Born to Run
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The other day I found the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall in a
phonebooth. The bbok is about ultramarathons in the US and the Tarahumara
tribe in the Coppers Canyon in Mexico and about a white American ultra-runner
named el Caballo Blanco, who has moved to the canyons.
Notice the differences between the Tarahumara runners and the runners from the
US. The Tarahumara runners run in sandals while the white americans use
"advanced" running shoes.
The story begins with the author going to the doctor and asking "why do my
feet hurt?" and the doctor's advice to stop running.
But the tribal people neither heard about doctors nor about running shoes.
They run in sandals. Sometimes they are in touch with civilization.
Their economy is not based on money.
That life style sounds dangerous. It is when the canyons are a place
where you actually to survive you have to run away from animals and gangsters.
Now, guess what? I don't like my civilized life because I live in a
residebtial building. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like a victim
when the neighbor from the apartment downstairs knocks on their door
delivering the bad news that there's a leak from the upstairs neighbor's
pipes through their ceiling. That may mean that someone may need to call in
a plumber to fix the leak and that may cost a lot of money. And you have
to wait for the plumber to remove your floor-tiles and replace them.
And of course there are bills to pay, so you can't tell the difference
between your expenses and fines.