I’m fortunate that my line of work allows me to purchase gadgets that let me do some pretty cool things. This year, I have seven research students who will be working with me, and several of them are very interested in studying the mechanics of running and cycling. With the allotment of research funding provided […]
Vibram Fivefinger Fun-Run: Puddle Stomping Like a Kid in My "Monster Shoes"
September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia Today was one of those cool, rainy Fall-like days that make you want to curl up on the couch with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, two cords of firewood awaited stacking in my driveway, and a restful day wasn’t in the cards. For me, the annual stacking […]
Vibram Fivefingers: The New VFF Bikila (coming in 2010)
September 8, 2009 By 6 Comments
Update 7/09/10: I just put up a post about my first run in the new Vibram Fivefingers Bikila. Check out my very preliminary Vibram Fivefingers Bikila review here. It appears that Vibram is responding to the growing popularity of the Fivefingers line of “barefoot-like” footwear among runners by designing a new model that directly targets […]
How to Write a Mass Media Article on Barefoot Running
September 4, 2009 By 5 Comments
Image via Wikipedia You’ve probably noticed that articles on barefoot and minimalist running are starting to pop up all over the place these days. While I’m happy that the phenomenon is being covered, most of the mass media articles I’ve read follow a sort of boilerplate formula. With that in mind, I’ve decided to make […]
Vibram Fivefingers: Interview with Vibram CEO Tony Post and Sneak Peak of the New VFF Bikila Model for Runners
August 26, 2009 By 4 Comments
Just came across an interesting video interview conducted by the hosts of The Raw Food World TV Show with Vibram CEO Tony Post (thanks to @thinnmann at http://runbarefoot.blogspot.com/ for posting this!). Among other things, Tony shows off a series of new Vibram models set to be released in the near future. Among these is the […]
The Man Versus Horse Marathon
August 25, 2009 By 5 Comments
Image via Wikipedia If someone asked you if you could outrun a horse, your answer would most likely be a resounding “no.” You’d probably consider the idea of a human being able to outrun a horse at any distance to be preposterous. However, if you happen to be an elite marathoner and the race covers […]
Running in Vibram Fivefingers: The Day After
August 24, 2009 By 55 Comments
You know that feeling you get in your muscles after you go to the gym for the first time in months and overdo the weight training? I’m referring to that initial stiffness that prevents you from lifting your arms above your head, which then slowly morphs into burning delayed onset muscle soreness over the next […]
Running in Vibram Fivefingers: First Impressions
August 22, 2009 By 10 Comments
If you’re part of the on-line running community, you’ve probably heard of the Vibram Fivefingers. Described by my family and friends as “monster shoes,” “yeti shoes,” “foot gloves,” or “reptile shoes,” Vibram Fivefingers (or VFF’s for short – see picture below) are sort of like water-socks with toes that runners have flocked to as an […]
New Vibram Fivefingers Models: VFF Speed, Bikila, and Trek
July 27, 2009 By 4 Comments
Update 7/09/10: I just put up a post about my first run in the new Vibram Fivefingers Bikila. Check out my very preliminary Vibram Fivefingers Bikila review here. There’s some new news on the Vibram Fivefingers front. Justin Owings of the Birthday Shoes Blog, with info obtained in part from a German site called Voy […]
Vibram Fivefingers on Wired.com: The Barefoot Running Trend is Growing
July 13, 2009 By 2 Comments
Image by peemmfivekay via Flickr A few days ago, Wired.com posted a story on the Vibram Fivefingers running shoe/foot-glove (not sure exactly what to call it, but you can see an image to the left). If you’re not familiar with this contraption, it’s basically a glove-like shoe that allows you to essentially run “barefoot” with […]
Book Review: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
May 15, 2009 By 3 Comments
It was with much anticipation that I picked up the book “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” by Christopher McDougall shortly after it arrived on bookshelves last week. It’s arrival represented for me one of those rare and fortuitous moments when an idea that that […]
Nike Free 3.0 Review – Nike’s Answer to Simulating Barefoot Running
May 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I broke the following running commandment today: Thou shalt not wear new shoes on a 20-mile run. As generally happens when a commandment is broken, the wrath of the running gods was showered down upon me. Emboldened by my experience this weekend running 4 and then 7 miles in Maine in my new Nike Free […]
Articles on the Evolution of Running in Humans
April 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been mulling over the idea that humans have evolved to be excellent endurance runners quite a bit lately. Three of my recent blog posts have touched on the topic to different degrees: New Running Book: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall […]
Video Clip: Persistence Hunting and the Evolution of Running in Humans
April 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
***If you are a distance runner or marathoner, you absolutely have to watch this video clip – it’s amazing!*** Earlier today I posted an article about the evolution of running in humans. In that article, I discussed persistence hunting, which is a technique used in some native tribes whereby the hunter tracks and chases down […]
Barefoot Running from the NY Times Well Blog
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Over the past several months, Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times Well Blog has written a series of great articles on running as she prepares to run her first marathon this Fall (she’s training for the NYC Marathon in November). If you’re not familiar with Parker-Pope’s Well Blog, […]