The Barefoot Experiment

It seems that in the wake of Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run, many of the mainstream news sources that I read every day are awash with articles on running, running barefoot and running long distances. The New York Times is one of those publications, and today saw a great article on barefoot running by Gretchen Reynolds titled, simply, Is Running Barefoot Better for You? screenshot of October 21, 2009 edition of The New York Times online Harvard professor of human evolutionary biology... (more...)

As I wake Monday morning still irritated (mentally and physically) with my injured foot (more on that to come this week), I’m nonetheless thrilled to see Christopher McDougall, author of Born To Run, featured in a New York Times video segment. Christopher McDougall runs with The New York Times in Central Park The NY Times “Roving Runner” Brian Fidelman met up with McDougall for a six mile barefoot run through Central Park. McDougall opens the segment with what has to be my favorite... (more...)

Roderick's Feet in Vibram FiveFingers KSOs A mere two days after locating and ordering my new pair of Vibram FiveFingers KSO’s from New York Kayak Company, they arrived on my doorstep.  Efficient and pleasant service from NY Kayak Co and, for the first time in a long time, UPS delivered a package as scheduled and to the proper address! I was thrilled to unpack these and pleased to see that they do indeed look precisely as I had hoped.  My original trip to Appalachian Outdoors turned up... (more...)

I’ve barely begun my own journey, and it remains to be seen if I’ll ever be able to push myself to the limits of endurance that some of the great athletes of the past have seen, but from my training in other areas I know well that in addition to the physical struggle there is an enormous mental struggle to all great endeavors and challenges to the human spirit. Mind Hacks – a great little blog (and book) if you haven’t yet seen it – recently posted a small bit entitled... (more...)