David Epstein’s Pro Publica Article: https://www.propublica.org/article/former-team-members-accuse-coach-alberto-salazar-of-breaking-drug-rules

Mark Daly’s BBC Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-32877702

Robert Johnson’s article on LetsRun: http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/06/five-quick-thoughts-on-david-epsteins-nike-oregon-project-investigation/

Runner’s World’s take on the allegations: http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/nike-oregon-project-subject-of-doping-allegations-by-former-team-members

Video and story via WDRB.com.

WDRB 41 Louisville News

I wanted to share this mainly since it gives a bit of peak into the area where I live. The Whites are about an hour north of my hometown of Concord, NH, and there are tons of trails up there (my wife used to be the botanist for the White Mountain National Forest, so she’s explored many of them!). Despite being the capital of my state, Concord is a small town and is kind of the final gateway for those heading north to popular tourist destinations (the lakes region, Whites, etc.) – it’s a wonderful place to live!

One of my goals in the future is to make an effort to hit the Whites more often, which has been a challenge since I have three small kids (my oldest was born just after we moved to NH, and we’ve had at least one kid 3 or under almost continuously since then). My youngest is just about old enough that hiking is less of a challenge, looking forward to exploring more in the future!

If you are interested in the story of the chase for the 4:00 mile, I highly recommend reading “The Perfect Mile” by Neal Bascomb. Interestingly enough, Bannister’s record breaking mile may not have even been his most exciting race – you can read about and see video of his 1954 Empire Games race against John Landy here.

As a fellow 39 year old runner all I can say is, Meb, you are an inspiration.

via Runner’s World (note: video may not work on some mobile devices)

And another from Universal Sports

via designboom

Being both a scientist and a shoe geek, I love learning about the process that goes into the design of running shoes. I’ve been a fan of the Nike Free line since the original Free 3.0, and have run in many models since. With the exception of a few lemons (e.g., Free 3.0 v4), I’ve like almost all of them.

The original idea behind the Nike Free was to create a shoe that simulates running barefoot on grass, and though I’m not sure I’d say that they replicate that experience perfectly, they do have a very different feel than most shoes on the market (super flexible, silent underfoot). One might even argue that the Free was a minimalist shoe before the phrase “minimalist shoe” even existed, and the original Free is a shoe that will be remembered as a milestone in footwear innovation.

I recently came across two videos on the origin of the Nike Free (via Running Warehouse and designboom) and wanted to share them here. Enjoy!

A old-fashioned looking, forefoot striking runner on a treadmill:

And a vertical ground reaction force plot on a computer screen:

Is this a preview for the Born to Run movie? Nope. It’s a Nike commercial from 1982. Very cool!

via Welcome to Optimism

Steve Magness just Tweeted a preview of the forthcoming movie that has been adapted from the book (the preview is narrated by Tom Brokaw and aired during coverage of the Winter Olympics). Looks fantastic!

Have a look at the video:

The video is interesting in that it compares a guy running both barefoot and in the Super J33 shoes on a lab trackway. Asics describes the shoe as a “natural running shoe for overpronators” and makes claims about 45% of runners being overpronators and how overpronating can put more stress on muscles and ligaments. When I see claims like this about overpronation, my immediate reaction is to reference this excellent post by podiatrist Ian Griffiths, who writes:

“…the term ‘overpronation’ is neither accurate, descriptive nor meaningful, and should therefore be erased from modern day usage in both the lay and the medical communities.”

I agree.

I guess this shoe allows you to run naturally minus that nasty overpronation, which really needs to be corrected so that you run a bit less naturally.

Oh, and the shoe also apparently changes your natural foot strike as well (assuming by natural running they mean running like you do when you’re barefoot):

In actuality, the video is pretty cool in that it shows how things can in fact change when you go from barefoot to shod, and that shoes do influence gait. It does also seem like the runner pronates less when in the shoe (hard to tell without using bone pins since estimates of eversion based on external markers are unreliable), but I’d ask if that’s necessarily a good thing?

I’m not opposed to the idea of a stabillity shoe, and I do think that reducing pronation can be a positive thing in managing certain injuries (particularly if the shoe is causing the excessive pronation). My guess is that I’ll like running in the Super J33. But as Ian Griffiths always likes to point out, overpronation is not a diagnosis. It is not something that must be controlled at all costs. Sometimes controlling how the body wants to move can be just as problematic as trying to make it move the way we think it should. I’d hoped we’d moved beyond this with the science that has come out over the past several years, but apparently not. The battle rages on…