(almost) Barefoot Running

Six things for the six days before the LA 13.1

October 18, 2010

I have never run a half marathon in less than two hours and ten minutes, which means I’ve never run a half marathon in less than ten minutes per mile. My first half marathon was run in two hours eleven minutes, and my last two in two hours, sixteen minutes. I have nowhere to go [...]

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A Jedi would be really good minimalist runner

October 12, 2010

Man, I thought minimalist running was going to be easy. Really, I did. I mean, it’s more natural, right? Our bodies get better when we work them out, get stronger with resistance and improve with practice. What I failed to account for was how much of a mind game running really can be. Unlike every [...]

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Stick to your form

October 11, 2010

There’s no question the most important aspect of minimalist running is form. Not speed, not strength, not ability to handle pain (maybe a little bit), but form. Maintaining proper form allows us to run longer, run easier and run fairly injury-free. And I know all of this. But I ignored it. I ignored it because [...]

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Please stand by

October 10, 2010

Sorry, guys, I haven’t forgot about you. I’ve been out living life less barefoot. It’s the pits, but duty calls. Hard to regale y’all with tales of me and my FiveFingers when they’ve been riding the shelf for the last week or two. I think I’ve managed about ten minutes in them for a quick [...]

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If I’d only known…

October 1, 2010

… I’d have started a long time ago. After one busted knee and then another busted knee, anything high impact scared the shit out of me. I knew that the next day (or five) would be miserable. No amount of ice, heat, stretching, or drugs ever helped. I just had to bear it. Since I’ve [...]

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Cross training when you’re a Vibram runner

September 24, 2010

Cross training is important. No matter what sport you play, making your body do unfamiliar movements will help in your overall health goals. I grew up playing baseball, then added basketball to my interests and eventually tennis. Because the competitive seasons in these sports were all different, it was great to have such varied interests. [...]

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Choosing your FiveFingers

September 22, 2010

I was going to do a post on this, but then I saw this guide (pdf) by Birthdayshoes.com, and figured I’ll just let them tell you. 21 pages of toe shoe/gorilla feet/foot glove goodness. Check it out. I’ll tell you about mine later.

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Golf balls, some knee pain and some running gear

September 21, 2010

Ran nine miles last night with zero problems. Didn’t have to walk a bit, didn’t have to worry if I was going to finish and never felt the need to stop for any reason. I hydrated all day, stopped to wet my mouth every mile and a half and finished just under 10 minutes a [...]

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You might be a runner if…

September 20, 2010

Found this list over on Paul Martinez’s Tumblr page. Below I’ve reposted the content in order to better answer the questions. You might be a runner if… … you wear a global positioning system on your wrist. -Guilty. Damn. I never wanted to be one of those guys, but using a Garmin watch helps a [...]

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Hey! Those are mine! But I guess you can borrow them…

September 18, 2010

A while back I was exchanging a pair of busted KSO’s and couldn’t help but notice how busy the store was compared to last time I had been in. I was happy for the store (Whole Earth Provision, check ‘em out. I shop there solely because of their customer service), but was slightly irritated at [...]

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