Save Your Sole: Run Barefoot -- Part Four

Barefoot or not, this is important.

Run with your whole body.

Since you run with your whole body, strengthen your whole body.

I'll skip the legs, because it is obvious that running is a leg exercise. I'll work my way up from there.

Hips

You've got to have strong hip abductors and adductors. These are the muscles that move your legs away from the midline and towards the midline of the body. While running, as these muscles fatigue, they lose their ability to stabilize the legs. As a result, side to side movement can occur. When the goal is to propel oneself forward, side to side movement is undesirable (obviously).

Core

Weak core muscles can be a real pain in the back. Strong core muscles hold the spine in a neutral position while running, if the spine comes out of position, the jarring motion of running can cause pain and injury to the back.

Upper back

Strong upper back muscles help maintain good running form which is necessary for running economy, speed, and endurance.

Arms

Arms drive the running movement, if you doubt this, glue your hands to your side and run. Strengthen your arms so they don't wear out early.

Neck

A weak neck causes lots of head bobbing, pain and injury follow, as well as loss of running economy.



Running strengthens and builds endurance more in the prime movers of the running motion. As a result, many runners have imbalances between those muscles and all the other muscles that have supportive roles in running. It is important that we take the time to strengthen the rest of the body as well.

Part Three
Part Two
Part One

In the Long Run.

Lark

It started as a bit of a lark. People told me I should run a 5K with my wife. I wasn't a runner, but I was rather fit. So I did it. Then I became a runner.

At first I dreaded the longer distances. "How am I going to run four miles, three was hard enough." "Six miles, I'll never make it!" 

Now four miles is an easy day and six is speed work. I'm not running huge distances, 13.1 has been my longest, but lately I crave long run day.

A long run is my  chance to get away from everything else and just go. No headphones for me, no GPS, all I need is a look at a map to decide where I'm turning around and a stop watch to keep me honest about my effort level.

I like to disappear into my effort, to feel the rhythm of my feet and breath counting in 6/8 time. To feel the sun, or rain, or wind on my skin. To struggle up the hills and fly down them. Sometimes time seems to stop while I'm out there on the long run. Some days I don't want to stop, I just want to keep going, and going. . . It feels good.

I'm not sure when I stopped dreading and started craving the long runs, but I am glad I did. They are my chance to clear my mind, or to daydream. They are my chance to process my week or forget about it, or both. Whatever my thoughts are on the run I come back feeling cleansed.

I can't wait for my 11 miler this weekend.

Running For Butterflies

Where I live, and probably where you live too, we are blessed to live a pretty safe existence. I can go for a 10 mile run starting at my house early on a Sunday morning and see more bunny rabbits than cars. I might have to  worry about being chased by a dog, or stung by a bee, and I do take precautions to be very visible in case there is a car out on these country roads. Real fear, real terror, however is not on my mind when I go for a run.

What happened in Boston yesterday is tragic and horrible and I don't even have the ability to describe the way it makes me feel. I am grateful to live in a place where this sort of thing is exceedingly rare.

There are others who live with the fear of not being able to walk to school without the threat of being  beaten up, blown up, shot at, or stabbed. There are those out there who here explosions daily. People live lives in which school teachers carry automatic rifles because they just might need them.

These intentional acts of terror and violence are a product of the world we live in. There is a story about this guy who, about 2000 years ago, came around and said, basically, can't you guys just love each other and take care of each other? The popular response was to torture him to death on a cross. I still find myself asking, "Can't we just love each other and take care of each other?"

I feel like I don't do enough for the world around me right now. I feel I should do more.

This is what I'm doing this week though. I'm running for butterflies.

http://butterfliesformaddie.com/Home_Page.html

Another unimaginable event. This family had a beautiful little girl. She got sick at age 6. Doctors were unsure what was wrong, then one day, just before her seventh birthday, she was having trouble breathing and her fingers were turning blue. From the emergency room the doctors decided to fly her to a hospital in Louisville. There was not room on the flight for her parents. She died before her parents saw her again.

I am sitting here typing and crying. My daughter, who is currently one year younger than Maddie was when she died is making a leash for our dog from an old tie. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her next year.

Maddie's family does all sorts of fund raisers to raise money and awareness about the disease that took their little girl away. Since I started running I've been running in their 5K fundraiser every year. So has my little girl.

This Saturday we run for Maddie.

Why You Can't Keep Your Heart Rate In Your Range

Lately I've read lots of posts from runners having a panic attack about their inability to run slowly enough to stay in their target heart rate training zone.

Guys, chill, there are lots of reasons that you could be exceeding your target zone.

Reason 1. Your heart rate monitor is wrong.

I've had heart rate monitors tell me my heart rate was in the high 50's during an interval workout. I had one that wouldn't pick up my heart rate if it were below 40 degrees Farenheit. Before you stress, find out how accurate your monitor is.

Reason 2. Your ESTIMATED heart rate zones are wrong. Did you notice the emphasis I put on the word ESTIMATED? In case you didn't let me emphasize it some more. ESTIMATED. How did you decide what your target heart rate is? 220 - age times a percentage? Did you MAF it and go with 180 - age? Did you know that 220- age could be off as much as 30 beats per minute?  For perspective, I turn 38 next month. According to the MAF method my maximum heart rate for aerobic work is 142. 30 bpm error factored in it could be 112. What if I tried to run my long run at 142 when I need to run it at 112? That error could also put me at 172 for my maximum aerobic capacity, at 142 I'd be barely working.

Unless you've had your maximum heart rate tested you really don't know what it is.

Reason 3. You are running too darn fast. Slow down.

So what is a fan of Phil Maffetone to do?

Chill guys, I got this. If you are running down the road and you say out loud, "Oh geez, my heart rate is ten beats higher than 180 minus my age. What am I going to do. I just can't seem to run slowly enough to stay in my heart rate range. This is really embarrassing I don't want anyone to see me running that slowly. Oh well, I guess I either have to embrace the shame or ruin my workout."

If you can say all that out loud, you  haven't exceeded your aerobic zone, you're OK to keep going at that pace.

It's called the talk test. If you can say about a paragraph's worth out loud you are aerobic, if you can't you've crossed the threshold.

Links to other articles on this are below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/health/maximum-heart-rate-theory-is-challenged.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.runwashington.com/news/1134/310/The-Problem-with-Heart-Rate-Monitors.htm

5 Reasons I Hate the Treadmill (and 5 Reasons I Love It)

Every once in a while, the elements outside combine in such a fashion to drive me to run on the dreaded treadmill. Treadmill running is psychologically hard for me because I get so bored, but it also has its benefits.

Five reasons I hate the treadmill

5. Snot rockets. Where in the world can I send my snot rocket?

4. The view. The other day I spent an hour staring at a cobweb.

3. It is too tempting to stop. If I'm on a 10 mile out and back and I feel like quitting halfway through, guess what, I still have to get home. If I feel like quitting on the treadmill, the couch is right over there. Very tempting.

2. No wind. I like the feel of the air moving across my face as I run, I get none of that on the treadmill.

1. Boring. Boring, boring, boring.

Five reasons I love the treadmill.

5. If I am focused on a certain pace that day, I dial up that pace and the treadmill makes sure I keep it.

4. Slick roads. I refuse to do my speed workouts when there is patchy ice, or snow compacted into sheets of ice, the treadmill keeps me safe on those rare icy days in Kentucky.

3. If something happens, I can stop and be at home. No need to search for a bathroom or water fountain, I can hop off the treadmill and meet whatever needs I have.

2. No wind. Yesterday morning there were winds gusting 20-30 miles per hour. No thanks, I'll run on the treadmill.

1. It keeps me honest. I can know exactly what my pace is, if there is a discrepancy in my stride I can't blame it on terrain, with so many variables controlled any errors in my running are MY errors.

How about you? What do you like and hate about the treadmill.

"Something Would Have To Be Chasing Me. . ."

If you are a runner and you haven't heard this one, keep running you will.

"You ran how far? Why, was something chasing you?"

You don't even have to be logging that many miles, I once heard it in response to a 2 mile run. It is a pretty common comment from non-runners. Actually, you'll get lots of comments from those who choose not to run, and you will find your own way to respond to their well meaning, or sarcastic, or down right snarky comments. You might respond with grace, or return the sarcasm, or just ignore them and move on, but you will find what works for you.

If you want to know some of my favorite responses, I have some good news for you. Here are some comments I've actually heard and the responses I thought up during my next run when it was too late to actually say them.

You know that's bad for your knees don't you?
Actually, no it's not. (I know, dull, but straightforward.)

You're going for a run right now? You're crazy.
One of us will spend 30 minutes today doing running, the other will spend 30 minutes inhaling toxic smoke to indulge their nicotine addiction. Which one of us is crazy?

I get tired driving that far.
In that case you seriously need to go for a run.

RUN FORREST! (usually shouted from a passing car).
Stupid is as stupid does.

You ran how far? Why? Was something chasing you?
Yes, something is chasing me, and it is chasing you too, Obesity, Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, High Cholesterol, OH NO they're coming, they're right behind you!!! 

Run!! 

Run now before it's too late!!

How To Get Faster.

A grey blanket covered the sky and a thin misty rain kept everything soggy. It was one of those days on which it seemed an umbrella would be useless. It felt like the raindrops were just suspended in the air blowing around in every direction. Despite the conditions, I had a goal in mind. 20:00 or less for a 5K. In my first year of running I went from a 26:47 to a 20:30 PR. Today I wanted to do even better. I had 6 months more experience since my last PR, but I had some things working against me too.

Over the winter I had stopped focusing on 5K speed and was adding distance to train for a half marathon trail race. Over that training cycle I had injured myself and was set back a little bit. The half marathon (report here) was an awesome experience but there was only one month between it and this 5K. I took 2 weeks to recuperate, not running for one week, then taking it easy for another week leaving little time for speed training.

At the halfway mark I talked to another runner we both were trying to break our 20:30 PRs so I stuck with her for quite some time. We did a little leap frog for about a mile. Then on the hills in the last mile she left me in the dust. My final time was 20:32.

Here it is one year later and I still haven't beaten that 20:30 PR much less gotten under 20:00.

So on to the question so many runners are asking.

How do I get faster?

There is a system, there are steps you can follow. Which step you start on today really depends on what you've already done.

1. Get more efficient. 
If you are new to running, stop thinking about getting fast, instead get more efficient. Your tendons, ligaments, and muscles need to adapt to the stress of running. So do your heart and lungs. So for now, ban the word faster from your thinking. Gradually increase the duration of your runs, add minutes or miles a little at a time, week after week. Your body will start adapting down to the cellular level. You could spend as much as a year in this phase. Don't worry, you have the rest of your life to run.

Part of getting more efficient is improving your technique. Learn to run correctly, research running form, have someone look at your running form to see if you are doing something that will slow you down or injure you, then fix the problems.

2. Get stronger. 
Don't neglect strength training. Running is the best exercise for running, but doing the same motions over and over works the same muscles in the same movements. Give the other muscles some love so you don't develop imbalances in the body.

3. Don't get hurt.
Don't say footstrike any more. Say landing. Why would you want to strike the ground with your foot? Striking the ground sends energy downward into the ground. Leave foot striking to martial arts training. Run soft and easy, land your foot on the ground and propel yourself forward. Follow the advice I was once given. "If it hurts, don't do it." Believe me, pushing to hard and getting injured will slow you down a lot more than taking it too easy.

4. To learn to run fast, you must run fast.
Once your body is now a runner's body (remember, it could be a year or even more) start running fast.
Once a week, work on intervals, do a warm up, then run hard for three minutes then jog for three, run three, jog three. Gradually build up the number of intervals you do. Look for other interval workouts, this is just a super basic way to get started.

Other than getting a personal trainer and a running coach, that's really the way to go. If any of you were hoping for a magic solution to cut your 5K time by five minutes in four weeks I don't have that for you. If you find out how to do that, let me know.

Dogs, Grief, and Running

I miss my dog.

I had him for 12 and a half years. My house mate had an unspayed dog, and my neighborhood had a sneaky dog that was good at digging under fences. At the time this combination really ticked me off, but I did wind up with the best dog ever. His name was Grendel and he could be terrifying when strangers came around, but at the same time incredibly gentle and loyal with those he knew. He always instinctively looked to me for leadership on walks. When I started dating my wife, he had to come meet the new group. He really wanted to eat her cat, but looked to me for a cue. Once he understood that the cat was not for eating he never harassed the cat again. He and my wife's dog worked out an understanding, in the house her dog was the boss, in the yard he was the boss. He loved to sit out on top of his dog house. I would often sit out there with him.

He had a tumor in his mouth. It was becoming torturous for him to eat. I had to have him put down.

I buried him beneath a forsythia bush, my daughter says we will still be able to see him, only he will be flowers.

After I buried him I sat on his dog house and cried my eyes out.

Then I went in and got my wife's new dog and we went for a run.

There is something about running, I'm sure they have measured the effects of endorphins and other things on mood. I'm not really interested in the studies and the numbers, what is important to me is that I know, for me, running is great therapy.

We ran a nice easy run down the road. I thought about how much over the last 2 and a half years as I became a runner I wished I had been a runner when Grendel was younger. By the time I started running, Grendel's hips were bad. He would have loved to be a runner, he was a pit bull, greyhound mix. He would have run me into the ground. It would have been great.

The run sort of cleaned me out. It felt as if some of the grief was being expelled from my lungs and through my sweat. When I was done I felt a better.

I still miss my dog. Right now, I don't want a new dog, I want my old dog back. I know that sooner or later though, I'll be going to the Humane Society to look for a new running partner.

MAF Math

So with all the talk of the MAF system I've been seeing lately, I decided to do some tests on myself comparing various heart rate estimation formulas with an actual submaximal talk test.

What I like about the MAF idea is the simplicity of the math. The formula I had seen the most before hearing about MAF was to estimate your maximum heart rate with 220-your age. Then to get your aerobic zone you multiply that number by .7 and by .8. Between those two numbers is your aerobic training zone. That is sort of hard to calculate in mid run. MAF makes it easier by just using 180-age to be your maximum number for your aerobic zone. Much simpler calculation.

To make it worse, the formulas considered to be more accurate are more complicated.

Here are the formulas I played with this morning and the results rounded to whole numbers.

(220-age).8
146

MAF 180-age
143

(208-.7*age).8
146

The one considered most accurate: (205.8-.685*age).8
146

Then I got on the treadmill for a submaximal talk test.
My final result (one test only not an average of 2 or more tests)
147.

So, while the MAF calculation was the  least accurate  for me, it is close enough that I could use it for an indication of my aerobic training zone. Keep  in mind that this is only one test on only one person.

Something more important that I learned doing this that makes it even simpler for me. I can tell when I've gone past the aerobic zone just going by feel. So I will continue doing what I've been doing and not worry about checking my heart rate repeatedly.

My recommendation based on my extremely limited science today is to use a heart rate estimation if it helps you figure out your pace, then start learning what it feels like on either side of the aerobic line. If you can learn to go by feel, you can keep your mind off your heart rate monitor and just enjoy the run.

My Top 5 Cues for Running Form

These are my five favorite personal running form cues. When I say personal I mean they work for me, and have worked for the few people I've shared them with. Maybe you will find them helpful as well.

5. Easy, light, smooth.
Straight out of "Born to Run". I always try to keep my footsteps easy, light, and smooth. No pounding allowed. this one is also known as "run like a ninja".


4. Unicycle wheel.
An extension of number five. When I am really in the zone, my feet feel like they are attached to the wheel (not the pedals) of a unicycle. Ground contact, moving through the stance and lift off are all one smooth cycle.

3. No Frankenstein, but no zombie either.

If I feel like Frankenstein's monster I'm doing something wrong. I don't want to shrug my shoulders upwards while I runk, I don't want to much tension in body parts that don't need tension. This cue also helps me not clench my jaw. I also don't want to get too loose and have body parts like my arms flopping around when they shouldn't be.









2. Six shooters.
I want my arms to swing as if I am shooting at the bad cowboys with my six shooters, past the hip, then in a straight line in front of me. Not across the body, that would be shooting like a stormtrooper.

And Finally. . .
What really gets me in good posture is this. When I'm near the end of a hard run, and I'm tired, and achy, and ready to be done. Out on the road or on a trail all alone in my own head, then off in the distance I see another runner. That posture my body certainly adopts at the instructions of my ego, that is good posture.

Running Vs. The Real World

My workout schedule definitely did not include spending two days in bed sick. I ended up missing my long run just a month and a half away from my goal race. The real world can really get in the way of a good run.

It was very tempting to make plans to get up early in the morning on Monday and "make up" that long run before my wife had to leave the house.

Fortunately I wised up and talked myself out of it.

I reminded myself that the day I was able to hold down food I felt like I had just finished a half marathon. It wouldn't be wise for me to do a long run the day after a half marathon, so it wouldn't be wise for me to do a long run this morning either.

So I got up, leashed the dog, put on my layers and went for an easy three miles. The vital part is that I did not once look at my watch.

I needed a recovery run. I ran easy, my only measures of my pace were how hard I was breathing and whether or not I could talk easily. The reason I'll never get into MAF training is that I really don't care to keep checking my heart rate all the time. I'd rather use the submaximal talk test to determine what sort of training zone I am in. If I can say the pledge of allegiance I'm running easy.

For the first 3/4 of a mile I was glad I had decided not to run a long run. I just couldn't get into the groove, but shortly after the first mile that smooth feeling hit and I felt like I could go for hours. I stuck to my commitment to only run 3 though.

I was very glad to have done it, the run felt great, and I had a moment of beauty while out there.

The sun had not risen yet, but its light was shining over the horizon causing the frosty grass to turn to silver glitter. As I came up the last large hill on the way home, two horses stood grazing at the top of the hill with the sunlight behind them. Backlit they were dark silhouettes at the top of a dark hill with the first orange rays of sunlight streaming around them. As I watched them, everything else disappeared and I ran up the hill with no awareness that I was running. The running had faded into the background and this scene before me was the only thing in my mind.

What a way to get back on my feet. The real world can really transform a good run into a magical moment.

Not Hating the Treadmill

Treadmills.

Man, those things are boring. Standing in one place, going nowhere, staring at a wall instead of a trail or even at least a road, no change of scenery. It is so hard to stay motivated on a treadmill, so easy to just stop and sit on the couch.

It is so easy to hate the treadmill. So I started thinking differently.

The treadmill is a training tool. If there is any way to train your "stick-to-it-iveness" it is running on the treadmill. If you want to develop the willpower to keep pushing, try to keep pushing when the La-Z-Boy is within reach.

The treadmill is a choice. It might be more horrible to run in the freezing cold or sloppy weather, or it might be more horrible to run on the treadmill, but I am thankful to have the choice.

The treadmill is a blessing. Since I am male this one matters less to me than my wife. It is one thing for me to go out on a dark and isolated road at 5:00 am and run, it is another thing entirely for her to do the same. We just don't feel safe about that.

Hopefully my thinking here will help some of you feel better about the dreadmill.

How about you? What do you do to feel better about a treadmill workout?

Trail Race Training.

My eyes are set on the Fall Creek Falls Trail Race again this February. Last year this was my first race longer than a 5K and my first trail race. The website calls it a 12 mile race, but the race director sent out an email saying that it was indeed a true half marathon.

Just in case it was a little short of a half marathon, I ran off onto a fire road for a little while to make sure and get my distance in.

No really, I did it on purpose. Seriously.

Well, it was so much fun last time that my family and I are training for it again. This time I am utilizing a secret weapon that a lot of runners seem not to think about.

Strength Training!

That's right, along with lots of running I am doing  goblet squats, one leg deadlifts, one legged squats, lunges and what not. Sometimes body weight, sometimes with kettlebells and sometimes with my daughter on my back as well.

This should help me conquer those killer hills.

Or as my family and I like to say, "There is no hill!

Love It Hate It

Speed Work.

Speed work and I have a love hate relationship.

Today was my first speed work in a month and a half, and I remembered today  just how hard it is to run a half mile as fast as you can. During each fast interval I was spontaneously creating reasons why I shouldn't do the other fast intervals.

I did do them all though. I muscled through it. I kept turning my legs over, and kept redirecting my thoughts to a positive way of thinking.

So I thought I would share some of the things that keep me going when there is a part of my brain telling me to slow down and take it easy.

I want to get faster.
In my world I almost never have to push to myself to my limits, so I must choose to do so.
I want to increase my heart health so my daughter will have a daddy longer.
-------------so my wife will have a husband longer.
------------------so my stepkids will have a stepdad longer.
If I want to inspire other people to do something about their health I have to set the example.


How about you, what keeps you going? Comment below.

My Slowest 5K Ever Was Also My Personal Best

Wife and daughter during the first lap.

Thanksgiving Day 2012 I woke up my just-turned-five daughter, fixed her breakfast and asked her if she was excited about her first 5K race coming up that day. The Great Turkey 5K in Bowling Green 2010 was my first, and now she wanted to run a 5K. She had run several half mile races and a single full mile race, but had never run even two miles before.

Once she got her bib, she was so excited she couldn't stop bouncing until the race started. She ran and laughed and ran backwards. Her mother and I jogged next to her, grinning ear to ear. She wound up running about a mile and a half before she settled into a walk. At about 1 and 3/4 miles she was convinced she couldn't go any further. She kept going (with coaxing, encouraging, and bribing from her Daddy (including sport jelly beans) she made it to two miles. I ran ahead to get the jogging stroller and ran her to mile three where she got out of the stroller and ran to the finish finishing in around 50 minutes.

Still running, still smiling.

If I were running by myself, I could have watched an episode of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" on Netflix, then started running and I would have finished faster. The idea for this race though, was not for me to race, but for my little girl to get to try her hand at a 5K.

Seeing her smile and sprint to the finish line is what it was all about.

I also got a bonus experience at this race.

Feeling totally done at mile two.

I have often noted that the people that I find the most inspirational at these events are not the people at the front of the pack, not the guys who finish in around 16 minutes, but the people who struggle to finish at all. The people who get out there and put the same percentage effort I put in to a race except they do it for twice as long are the ones that make me excited about fitness. To see those ladies and gentlemen coming to the finish line of their first 5K to see them reaping the rewards of a fitness program they recently started, that is what makes me want to jump up and cheer.

Thanks to my darling little girl I got to run with those guys and girls that morning.

Keep putting one foot in front of another everybody.

A Disciplined Mind In A Disciplined Body

I did not want to go for my run that morning. Thanksgiving was just a week away and the sky was black as coal with tiny diamonds sparkling throughout and a rosy scarf on the horizon. In the light of the moon I could see the frost on the grass sparkling like a sugar cookie on Christmas morning. My alarm had rudely prodded me out of bed only thirty minutes earlier and I was just not in the mood to go out in the cold and exert myself. It was only a short run, like routine maintenance, but I did not want to go.

I was not in the mood to smile and think happy thoughts. The accumulated stress over the last few years was taking a toll, my wife had gone back to school, I was juggling part time jobs and caring for our young daughter, she was juggling school and caring for our daughter. She got her first teacher job and the schedule got worse. Now, five days a week she leaves before seven and returns some eleven to thirteen hours later. The bills had piled up, but finally we had enough income to slowly start digging out of the hole we were in. I was, however, stressed and did not feel like being positive.

I got out of bed even though I didn't want to. I put on my layers and my leather Runamoc Dash running shoes. I put on my balaclava, strapped on my Princeton Tec headlamp and headed out into the cold. Even though I did not feel like doing it, I knew the importance of it. The exercise would improve my body and give me a chance to clear my mind. Routine maintenance is important.

I put on a smile even though I didn't want to. I made a conscious choice about my thoughts instead of letting them drive themselves. I directed my thoughts instead of allowing them to progress into a downward spiral. I knew the importance of it. This exercise would improve my mind and keep me out of the ruts I sometimes find myself in.

I run, I exercise, I train kung fu because without it, my body will atrophy and decay and become gradually more and more useless. I train to stay strong and healthy so my body can withstand more of what the world throws at it.

I discipline my thinking because without it, my thinking will deteriorate into stress and depression. I train to stay strong and healthy so my mind and spirit can withstand more of what the world throws at it.

Too Cold To Run?

The cold has returned abruptly. Of course, this is Kentucky, so people from further north will think I'm a little crazy. It's not that it is bitterly cold, rarely is it bitterly cold here. It's just that the change was so abrupt. One day I'm out with my dog and daughter in shorts and huarache sandals, then suddenly I find myself putting out layers the night before a run.

I am a big weenie about the cold. I like to have time to adjust, and I haven't had time to adjust. I had to get up and get back to running today though. With an easy two miler in mind, I prepared my running clothes the night before and set my alarm for 5:30.

In the morning, when I don't want to get out there, the key for me is to not think about it. Just take one step at a time. Stay present in what I am doing and don't think about the next step too much. So I eat my banana and drink my water. I put on my running gear and headlamp. I head out into the cold dark morning and just start.

About a mile in I remember why I do this. Being out in the crisp air with the moon shining down on the countryside. Stars still shining in the sky. The smell of smoke from woodburning stoves. The solitude, time to be with myself and not think about all the stresses of life. Time to just run and breathe, and be.

Halloween Monsters That Runners Will Survive

I was thinking about things like outrunning zombies, and that of course led me to thinking about other monsters that a runner would fare well against.

The Mummy. As long as we're talking about the shambling revenant style mummy a runner should do fine. If the mummy is using magic and mind control there would be some trouble.

The Wolfman. Sorry runners, not much hope here, with wolf augmented strength and speed runners would be overtaken.

Frankenstein. Runners against the old black and white movie Frankenstein would do fine, the Frankenstein from the novel would be to fast and strong.

Dracula. Running itself isn't any good against Dracula, but if you get enough garlic at the pre-race pasta dinners. . .

What other monsters could you outrun?

Outrunning Zombies

Artwork by Nathan Hendricksen

While watching season two of "The Walking Dead" the other day I had a thought. (Yes, season two, I'm a year behind.) I am sure that other runners have thought of this as well.

Zombies in TWD are a bit faster than the classic Romero zombies that are near and dear to my heart, but still if Shane with a busted ankle and Otis (God rest his soul) can stay ahead of the zombie horde as long as they did, surely an easy 8:30 mile pace would keep me well in front of them.

So, season two episode one instead of hiding under a car, I think I'd have said, "OK, you guys trap yourselves under there, I'll get my long run in."

"Hey walkers! Follow me!"

Knock out a couple of miles at an easy pace, find a side road, loop around, add in some speed work to get them off the trail, head back to the group.

I could have saved Sophia.

Barefoot Running: Is it really better?

The results are in!

Studies have been conducted, performances have been examined, runners and coaches and podiatrists have been surveyed.

Even the studies are being studied.

It turns out that barefoot running is:

more injurious than shod,
less inurious than shod,
more efficient than shod,
less efficient than shod,
bad for your feet,
good for your feet.

It all depends on which study you pick.

So I would like to remind anyone who is reading this of a couple of things.

When you see an article that starts with something like, "Studies show that there is no one best way to run, with even elite long-distance runners showing a variety of styles - but wearing lightweight shoes is better than none," you should go past the headline, and read the article. If it is a news article you should then find the studies that were cited, when you read the study, it is a good idea to think critically about their methodology and see if there are possible flaws in the study, it is also a good idea to see if other studies support that study or refute it. 

Short version: Headlines have one purpose, to get you to read the article. The headlines will take a scientific article and turn it into an advertisement. This goes for barefoot running, and any other hot topic as well.

The other thing I would like to remind people of is this.

If what you are doing is working for you, keep doing it. If you are a barefoot runner and it works for you don't switch to a shoe with exactly 10mm of cushioning because some study said it was 1.9 percent more efficient. If you are running injury free in a cushioned shoe, you don't have to go barefoot just because your barefoot running friend told you it cured his asthma. 

Go out and run, barefoot, nearly barefoot, or with whatever shoe works for you.

For me running nearly barefoot boils down to two simple things. When I started doing it, my running aches and pains stopped, and, very simply, I like the way it feels.