The White Horse and the Gypsy Cowboy

El Caballo Blanco, enjoying a run

The Gypsy Cowboy

            I finally finished reading “Born to Run,” and I must say that I quite enjoyed it, especially the last few chapters. In Chapter 32, the final chapter, which is more of an epilogue than a full chapter, McDougal finally addressed the hazy beginnings of the mysterious man who would come to be known as El Caballo Blanco. If his tale is to be believed, Caballo was born with the name of Michael Randall Hickman, to a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. Because of his father’s job, Michael had to switch schools repetitively and, as a pale, skinny loner, bullies generally targeted him. In response to this situation, he decided to sign up for boxing lessons. He got really good at boxing and, under the name “The Gypsy Cowboy,” turned it into a profession.

            As one may expect, Michael soon got bored of this occupation and traveled to Maui to seek out the island’s hidden shrines of Hana. It was here that he met Smitty, the man who introduced him to running. Mike stayed there for a while, and then met and married his wife Melinda. The two moved on to Colorado as a couple after Mike changed his name to Micah True. A few years passed, and Micah resumed his boxing career. After he won a fight against the fourth ranked kickboxer in the U.S., he decided to retire yet again, and turned his eyes to running. He ran marathons for a few years, until he finally met Martimano Cervantes at the Leadville 100.

            Caballo Blanco’s tale is a strange one, to say the least. As an advocate of peace and nonviolence, he chose to beat people up as a living, which I found quite ironic. He definitely lived the hard life of a loner, even in marriage, and it’s quite understandable how he ended up in the Copper Canyons. Even in death he was a loner, dying in the middle of the Gila Wilderness of a heart disease during one of his runs.

Humans: The World's Greatest Endurance Runners

Runner Usain Bolt compared with a cheetah

            The author launched into yet another tangent in Chapter 28, this time about the studies and findings of David Carrier, an undergraduate at the University of Utah. During one of these studies, David noticed that the rabbit he was studying had very strong muscles on its diaphragm. He came to the conclusion that these muscles allowed the rabbit to run faster than its predators and into safety by providing it with more air. By applying this same air-consumption principle to human evolution, David realized that humans had begun to walk upright so that they could breathe better than any other animal on the planet, which meant that they evolved in this way so that they could run better. Not faster, of course, but more efficiently and for a longer period of time. This allowed humans to relentlessly pursue an animal until it collapsed to the ground due to excess heat and lack of time to catch their breath.

Neanderthals compared to primitive and modern man

            I enjoyed reading about this, as I had taken an anthropology course earlier in the year, which stated as much, albeit with a much shorter and more concise explanation. The entire theory makes a lot of sense, because a creature wouldn’t logically evolve into a weaker animal- it would adapt traits to help it survive in its environment. When the book speaks of Homo Sapiens’s triumph over Homo Neandertalensis, however, I don’t really see the source of its information. Most of the information about Neanderthals is speculation, as we can never actually know how they interacted with each other within their society. But I appear to be going off on a tangent, like McDougal so often does, at this point. Anyways, the chapter was intriguing and informative for the most part and, as a result, I now know more about human evolution.

"Going Tribal"

Evolution Running, by Ken Mierke

            In my latest reading, Christopher McDougal described the way he was able to fix his running stride. Eric Orton, the crippled man responsible for his substantial change, went about doing so in a very “untraditional” way. He told McDougal that he didn’t have to change his diet- it would change by itself- and he didn’t need to stretch before working out. In fact, Orton went so far as to claim that stretching and yoga actually caused injuries. That was definitely something I had never heard before. In a sense, however, Orton wasn’t really training the author through an “untraditional” method; he wanted McDougal to train in a “tribal” manner- the way that humans had trained for thousands of years.

Eric Orton training

            Orton trained McDougal using Ken Mierke’s “Evolution Running” style. This was based on the Tarahumara’s running style, and focused on developing a shorter stride but moving one’s legs faster and burning fat instead of sugar. It seems kind of strange, but the way to activate this “fat-burning furnace” is by staying under your aerobic threshold. Eric suggested that McDougal do this by running barefoot, like the Tarahumara. Within only two weeks, Eric was sending McDougal off on two hour runs, so it’s quite apparent that this method is very effective.

Nike: The Runner's Greatest Enemy

Most people go out of their way to buy expensive running shoes, as Nike and many other footwear superpowers recommend, claiming that they are more comfortable than cheap running shoes and prevent injuries. Christopher McDougal, however, claims that all of this is false information planted in the minds of the consumer by Nike, and good running shoes not only fail to prevent injuries, but also cause the majority of running injuries. Apparently, running shoes prevent the user’s feet from automatically readjusting their stride to prevent injury by providing them with false senses of protection and stability.

Nike: The Cortéz

            Personally, I found this quite sensible and intriguing. I suppose when one is in the act of running barefoot, one must adjust their stride and the method through which one’s feet make contact with the ground because the pain is apparent, whereas running shoes provide a false sense of support and prevent the runner from micro-tuning the method by which their feet make impact with the ground. Nike, of course, knew this, but did nothing to change their actions, which makes sense in respect to their own interests, as increasing awareness would decrease revenue. As the company responsible for inventing the first running shoe, the Cortéz, and introducing it to the public, the fate of the running shoe industry and its effects can be traced back and directly linked to Nike. This, of course, is why Christopher McDougal believes Nike to be at least partially to blame for all modern running injuries.

Caballo Blanco's Plan for Scott Jurek

Caballo Blanco finally shows us the reason for all of his and the author's random tangents, and reveals to us his plan, a plan to get some of America's greatest ultra-runners to race the best of the Tarahumara on their home turf. He realizes that this will be extremely difficult, so he asks the author to help him make it happen, suggesting that he write magazine articles about the event so that the concept gets some publicity.

Scott Jurek in Action

Caballo believes that the way to make his plan succeed is to get Scott Jurek, America's greatest ultra-runner, to agree to participate in the event. He believes that if people find out that Jurek is going to participate in the event, then more ultra-runners will want in on the action. Since Scott Jurek is almost as mysterious as the Tarahumara themselves and goes out of his way to challenge himself, Caballo believes he will accept. Then again, Caballo's sanity, in my opinion and probably that of others, is pretty questionable, so you never know.

Zatopek: the Happiest of Runners

Zatopek leads the pack 

Zatopek was a Czech runner who was strangely happy whenever he ran, much like the Tarahumara. Although he didn't have the best style or strategy when he ran, he was still very fast and won numerous races. This elatedness every time he ran was the reason he was such a good runner; while most runners ran for short term, immediate effects, Zatopek ran for the sheer joy of running, and ran during most of his free time. When he came to represent the Czech team as a runner in the Helsinki Olympics, sports trainers and runners alike were intrigued by this unique characteristic. Never before had they seen such enthusiasm in a runner. He didn't do too shabbily in his events, either, bringing home three gold medals for the Czech team.

I was quite intrigued by Zatopek and his infectious good nature and amicability. I definitely agree with Dr. Joe Vigil's thesis on running- everything is far too focused on material wealth in recent times. I feel that this idea can also be applied to other parts of society, from music and literature to food. People care more about efficiency and self-gain than they do about the expression of ideas. Music isn't about creativity and talent, it's about entertaining the listener with simple, catchy tunes and meaningless lyrics. People don't feel that they have enough time to sit down and read a good novel, so instead they try to find short stories. They refuse to sit and wait and talk like civilized people, and instead must have their food immediately; in short, our society is far too shallow. Like Zatopek, we should focus on pursuing our passions rather than searching endlessly for material wealth, and we may just have a more meaningful and enjoyable life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c4Z8cbcIiA

Dr. Joe Vigil's Strange Hypothesis on Running

Dr. Joe Vigil was a scientist with a very strange hypothesis about running. He believed that Character- love, kindness, compassion- had a direct correlation to running, and that running could make you a better person. He hypothesized that the reason greed and corruption had come to exist within human society was because we had stopped running, as nature specifically built us to do. Joe Vigil believed that the Tarahumara had such a well-structured, yet primitive, society- devoid of crime, greed, and envy- because they had continued to embrace the concept of running for pleasure rather than to achieve a specific goal.

Dr. Joe Vigil

The author, Christopher McDougal, went off on yet another tangent. I believe that at this point it is a tangent within a tangent within a tangent. Although the topics he writes about are quite intriguing, I still fail to see how any of it pertains to the story he set up at the beginning. He has yet to talk about the Tarahumara and the ultra-marathon again, and I am still anticipating the outcome of the Leadville Ultra-Marathon. I also agree with the things that Joe Vigil is saying. It reminds me of the Kalahari Bushmen of South Africa, who practice very similar running techniques when they hunt; they keep a steady pace behind their prey for miles on end and wait for the animal to tire to the point where they can basically just walk up to it and kill it with absolutely no struggle.