The Importance of Negative Splits

"In the 2016 US men's Olympic marathon trials, only three of the 108 entrants ran the second half faster: the men who came in first, second, and third."

Fascinating article.

"Do Nike's new marathon shoes actually make you run faster?"

Via Alex Hutchinson on Twitter.

"Running in a minimalist and lightweight shoe is not the same as running barefoot: a biomechanical study"

Yep. Now it's official!

"Experimental conditions
"The protocol involved four experimental conditions: (1) barefoot; (2) a minimalist shoe (NIKE Free 3.0); (3) a lightweight racing flat (NIKE LunaRacer2) and (4) the shoe in which they were currently completing the most training mileage (herein called regular shoe)....

"Conclusions
"Barefoot running was different to all shod conditions. Barefoot running changes the amount of work done at the knee and ankle joints and this may have therapeutic and performance implications for runners."

Full-text at the link.

"Why Aren't Shoes Preventing Running Injuries?"

Good question.

"Barefoot running shoes and shoes with extra cushioning seek to protect runners—but despite all the new technology, running injuries are no less common than they were 30 years ago."

Most runners are still running in the same sort of shoes that they've been wearing for the last 30 years. It shouldn't be surprising that we're seeing the same outcome, if we assume that running shoes can affect injury rates.

"In the past 30 years running has changed from something done by trained runners who competed for sport, to an activity that is enjoyed by the masses."

This is silly. I'm pretty sure that "the masses" have been running for a long, long time. As this account makes clear, foot racing has long been a regular part of recreation:

"The Clary Grove boys, the Island Grove boys, the Sangamon River boys and the Sand Ridge boys, each designated by the part of the country from which they came, would gather there to indulge in horse racing, foot racing, wrestling, jumping, ball playing and shooting at a mark."

So it's a typically weak article on the topic, but he at least gets points for quoting Jay Dicharry and Dan Lieberman, and mentioning Born to Run.

"Confronted with the baffling array of running shoes, the prevailing wisdom seems to be to pick a shoe that fits your running style, not to hope a shoe will change you."

Of course the high-heeled cushioned sneakers that most all wear today were created to do exactly that:

"...Over the next 40 years, we have seen the height as well as the cushion gradually increase. These developments inadvertently made runners adopt a “heel to toe” gait or “heel strike” when running. Bowerman and W.E. Harris authored a primer entitled Jogging: A [Medically Approved] Physical Fitness Program for All Ages in 1967. In this very popular book, they noted the most efficient way to run should be landing or striking on the heel first. The authors specifically stated that forefoot striking is incorrect and not the proper way to land.

"Bowerman and Harris had no scientific basis for this explanation. Several years later, they went on to create a running shoe that contained a cushioned heel...."

That shoe was Nike.

Meb Keflezighi In Skechers vs. In Nikes

Very interesting post. 

"The company’s new “Go-Run” line promises to make you switch to a mid-foot strike: “The Way You’re Supposed to Run.”"

Alex links to two videos of Meb running, one in Nikes, and one in Skechers.

Here's a screen shot of Meb running in Skechers.

He's clearly heel-striking.  Perhaps he's reduced the impact transient from heel-striking, which would likely reduce his chance of injury, and improve his pace; since he'd have less braking force.

But that's impossible to tell from a video.

Sweat Science is a great blog, by the way. I've learned a lot from following it.

P.S. Runblogger has an extensive look at Meb's running form.

A Couple Of Recent Runs

[Just came across this post from 11/9/2009]

I've had a few interesting run recently.  I thought I'd share some details of them and what I'd learned hoping it might be of some use to others.

10/24: Nike+ Human Race 10K.  Ran in KSOs with no socks.  Had a problem w/ nausea before, during, and after the race.  I'm pretty sure that this was due to really wanting to put in a good time.  My friends said afterward that I was "Running to win" (finished six minutes ahead of them).  Ran at a 7:41 pace [actual result was 7:40], which is much better than my previous best effort at this distance.  Tapered for a few days beforehand, and pushed it during the race.  Calves hurt after the race (good hurt), had a few minor abrasions from the KSOs, but nothing else.  Followed the "relax, relax" mantra during the race, which meant that the sticks and nuts that were on the course just really weren't an issue for my feet.  Stopped worrying about them after a little while and just let my feet deal with them.  Have to take a few days off after the race to let my calves recover.  Feet felt great.  Do a few three and five milers during the week.

11/1: Run with "The Runner". 8.6 miles, 4.6 road, 4 trail.  We all must have a friend like this (if you aren't yourself one of these people).  He's a real runner.  Puts in creditable performances in all his races, has been running for years, and almost never suffers running injuries.  In this case, he also read Born to Run this summer, and ditched his big sneakers for some racing flats.  Not worried about his form, because obviously what he's doing is working for him, except for his bunions.  He's not been interested in barefoot/Vibrams since he's sure he never heel strikes.

So we run, in the rain.  I'm wearing my Treks with injinji crew socks.  He's got the racing flats on.  I listen to his running, "thwap, thwap, thwap".  "Hey, you know you're heel-striking?" Thwapping stops, he's corrected his form. "I am not."  We have an discussion about how to tell if he's heel striking, to listen to the feet.  About half way up the big hill that makes up the meat of this run my calves start to ache. 

Thinking back on the many posts on this group, I think I've got a choice.  Take it easy, or push through and risk injury.  Well, I'm running with The Runner, for the first time since I started running in Vibrams.  There's no way I'm bailing... the only thing bothering me is the calves: Push on.  On the downhill stretch, I pass him in his racing flats and bomb down the slope.  Thank you, Vibram!  As we approach the end of the race, The Runner comments on how much quicker I'm running now.  Finish the run in pretty strong form.  This is my longest run in Vibrams.

Calves are hurting mightily that afternoon.  I go home and crash on the couch for a few hours and watch some TV.  I'm a little worried. Next morning, go for a slow three miler and then for a four-mile hike with the kids.  Calves aren't doing that badly, actually, they're improving with the exercise, but the right Achilles has taken to aching and throbbing.  Take a couple days off, then do a few more three milers.  Setting me up for the next run:

11/8: Trail run w/ 3 new runners I don't know.  Wearing the Treks with Injini mini socks. I invite The Runner along, since it always helps to have the fastest runner be one of your friends. :)  Achilles is still aching a bit, so I'm a little nervous about this. We all show up and chat for a few minutes.  One of the other guys says, "Look at his feet!"  They all ask about the Vibrams, they think I'm nuts.

The area we're running in is rocky in the way that only Connecticut is rocky.  If you think you live somewhere that's rocky, imagine this: take a mountain range higher than the Himalayas.  Crush it down to rubble over several Ice Ages, and then spread that rubble around with a thin topping of dirt and newly-fallen leaves.  Welcome to CT.  They can't believe that the Treks are going to be OK in the rubble...

Fortunately I've done most of my Vibram hiking and trail running in this area and in Baxter State Park in Maine, which may be the only spot on Earth that's rockier than CT, so I'm pretty confident.  Off we go!  Legs, feet, most importantly, that sore Achilles are all feeling just dandy, and more importantly, I'm having no trouble keeping up.

We continue for maybe 3 miles.  The only spots that are giving me trouble are the downhills, since the rocks are all covered with leaves, I'm taking it easy. But I'm catching back up on the flat bits (that wonderful feeling that you're being rushed along). We all stop, and the three guys I don't know look at me and comment that my feet must be killing me. Thanks to the relax, relax (and a little bit of EVA midsole), I can honestly say that they feel great. My feet seem to be finding their way to the ground through the leaves. They all shake their heads. At this point I take off the Injinjis, as they're binding between my toes.

Unfortunately shortly after this, the unthinkable happens: running down a fast, clean slope, at full speed, I stub my right pinky toe.

It nearly takes me off my feet, but I manage to get my feet back under me and recover. I'm convinced that if I'd been wearing sneakers I would have gone down hard here; my body was on auto-pilot and recovered. It felt like my feet flew back up to catch my falling body, sort of like Hermes, the Greek god with wings on his feet. The fellow behind me complimented my on the recovery, and asked if I'd sprained my ankle (he was running with an ankle-brace). I don't miss a step, but clearly the toe is a problem. So I keep going. After about another mile and a half, we stop to wait for the guy in the ankle brace, and the toe siezes up. I'm running, but limping, all the way back to the parking lot, about half a mile.  Afterward, the toe swells up (it looks like a grape the morning after) but all the rest of the aches and pains are gone. Calves, perfect; Achilles, perfect; feet, perfect. 6.2 miles, my longest trail run to date, over rocky, nasty terrain, and aside from a stubbed toe, I feel better at the end of the run than I did at the beginning.

The couple of days off was key, I think, between the days where I was pushing it. And your body does love the beating, so I guess that's in favor of "active recovery" days too, as I was feeling better at the end of the last run than I was before the first in the series.

But what's great, is that each run is more fun than the one before it. How long can this keep up?

BTW, the stubbed toe is the first injury I've had from minimalist running. I have been taking it easy, and not pushing runs, and I think it's been paying off.

[A few thoughts: I can't remember the last time my calves hurt.

Kicking rocks, or any other immovable object with your toes is a bad idea, and hurts. That said, it's one of the least significant injuries, I've now done it a number of times and never failed to finish the run. If you do it, as I learned above, don't stop running! 

I've not done another road 10k race since the Nike race.  It's a great distance, I really need to do another...

Oh yeah, the runs are still great. The newbie glow has worn off, though.]

P.S. That was more than a stubbed toe. It was quite broken. I wound up having to wear some New Balance MT100s in order to run on it: the rock plate in the shoe helped to stabilize the toe when running. Pretty amazing that you can break a toe and keep running, but I guess from an evolutionary perspective it's a good feature.

"Marketers Sprint to Join Lightweight-Running Craze"

The revolution continues apace:

"Runners have always taken pride in the lack of equipment and technical gear their sport requires. And now many are getting even more basic, fueling the rise of so-called minimal or lightweight footwear that strips out cushioning and structure.


"While not for the weekend warrior, lightweight-running products are gaining traction with a broad swath of the population. And marketers are taking notice, flooding the market with major campaigns in an effort to grab a piece of the fast-growing category.

"According to SportsOneSource, lightweight products -- loosely defined as shoes that weigh 9 oz. or less in a men's size 9 -- accounted for 28% of the running category in the second quarter. Minimalist styles, a subset of lightweight, accounted for 5% of the running category. Lightweight and minimalist products have been around for years. Nike Free was launched in 2004 and Vibram's FiveFingers shoes (think: gloves for the feet) followed in 2005. The trend has incubated since then. The 2009 book, "Born to Run," which followed a tribe of distance runners in Mexico who run in flat, homemade sandals, is credited with catapulting the discussion to the mainstream...."

"While not for the weekend warrior" is hooey, but the rest is pretty interesting, and I hope this woman is right:

""Once you've made the transition [to a minimal or lightweight product] it's difficult to go back," said Katherine Petrecca, collection manager for New Balance's minimal line. "What will happen in the more mainstream channels remains to be seen, but in performance and specialty channels, it's here to stay.""

Congratulations to Steve Magness!

He's taken a job with Alberto Salazar at Nike as Salazar's assistant coach.  Very exciting news.

Steve's blog is Science of Running.  Pete Larson the Runblogger is spreading the news.

Here's a post of Steve's that's extra interesting now:

"To change or not: Salazar, Ritzenhein, and running form changes"

Sounds like his willingness to speak up got him this new gig.  I'm sure writing posts like this didn't hurt, either.  I sure hope he continues blogging...
 
(The video interview of Steve on Pete's site doesn't seem to be working, so I embed it here.)

Truth In Advertising

This is one of the most bizarre ads ever.



For those who don't want to, or can't, watch it here's the synopsis: A bunch of guys do a "persistence hunt" of some barefoot Kenyan runner [correction, they give him sleeping pills. Wasn't paying particularly close attention until I read about the ad.]. When he finally collapses, they tie sneakers on to his feet, to his horror.

The ad is for a defunct (I wonder why?) shoe retailer, Just for Feet, and from what I've read, not far from the truth.

My thought when I first watched this was:

"It's pretty honest, actually. The only way to get these shoes on a proper barefoot runner is to chase them to exaustion and put them on while they're passed out.

"It's the only way they'd get me to wear some Nikes."

Of course Barefoot Ted nailed it:

"This ad is about what happened to ALL of us."

Full thread here.  Thanks, Sean.

P.S.  Morbid curiosity got the better of me, and I did a bit of research into this.  Turns out that this ad is considered "the worst Super Bowl ad ever made", or "the ad from hell":

"Just For Feet had hoped the commercial would launch it on the national stage as a growing, family-owned, friendly company. The company had never done a national ad buy before and went to the big guns for its inaugural effort.

"The company filed for bankruptcy later that year. THAT’S how bad the ad was!

"Just For Feet sued Saatchi for $10 million, claiming that its executives had strong-armed the company into signing off on an initial version of the ad by telling them it was edgy and clever and people expected that of Super Bowl ads. Just For Feet execs said they were wholly unfamiliar with how to play on such a huge stage and believed Saatchi knew best."

Kind of sad. Just For Feet achieved a form of immortality, all for an ad that may have looked bad, but really wasn't.

Editor-in-Chief Of "Runners' World" Wears Vibrams?

Wow:

"A few days a week, I wear my Frees around the office. My feet get tired, but that's the point. They're getting stronger. I've also run a few races in seven-ounce minimalist shoes, and yes, I have a pair of FiveFinger shoes. Once I got them on for the first time (more like squeezing into a wetsuit than donning a pair of slippers), I couldn't help but smile. They feel good. I run on grass and can feel my forefoot padding the ground. Still, these aren't my running shoes any more than my road bike is a full-time substitute for my car."

One sole at a time... ;)

"Can Alberto Salazar straighten out American distance running?"

Maybe.  He'd have more impact on Mr. Ritzenhein if he'd just take his shoes off and have him train that way.  Or even better, get Nike to design a shoe we all could buy that doesn't interfere with biomechanics.

But as for who should get the credit; Dr. Romanov has been preaching this technique for decades.

Nike Free Run+ Review

I've got no bid; but if I was in the market for a transitional shoe, or just a regular sneaker, these sound appealing.

"The Beginning Of The End Of The Modern Running Shoe?"

Let's hope so.  This is in Forbes.  This is becoming mainstream in a big way. 

In a few years, people will deny they ever wore running shoes, just as everyone now says Reagan was a genius. ;)

"Runners World" Accepts Minimalist Running

"Is Less More"?  Yes, it is.

"'I pushed the cushioning trend as much as anyone,' the broad-shouldered [Benno] Nigg says in his Swiss accent. 'And I take the blame for pronation devices as well.'"

Good for you, Dr. Nigg.

The State of the Barefoot-Style Running Movement

Must read post.

Clearly Jason's in-between Ultras... ;)

Harry's "New" Nike Frees

Very nice looking.  He's basically recreated the Adizero PR that I've got, minus the (miniscule) heel lift of the PR.

They're a real nice option.

Nike Free 1.0?

Could be.  It would be a good thing if they made it.