Pontificating

Like many other runners in the world, I have picked up a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  I'm a hundred pages or so into it, and McDougall has my brain buzzing.  What follows are some unformed thoughts, random ideas, lumpy observations.  Don't expect answers -- just questions.

So in this book, he's seeking this tribe of indigenous Mexicans, the Tarahumara, who have this incredible culture of long distance running.  Like many other cultures around the world, now and in pre-history, running isn't something they do three times a week with a heart monitor and $100 shoes.  Running is how they get from place to place.  Running is their entertainment.  It's their sport and a big slice of their culture.  From the time they are children, they run incredibly long distances.  And they do it in a dry, unforgiving part of the world eating a mean diet and wearing sandals.

This, coupled with an article I just read in Runners' World got me thinking.  There are fundamental errors in the way I think about running that hold me back.  I think it was Sinbad who told a story about white people and dancing.  Folks of less pale complexion just dance.  White people rise from their seat -- the place of sitting -- and walk across the room -- the place of walking -- to the dance floor, where dancing occurs.  Then, when the song is over, they stop dancing and walk back to their seats.  Over here, we sit; over here, we dance.  The point: some of us tend to compartmentalize and fragment our lives to an unhealthy extent.

Therefore, we have times of the day when we run.  We have special clothes and shoes for this activity. It starts, it happens, and then it ends.  The conditions have to be right.  I don't like running in the rain or on a full stomach. Sometimes I won't run if I forgot my running socks.  Of course, I don't think I am headed toward the idea of running anywhere at any time in any gear I happen to be wearing.  [Or am I?]  I mean, if I ran from home to work -- say -- in my work clothes, sat down in my cubicle, and worked the day all stinky, there would be consequences.  Our culture has strict norms of cleanliness and scent that encourage compartmentalizing exercise over there -- you do that over there, and come back after you shower. 

Maybe we are wrong.

I don't believe that we evolved -- through tens of thousands of years of running and chasing our food or running and avoiding becoming food or running to kill those other people taking our food or running to steal those other people's food -- in order to sit in cubicles all day and on couches all night watching TV.  I agree with others that we were born to run and be active constantly, and this thought is very much on my mind right now.  How do I integrate this idea into my life?