Corpse colored hot pockets aka Kim's foray into barefoot running!

Continuing with the past week's theme of running accouterments, today Kim dissects her first crack at barefoot running. Beat me to it! Oh and sadly I wasn't creative enough to come up with the phrase "corpse-colored hot pockets" to describe the Vibram FiveFinger gloves; credit goes to the crazy reviewers at Runner's World for the most apt description ever.

Hi everyone! Back for guest post numero dos, on something that seems to be stirring up a lot of attention lately: barefoot running. In the past two to three weeks, I've seen two huge articles about the idea that maybe we weren't built to use extremely padded running shoes, another on what walking in heels does to one's foot over time, gone on a soul/sole-searching quest to get Monica new running shoes, and managed to get into a position where I attempted a barefoot run myself.

First, we set the stage with Monica's quest for new shoes, which ended successfully (see her post below), and demonstrated how big of a difference the right pair can make when running insanely long distances (or short ones!). If you've ever ended up with ankle or knee pain from running, chances are you may part of the majority of the population whose feet either overpronate (ankle turns too far inward) or supinate (ankle turns too far outward). The trick to being able to run comfortably is usually thought to be the correct pair of shoes, which can help you correct your stride to be more neutral and place less stress on your joints...

Or maybe not! There have been small pockets of barefoot running devotees forever, and Abebe Bikila even won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome running barefoot, but I'd say that the new interest peaked with the release of Born to Run, about the Tarahumara of Mexico who basically run ultras for fun, in little to no shoes. So, when Monica's mom forwarded this article, and I ran into this one a day later, it didn't seem all that odd.
The theory goes that while wearing shoes, you put too much pressure on your heels striking the pavement. If you run barefoot, you shift the impact more towards the balls of your feet, roll them, and generally move in a more evolutionary natural way. Is it true? Arguable. But, each time I bus on up to NYC for another NYRR race, the number of people running in Vibram FiveFingers or Nike Frees seems to increase. And our lovely tester-of-all-things-running Monica has started saying it'd be something she wants to try.

So, when I accidentally left my running shoes down the shore (whoops) and set out to run 6 miles in old shoes from crew (let's recall that crew is more of a horizontally oriented sport), it wasn't long before I was ready to stop running because I'm now incapable of running without my lovely Asics. There is nothing that will make you want to stop running more than imminent blisters. Around the same time, I was moving inside for my last two miles (still training my asthmatic lungs to deal with humidity). The idea that immediately pops into my head is to finish up the last two miles barefoot. Good plan?

Eh, mediocre plan. One caveat most people will note about barefoot running is that it takes some getting used to. I learned a lot about my stride in those two miles, including that I drag my feet horrifically. Poor form aside, you can definitely tell the difference between what feels natural in shoes and what feels most comfortable without them--I found myself on the front outsides of my feet looking more like a dancer doing a terrible job at leaping than a runner. Overall, I'd probably try a pair of "barefoot" shoes on short distances, and stick to my nice support shoes for longer ones. The muscles used in running without shoes change pretty dramatically, and I woke up sore on Wednesday to atone for throwing my body into something it wasn't used to.

The real solution? Just run on the beach!

Run, Lola, Run aka Running in the Garden of Horses

Today we have a lovely guest post from Dasha (!!), who managed to work in a touristy run while visiting Stuttgart. Obviously Dash isn't in Germany in the photo, just evidence that running is also very handy when terrorizing Tanzanian goats...

So while Monica has been training for her 192,839,280kilometer-uphill races, I am lucky if I motivate myself for a 200 meter trot every other week. However, while I was visiting the lovely German city of Stuttgart, I got dragged out for a run by one of my friends. Now, to be fair, my friend K works on one of the U.S. military bases in Stuttgart and actually has a physical component to his job; therefore, our definition of "running" was a bit different.

I am currently on month 2 of 8 of an around the world trip, and I have to admit that running is one of the best-est ways to see a city. Not only do you cover the territory faster, but many popular running paths are just the exact mixture of passing by some very scenic sites, and being off of the tourist path. Stuttgart is Germany's sixth largest city (at least according to Wikipedia), and has a very nice public park right in the center. The name Stuttgart roughly roughly means "Garden of Horses" from "stout" for horse and "garten" for garden or compound. Interestingly, some hypothesize that the Stuttgart city seal is actually the basis for the Porsche logo; so it seems like the perfect place for a run!
One thing about European cities is that they are just so much more friendly for pedestrians and bikers. Some cities (like London) have bike paths that are adjacent to the roadway, while others (like Stuttgart) have bike pathways adjacent to the sidewalk. Word of wisdom, beware of the later! While running in Stuttgart was very nice because it involved a minimal amount of street jogging, the cyclists can freaking get ya! One thing that is kind of funny slash peculiar is that Germans do not jaywalk. Ever. Now, as any city runner can tell you, jaywalking is an essential part of actually being able to run in a city. So while I am sure we offended German sensibilities with our rampant jay-running, it definitely beat waiting for every street light.

The Stuttgart public park is quite large and very beautiful. Because my legs gave out after the first 35 minutes of our run, I was very thankful that the park also had an extensive kids' playground. While my friend elected to keep running for another few miles, I enjoyed some quality swinging on the swings time! As much as the layout was very pedestrian/biker friendly, I really wish they had stuck some water fountains somewhere in the park; thanks to global warming this summer has been an unseasonably hot one in many parts of Europe, and with temperatures close to 90 by the time we hit the park, I was really wishing for a hydration option (guess I should purchase a hydration belt, right Monica?). On the way back I was re-energized by views of the castle, and (not going to lie) dreams of the beer awaiting me at the end of the run. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I didn't admit that the following days my legs were begging for mercy.