While in general I’m highly supportive of the trend toward lighter and less supportive shoes, I believe that there are certain situations where it is desirable to have a bit of protection underfoot. I learned this lesson when I ran the HAT Run 50K in 2010 in the New Balance Minimus MT10. I was crossing […]
Should You Emulate the Running Form of Elites: Book Excerpt from Tread Lightly
May 14, 2012 By 17 Comments
I was originally planning to publish a few excerpts from my book, Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear, and the Quest for Injury-Free Running, prior to its June 1 release date. Well, the publisher moved faster than I expected, and the book is now in-stock at Amazon.com and should be on store shelves very soon (and yes, […]
The State of the Running Shoe Market: First Quarter 2012 Sales Analysis from Matt Powell of SportsOneSource, and March 2012 Data From Leisure Trends Group
May 13, 2012 By 4 Comments
Matt Powell of SportsOneSource sent out his quarterly update on running shoe sales last week (add him on LinkedIn if you’d like to receive his report, or follow him on Twitter). I asked Matt if I could share his data on running sales and he kindly obliged. His report indicates that the lightweight running category […]
Thoughts on “Form” from 1908: Bliss Carman on the Development of Graceful and Efficient Motion
May 12, 2012 By 9 Comments
Bliss Carman (Photo credit: Wikipedia) “Animal motion is good through being instinctive and free, and our own motion can only become graceful when those qualities are ensured for it.” -Bliss Carman, The Making of Personality, 1908 In my previous post I shared several passages about “barefoot shoes” from a 1908 book titled The Making of […]
Tread Lightly Book Excerpt Published on Natural Running Center Website
May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Quick post to alert you to an excerpt from my upcoming book Tread Lightly. My co-author, Bill Katovsky, just posted an excerpt he wrote on barefoot running in the early 1960’s on the Natural Running Center website. This excerpt comes from his two chapter sequence on the history of footwear and the rise of the […]
Moses Mosop–Slow Motion Running Form from the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon
May 7, 2012 By 8 Comments
Below is a video shot by Jacky Ledeboer, a phsyiotherapist from the Netherlands, showing the running form of elite Kenyan marathoner Moses Mosop at the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon. The video, posted on her YouTube channel, is shot at 210 frames per second. Mosop will be one of the three men representing Kenya in the marathon […]
Slow Motion Running Foot Strike Video from the CPC Loop Den Haag Half Marathon in the Netherlands
May 7, 2012 By 6 Comments
Jacky Ledeboer, a phsyiotherapist from the Netherlands, recently alerted me to a video she shot at the CPC Loop Den Hague half marathon in the Netherlands. The video, posted on her YouTube channel, is shot at 210 frames per second and provides a great sample of the variation in foot strike patterns seen among fast […]
Facts on Foot Strike: My Article in the June Issue of Running Times
May 6, 2012 By 11 Comments
I wanted to alert you to an excerpt from my book, Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear, and the Quest for Injury-Free Running, that was published in the June 2012 issue of Running Times magazine (starting on page 26, with a great photo of my friend Mark Cucuzzella!). The article looks at the differences between heel striking […]
Set Your Piggies Free: When It Comes to Kids and Shoes, I Couldn’t Agree More!
May 4, 2012 By 4 Comments
As a parent of three kids who love being barefoot, this song just makes me happy.
adidas Adizero Adios 2 Running Shoe Review
April 30, 2012 By 23 Comments
“Kenyan runners race in low-support shoes, but they mostly train in big, chunky, cushioned sneakers, just like your average, plodding Western jogger. Oddly, though, and contrary to Lee’s (Saxby) theories, these big shoes don’t force the Kenyans to run heel first. They virtually all run in a lovely, smooth forefoot-first style – what Lee would […]
Nike Free 3.0 v4: Initial Thoughts
April 28, 2012 By 18 Comments
I have a long history with the Nike Free 3.0 line. Back in early 2009, the original Free 3.0 was my first foray away from stability shoes, and it was the shoe that convinced me that I did not need a lot of support and structure in a running shoe. I fell in love with […]
Effect of Step Rate on Lower Limb Loading in Runners
April 25, 2012 By 23 Comments
Just over a week ago Amby Burfoot wrote a post about a new study from Japan that provides additional evidence supporting the benefits of a shorter stride for reducing loading of the lower limbs. The study by Hobara et al. is titled Step Frequency and Lower Extremity Loading During Running and was published in Orthopedics […]
Introducing My Book: Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear and the Quest for Injury-Free Running
April 22, 2012 By 52 Comments
About 16 months ago I received an email from a guy named Bill Katovsky asking me if I had any interest in writing a book. I didn’t know him at the time, but I had at least given thought to the idea of writing something more than another blog post. We spoke on the phone […]
Casual Minimalist Work Shoe Reviews: Merrell Tough Glove, Merrell Edge Glove, Vivobarefoot Aqua, Vivobarefoot Neo
April 21, 2012 By 44 Comments
I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog writing about minimalist running footwear. Much of this stems from my own personal journey from more traditional running shoes to more stripped down models. However, one of the things I have begun to notice over the past year or so is that I have a much […]
