'Running makes the heart grow fonder' 'I think you mean 'absence'' No, running doesn't make absence'

As I continue to read through 'Born to Run,' I have become so impressed with the information within this tome (yeah, that's right!) that I have written down references to specific portions of the book that pertain to some of the more outlandish and unbelievable sections, because if I tell people that a better way to avoid running injuries than buying expensive shoes/orthodics is to buy 30 dollar shoes, put 4000 miles on them and switch the left and right shoe every thousand miles, no one would believe me.* Many people are starting to believe in Vibram as an effective running 'shoe,' but other atypical techniques and methods are still shunned. Two great ways to train for marathons are 1) 4 hours of speed workouts and cross training on top of that per week for only 12 weeks or 2) running 20 to 40 miles a day. The best running shoes CREATE running injuries, as does stretching. 60 year old men that are experienced marathoners finish better than 19 year old men who have trained for marathons. A better way to improve your cardio compared to classical 'run 5 days a week' is biking 6 30-second sprints a day, three days a week. According to new evolutionary thought, we did not descend from massive, hulking, slope-headed hunters with massive, hairy arms that trapped mammoths and boar in well planned ambushes. Nope. We came from a weaker, dumber, more slender folk. According to joint Harvard-Utah research, a 100 pound runner is on average 3 minutes faster than a 160 pound runner... per mile!!! This meas that my 180lbs frame lumbering through collegiate cross country would have been probably another minute to a minute and a half slower, simply due to the added bulk I carry. That is why Neanderthals couldn't keep up with our supposed ancestors. They literally couldn't! Humans are the most effective distance runners in the world, able to run farther than horses, antelope, and every other quadruped studied. We are the only 'walking animal' with an achilles tendon, that have a massive guluteus maximus, unlike our cousin chimps, and our body uses 20% of it's energy to power only 2% of  its mass; our brain. One theory also suggested that scientific and philosophical thought, as well as every type of extrapolation that man uses, all stem from the same activity; hunting. Ancient hunters could read tracks with incredible detail, but when they needed an advantage, they put themselves into the mind of the animal, and projected themselves through their thought process. Just as criminal profilers today can fairly accurately describe a person based on the crime, these ancient hunters could hunt down prey by thinking like them. What we are today has stemmed from our running and our hunting. Without running, we would not have survived. Our brain developed to makes us better hunters, and our bodies became one of the most dangerous weapons of the pre-historic world.
Last night, I was running home from work. It was rainy, cold, and windy. I was about 80% of the way through my run when I realized that I wasn't even thinking about it as a run; it was simply how I got home from work. I have already become accustomed to running home from work to the point that it is not even a chore for me to romp more than 3 miles with 2 changes of clothes and a towel in my backpack, it is simply my main mode of transportation (if I am traveling alone and can shower when I get where I am going). I am trying to make a switch from the person I have been to who I was born to be, and it is actually easier than I thought it would be. I have gone from claiming to be retired 3 months ago, to running almost daily, racing for the first time in 30 months (5k in 18:30), and looking forward to running a marathon within 6 months of getting back from my mission, and an ultra-marathon within 8 months of getting back. I have been inspired by this book to become a better person in every aspect of my life. Because I am reading it, I am now reading my scriptures more often. If you want inspiration, read 'Born to Run.' If you don't want inspiration, read it anyway, and you will want to be inspired. Get the book, and get running.
*All specific information regarding research and training techniques, etc. were from 'Born to Run,' with the exception of the Speed Training for marathon and biking sprints for cardio which are from '4 Hour Body.'