The Running Man

Posted on December 1, 2012 by jlgentry

A good friend of mine asked me about my running and why I changed to minimalist. Big mistake. She had to sit through my bottom to top lecture. I will take her at her word that she thought it was a great summary. The real test will be if she converts this spring when she starts running again.

The more I research, the more I am convinced that we are natural distance runners. I am also convinced that our bodies are built to work hard. We benefit from constant motion and being productive. So here is my view on why our bodies are so well adapted to distance running. A lot of what I am saying has been investigated and codified by Dan Leiberman at Harvard. I won’t go into gory detail, but I’ll hit the hotspots so you know what I’m talking about. I will talk about each of these in terms of the evolutionary benefit they provide us as runners.

1) The Covering – Our skin has pores and not much hair. No other mammals have the extensive pore structure that we have. The benefit is that our bodies can cool down while we exert. Quadrupeds and other bipeds don’t have pores. They pant to cool down. That means they can’t exert themselves for a long time before they overheat.

2) The Tootsies – We have short toes. You can’t run with long toes. Period. Monkeys have long toes.

3) Sensitive Feet - There is a huge amount of nerve endings in our feet. The densest in our whole body. That is why a smart man gives his wife or significant other a foot massage. It relaxes the whole body. It also provides a high degree of proprioception, or sensitivity. When we walk or run barefoot all those nerve endings tell us just how to adjust our bodies so that we have the most natural gate. Shoes cover all that up. We ran for millions of years before shoes on all kinds of terrain and in all kinds of weather. Just saying.

4) Arch Friends – The arch of the foot is a masterpiece of evolutionary engineering. It is also a massive spring to absorb shock. Funny thing is that it only does that when we run with a natural foot strike. Meaning fore or mid foot, not on the heel. Other primates have flat feet. And they don’t run distances.

5) God of the Leg – Our Achillies tendon is another shock absorber. No other primate has one in their leg. Ours allows for a large amount of shock to be dissipated if you keep your knees bent and use a natural stride.

6) Nice Ass – Don’t get me wrong. Our leg muscles all play in running. Go run some hills and tell me how your Quads feel. What is most interesting along the legs is that glutes. They are purely running muscles. I now know why it is easy to find some nice buns to follow in every race I have run. Comparing to primates again, have you ever seen a chimp or gorilla with a big booty? Nope. They don’t run distance. We do. We get the booty award.

7) Breathe Baby – More than anything we are the only biped or quadruped who can breath in a ratio different than our stride. All other running animals stretch and compress (think of a big cat running). That motion allows them to breath in and out. They have no muscles around their lungs to promote a big inhale and exhale during exertion. We have a powerful diaphragm that allows us to breath and take multiple steps. That happens when you run. Most people take two or three steps with each inhale and exhale. The real benefit is that it allows oxygen replenishment and respiration over a long period of time and at many different gates.

8) Open the Gate – We have a continuously variable gate control. That means we can adjust our rate of step to just about any rate from a dead stop to our personal fastest rate. Other mammals are stuck with four gates. When a horse moves from a trot to a gallop, they have just those speeds. Yeah the gallop has a little play in it, but they have about four speeds and that is it. If you are a running animal, being able to finely adjust your gate to the terrain or the prey you are tracking gives you a huge advantage in efficiency over long distance.

9) Knuckle Draggers – Well, we aren’t knuckle draggers. Other primates are. That is because we have a tendon in the back of our neck that goes up through the base of the skull. It keep our head erect and shoulders back while we run. Only running animals have the tendon. If you look at a chimp run, they lean forward and use their hands to keep from falling over as they skuttle for the short distances that they can run. We run erect (go ahead, make the jokes!).

10) Art and Science – There is a large body of research that says we think better when we are in motion. It is a basic survival trait for humans who first ventured out of the trees and on to the hard packed and rocky surface of the savannah. We had to be very aware so that we could find food or not be food. There is more to it than that.

We were barefoot and weaponless. There were many predators out there, so why did we dominate? We were bipedal for at least two million years before we invented tools and weapons. How did we feed our big brains which take 20-30% of our energy? We needed meat and fat from big game. We scavenged a lot, but we also learned how to hunt in a very unique way.

We evolved to be persistence hunters. That means we ran our prey to death. We sweat through pores and run at a variety of gates with ease over long distance. We hunted the big game at the hottest part of the day and made them keep running. They couldn’t cool down because they can’t pant and run at the same time, so after a few hours they overheated and were either easy to club to death or just fell over. Persistence hunting is very effective. In the 60′s there were still hunters in Africa who practiced persistence hunting. Four out of five hunts resulted in game being caught at the end of the run. That is much more effective than spears or arrows. What is it about persistence hunting that makes us what we are today?

Persistence hunting required developing a skill for speculative tracking. The ability to envision what the animal would do when there were no signs on the trail. That speculative tracking helped develop our imagination. Tracking was a learned skill and hunters taught other hunters the techniques for following different kinds of prey. It was the first use of the scientific method, albeit elementary. From that sharing of knowledge came the ability to understand how the beast would react while being chased. Speculative tracking is the ability to put your mind into the head of the beast and to feel where it had gone. In a sense, we learned to think strategically. It is all because we were able to run long distances. It is in our genetic code and in every element of our physical being.

Among all the creative activities we developed because we learned to be speculative, the most wonderful is love. So when I say I love running, I really mean it. Without running there would be no love.

Get out there. Screw the weather. Screw the excuses. One foot in front of the other. Run 5 feet or 50 miles. Get in contact with what you really are – a running hunter. The most awesome predator that has ever lived on this planet.

Run Free. Dig Deep.

I Am A Runner!

Posted on October 15, 2012 by jlgentry

Today, I am RUNNER! Yes, I have been posting this series of columns on running for about a year, but until this weekend, I was working to regain my status using a minimalist style. I am there.

Just a year ago I read Born to Run by Chirstopher McDougall and decided to give minimalist running a try. Those of you who have followed and read know that making that change after 40 years running in technical shoes is not a simple adjustment. Compounding that was my own impatience at a few points along the way.

It has been a step function of progress with quick growth followed by plateaus of stabilization. I have discovered many things about style and technique as well as myself over this past year. More than that I have made some great virtual friends who share the running passion and who have offered encouragement and incentive. Many of them don’t even know it, but that is how those things work.

So, why today? Why this point in time to declare that I am a runner?

It is the day after the day after. You all know what I mean. The real pain of a long run isn’t felt until the day after the day after. This Saturday, October 13, I ran the ING Hartford Marathon.

It was the longest run I’ve made in minimalist style by almost a factor of two. The timing of the race didn’t allow me to use a typical prep schedule. I gave my physical conditioning in minimalist precedence over the mileage and concentrated on staying healthy. To compensate the lack of mileage I did more hill and interval work more frequently.

The morning of the race was cold – about 38F at the start. I dress for the “second mile”, so I had my shorts, a compression top and a long sleeve jersey and my minimalist shoes. Because of an ill timed blister I couldn’t wear my Luna Sandals, so I opted for a pair of NB Minimus shoes that I have been using on trail runs. Use shoes that you have run in even if they aren’t the perfect match for the course. It took a bit more than the second mile to warm up, but the day was sunny and not much wind to speak of.

It is a beautiful course. Starting in downtown in a large park we set off along a series of pathways along the Hartford River. Rolling hills provided views of the river, oarsmen, trees turning color in the early fall, and the tall buildings of Hartford. It would have been a perfect venue for a stroll, but me and the 17,000 other runners weren’t in a stroll kind of mood.

Breaking out of the city we spent the majority of the race running through the surrounding residential area of Hartford. Streets lined with tall trees and a relatively flat grade. It was a wonderful place to be as the air warmed up. I felt good as I approached the turnaround at mile 15 or so. But, having done a couple of marathons before, I knew the real challenge was at mile 20 and beyond.

I loved watching the elite runners heading past us before I hit the turnaround. It was in their eyes. None of them were looking around, just down the road at their goal. The focus and natural movement was awe inspiring. I will never be fast, but I want to be that smooth.

At mile twenty I felt the depression start to set in. I had been drinking at must about every water station and munching a Cliff bar and some raisins as I ran to help payback the 2860 calories my app said I burnt. I started to doubt myself. My feet were feeling the pain. I was in uncharted territory. Those puppies had only been subjected to 15 miles at the most during my regeneration as a runner. Concentrating on form was taking all the mental energy I had. Well, not really. A lot of my mind was focused on living inside the pain. Not my legs but my feet. Remember, minimalist shoes offer no cushion and I hadn’t had time to build up the stamina.

When I hit mile 22 I had to stop while I opened up a ziplock baggie with raisins in it. My fingers were so cold and stiff they couldn’t grip the plastic while I ran. Even standing I spent 20 seconds or so trying to get the damn thing open. I started to worry that I’d freeze up. Finally, a clump in my mouth and a second in my hand I zipped it up, tucked it in my waistband and started up again, another cup of water to help.

And it felt okay.

Mile 24 and I knew I was home. I was letting the aches and pains of my body flow through me, remembering the words of Scott Jurek – “Dig Deep”. He inscribed those words into my copy of Eat & Run. I also knew that mile 25 held the last climb of the race. A curving path up an entry ramp then over an overpass. It gains about 75 feet in a half mile or so. The perfect thing to do after 25 miles! I hit the climb with a smile on my face. I felt enough reserve to be able to power up the beast and enter the downtown area with less than a mile left powered by the cheers of the crowd.

At the end there is a sharp left turn to reveal the arch tower that is a monument of Hartford. The race finishes under the beauty and power of those arches. Legs enriched by the sight of the end find strength and move to the finish.

Water, food and some beer from Harpoon brewery made the end of the race comfortable, although I was stiff as hell. Then a long drive back home. a warm shower, and spending some time with the family.

That evening I paid attention to the aches and pains. Hydrating continued as well as munching on fruits. Dinner was pizza and beer, which is always on my training table.

Sunday found me with soar ankles and feet. That I kind of expected, but I also had a little tenderness in my knees. I didn’t worry about it, but didn’t push it either.

Then I noticed that I could walk up and down stairs without any tightness in my thighs. In previous marathons the thighs had taken a toll and I had to walk down stairs backwards as a result. I kept in motion the whole day. Fish for dinner after a smoothie for lunch and an afternoon of working in the yard and garage.

Now, here I am on Monday morning and I feel normal. I have no real pain in my legs or feet. I am amazed. I had almost dreaded getting up this morning because the day after the day after is always a deeper lingering pain. None. Nada. I walked down the stairs to my home office and a cup of coffee and I am normal.

It is the minimal style. It is body friendly. I know that now. And that is after running 26 miles in 3:56:30 – my second best ever – without the mileage I really should have logged. It tells me that this was the right choice to make and I am no longer wondering if there is a gottcha at the end of the minimalist conversion. Well, there is. The gottcha is the you want to run longer than 26.2!

I have completed a full marathon, running in minimalist form for the duration. I didn’t just survive, I ran. I finished in a time I never expected. Yes, the transition is complete.

Today I am a Runner! Run Free. Dig Deep

Fairfield Half Marathon is History!

Posted on June 27, 2012 by jlgentry

On Sunday I gave myself a birthday present. I turned 59 on the 23rd and ran the Fairfield Half Marathon on the 24th. It is a race I’ve run several times in the past, but this was a milestone run for me. It was the first time I’ve run it in minimalist style.

A year ago a 10+ mile run was not a big deal. I was putting those out on a regular basis all through the summer. Then in late fall I started the transition to minimal style and my mileage and milestones all changed drastically. Back in May I hit a plateau where I felt my form was good and I was going to slowly add miles. The form has stayed and miles have been added. It has not been without pain and adjustment. It has been enlightening and exhilarating.

What’s Changed?

Well, first off, my times aren’t that much different. I went back to the records and in 2002, 10 years ago, I ran Fairfield in 1:52:28. My personal best was somewhere around 1:51, but I can’t remember where I ran that. I know, I’m not much of a record keeper for running. As you can tell, world class does not describe my times.

This year I finished in 1:54:52, 968 out of 3522 and #30 in my age group. And I ran it in my Luna Sandals

scary looking picture

BTW, my feet aren’t purple, but I couldn’t find a place where the light was decent for the shot.

NOTE: The right sandal is a little bigger. I was trimming them down for a more custom fit and screwed up the the right one. Luna sold me a separate sandal and I am waiting for the imprint to finalize before I do the last trim. That is what is great about sandals – you can cut them to fit. They guys at Luna are just great to deal with. To be fair, the guys at Invisible Shoes and Bedrock Sandals have always been easy to deal with, too. I think it is part of the mental framework that comes from this style of running.

What About The Race, Already?!

The Fairfield Half course is not flat. There are five of six good climbs and a number of rollers along the way. The last climb hits at about 10 miles and is a sharp uphill for .2 of a mile followed by steady upward grade for a just under a half mile. That doesn’t sound long, but when it is hot and you’ve already run 10 miles, it is taxing. I was looking forward to that last climb because I know it had stopped my on my second run of the course in 2003.

Before the race I did the wait-in-the Port-A-John line routine and then some walking around to kind of loosen up. A man walked passed me and asked if I was going to change into shoes when the race started. I smiled and said I was running in the sandals. The two women with him almost gasped and did the “Really? You’re running in those?” response. That made me smile as I told them they were pretty comfortable.

About 10 minutes before the start I was sitting on the side of the road people watching. )(It is an occupational hazard for a writer who is also a slight introvert.) As I watched, a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties walked by me. He was barefoot. I got off my butt and asked him if he was running barefoot. His name was Adam and he confirmed his barefoot intention. Then he asked if I was wearing Luna’s and we talked a while. It turned out he was almost two years into minimal style and it had saved his knees and lower legs. He told me that it took a long time for his calves and achilles to adjust. That made me feel better about the ongoing muscle adjustment I was experiencing.

The gun went off and we did the shuffle for a minute or so until we got passed the start line. I set off Sportstracker on my iPhone and got ready for the first mile warmup.

You can tell from the picture that it was a very accurate monitor for the run. I kept the audio alerts off and put my iPhone into sleep mode and only used about 10% of the charge during the run. Not bad. I could – will – do a marathon with it.

About 5 miles into the run, a young man pulled up next to me and asked how I liked my sandals. I told him that it took adjustment to the new style, but I loved the feel. He was wearing some minimal shoes and agreed on the adjustment. He asked me what brand and I told him “Luna” and spelled it for him because he thought I said “Muna”. We chatted for a little while and then he moved off to the side to join up with a young woman. As we hit a downhill and I started to pull away (more on that later), I heard him saying “No, Luna. L-U-N-A.” to his friend. I smiled. It’s funny to witness when people are shy about talking to someone. At least she had a boyfriend to help satisfy her curiosity.

After the turnaround, somewhere around mile 8, I was coming off another downhill when I heard a male voice over my shoulder. “True minimalist running!”

“I love it,” was my response. That led to a nice conversation while we ran side by side for a mile. He was wearing a pair of Merrel’s that he really liked. We talked about how long the adjustment took and how nice it felt to have the feel of the road under your feet. And, more important, how much more fun running had become. He said he was disappointed that he couldn’t get any of his friends to take up the style. I agreed since most of my running friends think I’m crazy or that I’m doing something so herculean that they can’t imagine taking on the effort. I guess that making running easier is hard work in their minds!

All along the way people made a comment here or there. I had no problem with that and I tried to be a good representative of minimal running and barefoot style. The great thing was every time I got asked a question or someone commented to me, I found myself smiling.

One of the male things to do on the race course is what I refer to as Tail Watching. Not very clever, but descriptive, so you figure out what it means! Post a comment if you need more details. During the race there was one female GenY’r who seemed to have a pace about the same as mine. I would gain some distance on the ascents and decents and she would catch and pass me on the flats. She had on bright orange shoes and a black kneeband on her left knee and, with my admiration, was running for the Whole in the Wall Gang, a charity started by Paul Newman for kids with terminal and chronic illness.

About a mile from the finish, after I had gained on the last long climb of the day, she pulled up next to me, said “Good run”, then proceeded to pull away to finish ahead of me. Maybe she had been watching my ass? It’s my story and I can believe what I want!

Listen. I am way passed worrying about people beat me in a race, so I don’t get all macho in the last 500 yards and try to run people into the ground. There is always someone ahead or behind me. I did pick up my pace thanks to her wake up call and finished in a time faster than I had expected. I was shooting for 2 hours.

Reflections on the Day

I had a great time. The weather was clear and sunny and the course was just beautiful. It was usually shaded by tall trees and it meandered through some wonderful New England residential areas. People were out in front of their houses cheering us on. Bands were playing great music every few miles. The volunteers at the aid stations were fantastic and the local police represented for all peace officers. It was a well coordinated, well appointed race that was a pleasure to participate in. My only complaint is that is should have started an hour earlier because it was over 85 degrees when I finished.

As I crossed the finish I got a pretty cool medallion, too.

The Downhills Were Awesome!

I have put on close to 400 miles in minimal style over the past 7 months. If you’ve been following this blog, then you have read about the adjustments I’ve made in style. The biggest difference in running in sandals is going downhill. In regular shoes, you just clomp down the hills and let your feet get squished a bit in the toe area. When you wear sandals you have a little part of the strap between you first and second toes and if you land and push forward, you’ll screw yourself up.

What I discovered over the miles is that going downhill means a faster cadence while keeping the stride pretty short and landing on your forefoot or midfoot to keep the impact minimal. It feel very unfamiliar. I was going to say uncomfortable, but that is wrong. Running downhill that way in sandals is comfortable, it just feels strange.

For months I’ve had no one to compare against on the hills. Flats are just time, but hills are different. Quite frankly, I knew I was tearing up the hills and this run proved it. I get into this nice smooth forefoot strike mode and I move up the hill, I don’t run it. Shorter stride, higher cadence and smooth. I gained on just about everyone on every hill I ran in Fairfield. A couple of times some guys tried to keep up with me and I watched them blow up near the top. Just to be clear, I wasn’t sprinting. I was maintaining the rhythm and the hills didn’t kill me. I killed them.

Going downhill was an eye opener. I thought I’d get womped because the style I had developed seemed slow when I was out by myself. The opposite happened. When I got to the first real descent I had to find a clear path otherwise I was going to run over people. The form turned out to be efficient as hell and so smooth I even surprised myself. All of a sudden, it felt very familiar. It was so much fun that I smiled like a kid on every descent.

Post Race

I walked around and ate watermelon and bananas and drank a lot of water. People asked about my sandals and I continued to represent in as positive a manner as I could considering I was hot and tired (I had gotten up a 4am to be able to drive to the race in time).

When I got home I noticed my calves were very stiff and my right knee was hurting. That was new. It only got more tight as the day went on. I didn’t take any aspirin of Advil because I wanted to keep an eye out in case it was an injury and not just post race shock.

To make the story short, the pain in both areas dissipated the next day. I made sure I ate Omega rich foods and took some Omega oil blend that I had gotten as a sample. That, I believe, helped the recovery. On Tuesday, I was back to normal.

I have now hit the third phase of my transition.

Running the half was the longest distance I have gone since my transition. I’ve hit 10 miles several times but had to back down to let recovery happen. I crossed a bridge this weekend and now realize that I am at the same point in mileage buildup as I would be if I were wearing shoes. I am back to where I was last year, except I feel like I have a lot more headroom in my running.

Does that make sense to you? After talking to the minimalist runners on the course, I think they would understand. My transition isn’t over and an idea occurred to me on my drive home on Sunday that I will share with you in my next post.

Right now I just want to celebrate regaining my running legs. More than ever I am convinced that your body can take a lot more than you give it. I am also convinced that if you give it the test in a form that matches what the body was built to do, you can maximize the benefit and push further than you ever thought you could go.

Keep Running. Dig Deep. Run Free.

Run for the Hell of It!

Posted on June 2, 2012 by jlgentry

It was a cool, Sunday morning. A thunderstorm had woken me a few times during the night. There is something about thunder and lightening at night that is both awesome and scary. After some morning caffeine infusion I donned my sandals and shorts and went out into the overcast morning for a few miles of pleasure.

I usually take my iPhone so I can track the mileage and snap pictures as I go. About three miles out I looked over and saw this.

View from Rt37

The grass had been matted by the rain. Colors were deep and rich under the overcast light. It was a moment to stop and enjoy the scenery. I felt my muscles keyed up from the effort and listened to my even but accelerated breath. My glasses started to fog up a little because the heat of my body warmed the frames and caused the cool, moist air to condense on the glass. A little breeze cooled me through evaporation of my damp jersey. All of my senses were engaged and I’m pretty sure I was smiling. Could there be a better reason to run?

Listen, I’m all about working out and challenging yourself physically, but it has to be fun if you are going to do it long term. If you have read any of my posts on running then you know I am a believer in the adage that we are natural long distance runners. It’s more and less than that. It took someone like Micah True to bring it home to me. We didn’t evolve as runners to work out. We evolved as runners because it helped us survive. Our brains grew, our bodies became running machines engineered through evolution to be better at distance across land than any living creature. We run and generate endorphins – how cool is that! Who needs drugs when the best are already in your system. What a gift!!

NOTE: After I wrote that last paragraph, I looked out at the rainy morning facing me today and said “WTF” and did a short 3 miler. Nice to run in the rain.

The aftermath of rain.

Running is an all weather sport, day or night. I don’t think of it as a “must do” to keep in condition any more. I think of it as a release of my primal being. Something I share with ancestors I don’t even know I had. They all knew the aches and pains, joy and revelation that I feel. Its a continuity that makes me feel part of something much, much greater.

It’s funny how this post didn’t go anywhere that I had originally intended. Kind of like a lot of my runs these days. I’ll see something and head down a path because it looks interesting. What is rewarding is that I almost always discover something new or find an image that is there for only that moment in time crafted by light and atmosphere. Like this scene. It is a little blurry, but I was breathing hard.

A hiking trail off of Haviland Hollow

Get out. Have fun. Make each run different by stopping and looking around, even on a busy street. And always – Run easy. Run light. Run for the hell of it!

PS: A Twitter running mate of mine, named Jenn, said she had lost the fun in her run. I hope this helps her rediscover the pleasure.

It’s all in the Mud

Posted on May 28, 2012 by jlgentry

I just got back from a six miler. It felt good, but I was tight. You know, like maybe the muscles needed some rest. My mileage the last couple of months hasn’t been too heavy, but I’ve been on the road for several weeks on business during that time. I think the travel and sitting in airplanes for five plus hours at a time kind of got to me.

I’m not complaining, though. My travels took me to San Diego and I was able to log morning runs before work most days. One particular run came to mind as I was stopped to look at a nice view on my run today. Let me tell you about it.

I woke up in the hotel room to discover that a soft, soaking rain had graced the San Diego valley overnight. The street surfaces were wet and shiny. Still dark and with no coffee in the room I walked over to a convenience store to get my caffeine fix. I filled up a tall coffee and felt the air temperature in anticipation of just how much to wear for the run. Just before sunrise I made my way out along the road at a slow pace to warm up. There was a trailhead about a half mile away that the woman at the front desk told me about. I had run the trail the day before and enjoyed being out of traffic and closer to the natural beauty of the area. There were two paths running parallel along the trail, one was a paved bike path the other crushed granite that was muddy in areas along with puddles from the rain.

As I hit the trail the sun rose and gave the path a brownish-orange glow. The granite surface had a wet stickiness and muddy sections were hard to discern in the early sunrise since the glow of sunrise and the color of the mud were of the same hue. Along the way I waved to other runners, walkers and cyclists. Part of enjoying a run is being friendly. It is clearly an unusual activity in San Diego since most of my fellow movers along the path seemed startled to be waved to. They all responded, but the return smile was often a fraction behind their recognition of my salutation. That’s a sorry state for the oldest sport known to man. And a topic for a post at another time.

Today I want to talk about form. I learned a lot on that trail following that muddy sunrise.

Tred Light

Out on the trail I decided to take a detour. It was one of those “paths less taken” moments. There was a branch off of the trail that had a gate that was very easy to go around since there was no fence. It was a steeper and muddier trail. Much more inviting and clearly no one had been there since the rain. I don’t know how long the path ran, probably less than a mile judging by the time it took me to get to a dead end.

Running took some concentration to keep the correct form while trying not to slip and slide. I used a trick I learned in cycling. I looked where I wanted to go – about 10-15 yards ahead – not where my feet were moving. Your brain is really good at carving the path you envision. The corollary is to look at where you want to land, not at what you are trying to avoid. It is actually easier than it sounds. And very dependable. Trust yourself.

At the very end of the trail there was a nice rise and it got pretty sloppy. So much so that even the sides of the trail were pretty mucky. I stopped and turned around to take in the sights. The sun was up full now, warming the branches of the trees and bushes, the scent of waking flora filling the air. I took out my iPhone wanting to capture the visual and noticed my footprint in a puddle of mud. I walked over to it and snapped a shot while I smiled and whatever hormones that make you happy flowed into my blood and stimulated my neural networks.

I was smiling because of the shape of the footprint. Minimal style is all about treading light and easy. Two things about the imprint hit me right up front.

First, it is a balanced impression. At least it looks that way to me. You can see the arch of my foot clearly and the forefoot has an even pressure to its impression. The heel is not as deep as the forefoot, which is good.

When I ran in regular shoes I was a heel striker. Muddy imprints then always had very little forefoot impression and I ran on the outsides of my shoes. It was amazing to see how the outer edges of my shoes wore out first. In my Luna sandals, the impression in the sand looks very much like a stamp pad impression, kind of like on a birth certificate. It also says that the huarachis are very much contoured to my feet and have great flexibility. A nice even imprint in mud. How cool. Then I saw the second thing.

Notice that there isn’t a cluster of mud kicked up at the heel. It is as if the foot was set in the mud and then lifted right out, like they would do with a movie star at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. And that is exactly what it means. A light touch. No pushing off with the forefoot like you do when you are shodden. You step and lift. The desire is to minimize the amount of time your foot stays in contact with the ground.

To keep the minimum contact you have to run light. You have to run easy. You need to be smooth. You focus on your body moving forward, not up and down. Lift your knees, don’t push off with your foot. If you concentrate on how your feet hit the ground you’ll get all fuddled up. Just let you foot fall naturally while you just think of lifting your knees right after each pace. Not high, like in a marching band, but enough to let your forward momentum give you speed. That is also one of the reasons your cadence is up in the 180 or higher range, Quick, light steps. Don’t push off, just lift up. With your body in straight posture you’ll have a natural forward momentum. Just let it roll.

All along the route back to the gate I saw imprints of my running. All of them looked that way. Even in the slippery mud. If your touching down light, there isn’t time to slip. It was just a great feeling to have my form confirmed in such an clear way.

I’m not 100% yet. I still have aches in my ankles and calves. It takes about a mile of running to loosen them up and then I am good to go and enjoy myself. The muscles are still adapting, but I’m in the gaining stage.

How are you all adapting? Are you feeling the strength develop? Do you feel more comfortable in the form? Are you wrestling with some issues? I’d love to hear, good or bad.

What are those on your feet?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jlgentry

When I committed to minimalist/barefoot running I didn’t realize that footwear would be such a big deal. I actually thought the transition would save me some money and not be as agonizing as finding the right pair of traditional running shoes.

Once again I have been surprised on my journey. The number of minimalist shoes offered to the public has grown by an order of magnitude in just one year. Every major shoe manufacturer has developed or is developing a response to the new craze. It’s great to see the support, but now it is just as hard to figure out what to wear as when I was wearing standard running shoes.

There are some great sites out there, like toesalad.com, with a lot of good reviews. I don’t have the disposable income or the inclination to test and report on a ton of shoes. I find one that works for me and keep with it until it stops working for me.

What is my selection process? It is a two phase approach. Phase One is based on pure instinct and some intrinsic appeal of the shoe. Phase Two is experiential. I get a failure or two and figure out why I don’t like them and try to find something that compensates for that failure.

For Phase Two, here is the selection criteria I came up with:

1) Whatever went on my feet needed to transmit the feel of the road as close to barefoot as possible.
2) My feet needed to feel unhindered by the footwear. That really means no friction spots and no sense of enclosure and room to let my toes splay during normal footfall.
3) They need to be durable enough to take some mileage.
4) They need to be easy to get on and get off.

The selection criteria is simpler in minimal. You aren’t looking for cushion or support. Actually, you are looking for the removal of both of those. It is your posture, stride and form that give you all the cushion you need. Here is what I discovered about minimalist footwear.

A Round Robin of Shoes

Good footwear disappears under and around your feet. You develop a cushioned, garceful run by letting your feet hitting the ground tell you when you are screwing up. Listen to your foot (too many funny lines spawn from that one!) and you’ll get it.

To get to this cosmic realization I have done some trials. Here is what I’ve been through so far:

Running in circles

Let me explain the dress shoes. Last week I went into the City (we all know that means New York City, right?). I got stuck behind a school bus on the way to the local train station and had to run the .3 mile length of the parking lot at the station to get to the train. I know is was .3 mile because when I got back in the evening I measured it. About 200 yards into my train sprint I realized I was running with with barefoot form!

I also show my classic Nike Vermero’s. They aren’t used in minimalist, but I’ve logged so many miles in regular shoes, I feel I have to show a pair. As I proved with my dress shoes, I can run barefoot style with these if I need to.

Socks were the easiest and simplest covering to wear. They do need to be expendable because running on the road with all the sludge makes them pretty gross after a few miles.

A Mile in My Socks

If you’ve been reading this from the start, you know my first minimal shoe were the Vibram 5-Fingers. I call them “monkey shoes” because of how they look when you wear them. I put some good miles on them and took them on the road when I traveled. It took me a bit to figure out how to get them on and off smoothly and I’m still not that good at it. My toes are stiff. That’s probably TMI. BTW, the more you do barefoot the looser those piggies get. Anyway, the 5-fingers lost points on ease of ingress and egress.

Monkey Feet

I tried the Merrell Trail Runners and found them to be stiff. That made me think friction burn so I sent them back before I took them on the road.

Then I bumped into Luna Sandals while searching websites on barefoot running. There was an immediate appeal to me. These were patterned after the huarachis worn for millennium. That was the intrinsic value that caught my eye.

I’ve never been a sandal wearer. For the most part my casual shoes have always been my running shoes. My feet have been trapped for decades.

The Luna’s looked cool. Plus, they had a leather sole on top of a Vibram bottom which gave them a very finished look. The lacing was pretty simple and straight foward to use. I looked at them and thought I could wear these around all summer.

I opted for the easiest of the lacing options and have been putting miles on these puppies ever since. They quickly became molded to my feet and they disappear when I put them on they are so comfortable.

Here’s what I like about sandals.

They don’t hinder my toe splay.
They are comfortable.
They DO NOT flop around like flip flops
The laces DO NOT chafe or bind or rub.

You have to adjust them a little at first to figure out just how tight and what angles for the laces work best for you. What you’ll notice is they don’t need to be as tight as you would tie a shoe. Just a bit snug. That is the same with all the other sandals I have tried.

I had worried that the lace between my toes would be on issue, but after a minute or two I got used to it. Even running down steep hills I don’t feel any pressure or rubbing. The same for the lace as it goes around the heel. I keep it snug, not tight, and have had no issues with heel movement or with flopping.

To round out my collection I have a pair of Bedrock Sandals and a pair of Invisible Shoe Sandals. Both have slightly different souls and lacing, but are basically the same huarachi design. I haven’t put much time in either of them, so I will hold on the evaluation. In both cases, the laces are comfortable.

What the Luna’s have going for them is the way the laces I have selected are attached at the toe to the sole. That is the traditional weak point of the huarachi. The lace starts at the toe and is a knot on the base of the sandal. That knot typically protrudes and will eventually wear through. If you have enough lace you can restring otherwise you need to get replacement lace or new sandals. The guys at Luna have found a way to fuse that knot to the sole so it has a minimal chance of wearing out.

What About the Weather?

As you know, I live in New England. I have had a fortunate run of weather so I am able to keep some outdoor mileage going when I would normally be getting my cardio work from shoveling snow.

In the early part of the fall, I got a pair of Toesox and ran with them and my Luna’s. That was great for cold weather even down to the low 20′s.

Maybe These are Monkey Feet

The only trouble with this combination is when it is very wet outside. Not so much rain, but slushy snow and icy puddles.

I started looking around for a very flexilble minimalist shoe and found two of them. The one in the picture are a pair of Stem Footwear Primal Origins. They are about the most comfortable shoe I’ve ever worn, period. They are also a totally flat shoe, meaning no heel rise, and so flexible you can roll them into a ball.

It was cold when I took the shot, so I had socks on, but I usually wear this without socks. I will say that the sole is very responsive and when I do run in them I feel all the texture of the surface of the road. They are so comfortable, I wear them most of the time now instead of old running shoes.

The other shoes I am eyeing are Kigo Drives. They have a similar look to the Stems, but a slightly different sole. Haven’t gotten a pair, but may try them out when I am ready to rotate.

In none of the cases have I had the shoes or sandals long enough to give feedback on durability and mileage. That will be something to report later this year.

For the time being, I am enjoying the running weather while I can and keeping my mileage in the 3-6 mile range for the next month or so. The reason is to give my feet some time to adjust. Remember, I’ve been in shoes for over forty years, so my foot muscles are going to take a little time to loosen up. They feel good now and I’ll start doing speed work and hill repeats this week, but still in the 6 or less miles. Come March I will start to ramp up slowly since I signed up for a half-marathon on April 1st – no joke!

Next up – You eat what?

Getting In Tune

Posted on December 23, 2011 by jlgentry

“Be patient. Take it Slow.”

I have to tell myself that almost every day. If you are like me doing this transition, you are way too anxious to get to the end game and run all day long. Impatience has taught me a few things.

First, you push too fast too soon and you’ll delay your transition because of overuse stress or injury. I did it on my first run and then about 3 weeks into it.

Second, your feet get used all the time! I have been doing a lot more barefoot walking and standing around to help strengthen the muscles. Without the masking of shoes, your feet are working all the time except when sitting. And you can stretch and exercise them then.

Third, I need to put me feet up at night for a little while. Makes sense. The muscles are developing so blood flow is greater. Let gravity help your heart. Once again men, your lovely lady would appreciate your helping gravity with a massage of those sore feet. (That will be my last hint on the ‘foot massage as start of foreplay’ topic!)

Cautions now administered, just be aware that your feet are going to hurt while you make this adaptation. I mean the muscles in your feet. And I am surprised by how many muscles these puppies have.

The topic of conversation.

The new acronym I discovered is TOFP – Top of Foot Pain. I didn’t realize we had muscles on the top of our feet! They notified me of their existence a week or so ago after I did a stupid 10+ mile run too soon.

This, too, shall pass, but don’t push it.

NOTE: There is a difference between pain from use and exercise versus pain from injury. I learned my body’s language over time and can tell the difference. You need to do the same.

Before I cover some new hints, let me recap the big two.

1) Thumbs forward. This keeps your elbows in and helps maintain an upright posture for your run.

2) Knees up. Don’t push off with your foot, lift up with your knees. Lifting means you aren’t kicking out and your knees stay bent.

Now, we start “Getting in Tune with the Straight and Narrow”. As you can see, I’m into trying to find the simple rules that make everything else work right.

Corollary #1 – Get in Line When you run barefoot you’ll find that the most comfort happens with a slight hip rotation to help keep your feet running along a straight line. It isn’t a pronounced rotation. Everything in barefoot is subtle.

Try this:

Follow the line

If there is a line on the side of the road, run so that you feel your heels (not your forefoot) touching the line. The line will be perceptible to your feet, so you’ll know if you are hitting it. Heels in line will lead to the right hip rotation.

Corollary #2 – Watch Your Speed Here’s the deal. To run barefoot, you have to shorten your stride because your aren’t kicking your feet out, but lifting them up. Shorter strides means more strides covering the same distance as traditional running. Normal shod running hits around 120-140 steps per minute (counting both feet). Barefoot running moves that up around 180 steps per minute, or 90 steps per foot.

Got a chronometer on your watch?

Who needs a watch when you have an iPhone?

Count the number of footfalls on one or the other of your feet for six seconds. Then multiply by 10 and that will give you a relative cadence. There are 10 six second groups in a minute. After a while, as you continue to check the cadence, you’ll feel when you are at the right cadence. You can go faster, it is a matter of what’s right for you.

Side Benefit Alert – You do that little hip twist 180 times a minute and you end up working your core a bit. Which leads to “Honey, are you losing weight?”

Corollary #3 – Get Hippy You are running more erect (go ahead, make your puns) and you are taking shorter strides while not pushing off with your feet. So where the hell does the forward motion come from? I mean, this sounds like running in place.

It’s all in the hips. You need to keep you hips over your stride area. If you push them forward a bit, the stride moves forward with them. This may feel a little weird, like you are making yourself fall forward. Wait! Isn’t that what running really is?

This is the key. You’ve got the position and the technique, now we need smooth. Smooth comes from having the hips feel like they are being pulled forward by a rope anchored on your naval. Not a bowed back kind of pull, but just enough to keep you hips a bit forward with a straight back.

Try different amounts of extension. You’ll find that when you have hips forward just right you start to run smoother. And lighter. And faster.

We have all the pieces. Now it is a matter of putting them together to make the run a cohesive movement.

Take a look at this and use it to help you visualize good technique:

Barefoot Running Technique

Or the beginning of this one:

Barefoot Ted with Awesome Form

BTW: Barefoot Ted is featured in Born to Run

Notice how everything I’ve mentioned is being done with subtle movements.

Take it slow, but get out and feel the run.

Next up – How the hell do I go downhill with nothing on my feet?

Learning to Run – Again

I run, therefore I am

Tag Archives: minimalist running