Golf Flow by Valiante Gio

Author:Valiante, Gio [Valiante, Gio]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781450450102
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Published: 2013-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

Keeping It Real

To illustrate, in his 2009 book Born to Run, author Christopher McDougall chronicles the modern phenomenon of distance runners who make traditional 26-mile (42 km) marathons seem like wind sprints. These ultramarathoners tend to think of 42 miles (68 km) as their normal distance, and sometimes run more than 75 miles (120 km) at a clip. While exploring this unique subset of the population, McDougall uncovered the life of a native tribe who live in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico called the Tarahumara, a people who are widely recognized as the leading distance runners on the planet. The Tarahumara not only run superhuman distances but do it on a diet based largely on corn meal and beer and while wearing simple leather wraps on their feet in lieu of pricey running shoes. Even more amazing is that the Tarahumara rarely report fatigue, illness, or injury.

Many explanations have been offered for the high-performance running capabilities of this tribe, but none are more compelling than their psychological traits, which contrast strikingly with those of American runners. While the Tarahumara were increasing their distances and lowering their times, America’s best distance runners were doing the exact opposite. The people running in leather straps and drinking beer were improving, whereas those eating energy bars and running in the most technologically advanced running shoes ever created were getting worse. According to McDougall,

By the early ’80s, the Greater Boston Track Club had half a dozen guys who could run a 2:12 marathon. That’s six guys in one club in one city. Twenty years later you couldn’t find a single 2:12 marathoner anywhere in the country. . . . So what happened? How did we go from leader of the pack to lost and left behind?

The American approach . . . was too artificial and grabby. Too much about getting stuff and getting it now. It wasn’t art; it was business, a hard-nosed quid pro quo. No wonder so many people hated running; if you thought it was only a means to an end, then why stick with it if you weren’t getting enough quo for your quid?

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