Archives for 2011

Links to Shoe Reviews: Altra Lone Peak, Brooks Pure Grit, and Saucony Triumph 9

Since I have not had time to write a review of my own recently, I wanted to steer you to three shoe reviews written by people that I know and whose opinions I respect. All are of shoes that I do not own myself and so no review of my own is forthcoming at this […]

Blaise Dubois’ Running Injury Prevention and Treatment Course Returns to Milwaukee, WI February 24-26, 2012

Last January I attended a 3 day course called New Trends in the Prevention and Treatment of Running Injuries. The course, led by physiotherapist Blaise Dubois from Quebec City, was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend attending should you have the chance. I recently received an email from my friend Kyle Roberts who owns […]

Journal Article: Foot strike patterns of recreational and sub-elite runners in a long-distance road race

Just a quick post to announce that my first academic paper on running-related research has been published in the Journal of Sports Sciences – the title is “Foot strike patterns of recreational and sub-elite runners in a long-distance road race.” The research in this paper is based on film that seven of my former undergraduate […]

Skechers GOrun Review: A Second (Positive) Opinion

If you’ve read my recent review of the Skechers GOrun, you’ll note that I was somewhat surprised by how much I liked running in the shoe despite the somewhat awkward feel that you get when simply standing in them. I’d still prefer that the shoe not have as pronounced a “bump” under the midfoot, but […]

Meb Keflezighi’s Running Form in Slow Motion: Boston 2010, NYC 2010, and NYC 2011

Last Sunday, Meb Keflezighi ran the 2011 NYC Marathon and finished in sixth place with a personal best time of 2:09:13. Much has been made lately of Meb’s decision to sign a sponsorship deal with Skechers, and NYC was his first marathon with Skechers shoes on his feet. In the video below, Meb indicates that […]

The Role of Anecdote vs. Scientific Evidence the Running Form and Footwear Debate

In my previous post I shared my thoughts on the current debate about running form and footwear – that post was triggered by reading the comments related to Christopher McDougall’s recent article in the New York Times Magazine. A number of commenters criticized McDougall for basing his article off of a few individual anecdotes (his […]

My Thoughts on “Perfect” Running Form and Footwear

I’ve been reading with some amount of amusement the comments associated with Christopher McDougall’s latest article in the NY Times Magazine. On the one hand there are folks decrying the use of anecdote and asking to see the data showing that barefoot is better, as well as those horrified at the thought of running barefoot […]

The Once and Future Way to Run: NY Times Magazine Article by Christopher McDougall

Quick post to alert you to a feature article in the New York Times Magazine by Born to Run author Christopher McDougall. The article is titled “The Once and Future Way to Run,” and in the article Chris addresses a number of issues relating to running form and running shoes, and provides some interesting perspective […]

Injured: A Pain in the Back and a Depressed Runner

Sometimes the running gods are cruel. I’ve been incredibly swamped lately between increased work commitments associated with becoming chairman of my department, an impending book deadline (Jan. 15 is approaching fast!), and always sacred family time. As a result, my running mileage and my attention to this blog and its associated email load have taken […]

Running Sock Reviews: injinji, Swiftwick, and Wrightsock

In a perfect world I wouldn’t wear socks when I run. When at all possible, I do prefer to go sockless, but shoes that allow me to do this without developing blisters are few and far between. What’s more, winter is around the corner, and socks become something of a necessity to help break the […]

Brooks Pure Connect: Too Narrow for My Feet

**Update: I have now posted a guest review of the new Brooks PureConnect 2. The upper of the update apparently allows a bit more give than the shoe described in this post. After much fanfare and anticipation, Brooks finally released its Pure Project line of running shoes last month. Brooks has been careful to avoid […]

Saucony to Abandon the 12mm Lift Model: Big Move From one of the Big Players in the Running Shoe World

Last Wednesday I was invited along with several other bloggers to participate in a conference call with representatives from Saucony. The group we spoke with included: Pat O’Malley, Head of Footwear Spencer White, Head of our Biomechanics Lab Chris Mahoney, Senior Designer Sean Robbins, Digital Marketing Manager I’d spoken to Sean before, and have interacted […]

My 18 Month Old Son’s Barefoot Running Form in Slow Motion!

This past weekend I was out in the yard playing with my kids, and I was encouraging my older son to try to get my 18 month old son to run with him. My younger boy has just started to run within the past few months, and on occasion he gets to the point where […]

Shoe Reviews: Somnio Runaissance 2 and Scott T2 Comp

I’ve come to a realization that my running shoe preferences have shifted to a point where I simply cannot put miles on certain shoes any more. That’s not to say they are bad shoes, just that they don’t meet my personal needs. The two shoes that I’m going to comment on here both fit in […]

On Human Variability, Running Shoes, and Running Form: The Importance of an Individualized Approach

I open this post with an illustration of the Galapagos Finches and their variable beak anatomy (illustration by John Gould) – my reason is to emphasize a point. As an evolutionary biologist, I’ve spent much of my life studying anatomical variation, and I think it’s sometimes easy to forget that we humans are animals just […]