Born to Run with Five Fingers

I’ve been looking for something different the past few weeks to push my workouts to a new level in 2010. During 2009 I dropped 50 pounds but had a few ups and downs along the way. I’ve been looking for a new form of motivation and drive to elevate my workouts and goal setting. While I was searching I came across a great book called Born to Run.

The book weaves an engulfing tale of an ultra running race in the Copper Canyon of Mexico that pits a bunch of elite American runners against native Tarahumara runners. Throughout the buildup to the race the backstories of the real life characters are told as well as what drives them to run. The passion, purity, and determination of these people to run is truly inspiring. The book also teaches the reader about how all people, all of humanity, is born to run. Our problem is that we likely don’t know it because we can’t easily wade through the american shoe marketing and misinformation machines. The history of why we wear huge, clunky, pain inducing shoes is actually worth the read alone. Add to this the history of running, modern research into the mechanics of running, and what really drives people to run and you have an amazingly entertaining and thought provoking read.

I’ve never been a good runner, quite the contrary actually. I’ve never run a race nor am I one to run for hours on end for the sheer joy. I’ve always envied people who could, it’s just that my body was never made to run, or was it. While I’m still hugely overweight at 340 pounds I have a new drive and hope that I’ll be able to transform into a natural runner. I don’t expect to be like the elite athletes described in the book who can run 20 miles in the morning and then 20 at night for fun. I do however hope to transform myself into someone who can run without hurting my body and someone who could run 20 miles when they felt the drive. Heck, I’d love to some day attempt an ultra race.

With this new desire and drive I’m using the information in the book along with other research to learn the best techniques to run without hurting myself. I’ve picked up a pair of Vibram Five Fingers KSO, the shoes prescribed by Barefoot Ted in the book. I wasn’t certain they would work for me since I had wide feet and because of my weight. After emailing Ted and getting a reply within hours my fears were abated and I took the leap. I’ll be researching a small run, hopefully offroad, around my birthday or in the fall to set as a long term goal this year. Wish me luck, I’ll be posting updates.

UPDATE — I had my first workout using the new shoes and it was really awesome. No, it wasn’t running, it was an aerobic style interval workout alternating between weights and cardio for around 40 minutes. I was able to maintain my balance like never before and things like lunges, squats, and really anything that required using feet felt very natural and effortless. I couldn’t get over how great lunges felt … I think they’re going to go from the hated to the favorite list.

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