Bramley Famli

Currently, running has my attention in a large way. To be honest it’s not as much the running, as what running stands for, that’s got me all focused and interested.

Some of it is the idea that shoes, in their current fancy form, are probably not good for any of us. So I’m trying to go barefoot wherever I can in order to see if the re-occurring knee injury I get from running, goes away faster, and whether it’ll come back?

Another bit is that if we were ‘born to run‘ and we’re not, what does that mean for us as a species? In the book I spoke about 3 posts earlier, I read that in societies where running is still practiced there is a far lower incidence of things like, cancer, anxiety, depression, and a whole host of modern illness.

In an article in the New York Times Health section, there’s some interesting research being showcased around running, anxiety and the impact of exercise on the human brain.

It looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other forms.

There may be more to running than certainly I ever imagined. The long run to freedom continues…..

Here’s an interview with Christopher McDougall, author of ‘Born to Run’ talking about running barefoot, the evil hiding in shoes and showing how to do it.

CNN Interviews Christopher McDougall about his best selling book, Born to Run

I’m inspired to see if all this barefoot running talk will stop my knee injury?

I recently borrowed a book from a mate called ‘Born to Run’. It’s one of those rare books I haven’t been able to put down. And I’m not a runner. It’s written by Christopher McDougall, and I’d describe it as the discovery of who we’ve always been when it comes to running.

Unless you’re an executive for Nike or Adidas, reading it will certainly challenge your running paradigm and what you’ve always believed about running and most definitely running shoes.

Essentially, reading ‘Born to Run‘ will cause you to have to confront your ideas about running shoes, as evidence is presented that suggest that they quite possibly do more damage than running barefoot. You’re going to have to read past halfway to get to the data.

One of the characters in the book is Barefoot Ted. The first American to be sponsored to run ‘barefoot’. There are some interesting links from his website.

I’m one of those runners (65%-85% of all runners every year) who gets injured when they run. My knee specifically, and the answer has always been better shoes. This book suggests the opposite. Take my shoes off and learn to run barefoot. So completely counter-running-culture. But when I read of the health benefits of running, and how healthy communities who have always run are, I’m determined to at least give this ‘new’ way (back to our roots) a large shot.

The other large theme of the book to impact me was running for running sake. Because we always have. There’s one section in the book that points out that running for most of us (certainly me) is about a goal. Fitness, winning, sexy body, etc. Cultures who have always run, ran because running is worth doing because it’s who we are.