I’m Famous!? Well, Noticed.
Every week, the guys behind the “Geeks in Running Shoes” podcast use the Twitter search function to find a running topic of interest. Then they follow one Twitter user based on the search. This week, it was me!
Here’s how it happened. One of my work friends mentioned that there was a “natural running” store opening in town, with it’s grand opening on Saturday. My husband and I decided to check it out, and found out that it’s called DHP Natural Running, which I guess is a chain. I was not wearing my Vibram FiveFingers, but we sauntered in, just with the intention of saying hi and chatting a little with the employees about barefoot/natural running. We approached the three employees standing around and I congratulated them on opening their store. I mentioned that I recently completed a half marathon in VFFs, and instead of asking how it went, one of the ladies got a little skeptical and quickly let me over to their display of VivoBarefoot Evos. She started giving me a really strong sales pitch, about how the Evos were “made for running” unlike the FiveFingers, which are really “boat shoes”. I felt the shoes in my hand and indeed, they were flexible, but still much too thick a sole for my liking. She started talking about the puncture resistant rubber, etc. etc. and when my husband asked if she had ever tried FiveFingers, she wrinkled her nose and sniffed, “Oh, no. I can’t imagine wearing something between my toes. I don’t even like those toe socks.” I knew then that any sort of friendly (or informative) conversation was impossible with this woman, so we just left.
The next day, I tweeted: “Employee lady at the natural running store was rude to me yesterday: “VFFs? Those are boat shoes *smirks*” She had never even worn them.”
When the Geeks in Running Shoes guys did their podcast twitter search, it was suggested by their guests Coaches Jeff and Diane from PRS-Fit to search for “natural running” (I think they are proponents of a running form of the same name). Lo and behold, my tweet came up, because it inlcuded that phrase. You can download the podcast on iTunes, or listen to it here. They mention AllisonsBigToe in the last 10 min. or so.
The hosts read my Twitter bio on the air: “Barefoot running as much as possible, perfecting my ChiRunning form, and working everyday to find the true meaning of health and happiness” and then their guest Coach Jeff commented about how he thinks ChiRunning and Danny Dreyer (creator) got a lot right, but that it’s not really a “performance based” form/program, which really rubbed me the wrong way. ChiRunning is definitely about performance! It’s all about having a form that will sustain a person through hours and hours of running without injury or fatigue.
Also, Coach Jeff did a good job discussing how VFFs encourage a runner to run on the forefoot, not the heel, but another thing that bothered me was that he then heavily discouraged running in VFFs on “pavement or other hard surfaces”, I’m assuming because he thought it would be too rough on the body. I ran my whole half marathon on pavement, and didn’t have any biomechanical strain or problems, because I was carefully following the ChiRunning form.
In fact, Christopher McDougall actually mentioned in a video interview in the New York Times (at about minute 1:35) that smooth, man-made surfaces like pavement are “like cream [for a barefoot runner]…smooth and contoured”. One-two inches of padding in a running shoe is not going to protect a runner from over one hundred pounds of downforce on impact, whether s/he is landing on dirt or on pavement. Proper form must be followed with or without shoes, but barefoot and/or FiveFingers allow a runner to build up the foot strength that is needed to maintain this form.
All that said, I’m glad the podcast opened up these topics for discussion. It seems there is still a lot of work to be done in informing the mainstream about the benefits of running without traditional built-up motion control sneakers.
What do you think?
A Small Favor?
Hi everyone. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it for you! Could you please do me a favor and recommend me for the Tumblr health and fitness directory? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
10 Minutes a Day, Five Days a Week
What single activity do you spend ten minutes a day doing, five days a week? It would have to be something pretty inconsequential, right? That’s not very long to get much accomplished, is it? Actually, I’m surprised at how much progress I’ve made in just a few months of a 10-minute yoga/exercise workout that I created to target various areas of my body that needed strengthening. I got the exercises from a variety of places over the years (aerobics classes, yoga, sports, etc.), and have included an informative link or explanation with each exercise if you’re not familiar with it.
All the equipment you’ll need (seriously):
You can skip to the end if you just want to see my workout, or read on for…
The Background Story
My husband always says that doing five or 10 push-ups a day for forty years can lead to great things, arm-wise. I usually pooh-pooh the idea. Five push-ups a day? That’s not going to do anything, even if I stick to it for years. Plus, my morning routine is so busy already between making my lunch, eating breakfast, picking out my clothes, etc. etc., that the last thing I want to do is add a component. That was until I took a good look at my arms a few months ago and immediately flashed back to seventh grade English class. We girls would sit and snicker as Mrs. ___’s arms flapped around while she wrote on the chalkboard everyday. Wait, I’m an English teacher, I thought. I write on the whiteboard. Thank god I don’t teach seventh grade (you all are saints), but what if my ninth graders are snickering!?? Horrible thought. I will NOT let that happen. My arms will not be flappy.
Another area I realized I wanted to work on is the always talked-about “core”. ChiRunning has a lot of great suggestions on how to improve core strength, because lower abdominal muscles are so crucial in keeping the pelvis level and achieving the optimal posture stance. I learned a few that I feel are best for me and included them in my routine.
Then there’s the legs and feet. Yes, I’m a runner, but I still lack the strength in my quads that could help me run faster and maintain my form better. Also, barefoot running puts its own strain on the foot muscles, and in developing a comprehensive routine, I wanted to make sure to stretch and strengthen them, too. So, here we go!
My 10-Minute Morning Workout
When: 10 minutes each morning, Mon-Fri. I wake up at 6:00 am to get ready for school. First I go for a 30 min. speed walk with my husband, then I unroll my yoga mat on the carpet and get started.
What: (This is the routine I’ve worked up to after one year, from start to finish. You can modify the times/reps listed here based on your current fitness level. I count all seconds 1-1000, 2-1000, etc. in my head)
20 sec. plantar stretch (sit on your heels with your toes on the ground and your feet dorsiflexed)
20 sec. ankle stretch (sit on your calves with your knees on the ground and your toes pointed)
20 fist push-ups (on my knees, but with toes on the ground like a real push-up. My thumbs in the fist point in towards each other in a narrow hand position for 10, then I do 10 wide hand position push-ups)
10 sec. modified Child’s Pose with arms outstretched to stretch arms, back, and tops of feet
60 sec. Plank exercise
30 sec. Cobra
40 sec. Side plank L arm (shown)
25 lying side leg lifts on each leg
40 glute kickbacks on each leg
30 sec. calf squat (I made this one up to stretch calves and Achilles tendon. Squat with the backs of your thighs resting on your calves, and lean from your ankles until you feel the stretch in calves and Achilles)
30 sec. Extended Standing Forward Bend (the “extended” part comes from moving your hands about 2 feet forward from what is shown in the picture)
Two spine rolls (Click the link and scroll to minute 2:30 of my video to see the demo. Go slower than I show on the roll up.)
40 thumbs up, SMALL arm circles
40 thumbs up, BIG arm circles.
40 thumbs down, SMALL arm circles.
40 thumbs down, BIG arm circles. (I alternate clockwise/counter clockwise daily)
30 shoulder presses (no free weights, just my hands)
Lastly, I go over to my couch and do 30 Triceps dips.
And then I’m done! After the routine, I take a shower and finish getting ready. It feels great knowing that every weekday I start out with something productive.
Does this all make sense? Would you want to do this too? Comments?
**Note: I updated this post 10/1/11 to reflect my current workout.
Official Race Review: Camarillo Half Marathon 10.3.10
Official times and distance: 2:16:22 / 10:25 average pace / 24th in age group out of 54 women 20-29 yrs.
First off, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone out there on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook who encouraged me and read my blog posts throughout my sixteen-week ChiRunning training program in my Vibram FiveFingers. Also, to those of you who noticed the logo on my shirt while running the race on October 3rd and who took the time to slow up next to me and thank me for my blog or comment on my shoes, I want to truly express my gratitude for making my race so fun! I felt propelled along by all your well-wishes. It was a joy to see two other women besides me (no men that I saw) wearing FiveFingers for the half marathon. One young lady—wish I knew your name—was wearing the same color green and gray KSO shoes that I had on. She was quite a bit faster than me and said she’d been wearing them for a year, but this was also her first half marathon in them.
You can check out a map of the race course at the link here to follow my mile-by-mile debriefing.
Mile 1: Started out fast along Pleasant Valley, under 10 min/ mile. Sooo hard not to. Had 2-3 people ask about my shoes or say they liked reading my blog. Really exhilarating.
Mile 2: R turn on to Las Posas and then L on Cawelti. I tried to slow down and not get caught up in the crowd. It was a very humid morning, and the run down Cawelti was stagnant with not much breeze.
Mile 3: Continuing down Cawelti. It was great to see my dad and sister cheering periodically beside their tandem bike.
Mile 4: R turn on to Lewis was welcome for the change in wind direction, and the run by the entrance to California State University Channel Islands was very pretty. My hip flexors started to hurt about this point. I introduced my run to the video my husband was filming as he rode beside me.
Mile 5: Up the bridge leading up to the HWY 1 on-ramp. This was the only hill in the course, and could hardly be called a hill, but I got to practice my ChiRunning uphill focuses of swinging my arms up to my chin. Tried to relax hip flexors, but they were more sore than they should have been. I had never experienced hip flexor soreness with FiveFingers in the past, and realize now that I was probably holding back too much on my lean.
Mile 6 (halfway!): Ran along a closed-off farm road whose asphalt was quite uneven and a little less comfortable for the FiveFingers than the smoother asphalt had been. I tried to run on the painted center line.
Mile 7-8: Turned R back on to Las Posas to work up to Pleasant Valley. This was the hardest part of the race for me, mentally. I knew I was more than halfway through, but I was tired, and everything was hurting by now, my inner legs by the ankles (think of the muscles that flex when you try to stand on one foot barefoot), hip flexors, calves, tendon on top of my big toe. Really helped to have family cheering me on here, and seeing some of my high school students along the race course volunteering. I had my husband take one of my water bottles and ride over to an aid station to fill it up because I was running low. Cheating? Hmmm…maybe, but I pretended I was an ultramarathoner with a whole truckload of supplies following me and attending to my every need.
Mile 9-10: L on Pleasant Valley Rd. Tried to pick up the pace a little as I was sinking in to the 11 min / mile range a few times here. Still quite tired.
Mile 11-13: Caught up to a girl I had been trailing for awhile. She and I started talking and realized we had gone to high school together at Camarillo High School and had both graduated in 2000. Her pace of around 10:30 was pretty consistent with my own, so we ran together into the Camarillo airport section of the race for a couple miles. At 2 hours, a runner passed me and asked what time it was; I said 2 hours, and she said No, I’m running the full course. I said, Oh! Well, it’s 10:00am. And she took off. Her form was the most perfect I’ve seen in person. Her feet kicked up behind her in great alignment, no feet splaying out or inefficient arm movement. She was going so fast to have been at mile 25 three hours into her race. I was in awe, and it inspired me to get a little more energy after the turn around at mile 11.5. I gave my water belt to my husband on the bike because I didn’t need it anymore, and he encouraged me to hunker down, stay focused, and go for it. I leaned from my ankles, lengthened my stride, and brought my pace down into the low nine min/mile range, at times moving into the 8.
Mile 13.1: I saw two girls as I rounded the corner to the finish and immediately decided to sprint ahead of them. It was all mental, as my body was definitely telling me it was time to slow down. I sped up even more and passed them. As I crossed the finish line, I got a medal from one of my students who was volunteering. Made it!
Recap and improvements for next time:
1. I’m glad I brought all my own electrolyte replacements and water. The race course was poorly stocked with water. I don’t usually consume much caffeine at all, but the “Gu” gels I bought had caffeine in them because they were the only ones left at the store. After the race, I kept saying to my family, “Wow, I feel so perky! I must be in really good shape!” Then I realized I was just on a caffeine high. Haha! Maybe I’ll use those again next time.
2. The soreness in my calves, inner legs at ankles, big toe on right foot, and hip flexors was quite intense the next day, but the day after that it was all but gone.
3. After watching the videos my husband shot of my form, I can see I wasn’t leaning enough from the ankles the whole race, and my strides were too short. I was letting my feet strike ahead of my hips, and I know that’s why my hip flexors were sore. When I sped up at the end, my form was much better. I think I was focusing too much on keeping a straight back and knees bent for the barefoot form, and neglected to fully give in to the ChiRunning technique.
Comments?
