My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
The main characters of "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougal have found various ways to capitalize on the book's success. Barefoot Ted created the Luna Sandal company that sells my favorite running footwear. McDougal himself does various speaking engagements and is working on a film version of BTR. Scott Jurek has recently come out with a book of his own called "Eat Run". Scott is featured in BTR as one of the runners in the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon. He was also recently named one of the top 100 fittest men in the world.
Jurek's book is autobiographical and covers Scott's life from early childhood into his adult life where he has become a truly amazing ultra distance runner. Since one of Scott's stated reasons for his success is his vegan diet and solid training program, he ends each chapter with a vegan recipe and a training tip. I have tried several of the recipes and have found some pretty good eats. His mushroom l facebook entil buggers are excellent. I also used his Japanese rice balls or Onigiri recipe for some real food during the ADK Ragnar race to offset the middle school cafeteria spaghetti.
The book opens with a disclaimer that he is not a doctor and should you follow in his footsteps you might be seriously harmed or even killed. He sums it up perfectly with:
If you decide to run 135 miles in Death Valley, no matter what advice of mine you do or do not follow, you do so at your own risk. But I'll be with you in spirit, every kickass step.
His life starts off as the stereo typical underdog, the kid called "Pee Wee", and he ends up being an ultra running super star. He tells stories of perseverance against what seem like impossible odds. The book begins with him puking his guts out like a frat pledge on a Sunday morning. Except instead of drinking too much beer from a funnel the night before, Scott is vomiting because he is in Death Valley in the middle of the night where it is 105 degrees Fahrenheit and he has just run 70 miles with 65 to go. He is feeling very bad, and is contemplating dropping out of the 2005 Badwater Ultramarathon.
He goes on to describe his childhood when his mother contracts multiple sclerosis, and it really changes his life. He learns at an early age "Sometimes you just do things". This becomes sort of a racing mantra for Scott. When he is down and out and ready to quit, he somehow just does it.
There are many impressive races described in the book. I have two favorites. The first one is when Scott sprains his ankle just prior to running the Hardrock 100 at a children's soccer game. Instead of taking vitamin I (ibuprofen) , he uses RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) and an anti inflammatory diet. He not only finishes the race, but wins with a course record of 26 hours and 8 minutes.
The next race that really made an impression on me was one of the three times he wins the Spartathlon, a 153 mile race between Athens and Sparta in Greece. During the race after 130 miles, when he is in the lead, he sees a headlamp approaching. He proceeds to run 15k at a 7 minute pace only to find out it was a "bandit" runner that joined the race at 120 miles. He still has 22 to go, and has now needlessly expended lots of extra energy. The fact that he is able to dig that deep after so many miles really shows the power of the mind to be able to overcome anything and push on.
I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it for any runner. I like Scott's philosophy of g fitflop ood diet and a science based training plan. The race stories are epic adventures. The recipes and training tips are very useful. I love the chili recipe which even fooled Max into thinking it contained meat.
Although Jurek is not a "barefoot" runner, he does recommend at least some training be done barefoot. I would say that my own BTR inspired running is actually a mix of Barefoot Ted and Scott Jurek. I am now mostly vegetarian (although I still eat fish), and I run and walk either barefoot or in minimalist shoes of one kind or another.
The main characters of "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougal have found various ways to capitalize on the book's success. Barefoot Ted created the Luna Sandal company that sells my favorite running footwear. McDougal himself does various speaking engagements and is working on a film version of BTR. Scott Jurek has recently come out with a book of his own called "Eat Run". Scott is featured in BTR as one of the runners in the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon. He was also recently named one of the top 100 fittest men in the world.
Jurek's book is autobiographical and covers Scott's life from early childhood into his adult life where he has become a truly amazing ultra distance runner. Since one of Scott's stated reasons for his success is his vegan diet and solid training program, he ends each chapter with a vegan recipe and a training tip. I have tried several of the recipes and have found some pretty good eats. His mushroom l facebook entil buggers are excellent. I also used his Japanese rice balls or Onigiri recipe for some real food during the ADK Ragnar race to offset the middle school cafeteria spaghetti.
The book opens with a disclaimer that he is not a doctor and should you follow in his footsteps you might be seriously harmed or even killed. He sums it up perfectly with:
If you decide to run 135 miles in Death Valley, no matter what advice of mine you do or do not follow, you do so at your own risk. But I'll be with you in spirit, every kickass step.
His life starts off as the stereo typical underdog, the kid called "Pee Wee", and he ends up being an ultra running super star. He tells stories of perseverance against what seem like impossible odds. The book begins with him puking his guts out like a frat pledge on a Sunday morning. Except instead of drinking too much beer from a funnel the night before, Scott is vomiting because he is in Death Valley in the middle of the night where it is 105 degrees Fahrenheit and he has just run 70 miles with 65 to go. He is feeling very bad, and is contemplating dropping out of the 2005 Badwater Ultramarathon.
He goes on to describe his childhood when his mother contracts multiple sclerosis, and it really changes his life. He learns at an early age "Sometimes you just do things". This becomes sort of a racing mantra for Scott. When he is down and out and ready to quit, he somehow just does it.
There are many impressive races described in the book. I have two favorites. The first one is when Scott sprains his ankle just prior to running the Hardrock 100 at a children's soccer game. Instead of taking vitamin I (ibuprofen) , he uses RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) and an anti inflammatory diet. He not only finishes the race, but wins with a course record of 26 hours and 8 minutes.
The next race that really made an impression on me was one of the three times he wins the Spartathlon, a 153 mile race between Athens and Sparta in Greece. During the race after 130 miles, when he is in the lead, he sees a headlamp approaching. He proceeds to run 15k at a 7 minute pace only to find out it was a "bandit" runner that joined the race at 120 miles. He still has 22 to go, and has now needlessly expended lots of extra energy. The fact that he is able to dig that deep after so many miles really shows the power of the mind to be able to overcome anything and push on.
I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it for any runner. I like Scott's philosophy of g fitflop ood diet and a science based training plan. The race stories are epic adventures. The recipes and training tips are very useful. I love the chili recipe which even fooled Max into thinking it contained meat.
Although Jurek is not a "barefoot" runner, he does recommend at least some training be done barefoot. I would say that my own BTR inspired running is actually a mix of Barefoot Ted and Scott Jurek. I am now mostly vegetarian (although I still eat fish), and I run and walk either barefoot or in minimalist shoes of one kind or another.
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