It still obeys the ancient instinct to store fat in case there’s ever a shortage of food, and it will eventually adapt to any exercise you throw at it in an attempt to run those sweat those pounds away. I really better put in some miles tomorrow’? But your body is both a hoarder and a fast learner. How many times have you said, “I only run so I can eat whatever I want”? Or pushed back from the table and thought, “Ugh. One way or another, most of us begin running because of our relationship with food. Once you get the hang of it, all you have to do is keep the same beat and footstrike in mind when you head out on the roads. “Rock Lobster” is 92 beats per minute, exactly the cadence you want for an easy, bouncy stride. All you have to do is pull up “Rock Lobster” by the B52s on your phone, take off your shoes, and run in place with your back near a wall (but not touching it). You can learn the same rhythm and recoil in just a few minutes. Humans are actually the greatest distance runners on earth, he knew because of our ability to vent heat by sweating, rather than panting, and our kangaroo-like quantity of bouncy elastic tissue, humans can out-run any other creature on the planet on a hot day. Maybe the worst sin we’ve committed against our bodies, he realized, was accepting the idea that running is supposed to be miserable. But in a flash, it suddenly all made sense.

“Such a sense of joy,” Coach Vigil marveled, as the Tarahumara tribesmen charged through the Rocky Mountains and dominated their American competition. He was watching runners from Mexico’s remote Copper Canyons compete in a 100-mile ultramarathon in Leadville, Colorado, and he couldn’t believe how much fun they were having. Coach Vigil was 65-years-old at the time and had been coaching Olympians and collegiate elites for more than four decades when he spotted that grin, and it suddenly made him re-think everything he thought he knew about running. The strangest thing Coach Joe Vigil ever saw in any race was a smile.

Chris mcdougall born to run 2