Thanks to all those who came to the talk last Thursday night at Maine Running Company on ‘Natural Running,’ and thanks to John Rogers for hosting us. It felt a little surreal to be up there speaking. A year ago I was that wacky sports chiropractor telling people to try some barefoot running and now I’m an ‘expert’ (or ‘noted expert’ as I tell my wife.). I learned a lot from my fellow presenters, and they helped to explain the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this new movement. Danny A. from Newton really has the form piece down, and I realized how much thought and experience goes into Newton shoes. Kirsten Buchanan has a great perspective, coming from a more conventional background but now being able to shed light on the emerging science behind minimalism. She showed me a stack of recent studies that are demonstrating how running barefoot and in minimalist footwear leads to lower impact forces and is associated with a decreased risk of things like runners’ knee and plantar fascitis. I wish we had had the time to hear more from them.
I thought I would post a few follow-up thoughts of my own, things I woke up the next morning thinking, ‘Why didn’t I say this?!’ As you may have seen from prior posts I was very zealous about minimalist running last year. To be honest I haven’t been thinking about it as much lately. I’ve just accepted it now with my own running and feel fully acclimated. Also this time of year in the office is more about trying to patch up runners getting ready for the fall marathons and halfs, and discussing changing gait isn’t what someone needs to hear weeks before their race.
At a minimum, barefoot running on grass is the easiest way to find your best form and also ensures that your feet and ankles are strong enough. The form piece comes easiest on grass; since it’s immediately comfortable, you can open up your stride without the skin sensitivity factor. Many of the elements of good form, including an upright posture and shorter strides tend to happen more naturally and intuitively when running without shoes. As far as injury prevention, it makes sense (to me at least) that any given runner should be able to do their longest run barefoot on grass. This implies that your muscles, tendons, and ligaments are strong enough to support you, regardless of what shoe you wear.
From this starting point it then becomes more about your goals. If ‘Born to Run’ was a religious experience for you and you are intent on running like the Tarahumara, then it’s a matter of finding the right covering for your feet when conditions prevent going sans shoes. In this case Vibram Five Fingers are probably your best bet.
For me, after spending last season finding my best form and rehabbing weak ankles with a lot of barefoot and Vibram running, I started this season looking to train harder to go faster. By springtime all my hard earned calluses from last year were gone and I was back to being a tender-foot. My natural progression, and the direction that I think most runners would follow, was to find shoes that didn’t interfere with my new stride. On the road this meant racing flats or Newtons, and on trails New Balance 100’s and Inov-8’s. Due to my experience with a stress fracture Vibrams have become mainly my Pineland shoe (soft surface without many roots or rocks), although at some point I’ll probably use them more often again. I still utilize barefoot running on grass for speedwork or if I just feel the need to get back in touch with my best form.
To be honest, I didn’t wind up running much this season. One thing that I found, and have seen repeatedly in the office, is that when you improve upon one area of the body (in this case my form and foot strength) whatever your next tight or weak link is will be revealed as your training increases. For me it was a balky hip that started to manifest in the knee. Right around that time I was lucky to score a sweet used bike, so I took all that as a sign to bike more this summer and work on rehabbing the hip before the knee became a true injury. However, putting aside my own sob story, I have worked with a number of injury-prone runners who have utilized the minimalist approach to great success.
If you are thinking about trying the minimalist approach, this is a good time of year to start. It takes time to change your form and to acclimate your body, and is not something you want to attempt in the midst of race training. Obviously the barefoot season is rapidly waning, but, depending on your starting point, injury status and goals, there are many options to get started. The most important thing is to take it slow.
Good luck!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Boston Massacre
I started this one a few weeks back and then forgot to finish it.... I've been made aware that people are actually reading this blog, so I'll try to be more timely!
So the 'Boston Effect' from the last post has turned into what we're calling the 'Boston Massacre."
It seems that just about every runner we worked with leading up to the Boston Marathon has had a new issue pop up since the race. In talking with one of the survivors yesterday, we came up with some reasons that I thought I would share, especially since I know thoughts of fall marathons are on many people's minds.
Staying healthy is all about balance. Training balanced with rest. Athletic goals balanced with family and work. Gluts balanced with hip flexors. Balancing the checkbook in such a way that justifies yet another new pair of shoes.... you get the idea.
Training for and running a marathon on the road is probably one of the most challenging things that most runners can take on (no offense to the trail runners out there!) Boston in particular, due to the time of year it's run, the qualifying standard, the course, the pre and post zoo, and the stress this all creates, is more challenging than most.
Training for a marathon is hard enough, but to maintain balance through the process is especially tough. I know one guy getting ready to do Burlington this weekend, who sold his business about a month ago and is otherwise unencumbered, and is still feeling the pressure. Keeping up with appropriate strength training, stretching, seeing your sports chiropractor, and getting enough rest becomes tough particularly when you're training volume gets high in the run up to the race. Quite often something has to give, and then you go and race 26 miles on pavement, creating the perfect storm for injury.
I think there are lessons here for anyone considering training for and running their first marathon, or doing that distance with a PR time goal in mind:
1. There is a certain amount of strength training, particularly core work, necessary to prevent injury when training for distance. My unscientific observation is that a minimum of twice per week of this type of cross-training, coupled with somewhat consistent stretching, helps to keep people out of trouble. Ensure that you factor in the time/energy required to keep up with this non-running work when planning your training.
2. Even when you do appropriate cross-training, any lurking imbalances that you have are more likely to manifest when you take on training for distance. If you have small nuisance type of injury that you've been able to manage with the foam roller, don't be surprised if it gets worse when you increase your volume of training. It's always easier to address something early on than waiting a few weeks before your race when the pain threatens to shut you down.
3. Factor in increased rest time. If you already have a busy life and sleep less than 8 hours per night, your body might not hold up to this type of training if you can't carve out the appropriate recovery time.
I'm all for marathon training (my kids need braces after all), but just be sure to take into account the big picture before signing up. For me, my initial enthusiasm for another marathon in the months leading up to Boston have been reduced to trying to set a new 5K PR this year.
So the 'Boston Effect' from the last post has turned into what we're calling the 'Boston Massacre."
It seems that just about every runner we worked with leading up to the Boston Marathon has had a new issue pop up since the race. In talking with one of the survivors yesterday, we came up with some reasons that I thought I would share, especially since I know thoughts of fall marathons are on many people's minds.
Staying healthy is all about balance. Training balanced with rest. Athletic goals balanced with family and work. Gluts balanced with hip flexors. Balancing the checkbook in such a way that justifies yet another new pair of shoes.... you get the idea.
Training for and running a marathon on the road is probably one of the most challenging things that most runners can take on (no offense to the trail runners out there!) Boston in particular, due to the time of year it's run, the qualifying standard, the course, the pre and post zoo, and the stress this all creates, is more challenging than most.
Training for a marathon is hard enough, but to maintain balance through the process is especially tough. I know one guy getting ready to do Burlington this weekend, who sold his business about a month ago and is otherwise unencumbered, and is still feeling the pressure. Keeping up with appropriate strength training, stretching, seeing your sports chiropractor, and getting enough rest becomes tough particularly when you're training volume gets high in the run up to the race. Quite often something has to give, and then you go and race 26 miles on pavement, creating the perfect storm for injury.
I think there are lessons here for anyone considering training for and running their first marathon, or doing that distance with a PR time goal in mind:
1. There is a certain amount of strength training, particularly core work, necessary to prevent injury when training for distance. My unscientific observation is that a minimum of twice per week of this type of cross-training, coupled with somewhat consistent stretching, helps to keep people out of trouble. Ensure that you factor in the time/energy required to keep up with this non-running work when planning your training.
2. Even when you do appropriate cross-training, any lurking imbalances that you have are more likely to manifest when you take on training for distance. If you have small nuisance type of injury that you've been able to manage with the foam roller, don't be surprised if it gets worse when you increase your volume of training. It's always easier to address something early on than waiting a few weeks before your race when the pain threatens to shut you down.
3. Factor in increased rest time. If you already have a busy life and sleep less than 8 hours per night, your body might not hold up to this type of training if you can't carve out the appropriate recovery time.
I'm all for marathon training (my kids need braces after all), but just be sure to take into account the big picture before signing up. For me, my initial enthusiasm for another marathon in the months leading up to Boston have been reduced to trying to set a new 5K PR this year.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Pendulum Effect
So life has been laughing at my attempts at writing a book lately, so I'll let that go for now. However I do have some new thoughts to share, as I increase my own training, and with an influx of runners lately (I call it the 'Boston Effect'- which fortunately coincides with tax time.)
Last running season for me was all about the minimalist movement. Reading 'Born to Run' capped three years of experimentation with barefoot and minimal shoe running, and made me a believer. I was able to finally find my true natural running form, something I had spent years looking for. Having previously been dependent on stability shoes to run, the pendulum had swung all the way in the other direction. Running was fun and life was good again..... right up until getting a stress fracture running in Vibram FF's on the road.
This season the pendulum has come back to a happy medium. I have been more focused on increasing my pace, hoping to improve upon some of last year's MOP results. I have still been incorporating barefoot running, doing my speed workouts on grass soccer fields near my house. If I had the time or inclination to build up sufficient skin toughness, I would probably do a lot more barefoot running. But I'm just a gringo living in a place with cold winters, so for most other runs I've been using very flat road (NB rc230's) and trail (NB 790's and just got some NB MT 100's). I still like Vibram's but will not wear them on the road anymore, and they don't provide enough protection to go fast on trails I run on anywhere but Pineland.
This morning's long run has really helped put things in perspective. I drove to Baxter Blvd. (something I hate doing, but oh well), hoping to run in Vibrams to get the best of both worlds: skin protection to run at pace, but still the barefoot feeling. After two laps however, I thought I started to feel pain on the top of my left foot, triggering stress fracture flashbacks from last year, and I thought, "Screw this!" and immediately took off the Vibrams (of course just in time for a bunch of unavoidable gravel and the bridge, all at 38 degrees.) As I had hoped, the skin sensitivity factor made me land a lot lighter and I did my last lap with no foot pain. It was fun, especially the looks you get (ranging from smiles to incredulity to outright disgust.) However, I had to slow way down, which kind of defeated the purpose of the run.
People develop certain views of the world based on their occupation. EMT's wear seat belts, E.R. nurses don't drive motorcycles, and insurance agents know that stuff happens. Based on my experiences I've come up with a new philisophy about my running. I'm training for Boston, for Western States, for Lake Placid...... 20 years from now. My point being, I still want to be healthy and in the game then, doing the things I love.
Last running season for me was all about the minimalist movement. Reading 'Born to Run' capped three years of experimentation with barefoot and minimal shoe running, and made me a believer. I was able to finally find my true natural running form, something I had spent years looking for. Having previously been dependent on stability shoes to run, the pendulum had swung all the way in the other direction. Running was fun and life was good again..... right up until getting a stress fracture running in Vibram FF's on the road.
This season the pendulum has come back to a happy medium. I have been more focused on increasing my pace, hoping to improve upon some of last year's MOP results. I have still been incorporating barefoot running, doing my speed workouts on grass soccer fields near my house. If I had the time or inclination to build up sufficient skin toughness, I would probably do a lot more barefoot running. But I'm just a gringo living in a place with cold winters, so for most other runs I've been using very flat road (NB rc230's) and trail (NB 790's and just got some NB MT 100's). I still like Vibram's but will not wear them on the road anymore, and they don't provide enough protection to go fast on trails I run on anywhere but Pineland.
This morning's long run has really helped put things in perspective. I drove to Baxter Blvd. (something I hate doing, but oh well), hoping to run in Vibrams to get the best of both worlds: skin protection to run at pace, but still the barefoot feeling. After two laps however, I thought I started to feel pain on the top of my left foot, triggering stress fracture flashbacks from last year, and I thought, "Screw this!" and immediately took off the Vibrams (of course just in time for a bunch of unavoidable gravel and the bridge, all at 38 degrees.) As I had hoped, the skin sensitivity factor made me land a lot lighter and I did my last lap with no foot pain. It was fun, especially the looks you get (ranging from smiles to incredulity to outright disgust.) However, I had to slow way down, which kind of defeated the purpose of the run.
People develop certain views of the world based on their occupation. EMT's wear seat belts, E.R. nurses don't drive motorcycles, and insurance agents know that stuff happens. Based on my experiences I've come up with a new philisophy about my running. I'm training for Boston, for Western States, for Lake Placid...... 20 years from now. My point being, I still want to be healthy and in the game then, doing the things I love.
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