The Human Body Is Built for Distance

NYT piece looks at recent work by evolutionary biologists who say we developed with the ability to run long distances because we would chase down other animals and eat their meat ... which helped our brains get big.

Says the Times: the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body, is primarily engaged only during running. “Your butt is a running muscle; you barely use it when you walk," says Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman.

Wired's nice examination from July of the arguments for jettisoning your cushiony running shoes and getting some foot gloves. I have to say, I've been adjusting my stride lately to a shorter, choppier gait and and I think these guys may be right. I'm going faster. I'm also using old running shoes alot. I've got six pairs dating back four years that I rotate around. I'll forgo the foot gloves. Though a guy on our college team, Walt, trained and competed barefoot. We're talking late 70s, folks.

A must-see: one-hour documentary Frontline: The Warning on the stunning contribution of Greenspan, Rubin and Summers to our current Great Recession

Born to Run

What do you say about a book on tape that's wonderfully riveting? "You can't turn it off?"

I'm tearing through Christopher MacDougall's Born to Run like a cheetah after a gazelle. I don't know if it means I'll be running barefoot but I just did 50 minutes on the treadmill listening to it at the gym and I felt oddly like the book's heros. No pain. No stress.

Ah, to be able to run with the Tarahumara, weaving through the goat trails and washes of Mexico's Copper Canyon. (Barranca del Cobre). I wanna go.

If you read the book you'll know the people in the pictures And that dude Caballo Blanco, who is he, anyway? He's s on Twitter now. http://twitter.com/mcaballoblanco

Pre-Cambrian rock, elevation 4,840 feet

Dix Mtn. September 2009.

Climbed by the entire family and bracketed by two nights at a lean-to on the north fork of the Bouquet River.

In the background: Dial Mt. and Wolfjaws on the Great Range.