Only recently have we come up with the technology to turn lazing around into a way of life. We've taken our sinewy, durable, hunter-gatherer bodies and plunked them into an artificial world of leisure. Christopher McDougall More Quotes by Christopher McDougall More Quotes From Christopher McDougall Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn't live to love anything else. And like everything else we love-everything we sentimentally call our 'passions' and 'desires'-it's really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. Christopher McDougall distance passion running it’s easy to get outside yourself when you’re thinking about someone else. Christopher McDougall easy-to-get easy thinking Blaming the running injury epidemic on big, bad Nike seems too easy - but that's okay, because it's largely their fault. Christopher McDougall nike epidemics running Sometimes,' she said, 'it takes a woman to bring out the best in a man. Christopher McDougall said sometimes men For nearly 2 million years, our ancestors survived and thrived and spread across the planet because they could run other mammals into heat exhaustion. Christopher McDougall mammals running years We've created an unnatural form of running. It's not just the shoes, but we run on artificial surfaces - straight ahead, hard and steady - instead of speeding up and slowing down, reacting to the terrain with changes of pace and rhythm. Christopher McDougall shoes pace running Everyone is built for running. Christopher McDougall built running Perhaps all our troubles - all the violence, obesity, illness, depression, and greed we can't overcome - began when we stopped living as Running People. Deny your nature, and it will erupt in some other, uglier way. Christopher McDougall greed running people Faced with the almost inescapable conclusion that it had been selling lemons, Nike shifted into make-lemonade mode. Jeff Pisciotta became head of a top-secret and seemingly impossible project: finding a way to make a buck off a naked foot. Christopher McDougall nike feet running He was onto something. Something huge. It wasn't just how to run; it was how to live, the essence of who we are as a species and what we're meant to be. Christopher McDougall who-we-are essence running Even Charles Darwin, that human decoder ring of bizarre behavior, found the idea of saving a stranger's life to be a total head-scratcher. Christopher McDougall saving stranger ideas We say the rarajipari is the game of life, ' Angel said. 'You never know how hard it will be. You never know when it will end. You can't control it. You can only adjust. Christopher McDougall born-to-run angel games When it comes to mentors, you can't beat survival. Christopher McDougall mentor beats survival There is a growing subculture of barefoot runners, people who got rid of their shoes. And what they have found uniformly is you get rid of the shoes, you get rid of the stress, you get rid of the injuries and the ailments. Christopher McDougall stress motivation inspiration The Tarahumara would party like this all night, then rouse themselves the next morning to face off in a running race that could last not two miles, not two hours, but two full days. According to the Mexican historian Francisco Almada, a Tarahumara champion once ran 435 miles, the equivalent of setting out for a jog in New York City and not stopping till you were closing in on Detroit. Christopher McDougall new-york running morning We are the biggest sissies in the jungle. Every other animal is stronger than we are - they have fangs, they have claws, they have nimbleness, they have speed. We think Usain Bolt is fast - Usain Bolt can get his ass kicked by a squirrel. Christopher McDougall motivation inspiration animal We're constantly told that running will ruin our knees and outrage our hearts, but for nearly all of human existence, it was associated with freedom, vitality, and eternal youth. Christopher McDougall vitality heart running The 'Tarahumara' use their legs 'as designed.' By running at a young age with minimal footwear, they naturally develop the best biomechanical use of their legs. Cushioned shoes restrict foot movements and allow for over-striding. Short strides are natural. Christopher McDougall shoes feet running Running should be free, man. Christopher McDougall should running men Extreme heroism springs from something that no scientific theory can fully explain; it's an illogical impulse that flies in the face of biology, psychology, actuarial statistics, and basic common sense. Christopher McDougall common-sense psychology spring
