barefoot


Barefoot Running With Lee Saxby

Just came across this video from Terra Plana. They are the “alternative” source for barefoot shoes if you don’t want to wear the ridiculous-looking Vibram FiveFingers (VFF) which I, admittedly, own a pair of.

Like the VFFs, Terra Plana’s new Evo shoe is marketed towards the barefoot running crowd. But, unlike Vibram who leave it up to the consumer to figure out how to run in them, Terra Plana has produced this video to help. Done with natural fitness guru, Lee Saxby, they’ve actually done a rather good job (for a 10 minute video) at pulling the curtain of mystery back on barefoot-style running.

One of the main points highlighted in the video is the fact that just going minimal (or without) your shoes is not enough. Runners need to change their posture as well as their tempo in order to reduce injury. This underlines my feeling about the whole natural running movement – that the shoes are just tools to use in the process.

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Friday Link Love for 02.19.10

Still on vacation

I’m still down in Florida so this week’s Love is little. I’ve barely been online at all… which is actually really nice. Next week I’ll be back in the office and have time to read up. Expect better Love and a recovery update.

A personal side note: I turned 40 this week! Happy birthday to me! Finally out of the über competitive 35-39 age group :)

Here’s what I’ve got this week

CNN.com: Running debate – Bare or in shoes?: This is a topic that may bore some Lymies, but it’s of great interest to me. I’ve been working on “going barefoot” for about a year now and have seen great progress and positive changes in my running since starting out. It’s a rather controversial subject within the running community. Some say barefooting is a running nirvana while others cry “bologna” and dismiss it as a fad. For the record: I’m somewhere in between.

This article on CNN.com covers the highlights and touches on some new research that’s been published. I linked to previous discussion in a past Link Love.

If anyone is interested in experimenting with barefoot running, please drop me an email. I’m planning a blog post about how to get started, but until I get that done, I can help you out via email.

USATriathlon.com: A case of diminishing skills: An interesting read about a triathlete fighting wacky testosterone levels and the inevitable results of getting older. My levels are “off”, but not to the extent that this guys were. This article reminded me that I need to go back and as my LLMD about the results again.

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Friday Link Love for 01.15.10

It’s Friday again already. Man!

I came across a lot of interesting things this week, but there’s on thing that I could use everyone’s help with. I’m about to switch insurances and my wife and I are utterly confused on what to do. We’ve shopped around, but the options are so great. If you have any advice on this topic, please post it here. Or email me if that’s easier ChronicTriathlete(at)gmail.com.

Also… I’m in the final phase of fixing up this blog. If you find things are broken or displaying funny, I’m sorry. I hope to have it all back to normal in a week or so.

Here’s what I’ve got this week

Slate: The Vita Myth – An informative article about the cloud of confusion surrounding the effectiveness of daily vitamins and other supplements. I’ve personally given up on taking supplements. I’ve never noticed any improvement or changes in my condition while taking up to 40 pills a day so I’ve just stopped. I’m opting to just eat better and get the nutrients I need via food. That said, I do plan to get my vitamin levels checked next week when I go to my LLMD.

Runner’s World: Do Running Shoes Cause Running Injuries? – I tweeted this link earlier in the week. It’s an interesting response by Amby Burfoot to a recent study done on the amount of torque suffered by the knees of runners wearing traditional running shoes versus runners wearing minimal or no shoes. There’s a growing (or perhaps reemerging) trend in fringes of the running community that claim that less is more, big shoe companies are the devil (sorry Jim) and that we should all run barefoot.

Being a coach and having worked in a running store that fits people in shoes via a treadmill analysis system I have to say that I believe there’s some validity to the topic. I’m not as Evangelical as some, but I’ve personally experienced the benefits of running in less and less shoe. I plan to write more about it in the near future.

LA Times: What Goes Into Chicken – This freaked me out! Read about how manufactures are “plumping” your chicken.

This American Life: Long Shot – A podcast by Ira Glass that I found particularly inspirational. In the first segment he talks to Leo Paur, coach of a high school football team in Utah that hasn’t won a game in two and a half seasons, about how he motivates his team to keep going after so many crushing defeats. Namely: you decide that you’re about to turn things around.

In the second segment Nancy Mullane reports on the case of Don Cronk, an inmate at San Quentin Prison, to see what would happen as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reviewed his case. Though Cronk knew the odds were against him, he found it hard to stop himself from believing he’d get out.

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