he spoke on something else, something completely ‘new’. He spoke about something called the Paleo Diet. He talked about how when animals ate as they were intended to (humans included) they were healthier. I wanted to stand up and yell, “We’ve been telling people this for years!!!!” but I kept my mouth shut. Because, let’s face it… if we are going to change the health problems of our families, communities, the health problems of our country… we need as many people on our side as possible.
The two hours flew by in a flurry of information and it was inspiring to be surrounded by people who have similar philosophies on what it means to be “healthy”. The inspiration behind the Naked Tour is this:
You weren’t born broken.
Running isn’t a perilous punishment-for-pizza.
Everything you need, you had the day you were born.
Running isn’t a perilous punishment-for-pizza.
Everything you need, you had the day you were born.
I’m not going to lie to you, this sounds an awful lot like they’re talking about Innate Intelligence. “Everything you need, you had the day you were born” That explanation works for me!!
Many book signings have a part when the author will read a passage from the book. Because everything was a bit different at this event, they had someone singing an operatic rendition of the passage. No, I’m serious. Opera. The passage spoke to me, but not as a runner, as a chiropractic patient. Scratch that. As a Chiropractic Warrior. (To put the passage in context, a man referred to as Caballo Blanco is addressing a group of runners before a race but as I head the words sung they resonated in my soul and I knew I had to share them with you.)
“I thought this race would be a disaster, because I thought you’d be too sensible to come. You Americans are supposed to be greedy and selfish, but then I see you acting with a good heart. Acting out of love, doing good things for no reason. You know who does things for no good reason?… Crazy people. Mas Locos. But one thing about crazy people – they see things other people don’t.”
Yes, I did just call you all crazy. Because you see do things that other people don’t. You get it. You know that the body can heal itself. You know that proper nerve flow is necessary for life. You know that subluxations interfere with that nerve flow. And you know that Chiropractic removes those subluxations. It’s as simple as that.
I’ll leave you with the words that Chris shared with me, and I suspect the words he shares with most.
I’ll challenge you to take it one step further. Don’t just Run Wild… Let’s Live Wild.
In Health,
Kathleen
P.S. As for the running naked part? I did take off my shoes for the last 1/2 miles or so…and boy, did I have the dirty feet to prove it!
