One of my biggest complaints about many of the scientific studies of barefoot and/or minimalist running is that they far too often fail to account for the possibility that form change is a prolonged process. They might take a habitually shod runner, ask them to remove their shoes, and have them run without any prolonged […]
Chinese Foot Binding: Interesting Stories from NPR
July 20, 2011 By 9 Comments
Image via Wikipedia I’m often amazed by the degree to which we humans will put fashion before function when it comes to both our feet and our footwear. A few days ago my friend Mark Cucuzzella forwarded me a link to an NPR article about the film adaptation of the book “Snow Flower and the […]
Metatarsal Stress Fractures in Minimalist Runners: What Are the Causes?
July 19, 2011 By 53 Comments
Image via Wikipedia One of the big topics of discussion swirling around minimalist running shoes right now is whether they increase the likelihood that a runner might experience a stress fracture. Clearly, fractures of the 2nd metatarsal are occurring in individuals who give minimalist running a try (for example, check out this great post by […]
Saucony Hattori Guest Review by Frederic Brossard
July 19, 2011 By 6 Comments
A few months back I posted my initial thoughts on the Saucony Hattori zero drop running shoes. A number of people have emailed me to ask if I have any additional thoughts on them yet – unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to put very many miles on them, so my initial thoughts have not […]
Proprioreception: Additional Thoughts on Balance, Stability, and Running from Jay Dicharry
July 15, 2011 By 1 Comment
Image via Wikipedia Quick post here. Based on the number of questions that Jay Dicharry and I received regarding his 3 criteria for a safe transition to barefoot/minimalist running, Jay decided to write a follow up post explaining in greater detail the elements of balance, and why they are important for runners. He also provides […]
Criteria For a Safe Transition to Minimalist Shoes or Barefoot Running: Thoughts From Jay Dicharry, PT
July 13, 2011 By 41 Comments
A few weeks back I was talking on the phone with Jay Dicharry, a physical therapist and director of the Speed Lab at the University of Virginia. Jay is one of the most knowledgeable guys I know when it comes to questions about running gait and running injuries, probably because he combines a strong research […]
Buy Running Shoes and Gear: Discounts, Coupon Codes, Promotions, and Sales
July 10, 2011 By 23 Comments
This page has been updated and moved here: running shoe coupon and sale page
Personal Thoughts on Diet, Exercise, and Weight Control
July 10, 2011 By 58 Comments
Image via Wikipedia In my previous post I shared a press release reporting the results of the 2011 F as in Fat report on rates of obesity in America. In a nutshell, the trends are depressing, and a lot of great thoughts were posted in the comments section, many of which I agreed with strongly. […]
Americans Are Fat and Getting Fatter: The Depressing Details of the 2011 “F as in Fat” Report
July 8, 2011 By 22 Comments
Image via Wikipedia I spend a lot of time writing about topics like running shoes and running form here on Runblogger. Ultimately, though I enjoy the scientific debate involved when discussing research, as well as the fun I get to have when testing out new shoes, my primary motivator for writing this site is a […]
Running Form in Recreational 5K Runners: Slow Motion Video
July 7, 2011 By 31 Comments
In my previous post I shared some slow motion video of runners from the 2010 Boston Marathon, highlighting a bit of the variation that can be seen among fairly high level marathon runners. In this post I wanted to share similar video from a recreational level 5K race. These videos were all shot at roughly […]
Running Form at the 2010 Boston Marathon: Slow Motion Video of Barefoot, Minimalist, and Traditionally Shod Runners at sub-3:00 Pace
July 5, 2011 By 25 Comments
Earlier today I was going through some video I have from the 2010 Boston Marathon with a goal of finding a clip of a barefoot runner (I knew I had one, but hadn’t put in the effort to sift through long stretches of video to find him). After a bit of searching, I found the […]
New Balance introduces their Zero Drop Minimus Lineup for 2012
July 4, 2011 By 44 Comments
Update 7/11/2011: New Balance contacted me and asked me to take down the photographs that I had posted – apparently somebody in the company jumped the gun by releasing the video early (they asked Frunning to remove the video as well). Should have more info in August – stay tuned! A twitter friend (thanks @glin23!) […]
Abebe Bikila: The Man, The Legend, The Heel Striker???
July 1, 2011 By 52 Comments
In the comments following my recent post about foot strike patterns of runners from the days before the modern running shoe, somebody asked if I had any video of Abebe Bikila’s stride. After a bit of searching on YouTube, I came across the following clip – jump to the 1:15 mark and you get a […]
Foot Strike, Running Shoes, Barefooting, Injuries, and Biomechanics: The Importance of Both Science and Anecdote
June 29, 2011 By 18 Comments
Just before I left on a camping trip last week I received an email from Amby Burfoot pointing me to an abstract of a paper to be presented at the 2011 meeting of the International Society of Biomechanics. The study, titled “Foot Strike Does Not Predict Loading Rates During Shod or Barefoot Running,” was conducted […]
Foot Strike in Running: How Did Runners in the 1950’s Contact the Ground?
June 28, 2011 By 18 Comments
Image via Wikipedia One of the difficulties that we face in trying to determine how to describe “proper” running form (if such a thing even exists) is that data on what runners did prior to the advent of modern, cushioned running shoes are hard to come by. Whereas videos of runners prior to 1970 or […]
