Funny: Flat Metal Shoes? This Guy is High!

Caleb Westfall, of Waikoloa, Hawaii, completed the Big Island Marathon on 31-inch stilts in a mind-stultifying time of  7 hours 37 minutes and 11 second, knocking 52 minutes off the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest marathon on a pair of gravity-defying peg legs.  It's difficult to ascertain what kind of running shoes Caleb was wearing when he completed the Big Island Marathon in Hawaii, but his 31-inch high stilts definitely had flat, heel-less bottoms-- the ideal solution for barefoot-style running...at least for the stilted set looking to go vertical.

Do "I" Have To Buy Minimal Shoes?

An alternative, grab some tools and make your current shoes zero-drop and mo'-better flexible'r, :).  In the picture planar slices were taken off the heel part of the shoes until the heel raise was zero.  Try it on an old pair and see if it wakes up muscles you haven't been using.  ((shorten that stride!))

Ancestral Health Symposium

Must-Hear Podcast Interviews After Attending The 2011 Ancestral Health Symposium

I did not attend this conference, but I've gotten to hear highlights from my Robb Wolf podcast.  The development of our species overcame many obstacles by tweaking their lifestyle, diet, etc. It would  be a shame to just unlearn all that data, all those lessons-learned.  Just browse the links and see if something grabs you.  

Ladies n' Gentlemen, a Nice Ultra Vid

Vibram’s first dedicated FiveFinger trail running shoe

The Vibram Spiridon LS, a 6.8 ounce (US men’s 9; 5.1 ounce US women’s 7) shoe has a 6 mm stack height throughout with a 3.5 mm outsole. There are more lugs than other Vibram running models and these lugs are both more textured and include more edging to improve bite into the ground. The Spiridon LS features a “3D Cocoon,” a very strong nylon textile that’s baked into the sole to disrupt impact. The 3D Cocoon runs the length of the shoe. The shoe includes a slightly beefier upper that includes significant toe bumpers.  Vibram will also be releasing the SeeYa, a 4.8 ounce “performance model” for dedicated minimalist runners. It’s got a significantly reduced upper as well as a Bikila informed outsole with the midfoot and some other portions cut away. Even the velcro straps have cutouts to reduce weight. I’ll assume that all those interested will have seen this model in the barefooting corners of the internet.

Foot, Lower Leg, Core and Plyo Exercises for Runners

Barefoot/Achilles/Plantar/Soleus Work

Natural Running Panel Discussion Parts1-8

Looks like this is how we'll spend our work day... watching this panel :).  First question to the panel was 'why do you run'?  Why do we?  Instinct?

Navy Changes Course on Minimal Shoes

Navy Doctors say there is no evidence that they'll do any harm, so VFFs are re-allowed.

‘Toe shoes’ rule at odds with medical officials
Despite concerns from its own medical professionals, the Navy has decided to reverse a policy that prohibits Vibram FiveFingers shoes and other minimalist athletic footwear in certain situations.
In a fleetwide message released Aug. 5, the Navy expressly allows the shoes, which are designed with little to no support or cushioning in an attempt to mimic the sensations of barefoot running. Devotees of the shoes say they reduce the likelihood of injuries, but the sports medicine community has mixed feelings about the footwear.  Story Here

An Interesting Project - an Aboriginal Athlete!

The book 'The Artificial Ape' details many indigenous cultures and the reader gains SERIOUS insight to why these people live this way.  Cultural elitism is simply a misunderstanding of the cultures you think you're superior to.   


Australia is paying respect to its aborigines through 'The Indigenous Marathon Project', a SmartStart for Kids!™ project and we are proud to contribute to helping Indigenous youth and their communities.  Their goal is to produce an indigenous distance running champion; To have an indigenous Australian on the 2016 Olympic marathon running team; and make running, walking and physical activity a natural and regular part of indigenous life.

Story here

Great Podcast! (Interviews With UltraRunning Athletes)

I apologize in advance for taking you away from your work to stream podcasts (but it's what I will be doing today ;) ).  UltraRunning Podcast Here

Ugh, I Could Not Disagree More!

"The medical establishment tends to be conservative on the issue. When asked, David Davidson, D.P.M., president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine (AAPSM), stated, "Kids should not be running in 'minimalist footwear' at all and, as in other shoes, should be wearing brand name running shoes with good motion control, cushioning, etc." The Academy's official statement is somewhat more agnostic, stating, "Currently, inconclusive scientific research has been conducted regarding the benefits and/or risks of barefoot running.""

It's statements like these that say "we humans have fixed our evolutionary deficiencies through foam and rubber"??  Sounds like the inability to see the unintended consequences is extreme hubris. The shod 'debate' can be solved with our next generation if we play it smart.  See the related article here

Learn From Other's Mistakes!

Avoid the pitfalls of too much too soon (TMTS).  


Mistake: <<I set out [barefoot] on a sunny afternoon along my usual route of about 4 ½ miles.  I felt great while being careful to run on the balls of my feet so there would be less impact on my knees and more fatigue in my calves. The change in my running style activated muscles not typically engaged.  I felt inspired and invigorated by the change, but ended up tearing my feet to absolute ribbons.>>

Punishment: <<After the run, I hobbled around for days in Neosporin-covered feet, barely able to walk. >>  Story Here

Respect the Distance (some tips of common sense)

Flying

Minimalist Shoes Making it Through 100-Mile Races

Shoe selection!  This is on my mind a lot lately... with my upcoming 50-miler.  Like most runners, I have a closet lined with running shoes.  I joke that I have ONE cheap pair of dress shoes and the rest are for running/crossfit.  ((Showing you where my priorities are)).  A few custom/hand made shoe companies are popping up lately and I think it's a good thing!  The moccasins pictured to the right are the second such pair that carried a runner through 100-mile ultra.  My 50-miler is pretty technical at the beginning- i'd thought maybe two-different pairs of shoes, but maybe i should commit. Story here. Shoes here.

How Heat Affects Running Performance

How Heat Affects Running Performance
There is little doubt that exercise performance is impaired in hot environments. While the effect of heat on performance varies with the sport (for example, less effect on cycling than running), there is a great deal of empirical data showing a link between ambient temperature and performance. Various authors have suggested performance impairments of between 1.6 and 3% in marathon times for every 10 degrees above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Below is an interesting table from a paper by Scot Montain and colleagues at the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine illustrates the relationship between elite marathoner finishing times and course temperature in the New York City Marathon. The Rest is here

Robb Wolf's Paleo-Solutions Podcast

This week's episode is #92, Robb has guests Mat LaLonde and Mark Sisson.  It was recorded off to the side of the Ancestral Health Conference.  Topics such as diary, de-evolution, sustainability of grass fed meat products (point: in the mid 1800s there were more Bison than there are diary/beef cows today, Bison clip grass to eat, cows pull grass).  I am a big fan of this podcast, Robb recently has added more and more exercise tips, not just diet advice.


His site is here

The Gait Guys - Find Them On Facebook and Youtube

I was fortunate to be directed to these guys just in time.  I have been helping out some friends' running issues and in searching for mobility, strengthening, etc I found these Guys.  They are 'the business', many videos with commentaries explaining physiology, and funny commentaries on famous running videos, such as Gaits in the movies :).  Click here to see where the T1000 went wrong!

Vibram has a pair that's a little dressier, better suited for cold weather.

Almost acceptable at some business casual work places?  What do you think? The VFF Bormios looks like a step in the casual footwear direction for Vibram.   The soles appear to be the same as my KSO Treks.  Very good in snow/mud, etc.  I could foresee some difficulty in getting my toes in the correct slots, I use the flexibility of my KSOs to wrangle a couple of my useless mal-formed toes where they belong.  Review is here

How Dark Chocolate Can Help Your Fitness

Researchers have known for some time that chocolate has healthful effects, and recent epidemiological studies have shown that people who regularly indulge in moderate amounts of dark chocolate are less likely to develop high blood pressure or heart disease or suffer strokes. But chocolate’s potential role in exercise performance had not been studied, or probably even much considered, until scientists at the University of California, San Diego, and other institutions gave middle-aged, sedentary male mice a purified form of cacao’s primary nutritional ingredient, known as epicatechin, and had the mice work out. Epicatechin is a flavonol, a class of molecules that are thought to have widespread effects on the body.

More Here

Terra Plana's expert Lee Saxby teaches us the skill of barefoot running

Learning the Skill of Barefoot Running from Terra Plana on Vimeo.