I’ve been working on a long overdue review of the Garmin Forerunner 620 – it’s been a tricky GPS watch to review because it does so much, but also because I’ve had some issues with it. One of my original reasons for buying the 620 was that I was interested in the ability to record […]
Treating Plantar Fasciitis With Foot Strengthening vs. Stretching: Different Takes on the Same Study
September 25, 2014 By 14 Comments
I recently read an article on the New York Times Well Blog about a study in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. The study, by Michael Rathleff and colleagues, compared strengthening vs. stretching exercises to treat plantar fasciitis (PF). In a nutshell, the Times article reported that the study found strengthening exercises to […]
Observations on Cadence Change With Running Speed on the Track
June 26, 2014 By 25 Comments
I did a 5x400m track workout on Wednesday (was supposed to be 6×400, but lightning and torrential rain put an early end to the workout!). As usual I was wearing my Garmin 620, and one of the cool features of the watch is that it computes your cadence for you without any additional gadgets or […]
Video Lecture on Limb Stiffness in Running
June 4, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Last night I was reading a post by James Dunne on the benefits of running on varied surfaces. In the post I came across a video by podiatrist Ian Griffiths on the topic of limb stiffness in running. I’ve written about this topic myself, and also wrote a post on how alterations in limb stiffness […]
Does Risk of Injury Increase When Transitioning From a Conventional Running Shoe to a Moderately Cushioned Minimalist Running Shoe?
June 2, 2014 By 12 Comments
One of the good and bad things about writing a growing running blog is that I get a lot of email. It’s good in that I love hearing from readers, bad in that I get so much that I have reached a point where I am simply unable to answer everything that comes in. Sometimes, […]
Science of Marathon Running: Great Video From It’s OK To Be Smart
May 20, 2014 By 5 Comments
I really enjoyed this video on marathon running by Joe Hanson of PBS Digital’s It’s OK To Be Smart. Have a look:
Crappy Advertising at the Road Runner Sports “House of Cushion”
May 12, 2014 By 17 Comments
One of the big news stories over the past couple of weeks was the Vibram lawsuit settlement over false advertising claims made about their Fivefingers line of minimalist running shoes. Over the weekend a member of a forum I belong to on Facebook posted a link to the House of Cushion page on Road Runner […]
Foot Strike Patterns in Barefoot and Minimalist Runners
April 30, 2014 By 4 Comments
Back in 2011 I attended the New York City Barefoot Run. I was in town for a meeting organized by Merrell Footwear (they invited a bunch of folks – scientists, writers, journalists, runners – to talk shoe trends), and the Barefoot Run was included on the list of events for the weekend. Rather than participate […]
Do You Pronate?: A Shoe Fitting Tale
April 10, 2014 By 52 Comments
Last week I stopped by my local Dick’s Sporting Goods store one evening to pick up a pair of shoes that had just been released (yes, I know, that was my first mistake). It seemed that there was only one person working the shoe department, so I was sitting on a bench waiting for her […]
More Support for Rotating Shoes to Reduce Running Injury Risk
March 12, 2014 By 22 Comments
A few months back I wrote a post on a study that found that rotating running shoes can reduce injury risk for runners. The logic is that shoes of different construction alter how forces are applied to the body, and that by rotating among a few different types of shoe we mix up the way […]
Effects of Running Speed on Foot Strike Patterns and Identification of Multiple Heel Strike Types
February 12, 2014 By 17 Comments
It’s becoming more and more clear based on existing research (and research coming soon) that foot strike patterns in running are influenced by a wide variety of factors. It’s not simply the case that humans use a single foot strike type under all conditions – factors like footwear, surface hardness, speed, and experience all seem […]
Why Can’t Science Determine the Best Running Shoe?
January 10, 2014 By 48 Comments
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in which I predicted that media headlines/articles would get the interpretation of the results wrong. Well, yesterday Reuters published an article on the study titled “Switch to minimalist running shoes tied to injuries, pain.” And […]
Do Minimalist Shoes Increase Injury Risk?: Merry Christmas Vibram
December 24, 2013 By 31 Comments
Contrary to what you may read in the coming days about a new study that just came out, Vibram just got the best Christmas present they could have received. The question of whether minimalist running shoes reduce or increase injury risk has been debated extensively over the past 3-4 years. Much of this debate has […]
Movement Signature of the Gravity Intolerant Runner – The Importance of Swing Phase
December 9, 2013 By 40 Comments
This is a guest post by Dr. Jeff Moreno, DPT A common observation in the world of running is the runner that overstrides. I think whether you are in the world of research, or treating runners full-time in a clinical setting, we can all agree that overstriding is suboptimal. We all understand the potential physical […]
Can Rotating Running Shoes Reduce Injury Risk? – New Study Suggests Yes!
December 6, 2013 By 28 Comments
Shoe geeks rejoice! If you’ve been looking for a good reason to convince your spouse or significant other that you need a new pair of running shoes, look no further than a new study that suggests that runners who rotate among more than one pair of running shoes are significantly less likely to get injured […]
