Barefoot Running

I recently finished reading the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall where he talks about the Tarahumara, an indigenous and reclusive tribe located throughout the Copper Canyons in Northern Mexico who are known for their ability to run long distances. As technologically superior as our running gear may appear to be, the Tarahumara people run in nothing but sandals called Huaraches and they are not known to suffer any of the injuries that our shoes are supposed to be preventing.

The author believes that the shoe industry is duping all of us into buying running shoes that we don't need and that are bad for us. Shoes with gels and support, motion control and stability, but all they are doing is hurting us while they make a pretty penny at the same time.

He believes we were born to run barefoot as we did millions of years ago and that doing so will improve our technique and lead to less injury or no injury at all. Today's modern running shoes are designed in a way that don't allow us to get feedback from the surface we're running on which is a crucial part of running and it's making our feet weaker because the shoes are so cushioned.

The book also tells a great story about the human will and just how much we can endure. Even if you're not an ultra runner or a runner, I think you will enjoy this book and I recommend it to all runners of any level.

As luck would have it, I found out that Chris was going to be at the Miami Book Fair and my wife and I went to see him. We got to hear him speak, he signed our book and was nice enough to pose with me for a picture. He even asked us if we were planning on going running the next day, but we had to work! What a great experience that would have been. Maybe next time Chris. Call me!

I was tempted to buy a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes after reading Born to Run and after I heard Chris speak, I convinced myself to buy a pair. Below is me in my Vibram Bikila's. I'm assuming that these shoes were named after Abebe Bikila, a two time Olympic Marathon champion. He ran the 1960 Summer Olympics Marathon barefoot and won it in 2:15:16. Not bad.

I haven't run in my Vibrma's yet because I don't want to hurt myself. For now, I'm just getting used to walking around in them and I will slowly transition into running in them and hopefully see the results.

The Vibram's are minimalist running shoes designed to come as close to running barefoot as possible. They hardly have any support or cushion and they are super light weight. My Bikila's only weight 5.7 ounces whereas my Brooks Adrenaline GTS weigh a hefty 11 ounces. It also hardly has a heel, which prevents you from landing on your heel first. I'm sure if you did, it would hurt like heck.

Hopefully I will be able to run in these shoes in the near future and maybe bring my half marathon time down to two hours!

Stay tuned to see how it all unfolds.

Yabba, Dabba, BOO!

I have a friend that is obsessed with dressing up. She now has twin daughters who’ve had more costume changes in their short one-year old lives than most of us have had our entire lives and even her new kitten has been subjected to wearing a cowboy hat and scarf.

So naturally, when we all decided to run the Miami Beach Halloween Half Marathon, she was in charge of coming up with costume ideas. We were all on board to be the Smurfs until we imagined the blue paint running down our bodies and into our eyeballs during the race. When that idea fizzled, she came up with running as The Flinstones.

Of course, we waited until the very last minute to get our costumes and in the spirit of the economy, a few of us, including my wife and I, made our own costumes and I playfully named us Recession Barney and Betty Rubble. Fashioned from ungodly, non-dri-fit fabric, our friend and his mom helped with the sewing and below was the finished product.

While I was running the course, one spectator recognized my costume as Barney right away, while another thought I was a pirate. I can forgive him for his error because when I first put on my costume I thought I looked like a jester from the court of some mean, tasteless king. As a group, we had Fred & Wilma, two incarnations of Pebbles and of course, us as the Rubbles.

It was the first time I had ever run a race in costume and I wasn't planning on shooting for a PR, but I at least wanted to post a respectable time. But, somewhere along the course, that competition bug bit me and I tuned in and started really running. I noticed that I was on pace to PR or at least tie my best time of 2:15. With one mile left, I gave it all I had and I was cruising nicely to a new personal best.

With not very far left to go, I was shocked to find a hill ahead of me that I had no idea was going to be there. After cursing at it, I began charging up the hill. I gassed out at the top and had to take a walk break. I ran down the hill to the last water stop, threw some water over my head and continued to soak my already wet shoes with more water. Good job.

I saw the sign for mile 13 up ahead and I told myself there was no stopping from here. I shifted from walking to a fast sprint until I crossed the finish line, but as it turns out, I missed PR-ing by a little over two minutes. Finish time: 2:17, my second best finish for a half.

The medal that we were given is my favorite so far. It's a casket that opens to reveal what looks like a Mrs. Dracula. It's very different and what sparked me to sign up for this race.

So, that's three halves for me this year. I'm happy with my running accomplishments for 2010. I've decided to take a week off from running to rest and relax and the next race will be the Turkey Trot 5K in Washington, DC. My wife and I will be starting and finishing it together which is a first for us.

Until the next post!