I spent this past weekend at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, a small town tucked along the Potomac River near the border with Maryland. Though I have spent time in West Virginia in the past, I’d never been to Shepherdstown, and thus knew very little about it. My reason for traveling to […]
Archives for January 2011
Attending a Running Injury Conference in Sheperdstown, WV
January 25, 2011 By 19 Comments
Why runners get hurt is a question that occupies my mind almost constantly. It’s amazing that so simple an activity can cause so many problems for so many people – for example, the scientific literature reports injury rates ranging from about 20-75% of runners in studies that have been conducted to date. In my quest […]
On the Limitations of Science in the Study of Running
January 21, 2011 By 19 Comments
Image via Wikipedia As runners, we often want concrete, black and white answers to questions about things like shoe design, running form, training methods, and so on. Does running in a minimal shoe make you less prone to injury than running in a traditionally cushioned, heel-lifted shoe? Does switching form to a midfoot strike make […]
Proper Shoes for Kids: Thoughts From a Family Doctor
January 19, 2011 By 30 Comments
A few months ago I published an interview I conducted with Dr. Mark Cucuzzella. Mark is a family physician at Harpers Ferry Family Medicine in WV, an Associate Professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine, and the owner of Two Rivers (TR) Treads, the nation’s first minimalist-only running store. Like me, Mark has a […]
Forefoot Striking and Pronation: Insight from an Ultrarunning Podiatry Student
January 13, 2011 By 28 Comments
Image from the Runner’s World Wiki Just before Christmas I received a very thoughtful and well researched email from ultrarunner Phil Shaw. In addition to being a very successful long distance runner, Phil is also pursuing a doctoral degree in podiatric medicine – quite a dangerous combination! Like me, Phil feels that the current paradigm […]
2011 Minimalist and Barefoot Style Running Shoe Preview on the dailymile Blog
January 12, 2011 By 8 Comments
Quick post – just wanted to pass along a link to a post I published yesterday on the dailymile Community Blog that featured a preview of some of the minimalist and barefoot style running shoes set to be released in the next few months. It’s a very superficial overview of shoes from Altra, Merrell, New […]
Toe Salad: New Website For Minimalist Running Shoe Fanatics
January 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Friend and fellow minimalist runner Damien Tougas of the Adventure in Progress blog has just put up an interesting new site/social network for shoe fanatics. Called Toe Salad (named by his daughter), the site features reviews and information centered around every manner of minimalist running shoe. Here’s how Damien describes the site: “After writing about […]
Vibram Fivefingers Success Story: Robert K.’s Experience in Toe Shoes
January 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia The January 9th issue of the Boston Globe featured an article by David Abel recounting his story of running into a stress fracture in his Vibram Fivefingers. David’s story is certainly not unique as I have read reports of a number of cases of this happening. However, I have also received numerous […]
Merrell Barefoot Running Shoes – Review Posted by Jason Robillard
January 7, 2011 By 35 Comments
I just received a review pair of the Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove today. I ran in them tonight, but Merrell has requested that I hold off on a review until February, which is actually a good call since it will give me some time to put some miles on them (Update 2/27/2011: My review of […]
Stories of Success Running in Vibram Fivefingers: Sgt. R. and Bob H.
January 5, 2011 By 15 Comments
A few weeks ago I posted a testimonial from reader Bob C. about his experience transitioning into minimalist running shoes. Bob managed to eliminate some nagging pain by changing his shoes and form, but also suffered a stress fracture in the process that he attributes to doing too much too soon. Bob’s was just one […]
Forefoot Width in Running Shoes: Toebox Measurements from My Shoe Collection
January 3, 2011 By 26 Comments
I get a reasonable number of questions about width when it comes to running shoes, particularly the width of the toebox. Personally, I like a toebox to be roomy, and despite my fairly average width foot, there are shoes that I’ve purchased that I have had to return since I could barely squeeze into them […]
Interesting Article on Orthotics by Gina Kolata in the New York Times
Image via CrunchBaseReporter Gina Kolata published an excellent article today in the New York Times that discusses what we do and do not know about how custom orthotics work. She interviewed renowned running biomechanists Benno Nigg (University of Calgary) and Joesph Hamill (University of Massachusetts), as well as several orthotic makers. Here are a few […]