The Barefoot Experiment

While traveling through Pittsburgh, PA on my way toward West Virginia, I decided to take a short detour to Fleet Feet Sports, a shoe store in Mt. Lebanon Upper Saint Clair, just south of the city proper.  Nationally, this franchise chain has nothing but the best reputation.  They claim to have expert staff that exhibit an attention to detail and the unique, personal needs of each customer.  To help accomplish their individualized recommendations, they conduct gait analysis in-store.  It’s this... (more...)

One of the most important weapons in the arsenal of any athlete, be they amateur or professional, is sleep.  Regular, deep, quality sleep.  In fact, sleep is one of the most important periods of the day for any person, be they athlete or not.  It’s when our bodies recuperate, rebuild and repair the damage done, both physically and mentally, during our demanding waking hours. Knowing first hand the strong sleep requirements that can be demanded by the body, I was particularly blown away... (more...)

Today was the day. All the variables fell into place, and for the first time since my injury, I went for a run. Here’s a quick video update regarding the experience. You’ll have to watch the video for more details, but if you simply can’t wait to find out how it went, consider this: After today’s testing of the waters, I headed to the gym for some more cardio work.  While in the locker room, one of the trainers asked me, out of the blue, “are you a runner?” After... (more...)

A common complaint about Vibram FiveFingers is that they are difficult to get on your feet.  I’ll admit, I found it a bit awkward to get them on my feet the first time in store, but the learning curve is not exactly steep.  If you put them on, oh, say, twice, you’ll probably be good to go, having discovered the easiest method for yourself. In the above video I show you how I put two Vibram FiveFingers KSO on my feet in under ten seconds (okay, maybe twelve, depending upon what you... (more...)

Maintaining a high-caliber and fairly consistent vegetarian diet for 16 years takes less work than one would think.  Yes, you need to think about your food, but we should all be doing that, regardless of your diet-of-choice.  It’s true that many people eliminate meat only to eat junk, and call themselves vegetarian.  I suppose they are, but I certainly wouldn’t nominate them to be in the club… Though there’s less work involved than many people think, there still persists... (more...)

A great article appeared in the April issue of Running Times entitled Much Ado About Minimalism.  The author did a great job of capturing the goal of minimalist running.  A goal that I wish many of the zealots would keep in mind. “Away from the hype and the extremes, the minimalist movement is rightly correcting decades of drifting in the other direction when it comes to running shoe design. At its core, minimalism asks the runner to look for the least amount of shoe he or she can safely... (more...)

When I visited the doctor today, as part of my ongoing regular treatment and rehab, I was filled with questions, concerns and hypothetical scenarios to discuss. My injury is getting better.  It truly is.  So much so that I’m on the verge of easing back into running.  Yet I still have this nagging sensation in the back of my mind, a fear perhaps, that my injury is somehow related to an underlying biomechanical problem. I have no reason to think that it is.  Everything indicates that biomechanically,... (more...)

Even the smallest of injuries can feel like it's brought your training to a permanent end. More often than not it's opportunity, not disability, that injuries offer. Running injuries affect more than just the body.  Be it a blister, sprain or open wound that merely forces a single run short, or a fracture that sends you to the sidelines for weeks or months, injuries take their toll on your psychological well-being every bit as much as your physical health. Four weeks into a delightfully... (more...)

Thanks to a heads-up from Skora Athletics via twitter (@skoraRunning), I recently read a nice little article from Marine Corps Times on the subject of barefoot running. “The human body is a marvel of engineering and perfectly capable of running without the aid – or really the restriction – of shoes,” says Palma, a founding officer of the recently launched Barefoot Runners Society, which is organizing chapters across the country. He says he has been a kind of quiet evangelist for... (more...)

Back in January I had the honor of attending comedian Eddie Izzard’s largest ever show, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  It was a stellar show filled with laughter (obviously) and some wonderfully cogent (surprising to some, but not to fans) reflections on life. After an evening of sheer joy and brilliance, one wasn’t expecting much more following the encore, but it was only then that the most inspiring piece of the entire show made its appearance. As everyone was filing out, upon... (more...)