christopher mcdougall, "born to run: a hidden tribe, super athletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen" book review

I just finished Christopher McDougall’s "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" and I am of two minds about it. Aside from the insufferably long and ridiculous subtitle, "Born to Run" (with apologies to Springsteen) is a fast (maybe a pun there?), easy and enjoyable read - especially for runners (shod or barefoot). On the other hand (foot) - if you prefer running shoes during training and races, the tone of this paean to barefoot running may leave you less than enthusiastic.

Let me say this: any author who can invoke a scene from "The World According to Garp" (no, not that one) in the first few pages, include quotes from Kerouac’s "The Dharma Bums" and Ginsberg’s "Howl," toss in references to Carlos Castaneda’s "Don Juan" (who knew that the Yaqui’s were actually the Tarahumara?) and Gary Kasparov’s chess strategies and, finally, quote the classic lines from Charles Bukowski’s "Factotum" - without actually mentioning the book by name:

"If you’re going to try, go all the way. There’s no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the Gods, and the nights will have flame and fire... You will ride life straight to perfect laughter, it’s the only good fight there is."

makes McDougall’s book a must read! As a bonus, it's about running!

McDougall found himself searching for the Tarahumara accidentally, with the simple question, "why does my foot hurt?" From one doctor to another, one running shoe to the next, one treatment or another - the search for painless running led him to the mysterious Tarahumara and their incredible running skills (which seemed to grow more powerful with each rendering). Between the trek to find them in Mexico’s Sierra Madre, and his description of them running the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Race in Colorado, I was hooked.

As an aside, a year ago I read a National Geographic profile on the Tarahumara (who call themselves "Raramuri"), "A People Apart," in the November 2008 issue. It was a fascinating piece - and focused on the quickly vanishing traditions of their culture (including endurance running) in the face of modernization. Almost hidden in the text of "Born to Run" was a confirmation of this sad development. "Caballo Blanco" disqualified a group of Tarahumara from the 50 miler because they cheated and cut the course!

"The Urique Tarahumara had lost their old way of running, he realized, and their confidence along with it. They weren’t the running people anymore, they were just guys desperately trying to keep up with the living shadows of themselves."

The sad consequence of a few too many pick-ups to cover the vast distances between towns and households?

McDougall did a good job of painting his characters, Ann Transon, Scott Jurek , Barefoot Ted, Jenn, Billy, and most importantly, Caballo Blanco. I won’t spend time here fleshing out those individual stories. The only major downer was the chapter full of junk science extolling the virtues of barefoot running. For me, it was a complete turnoff. We had gotten plenty on the virtues of this new religion from Barefoot Ted (naturally) and McDougall’s own conversion to the wonders of bare feet. The proselytizing crossed the line.

If an entire chapter of barefoot browbeating wasn’t enough, then the ad hominem attack on Bill Bowerman quickly helped reach the low point of the book. "For a guy who told so many people how to run, Bowerman didn’t do much of it himself." But McDougall saved his coup de grace for Nike: "Blaming the running injury epidemic on big, bad Nike seems too easy - but that’s okay, because it’s largely their fault[!]" (emphasis mine). Luckily, he redeemed himself with the follow-up material on the evolution of running and the 50 mile race itself.

All in all, if you overlook the cheap shots at Nike and Bowerman, and you're one of the lucky few who has no problem with running shoes, "Born to Run" is a great read!

pat, andrea, and alexa attend mad men season finale party hosted by basket of kisses!

sunday night, pat, andrea and alexa went into the city to watch the last episode of mad men's 3rd season at "basket of kisses" season finale party in midtown. pat and her sister are big fans of the show - but the lipp sisters and their fan site are in a class of their own! they met the lipp sisters, special guest michael gladis ("paul kinsey"), fellow fans, watched the last episode and, in sum, had an awesome time!

i had hoped to post some of pat's pictures yesterday - but was utterly flummoxed by her new camera! pictures aside, maybe she'll do a guest post on the party and season three finale?!


deborah, pat, and roberta


michael gladis and alexa

fall of the berlin wall - 20th anniversary!

twenty years ago today, november 9, 1989, the infamous symbol of soviet oppression, the berlin wall, finally crumbled at the hands of free people! that historic event paved the way for the subsequent reunification of germany - and, ultimately, the collapse of the soviet union and end of the cold war. the world hasn't be the same since!

berlin has a special place in my world. i spent most of the summer of 1984 traipsing around europe with a eurorail pass. the biggest chunk of that time was spent in italy, but the emotional highpoint of that summer was probably the week i spent in west berlin with a good friend. and of that time, our trip across the wall to east berlin was the most eye-opening experience of my then 21 years on this planet.

i made the obligatory visit to "checkpoint charlie" - now part of a museum exhibit - and the nearby museum of the wall. i purchased a poster of the iconic image of an east german solider tossing away his rifle and escaping to the west (by jumping over the barbed wire that would eventually grow into the wall). that poster still hangs in my office today - 25 years later.



check out this great coverage of the anniversary celebration.

william blake, jane austen, and puccini exhibits at the morgan library

it seemed strange to take the weekend off from races (although i did get in a pair of ten milers - but that's for a different post). it was even stranger to spend a good chunk a perfect running day inside - even if that interior space happened to be the morgan library! i've been a huge fan of the morgan since the early 1980's - going there during my college years to check out their unrivaled collection of "books of hours!"

i became even more fascinated with the musuem and its collections after i read "the house of morgan" a few years ago. what made me especially keen about visiting the museum was the william blake exhibit - and the 21 book of job watercolors on display! ever since i read william safire's take on the book of job - profusely illustrated with blake's work - i've wanted to see these watercolors up close.

the jane austen exhibit was a great bonus. i don't count myself a fan of austen - the 19th century russians (dostoevsky, in particular) are more my cup of tea. but the relics of her writing life were fun to see (along with the film commissioned for the exhibit). puccini was an even bigger surprise - albeit much smaller exhibit.

if you happen to be at 36th street and madison - stop in for a visit!

just registered for the 2010 boston marathon!

while it goes against every procrastination instinct in my body, i bit the bullet and registered for the 2010 boston marathon this morning. with the following warning boldly on display at the boston athletic association site:

"Registration for the 114th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 19, 2010 is ongoing and the race is rapidly approaching its field size limit.

Registration is underway. If you have met the qualifying standards and intend to enter the race, the B.A.A. strongly advises you to register now before the field is filled."

i wasn't about to risk a disastrous repeat of last year - when i was unceremoniously closed out of the 2009 race because a record fast filling of the race field! so ended my 5 year streak of boston marathons :(

i'll have more to say about the 2010 edition (my second favorite event at any distance, behind the hometown favorite nyc marathon) in the months ahead. for now, suffice to say - beantown bound - again - in the spring :D

ticker tape parade to celebrate yankees' world series championship!!

that's the view outside my office window just before 8 a.m. this morning - looking down vesey street towards broadway. within another hour, the streets become so thick with fans there to see the ticker tape parade honoring the yankees' world series victory - that crossing broadway was impossible! and that was hours before the parade even kicked off at battery park and made its way north along broadway to city hall! it was the only picture i managed to take because my batteries died :(

it's been 9 years since the yankees won the world series title and the city threw a parade down the canyon of heros to celebrate (but two years since the last parade - for the superbowl champion giants). when i got to the office this morning there were huge plastic bags filled with shredded paper confetti in the lobby for tenants to bring upstairs for the parade. later that morning our building management got further into the spirit of things and set up a table with coffee and breakfast fare in the lobby!

the parade ended at city hall park, where after introductions and short speeches, mayor bloomberg gave the team keys to the city! and the most fun news was that giardi would change now change his number from 27 to 28 - anticipating next year! giardi also announce that pitchers and catchers had to report for spring training in only 91 days!

now, with the post-season over, time to focus on football. unfortunately, the giants flew under the nyc radar screen for the last 3 weeks and ran up a losing streak. let's end that on sunday!

needless to say, no work got done in my office today.

yankees beat philadelphia and win their 27th world series championship!!

that picture says it all!! yankees won game 6 at the stadium last night, 7-3, and the series, 4-2, and earned their 27th world series championship - woo hoo!! it was an incredible way to end the season at the brand new yankee stadium.

last night was all hideki matsui - who batted in 6 of the 7 runs the yankees scored, and tied a world series record for rbi's in one game in the process. watching matsui battle pedro martinez in the his first at bat in the bottom of the second, which resulted in his first of 2 home runs, was impressive. martinez had nothing on him last night. matsui (who went 3-4) was named the series mvp - deservedly so!!

it's been nine years since the yankees won the world series. rudy guiliani was mayor in that pre-9/11 season. last night he (one of the yankees biggest fans) was there, along w/his successor in office, mike bloomberg. according to bloomberg, new york city will stage the biggest celebration ever to honor the yankees.

as i walked to the office this morning, worker were already unloading gear from trucks and setting up the viewing stands at city hall!

bring it on... ticker tape parade on friday - awesome!!