Thoughts on "Is the High-Fat, Low-Carb Ketogenic Diet Right for You?"

In Outside Online.

Interesting article, and a decent overview of the topic:

"In May, I sat down with a former Special Forces medic (who asked not to be named) who served multiple combat tours. He said that at the most elite levels of the U.S. military, people aren’t waiting for research to confirm the benefits of a keto diet. “I’d say more than a third of the guys are doing it, for the endurance and also for the cognition,” he said. As research by D’Agostino and others indicates, the anti-­inflammatory benefits of ketone bodies on the brain may add a measure of injury protection. In fact, the medic told me that he used the keto diet to supplement his own TBI treatment at Walter Reed hospital."

However, it does contain the usual journalistic silliness:

"Even if it’s the right path to follow, low-carb eating in a high-carb world is tricky. Outside Online’s editor, Scott Rosenfield—a long-distance mountain biker—tried the diet earlier this year, leaning heavily on canned sardines and staying under 50 grams of carbs per day. He liked the results. “One day I did a 100-mile solo ride on my fat-tire bike,” he said. “I felt like Superman.” 

"The sustained power was one thing; sustaining the diet was another. “It got monotonous,” Rosenfield said. Another problem was ordering “weird” food at restaurants and having to explain the diet to bewildered friends and service staff. Predictably, eating sardines became a chore. He fell off."

I'm a big fan of sardines, but I surely don't eat them every day.  The missing part of this article is the dangers of too much polyunsaturated fats, either omega-3, like in sardines, or omega-6, like in seed oils.

My mainstay while travelling is a cheeseburger and bacon with no bun or fries.  Generally restaurants are happy to offer extra pickles or a side salad in exchange.  Just skip the salad dressing, which is usually high in omega-6 fats.  There's not much of a trick to it.

I also question the "too much protein is bad" commentary.  We're uniquely adapted to both ketosis (we have higher body fat than any other primate) and a high-protein diet. So I doubt that they're in conflict.  A significant component of protein is leucine, a branched-chain amino acid, which is metabolized to ketones, not glucose.  So it's possible that the reduction in serum ketone levels after protein consumption is due to leucine metabolism, which takes place inside the cells, and is not visible via serum tests.

But overall an interesting article, especially to those not overly-familiar with the topic.

Via Mark's Daily Apple.

"Sailors Face More Lenient Body Fat Rules"

"The service branch loosened its body fat restrictions in January and is allowing those who failed their exams three or more times to get one more opportunity to be tested this spring under the more lenient guidelines. The Navy said it has been losing too many talented sailors. Some were resorting to liposuction, diet pills and other measures to save their careers."

The military follows the USDA guidelines, from what I've seen in the past, so this is hardly surprising.  The Modern American Diet has an amazing ability to make people fat.

""It's absurd the percentage of high school teenagers who are considered to be too fat to join the military," Joyner said. "Maybe there are two problems: One, obesity, and the other that the standards are out of date and not relevant.""

They're out of date because everyone has becmoe too fat.

Barefoot Running In NYC and The State Of Barefoot Shoes

Nice!

"Chris Hawson didn't run much in New York City until he took off his shoes. That was three years, and more than 9,000 miles, ago.

"You can blame Chris McDougall and Born to Run for that,” he says while sipping hot chocolate in a coffee shop near the Union Square Paragon Sports where he works as an outerwear buyer. “It was inspirational to me. I didn't treat it as a technique manual, but it set me off on a path.”

"A health scare in 2009 prompted Hawson, now in his mid-50s, to start running a couple of times a week, but he found his IT bands, knees, and shins started to hurt, forcing him to resort to inline skating. Then Hawson, who spent a decade leading bike and ski trips in Northern Scotland, discovered Vibram FiveFingers and ran a few hundred miles during the summer and fall, mixing them in with a couple other pairs of more traditional shoes. But winter came, so he packed the FiveFingers away because of the cold. That plan didn't last long, however, and pretty soon he had ditched conventional shoes entirely."

Read the whole thing.

I went to see In the High Country (a movie about ultra-runner Anton Krupicka) in NYC last night, and Chris was there. (Paragon organized the showing.)

Chris, as the Outdoor story makes clear, is the real deal. I've run with him a couple of time in various McDougall-organized "events". He really does do the bulk of his miles barefoot.

As a buyer at Paragon he had some interesting thoughts on the minimalist shoe market: it's fading. In large part because the minimalist shoes last so long. With no foam to break down, you replace your shoes when they tear, or when the sole wears through. Chis explained that he just tossed a pair of Altras that had 2,500 miles on them, because the sole wore through and he had torn the upper on a rock.

Given that the typical running shoe companies recommend that you replace their products every 300 miles, that's a major difference. He then mentioned that he probably had bought enough pairs of minimalist shoes to last the rest of his life, at that rate. I also have enough to last quite a long time.

Altra Torrin: not minimalist.

He explained that there are no new minimalist shoe designs coming out: even Altra's new line has a lot of cushion built in. We both wondered about the future of Merrell's Vapor Glove, one of my personal favorites. It was nice to see them in Merrell's winter catalog, but I wonder if they'll last through next summer. New Balance's Mimimus line does doesn't seem to be doing well (according to a New Balance store I visited recently), as the most minimal models are falling by the wayside.

Guess it's not too surprising... When Dr. Munson first invented the barefoot-style shoe after World War I, they put millions of them on the feet of American soldiers. They were very popular, but then the whole thing disappeared as generations turned over, and they were forgotten...

Hopefully a few companies will stick with the idea so folks like me and Chris can replace our shoes when we need to.

Luna, Russell, and Skora seem to be pretty committed to the minimalist idea. [P.S. And VivoBarefoot!]

But there's more research coming along showing the clear advantages of barefoot over shod foot-binding, so hopefully the idea will stick around.

After 10 miles running in the snow.

My running rotation has been barefoot, Luna Sandals, Vapor Gloves, and Vibram Fivefinger Speeds. None of them show much wear on the sole. If I do a trail race, I'll wear the Trail Glove, and I wore the Sonic Glove the other day when I did a 10-mile run in the snow. I can't really see any reason why I'd ever want to go back to the sort of sneaker I used to wear.

(Found the Outdoor story via Chris McDougall on Twitter.)

Master Sgt. Mike Morton: Ketogenic Ultrarunner

There’s been lots of speculation about how suitable a ketogenic diet really is for athletes.  Some folks (Robb Wolf) have gone back and forth, but my understanding of physiology leads me to think that it should be superior most of the time. 

Well, now we’ve got an interesting guinea pig:

• “1994: Old Dominion 100 — 17 hours, 40 minutes — first place
• “1995: Old Dominion 100 — 16 hours, 55 minutes — first place
• “1995: Vermont 100 — 14 hours, 8 minutes — first place
• “1996: Massanutten Mountain 100 — 20 hours, 21minutes — first place
• “1997: Western States 100 — 15 hours, 40 minutes — first place [course record]”

That’s nice, of course, but what’s he done lately?

He won the famed Badwater 135 race, setting the course record last year.

Then he broke Scott Jurek’s record at the International Association of Ultrarunners Ninth Annual 24-Hour World and 18th European Championships, setting a new record for an American.

And now he’s done this:

“I have made some big changes in my fueling plan over the last five months. Prior to the changes, I was a high carb and low fat eater. I was consuming a large volume of food each day. Large volume in, means large volume out! At Badwater and the World 24 hour Championship, I spent too much time with natures [sic] business. Looking for efficiency, and a more stable energy curve, I researched several different options for fueling. Ultimately, I chose a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. This was a tough transition, since I rarely ate meat or fatty foods. I had been avoiding cheese and dairy for years... except for cottage cheese.
“I committed to myself and made the switch. After about four weeks of eating a high fat diet I was "keto adapted" meaning that my liver was making Ketones and the body was using them for fuel rather than glucose. Making that change was tough because I was addicted to sugar and grains! By being in Ketosis, I have made myself "bonk" proof  because I'm not using glucose for my primary fuel. Also, on race day, I can use carbs as a high octane fuel. I will list some reference material that explains the science behind a ketogenic diet. Since switching, I have ran two 100's and they went great; recovery is much easier on a high fat diet!”

He won the Rocky Racoon 100 race on a ketogenic diet, and soon he’ll be running Western States again:

“iRunFar: According to your blog, you’ve been honing your diet in the recent year or so, and you now do a very low-carb regimen. What does this actually mean for WS100 fueling? What will you be eating and drinking during the race? 

“Morton: The low-carb diet is working great for me. Really, the diet is more about eating high fat and being in ketosis. That does away with spikes in energy and reduces the volume of food that has to be physically eaten. Less in means less out and that equals efficiency during races. I will eat whatever looks appetizing during the race, including carbs. That is another benefit; I use carbs like a high-octane fuel during races. I’ll drink what is provided as well but avoid consuming huge amounts of sugar drinks to keep the stomach happy. My crew (wife Julie, daughter Bailey, and Eric and Noni) will have some of my favorite stuff so, when I’m feeling sorry for myself, I can cheer up looking forward to something.”

He’s racing against the current course record-holder Tim Olson, who also eats a low-carb paleo diet.
Obviously Morton has had most of his success on a high-carb, low-fat diet.  What’s interesting is if he’s able to continue his success with a high-fat, low carb diet.  He’s already noted that he recovers more quickly, we’ll see if he can set a few more records.

Interesting times.

Thanks to Sean.

P.S.  On the second-hottest Western States on record, Morton finished third, setting the Master's course record, Olson finished first, just failing to break his previous course record.

Barefoot Army Boots

Barefoot Army Boots

Mark II.

Dr. Munson is shaking his head, the Army is coming around.

They're even using the term "zero-drop", invented by one of the founders of Altra. Although the boots are 5mm drop, not zero. Sigh.

Amazing.  See the video below for a full description.

Minimalist Runners In The Army Get Hurt Less

"Relationships Among Self-reported Shoe Type, Footstrike Pattern, and Injury Incidence":

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the association of self-reported shoe selection with reported foot strike patterns, compare overall injury incidence associated with different shoe conditions, and identify differences in injury location between different shoe conditions....

RESULTS:

Shoe selection was significantly associated with reported footstrike (χ² (4df) =143.4, P<.001). Barefoot and minimalist runners reported a more anterior footstrike than traditionally shod runners. Traditionally shod runners were 3.41 times more likely to report injuries than experienced minimalist shoe wearers (46.7% shod vs 13.7% minimalist, χ² (1df) =77.4, P<.001, n=888). Minimalist shoe wearers also reported fewer injuries at the hip, knee, lower leg, ankle, and foot than traditionally shod runners.

Duh, no kidding. This must be part of that unfair advantage that led the Army to ban minimalist running. Idiots.

From Runblogger on Facebook.

Military Kids Can Compete In Vibrams

Good news:

"Resembling nothing so much as a cross between batting gloves and a pair of running shoes, 'finger' or 'toe shoes' are the latest trend in running. And as of last week, they're approved for use in DODDS-Europe track meets, according to track and field 'commissioner' Mike Thompson, whose day job is superintendent of the Bavaria District.

"'The question of the legality/illegality of "finger shoes" for track competition was raised and has been researched through state high school associations,' Thompson wrote to track coaches in a recent email.

"As long as the shoe, which advocates say simulates barefoot running, attaches to the foot with laces, straps, velcro and the like, Thompson reported, they're OK to wear in competition. Thompson added. however, that slip-on versions of the shoe are not allowed.

"However, there's more to the decision to use the shoes in competition than mere legality, according to Kaiserslautern coach Dennis DePriest.

"'We have a large contingent using the ... shoes,' DePriest wrote in an email. 'They are useful in training based on the correct biomechanical form while running. We would never use them in a track compeition based on the lost friction and grab a spike would offer.'...

...""I'm strongly considering wearing them in meets," said Brussels distance runner David Westland by telephone last week."

Seems reasonable to me, especially the part about requiring them to be secured to feet.

The DoDDS - Europe is the Department of Defense Dependents Schools - Europe.

"‘Toe Shoes’ Rule At Odds With Medical Officials"

Good for the Navy. They allowed sailors to use Vibrams against their doctors' advice, after finding out that the doctors' advice was not supported by the medical literature.

"The Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery has concerns about the bare-bones shoes and has warned against their use.

"“With musculoskeletal injuries as the No. 1 deployment limiting condition among military personnel, Navy leadership must take responsibility for the safety and well-being of our personnel during unit physical training. While intended for running, barefoot-style running mechanics have not been determined to be safe or effective for all runners,” BUMED spokeswoman Shoshona Pilip-Florea said.

"“Encouraging the appropriate footwear for an activity is the first line of defense against sports-related injuries. Therefore, given the current evidence, Navy Medicine cannot recommend the use of minimalist footwear in command directed physical training activities.”

"Recently, the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center and the Center for Personal and Professional Development reviewed medical literature on minimalist shoes and found insufficient evidence to prove or disprove that the shoes are effective or safe. The review also determined that the shoes strengthen arches, reduce pronation — where either the inner or outer edge of the foot strikes the ground first — and encourage softer landings."..."

So the current protocol has lead to musculoskeletal injuries being "the No. 1 deployment limiting condition among military personnel", so let's keep at it!  Good for the Navy to not buy into that nonsense. 

The medical establishment loves to double down on a losing bet, apparently.

Salt Intake and Exercise

"The basics: 18 soldiers did a competitive 25 km march (taking about four hours), carrying 26 kg packs and wearing full battle dress, in temperatures averaging 40.2 C and reaching a high of 44.3 C (112 F). They were allowed to drink only water...."

What happened?

"At this sweat sodium concentration, average total sweat sodium losses during the march could have been >240 mmol. Yet despite such large losses that were not replaced during exercise, participants maintained their serum sodium concentration. This confirms the now well-established finding that serum sodium concentration can be maintained during exercise without the need for acute sodium replacement during exercise."

As Neal Stephenson put it, you're a three-billion-year-old "nightmarishly lethal, memetically programmed death machine".  Do you really think you're going to be stopped by a temporary shortage of salt or water?  Please.

Read the whole thing.

Barefoot in the Air Force

At ease, Airmen

For demonstration purposes, any way.  Dr. Cucuzzella continues his good work:

"After the classroom presentation, the running experts escorted the attendees outside to practice these techniques. All attendees removed their shoes to try running barefoot for a short distance, and they learned some new drills to increase their strength and stability.


"'I'm glad I came,' said Staff Sgt. Jose Marin, from 752nd Medical Squadron. 'Next time I run, I'll use this.'"

Special Forces Wearing Vibrams

Once again, Birthday Shoes does a post that I wanted to do, and does it better than I would have.  So go read it.

I'm happy not to put a question mark at the end of that title.  I've mentioned rumours before that Special Forces are wearing Vibrams, but now we have proof, and they're wearing them in real training!  Perhaps even operations?

See here for related posts.  Thanks to Josh W for finding this.

"Fried, Fatty, Processed Foods and Sugary Drinks are Hurting our Armed Forces."

Oh brother.  It's from Slate, so it's the unthinking conventional wisdom.  Slate has certain standards to live down to.

"Two years into the Revolutionary War, a surgeon general in the Continental Army issued a pamphlet on nutrition. 'The diet of soldiers should consist chiefly of vegetables,' Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote in Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers. 'The nature of their duty, as well as their former habits of life, require it.' Directions' counsel sounds thoroughly modern, like advice from good-food crusaders Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman—and it probably fell on deaf ears. It was routine, in Rush's time, for soldiers to consume a 'pound or two of flesh in a day.'"

So turning our soldiers into vegetarians will allow them to join the ranks of the legendary vegetarian warriors from the history books.  (Hint, there aren't any.)  I'll note that we won the war Rush wrote about, despite not following his advice.

"Five years ago, Sonya Cable, an Army lieutenant colonel and dietitian who works for the command that trains recruits, began analyzing data showing that more than 60 percent of soldiers were nondeployable due to dental issues and were lacking in calcium and other vitamins that help the body prevent and recover from injuries."

Oh no.  A dietician.  In a uniform...  Weston Price would have told this lady what to do, and it wouldn't have involved more vegetables.

Reading this reminded me of another group of athletes that recently adapted a diet geared mainly towards vegetables: the Boston Red Sox:

"Today’s post is about another group of people who frequently break their bones and don’t heal well: the Boston Red Sox....

"...If a biomedical scientist were asked to contrive a diet that maximized the likelihood of bone fractures, the advice would be:

1. Eat lots of grains to induce rickets.
2. Eat vegetable oils and non-tropical fatty plants to reduce bone mineral density.
3. Avoid animal and dairy fats to deprive the body of fat-soluble vitamins needed for bone mineralization, such as vitamin K2.
4. Do not take nutritional supplements, in order to maintain a deficiency of bone nutrients.

It seems that this is precisely the advice that is being given to the Red Sox and their minor league players."

Since that's working so well, let's adopt the same diet for the Armed Forces!

I'm mostly making fun of the Slate reporter here, the one who closes her article with: 

"The recently-released Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the first time ever stipulates that produce should take up half the plate. At the very least, that recommendation and Hertling's approach should be strongly considered not only by other Army commands, but by all the armed services."

That would be these dietary guidelines, btw.

Clearly the military would be well advised to do something about the poor diet they're feeding their soldiers.  Hopefully they'll do something more sensible than what the Red Sox are doing. 

(Thanks to John Durant for the link to the Slate article.)

"U.S. Army Outlaws Vibram Five Fingers"

This is dumb.  But coming from the organization that inspired the terms FUBAR and SNAFU*, I suppose it's not surprising.  Hopefully this will not stand for long.

I'm pretty surprised and disappointed to see this.  (See the label Military for previous posts on this topic.)

*And let's not forget my new favorite, BOHICA.

P.S.  Thanks to Dr. Shavelson for pointing this out.  Discussion at the link.

P.P.S.  Some great comments over in the Birthday Shoes post, including this one:

"Mark Cucuzzella MD [Visitor] · http://trtreads.org/

"This policy will hopefully change and the USAF will lead the way in teaching good running mechanics, proper stability and mobility in joints specific to running, progressive aerobic development....and how a shoe affects form. We are developing a program called Efficient Running for all our troops to help them succeed in the PT tests and more importantly become healthier. We will gather important data also to help all the Joint Forces succeed. Several military leads just attended our 3 day injury prevention summit . review posts are at http://www.runblogger.com/ in posts from Feb 2-9.


"Lt Col Mark Cucuzzella, USAF Reserves"

Running In The Military

Pose, Chi, and Evolution are making inroads in the military, to help cut down the injury rate.  (Running related injuries are now the number one training injury in the military.)

"Meanwhile, a slew of recent studies are overturning long-held running maxims as researchers struggle to more clearly define the emerging doctrines.

"'The answer to decreasing running injuries is not to limit running, it is to develop the runner,' says Maj. Charles Blake, a 3rd Special Forces Group doctor serving as physical therapist for special ops units in Afghanistan.

"Blake insists the key to reversing injuries and improving running is simply a matter of technique.

"'I have taken four minutes off a person’s two-mile run time in a week. That can only be related to technique in movement,' he says.

"Change can’t come soon enough. More than a million troops suffer serious sprains, strains and other injuries every year, with running as the leading cause, according to Defense Department research....

"Termain says Pose did what numerous sports medicine docs, podiatrists and expensive orthotic inserts never could — put an end to what seemed like an endless string of running injuries."

Via Runblogger on Facebook.

Follow-Up To "Vibrams Taking Off In The Military"

From a letter to the editor:

"Lastly, I am stunned by comments suggesting that VFFs may offer an unfair advantage. The last time I checked, I thought the Army prided itself on being the best Army in the world. Do weapon optics give soldiers an unfair advantage? Does MultiCam camouflage give us an unfair advantage? Does it matter evidence says running injuries have gone up since the 1972 invention of waffle sole-style running shoes?"

I'll wager this was a pretty common reaction: "Unfair advantage?  I want that!"  It was my reaction, and yes, they are an unfair advantage.

Original post, first follow-up.

Tim Butterfield Attempts To Zero-Drop His Sneakers

It's not as easy as you would think.

My first attempt to zero a pair of shoes were my beloved Montrail Mountain Masochists.  I'd been running in my Vibrams for a couple of months, as well as hiking and wearing them to Home Depot.  I decided, since I was planning on racing in them, to go back out on a run in the MMMs.

It was a pain.  The heel kept interfering with my stride; I was regularly jamming it into the ground.  So when I got home I realized that I was not going to be wearing the MMMs any more, although they were one of the better sneakers I'd ever owned.  I followed Anton Krupicka's example, bought a bread knife at Walmart (so as to not use one of my wife's bread knives), and attempted surgery.

It wound up like Tim's attempt.  I severed the heel from the upper.  Whoops.

My second attempt involved a rotary table saw and the L.L. Bean Katahdin Iron Works Engineer Boot.  This is one of the few non-military Munson last boots available, and is amazingly comfortable to wear, aside from the heel.

Let's just say the patient didn't survive, and I was lucky to retain all my fingers.

The next pair of shoes I wanted to modify went to the cobbler, who explained, in passing, that severe cuts were the norm when first working as a cobbler.  OK, then.

Follow-up to "Vibrams Taking Off In The Military"

Justin's better graphics

Birthday Shoes has a great post on this as well, with some first-person accounts.  The Army PT test may not allow Vibrams because they're an "unfair advantage", but lots of soldiers seem to be wearing them anyway.

Plus Justin has better graphics than I do.  OK, Justin has graphics.

Original post.

Vibrams Taking Off In The Military

Wow.  I'm just shocked at this article.  Read the whole thing, but here are some key excerpts (emphases are mine):

"The sergeant major of the Army is thinking about training for his next marathon in them, but Army officials have banned them from the PT test over worries they might give some soldiers an unfair advantage."

An unfair advantage.  Heck, the atom bomb was an unfair advantage.  Don't we want our troops to get all the unfair advantages they can?

"Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Jeffery Cui, at Bagram Airfield, has banned airmen from wearing them with the Air Force PT uniform in Afghanistan, citing their wear as one of the most violated rules on base in a recent edition of the Bagram Express."

That's pretty cool.  Bunch of rebels. ;)

"Down at Kandahar, however, military doctors are encouraging their use and even prescribing them for recovering runners.

"'VFFs are the best thing out there for rehabilitating lower extremity injuries,' says Navy doctor and physical therapist Lt. Cmdr. John Mahoney at Kandahar. 'I have converted a heck of a lot of people since I got here.'"

Wow! At least someone gets it!

"Before his latest assignment, he was the physical therapist for Naval Special Warfare Group 4 in Norfolk, Va. He estimates about 35 percent of SEALs have incorporated Vibram’s toe shoes into their workouts.

“Once Navy SEALs start wearing them, everybody in Virginia Beach wants to wear them,” he says.

This confirms what I've been hearing at Barefoot Ted's group for a year.

But then comes the obligatory dingbat podiatrist quote:

"The shoes are not for everyone, however.

"'Very, very flat-footed people should probably not wear them,' says Dr. Steven Pribut, a podiatrist and sports medicine expert in Washington, D.C., who specializes in working with runners.

That should read "who specializes in injuring runners".  We already know that barefoot is the best thing for flat feet.  Pribut is the guy who still has "A Brief History Of Sneakers" on his website, which contains such gems as:

"Within the context of modern athletic-shoe development, podiatric biomechanical thought and terminology have sunk deeply into the psyche of the athletic-shoe industry and the buying public. Words such as pronation, stability, and motion control are now widely used in the description and ranking of running shoes. The significance of types of feet and lasts, the use of motion-control devices, new shock-absorbing materials, and many other ideas have become common as a result of both podiatric sports medical influence and the realization that foot and lower extremity biomechanics plays a vital role in the performance of the casual athlete as well as the world-class athlete."

He's right, they became common.  Unfortunately they don't work.  Even worse, they injure the runners they're supposed to help:

"Every runner in the highly pronated group who wore a motion control shoe reported an injury. In other words, all runners (yes, 100%) who were supposed to be wearing a motion control shoe based on their degree of pronation got injured." [Emphases in the original]

Pribut does have some good advice, but it's sadly far outweighed by his bad advice.  But that's fodder for another post.

"Lt. Col. Kerry Sweet, the Army’s top foot doctor and chief of podiatry at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis- McChord, Wash., has been monitoring the trend at his base.

"'We have not seen any appreciable — or even noticeable — increase in injuries as a result of people wearing these shoes,' he says, but he adds it may be too soon to tell. 'We’re in a real gray area right now.'

So despite what doctors like Pribut have been telling us minimalists for as long as I've been following this, a doctor who is actually monitoring minimalist runners reports no increase in injuries!  I wish I was shocked.

The article finishes up with a branch-by-branch status report, and a list of suggestions of how to get your commanding officer to allow you to wear toe shoes.  Clearly this is still up in the air in the Military, but the degree of acceptance is, to me, just shocking.

I never figured it would be going this quickly.

Now, just imagine if there was a study that actually finds minimalist shoes to be beneficial to injury rates...

UPDATE: Follow-up post.