Amazing day!

Today has been a fun day! (OK, I got nearly nothing done at work but aside from that it was great). First, I'll start with the funny stuff:

1) I saw not one, but TWO cars with boots on them in Amherst. One on my way to work, and one on my way home. I don't know why, but I always get a laugh out of a good booted car. I think this originates from my time at Hampshire when a friend's car was booted.

2) I got the BEST SCAM MAIL EVER! I got a notice from paypal that there was fishy stuff going on with my account. I suspected it was scam mail, so I logged into paypal and called the company. Sure enough there was no fraud, but I found out that I have had $150 sitting there since JUNE 2008 that I never claimed. It must have been from selling a bridesmaids dress after her wedding (funny enough, the friend that got married was also a part of the Hampshire booting incident- though not her car).

I just read the most inspiring book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. The book really captures the spirit of long distance running. The book isn't the most well written book I've ever read, but there are several things I really enjoyed about it.

1) The characters. He tells the story of several of the worlds best ultra runners (people who will do 100 miles at a time just for fun). These people LOVE to run and it is really inspiring.

2) He builds a case for why humans are born to run long distances (marathons +). Not only this, but it is because we can do this we are human. Really incredible stuff about the architecture of the human body. I did a quick search and found a summary of his argument here.

3) He also builds a case for why the advent of the modern day running shoe (circa 1970) has ruined running for so many. It is because of the shoe that so many people suffer from running injuries. There is a movement for barefoot running, which I may be joining- once it isn't icy and snowy outside. I'm not sure how to build the muscles in my foot up so that I can run safely (running shoes basically lead to the atrophy the muscles that are critical for running, as they change the bio mechanics of the foot). I am interested in trying these shoes:

but want to try them on first and they don't sell them locally. As for now, I'm just going to continue on schedule with my training in my current shoes.