After reading “After Born To Run”, I decided to buy another of the author’s book. Somehow I had low expectations… I read a bit the intro but somehow it has been beyond what I expected. It mixed history from Ancient Greece, World War II, fitness, nutrition, psychology, philosophy etc. It is a weird cocktel but it worked great!
It is quite brilliant how he tries to mix the fiction of classic Homer‘s Iliad with real facts and personal traits. And how Crete is the origin of all Greece history and heroes, and therefore Western Culture. As well, I never imagined Crete was so important during the WWII as it seems it delayed the invasion of Russia and then doomed the Germans. At the end of the day, the book is about the kidnapping of a Nazi general in Crete. And it is actually an Odyssey. I didnt about Churchill Dirty Tricks and all the characters involved. You dont need to born Rambo to be a war hero. Just check Paddy’s and Xan‘s.
Regarding fitness, he mentions the Fascia Lata and Fat-As-Fuel concepts. Mark Allen is mentioned one of the greatest triathlete that I didnt know and as a curiosity, he had a splash when he discovered the concept of Fat-As-Fuel concept (a.k.a Paleo diet). And the training and fat-as-fuel is mentioned from Phill Maffetone (and it seems he has a very interesting life)
He has a big go against Gym culture (Arnold Schwarzenegger being a target) as it destroyed what humans have done for millennia: natural movement. And the closest to that is parkour . It gives a good history lesson about the origin of Parkour and its figures like Georges Hebert. As well, the author has a go to the Gatorade-link industrie and hydration wasn’t really a problem in long distance running.
Regarding Fascia training he mentions Steve Maxwell (link1, video)
In general, very interesting and entertaining book with a wide range of topics!