I had a most delicious experience a couple days ago inspired by a book I had just read. I have always wanted to be a runner. I love exercise with rhythmic breathing and meditative movement, like yoga, swimming and dance. It would seem running falls into this category. The stumbling block for me with running has always been that I get bored from the training regime. Timing the run to walk ratio kept pulling me out of any flow and actually made me anxious. Anytime I would talk to experts they would insist on me sticking to the regime. And all I wanted to do was run.
Fast forward years later and friend suggests I read Born to Run, by Christopher Mcdougall.
The premise of the book is that human beings evolved as the ultimate long distance running animal on earth. We are engineered to run barefoot over all terrain for hours. For almost two million years we were mostly vegan but that we supplemented this diet by persistence hunting. We basically ran down our prey until it keeled over and died by using it’s inability to release heat and run which only hairless, sweating humans can do, against it. So, we are not the fastest but we are the most efficient long-distance runners on the planet. Killing an animal took us about as long as it takes the average person to run a marathon.
And we did it barefoot, or later with moccasins or sandals.
The other assertion of this book is that the epidemic proportions of injuries in modern runner’s feet, knee and hips may be stemming from the fact that we run in over-cushioned, destabilizing shoes which don’t allow our feet to send feedback to our brains so that we may adjust our gait to ensure the least strain. Instead, we are pounding the pavement.
Personally, since I started practicing yoga more intensely seven years ago, I have found that I prefer my shoes to have less and less support. Well, meaning people keep encouraging me to wear shoes with more arch support or cushioning but instinctively, as my arches have grown stronger and my foot has widened at the ball of the foot I prefer flat, hard shoes.
Fast forward to my run. I put on a pair of so-called barefoot runners with a zero drop, leave my watch at home and head out the door. It’s a beautiful Ibiza morning; the sky is streaked with pink. It’s so early the air is still fresh from the night and the birds are all screaming with joy for this days beginning.
I run down the street and it feels great. I don’t worry about pace but I keep my step as light as I can and swing my arms more than usual. Heading towards the Santa Eulalia river, I keep my spine long and straight, my head high and enjoy the scenery.
I run when I feel like it. When I feel a little overexerted I walk till I feel like running again. Halfway along my run, the gravel path opens up into an uneven flagstone-paved path at which point I pull off my runners and begin to run barefoot. It feels amazing. My gait becomes even lighter, more precise and sensitive and my spine even straighter. I feel connected, primal, child-like and elated. I smile at everyone I pass. My feet don’t hurt. I run about 1/3 of a mile barefoot, and then when the surface becomes gravel again my feet finally rebel and respectfully I put my shoes on again.
I am now a runner. I will run when I feel like, not with a schedule or a technique designed with some specific mileage goal but with the goal of feeling as present and alive in my body as I can.
I have learned that just like in yoga you must listen with utmost respect to the wisdom of the body. Listen with sensitivity and move with grace and your connection to your body cannot fail you. This connectivity, this deep listening to oneself has a by-product that is experienced by the mind, body and soul as Joy.
Maili Dinim is a Yoga Instructor and Natural Food Chef. She can be contacted via MailiDinim.com
