It's Baaaaack!

I'm watching the finals of Wimbledon right now. It's 14-14 in the final set of the longest match in Wimbledon Finals history. A true marathon match. Just crazy. And speaking of crazy...

I read a book yesterday about running.... about ultramarathoning... about the evolution of our species and the meaning of life ... called Born to run. Most books that have anything to do with running are, unfortunately written by runners. And, because of this, read like they've been written by, well... a runner. Born to Run was fortunately written by a journalist who happens to also be a runner. Ahhhh. Plot devices. Complex structures. Evocative diction. Suspense and Discovery. As this is a running blog and not a book review blog, suffice it to say that it was a page turner despite being about running.

More importantly for me, it put a new spin on things that managed to give me a great big warm and fuzzy. 9 times out of 10, when someone tells me that they are a vegetarian, it makes me want to immediately shut them out. I'm long since past the stage when it made me want to throttle them, but I usually can't resist the urge to ask them: why? If the whole of their answer is "because eating animals is cruel," it's over. The simple truth is that all omnivores and carnivores eat animals. Our unusually large brains became that way because we had access to the high fat / high protein source of sustenance provided by animals we managed to kill. Our species evolved as omnivores, not herbivores. This is what I would explain to the vegetarian, usually garnering a blank stare and a get-the-hell-out-of-my-face reaction.

Born to Run (BTR) also points out, rather convincingly, that our species evolved to run. But wait. Wouldn't the big muscles and big brains provided by mammoth meat just make us less efficient for running? Indeed. Think about it. Neanderthal man had the most solid body and the largest brain of any hominid species EVER. Yep, their brains were bigger than ours. Evidence suggest that they may have even had speech long before previously thought. But Neanderthal man wasn't our ancestor. Neanderthal man was a competitive species. And, contrary to what you see on Geico commercials, Neanderthal man no longer exists. Who does? WE do. And why? Because when the earth came out of the cold period, animals got nimbler on the plains opened up by the receding forests. The huge muscular Neanderthal man lost his element of surprise. The big game he hunted also lost the cover of the forests as well. As we all know, the predator goes the way of the prey. So instead of ambushing and overpowering big prey, hominids were forced to chase and out-endure their prey. So we evolved to run. And run long. Humans, in fact, can run longer distances faster than any species on the planet. Hands down. It's not even close. Game, set and match. That's why we live everywhere and have dominion over all other beasts. That's why we have civilizations and spaceships and food for everyone (well almost everyone).

But how does this have anything to do with vegetarianism, Dave? Well, I'm glad you asked. Gazelles are fast. Antelopes are fast. Out enduring an animal doesn't always work. And ALWAYS takes a ton of energy. So our endurance hunter ancestors had to fuel themselves somehow, right? Right. Nuts, berries, fruit, veggies, roots are all great sources of calories and can not only be grown and stored at home, but can also be found out on the trail while in pursuit of prey. So we fueled up on fruits and grains, set off in pursuit of an ibex, ran for a few hours, refueling on the run with berries and such, and, if we were lucky and smart, we were rewarded with a high protein and high fat snack. Otherwise, we'd go home, sleep it off and refuel again with the stand-byes at home. So that means that most of the calories on which our species evolved were of the herbivorous persuasion.

Fascinating stuff. Don't get me wrong, I know that those 9 out of 10 people I come across are not thinking of evolutionary morphology when they make the choice to become veg's. But now I must temper my distaste for their decision even more.

But that's all one. The real goods of BTR came in the form of 2 cold hard tips. Im not gonna attempt to sum up the first - the importance of mindset when it comes to running. The author sells his books because of his ability to use words to express the sentiment effectively. But, basically, I have, in a sense, re-discovered the importance of having the right frame of mind and motivation for running. The second nugget is a little easier to distill. Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. This is the basic formula for the most efficient stride for running. And, as one key character in BTR points out, you only have to master the first three, the fourth will follow automatically. There is, of course, lots more nuance involved, but this is, again, a blog, and not a book.

It's back. What's back, Dave? I don't know... Whatever it was that I had lost earlier this year. I was smiling for all 11 miles of my run this morning. I was singing in the shower after my run. I wasn't sore. I wasn't grouchy. I refueled with beans and rice and a banana. I feel great. Body and mind. I'm so excited. Sure, I can't wait to qualify for Boston. It's still my white whale. But, if life can be like this until I do?, then I'm not in too dire a hurry for the finish line. ... And, speaking of the finish line, Federer wins the 5th set - 16-14 - for his 15th major title. The most of any tennis player ever.