WATCH THE BAREFOOT PROFESSOR

the journal Nature is publishing the results of research that compared the foot strike of runners in a variety of situations, including barefoot, in Vibram Five Fingers, and with conventional running shoes. Their conclusions are very favorable for those of that maintain that barefooting is the most natural way to run and that doing so reduces stresses on the knees and other body parts.

The primary Harvard professor involved with the research is Dr. Daniel Lieberman. Here is a GREAT video summarizing Dr. Leiberman’s studies.

Motivation- the WOW factor

WOW...its cold out. Really cold. I am looking at the little blinking temperature icon on my system tray...it reads 19 degrees. And that's without the wind chill. I just checked a website that gives me the forecast for Ramsey; at 7 am tomorrow morning its going to be 13 degrees with winds of about 15 mph and so the with the wind chill factor it will be -3. WOW again. I was planning a run for the morning. NOW what? Should I blow it off so to speak and sleep in my nice warm bed; under my nice quilt for an extra hour. Here's where you are expecting me to say.. .NO NO. Its out the door quickly; the hardest part of running; getting the sneakers laced up and getting out the door. But something inside of me tonite is telling me -3 is not good to run in. There's a difference between being motivated and being dumb. I will let you know which way I go tomorrow.

On another note; did you know that on optimum there are free workout videos. YES. I discovered them tonite. Go to Channel Guide-On Demand-Free on demand -Sport-sportskool- and then Fitness- and there are lots of vidoes---very cool and I intend to start using them. I have all the equipment in the house and that's the plan. I need to strenthen the core and other muscle groups before the Spring season; which btw is right around the corner.

That's it for now.

Manhattan Half Today

Only runners can understand why we run. There is so much training. So much time to commit. Hard work. Major commitment. Running early in the morning or late at night. In the darkness perhaps. In the bitter cold. Pushing ourselves further and further to be the best we can be. Establishing goals; trying to attain them. We dont always succeed. But its all a personal quest. No two runners have the same goals. We compete often against only ourselves. No one else. I have seen people I have met thorugh running actually run times that I consider incredible. And some of these people are not what you would call young. Plus 50 and many plus 60 years of age.

I have learned that age certainly can affect running. As we age, we slow down. Our bodies change. we need more rest. Lots of factors. But the interesting thing is that in running,we can still compete. We compete in an age group. And we compete against ourselves.

I have also learned that every run cannot be a personal record. Last year I ran two 1/2 marathons. One in Brooklyn where I ran the 1/2, which actually was my first half marathon, in 2:12:44; in September I ran the Liberty Waterfron Half, in Jersey City. I ran that half in 1:57:59; and today I ran the Manhattan Half. This is part of the continental Airlines series of half marathons. There is one 1/2 marathon in each borough. If at all possible I want to try to all of them. This was the first. I ran it in 2:00:25.

So my time wasnt better, it was worse then the last 1/2 marathon.Oh Well. Its early in the year. Track workouts havent begun. My training during the winter is not as intense. Lots of reason/excuses. But let's face it; I just didnt have it today to improve my PR. I was happy with the time. My pace was slightly over 9 minutes. what I am trying to say is that running punishes you when you dont pay enough attention to it; or if you dont feed it properly; or give it rest. Or cross train; etc etc etc.

So bottom line- I am happy with my time and with the run. Its always an accomplishment time to run and to compete and run in and finish a race.

WE cant set PRs everytime we run.

Inspirational Video

I came upon this video today and just wanted to post it to my blog. I ran the NYC Marathon this past year. It was the 40th running of the NYC Marathon, but my first. No matter how many people told me that the experience was awesome, I wasnt prepared for just how inspirational it actually is. Of course just the running of the marathon itself; but doing it for a charity as I did, Team for Kids, and the experience of running through all 5 boros; over the bridges and the support from millions of people lining the route; it was an emotional experience indeed.

Enjoy this video.

Running Barefoot??????

Could shoes—and shoe companies—be part of a $25 billion snake oil industry, covering hundreds of thousands of perfectly able bare feet? Or is barefoot running dangerous for marathoners and weekend joggers alike? That’s the debate now brewing in the running community. The answer depends in part on a classic chicken and egg question: Do we run the way we do because of running shoes, or do running shoes support the way we now run?

This is a seemingly crazy idea isnt it. That running shoes could actually be injuring us?

In his book, Born to Run, author, Chris McDougall follows the Tahumara, a Mexican tribe of ultrarunners who race from 50 to 200 miles straight without shoes, yet remain healthy and injury-free. Science doesn’t support the shoe industry’s claim that "humans are born broken," McDougall tells us that running shoes exist to fix our stride. Humans have been barefoot for nearly 2 million years, but have had running shoes for only a little more than 40—when Nike-founder Bill Bowerman cobbled together the modern-day running shoe with glues, plastic and a waffle iron in his basement. Shoes cause runners to lose musculature in their feet, McDougall argues, and takes away the natural cushion in their stride"

This is a fascinating book, given to me by my good friend Chris. Thanks Chris. Every runner should read this book.

Tuesday Morning Run

Anticipating the Manhattan Half Marathon this Sunday. Will be my first real challenge since the NY Marathon. I havent really trained specifically for this race so I am a bit apprehensive about it. Its Winter. I have never trained for a long run in the winter. I've been doing my weekly running; however the longest run so far this winter has only been 10 miles. So I wont push myself to do a PR this Sunday. Treat it as a Sunday Long Run. Easy pace; stay loose; have fun. Make sure I am well hydrated and properly nourished. Be smart.

I ran this morning. 6:30 AM. About 4.2 miles. Nice and easy. I love those early AM runs. Nice weather. In the mid to upper 30s. A nice 40 minute run. I will continue a couple more easy runs this week leading up to the 1/2 marathon. I will do the 9 races for New York Road Runner again this year; to qualify again in 2011 for the NY Marathon. I am already qualified for 2010 because I did the 9 races last year. I am psyched up to do the NY Marathon again this year.

I ran today in my new NB 1064 running shoes. Very very nice. Smooth; and well cushioned.

No Run Today

Today was an off day. Weather was great for a run; but I didnt run. Its Monday; I have always scheduled Monday as a day off from running or any real workout. Liz had off for MLK day and I slept in. Did a few hours of mortgage work and went to Road Runner. I work at Road Runner as couple of part time days per week. The mortgage business is pretty bad now.

Working at the Running Store is really kind of cathartic to me. There I am surrounded by people who are passionate about running like me. Its work but somehow often doesnt seem it. I love helping people and talking about running. Yes there is drudgery but for the most part it is enjoyable and the co-workers are pretty cool people. Mostly much more experienced runner than I. I learn alot and I feel I help alot of people who come into the store. To most of them I am the expert who they seek advice from. That's really cool.

A Nice Sunday Run

I always look forward to Sundays. Today was no exception. I do my "long run" on Sunday. Next Sunday is the Manhattan Half. So today is not what I would call a long run. A taper day. I usually run on Sundays with my good friend Chris. We met through running. Both part of the Mahwah Fleet Feet Galloway Marathon Training program. We both started it two years ago. Chris and I ran the Philly Marathon together in 2008. We've become really great friends. We socialize together...with the wives. Lots of fun. Go out for dinner; movies. Spent New Year's eve together. We both have daughters who are 2nd year college students.

All because of running. I love running.

So today Chris and I met at Mahwah HS and ran about 5.5 miles. Was really raw out; and the temp was about 30 degrees. The course we ran has a fair amount of hills which is good, since I know the 1/2 marathon next week will be hilly....its in Central Park. I know the park so well now. I ran 10 races in the Park last year. Nice easy run.

Spent the rest of the day in NY with Liz; went to Bloomies....she's looking for a dress for Jordan's Bar Mitzvah.....booooooring. But I guess successful. She bought TWO dresses. Really nasty in NY. But at last we're home. Chiling in front of the TV and watching the Jets.

Chilly early morning run

I dont know what it is about running early in the morning. The wife thinks I am crazy to get up to run. She's up anyway getting ready for school. She's a teacher. But I am still in bed at 6 am. I pop up; and I have learned if you dont do this quickly you will fail to do it at all. So I just throw on my running clothes and out the door. That's always the hardest part. Getting out the door. Once I do that its a piece of cake.

Well I had checked the news and according to NBC the temp was 37. Of course that's in NYC whereas here in lovely Ramsey, its always about 7 -10 degrees colder. Yes indeed it was. So the start of the run was chilly. But having learned to dress right I was fine....except for my face. OH did I mention I am growing a beard for the winter. This is out of necessity...not because I think it looks good. I've already been told it looks bad....oh well!!! Not trying to be George Clooney.

The run was great. My Garmin GPS is broken so for the last few weeks I have felt naked. Its actually kind of nice not having to depend on it and not being able to start a run until those damn satelites are located. Am I doing the right pace? How far have I gone. The hell with it; I just run. I know about how far and can tell the approximate pace by how it feels.


Well it was a great run. More later.

larson29's EnduranceJunkies.com Training Log

larson29's EnduranceJunkies.com Training Log

HELLO WORLD

How do you start to blog? I have no clue. Let's just start with a little bit about me.

I am married now for 20 years. I have a great wife, a daughter who is a 2nd year architecture major in Miami University--Ohio not Florida. I have two other married daughters from my first marriage and 6 grandchildren. I live in a fantastic town in North Jersey with a great house that I love.

I am well...lets just say quite mature.....I have been around. OK OK I am over the hill? No not that. I am like fine vintage wine....? Probably not.... but maybe just as old. Well...does it matter? This blog will be mostly about running. That's my passion. Perhaps I will throw some odds and ends in once in awhile. Well here goes.

My story about running is pretty simple. I will keep it short. I was in my early fifties... never having run except when I had no choice- like doing the mile in high school gym in 12 minutes or more. But something brought me to running.. What was it?

It was my health. I wont bore you with the details but that's what made me start running. And in my first year of running I went from never having run to somehow being convinced I could actually do a marathon. I trained for almost 9 months and never made it to that first marathon. I injured myself....improper training.

I then laid off of running for about 3 years and came back when again my doctor told me to do something to lose weight. So I listened; started running again; lost 30 pounds and got obsessed with running. That's how I started. Since then I have really caught the fever. The religion as I like to call it. My religion is Running. I ran Philly Marathon in 2008 using the Galloway run walk method. My time: 5:24 yikes. I was thrilled that I finished.

I found North Jersey Masters this past year. A running club in, duh, North Jersey. What a difference. My training changed to include track workouts and lots and lots of races. I ran over 20 races this past year including two half marathons and the NYC Marathon. My time: 4:43 and I really wasnt satisfied.