Running "Free"

About a month ago I read an article on the Tarahumura (1) in Men's Healthy titled "The Men Who Live Forever" by Christopher McDougal. The Tarahumara are practically immortal: their incidence of disease is just about zero in every category. They can run 40 or 80 miles at a time. Tarahumara like to eat salty snacks and beer - almost exclusively. They live to be 95 or 100 years old and 65 year old Tarahumarans can still run 40 miles at a time. On their feet are thin sandals lashed high around their calves with leather straps. Their secret - barefoot running style. They don't warm up, don't stretch. They don't need orthotics and air-cushioned Nike heels. Just leather on the bottoms of their feet. The author of the article reported his size 12 foot rebuilt into a size 9. His arch came back. And he found himself running longer and easier than ever.

I instantly adopted this because it all just clicked with me. I could not run barefoot because rocks and stones still hurt. I don't have the skillz needed to make a pair of Tarahumara shoe-sandals. So I bought the Nike Free - a minimalist shoe that replicates barefoot running.

Now I'm running all the time. It's a revolution, baby!

LOG: 8/15/2006, ran 2.0 miles while pushing Marylin & Jimmy in the jogging stoller; weight 177 lbs

Food for Thought

*** I'm not a big fan of forwarded messages, but I like a good analogy and story like this one. *** *** Instead of "forwarding to everyone I know" ...I'll just leave it here for other people who like a good story like this. ***

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated > to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Not for the bandwagon fans of Don

So maybe the family blog just wasn't enough. Maybe you wanted to know more. This blogs for you ...but mostly its for me. Don. My thoughts. My daily observations. My not-so-daily commitment to things played out for your amusement. My workouts. My self examination. Me, me, me. Don't want to know lots and lots of stuff about me ...Don ...then hit the Back button and get lost. Otherwise, enjoy.

It should be noted this first post is awfully uninspired. I'm about to log off the computer entirely and go get a snack and watch some TV. But I'll be back ...oh, yes. I'll be back.