Ah, the weekend Quick Workout Of the Day.  Is there anything better to help shake the cobwebs out of your head after a night of drinking?  No.  There is nothing better.  QWOD's kick the crap out of morning mimosas and Bloody Mary's.  So do this QWOD and beat up your hangover!

QWOD - Saturday July 31st

• 2 minutes of jumping jacks
• 1 minute of X-squats (get in a wide-leg stance, squat deep, chest up, and raise your arms into a "Y" when you come up, forming a human "X")
• 2 minutes prone iso-abs (forearm plank) - break it up into smaller pieces if you can't hold for the full 2 minutes - SQUEEZE YOUR GLUTES!
• Deep air squats with 5 second iso-holds at bottom for 1 minutes
• 25 diamond pushups (again, break it into smaller sets if you can't do it in one try)
• Supermans rocking side to side for 30 seconds (keep those arms and legs up!)
• 50 ab hammer twists
  

I recently received a copy of Jason Robillard's "The Barefoot Running Book" in the mail and was excited to see what this experienced barefooter had to say on the topic. I heard of Jason previously through both of site, Barefoot Chronicles. Jason is also an active poster on the Runner's World Barefoot Running forum.

The book is short but full of informative information. It's written clearly, and the author injects humor here and there, making it more than just a boring textbook. Barefooting is supposed to be fun anyways, right?

After introducing himself, Robillard discusses the very basics of running barefoot, including taking it slow, listening to your feet, and just having fun doing it. Coming from a Pose Method background, I do differ with the explanation of how to run, but he still does a good job of explaining the most important concepts, which are that of the leaning from the ankles and pulling the foot off the ground. Besides that technical area, I thought he does a great job of explaining different drills you can do and reminding you to relax when you run. While it's important to keep your core active and tight, people get nagging injuries due to shrugging their shoulders, plantar or dorsi-flexing their ankles, or just remaining too rigid in the knees throughout the whole stride.

The book's "Concepts" sections are well thought out, the drill "Activities" are all extremely useful, and the "Issues" sections address well-known problems that newbie, and experienced, barefoot runners face from time to time. Robillard provides sections for all skills levels, from beginners looking to run a few miles to racers eager to set new PR's, and to people who'd like to get into barefoot running on trails where there are more hazards than when running on pavement.

The book definitely accomplishes its goal of introducing barefoot running to the uninitiated, and it's length and humor keep it accessible to adults and children alike. I highly recommend it if you are interested in learning barefoot running, as it inspires you to just get out there and go!

It feels like the humidity from the past few weeks has broken a bit, so it's going to take a little bit more effort to sweat.  Push yourself for today's Quick Workout Of the Day!

QWOD - Tuesday 7-27-10

• Prone iso-abs (forearm plank) for 1:30.  To progress the exercise, switch off raining a leg every 15 seconds.
• 20 single leg balance lunges per leg (Place back foot on couch/chair, straighten that back leg, and bring your front foot way out in front to get yourself in a nice wide stance.  Bend the front leg and do lunges, keeping the knee over the ankle, not over the toes)
• Side planks with 15 reach-unders per side - go slow! (use a light weight/soup can/etc. to increase difficulty)
• 25 triceps kickbacks with 5-20lb weight (gallon of water/dumbells/etc.)
• Slow arm raises for 2 minutes (Start with arms straight out in front of you, slowly raise them up above your head, slowly lower them down to beginning position, and repeat for 2 minutes.)
• Hop on 1 leg for 1 minute per side (feel those calves burn!)
• MAX.  REP.  PUSHUPS.  And then rest for 10 seconds and do 3 more.
  

Sweaty.  Raw.  Powerful.

This past Saturday morning I ran (suffered through) the New York Road Runners Queens Half Marathon, the third in the 5 Borough NYRR Half Marathon Series. I woke up at 4:40am and was out the door twenty minutes later for the commute out to Citi Field/Arthur Ashe stadium out in Queens. While waiting for the 7 train at Grand Central, my VFF Bikilas sparked the interest of two women who asked me if I ran on pavement in those things. We spoke for a bit, and one of the ladies actually owns a pair that she exclusively uses for trail running. I told her I like running on pavement better since you get more feedback and ground reaction, but was impressed she ran in them at all. I asked her why she wasn't using them for today's race, but she's still entrenched in using sneakers. I gave them my Barefoot Benny business cards and was happy to speak to people familiar with minimalist running.

By the time I arrived at the start in Queens by 6:15am or so, it was already in the 80's and quite humid. Uh oh. I hoped my huge pasta dinner and bagel and banana would be enough to get through the race, but the repetitive warnings over the speakers about taking it easy got me worried. While waiting the corral for the race to start at 7am, I chatted it up with another VFF runner. He was like, "Are you Barefoot Benny?" After I confirmed his suspicion (I was wearing my Barefoot Benny Personal Fitness shirt) he told me that I always pass him at these NYRR races. Then I remembered somebody screaming out "Barefoot Benny" at the Wall St. Run the other month and started laughing. Must've been this guy, my new friend Yeung.

The race wasn't nearly as crowded as the other ones I've done (only under 3,700), so I got off to a fast start without all the congestion. The first few miles were hot, but I had fresh legs and kept a 7:30 minute mile pace. I think I hit a wall around mile 6 or 7, where my legs felt tired but my face and head felt really hot. Not good. I made sure to stop more often at the water stations and to enjoy the heat's brief reprieve at the water spray misters. My running form deteriorated big time around mile 8, and I felt the bottoms of my feet getting a bit warm. I like to think of them as raw ground beef, getting molded into the pavement's grooves with each step.

Once mile 9 finally came, I was able to compartmentalize the race into a mini run of only 4 miles. With each passing mile I got happier and happier that I was only running a 5k, then a 2 miler, and so on. My speed declined to over 8 minute miles (I'm assuming) which negatively affected my form no matter how often I actively forced my body to thrust my hips forward and concentrate of the pull and the lean. At no point (save for a hill or two) did my breathing ever get labored and force me to mouth breathe, but by the end of the race I was so overheated and my body so tired that I had no kick left to the finish, beyond the last 110 meters or so. Usually I can pick it up for the last half mile, but not on this hot day.

I crossed the finish in 1:44:46, which is just under my goal of 1:45. The temperature was probably around 90 degrees by then with very high humidity, and all I wanted to do was sit in the shade and rehydrate. I know that if I had breathed through my mouth at all during the race I would've dried up like a raisin and gotten dehydrated very rapidly. As I was milling around in a daze, Gatorade in one hand, bagel in another, and a banana in yet another, I was approached by yet another "Hey, are you Barefoot Benny?" I ended up speaking with Tate, whom I had met during the Brooklyn Half Marathon over a month ago. After a few minutes of catching up, I dragged my sore calves and hot body (not the sexy hot, the oven hot) toward the subway and headed home.

Or so I thought. In my daze I hoped on the first train at the station, which just happened to be going in the wrong direction. I realized this just as the doors were closing but didn't care because I was sitting in the cool AC. Ahhh. And right next to me, some guy named Dan (I think) started talking to me about my VFF's. He complained that he was always in pain when he ran, and that he always wanted to speak with someone with VFF running experience. Boy did he sit next to the right guy. I spoke with him for the minute long ride to the next and final stop, and handed out yet another business card. Man those come in handy!

The rest of the ride back was uneventful, except for the few common stares at my feet. The next day my legs felt like dead weight, and I had pain in both of my knees. This was the first half marathon I ran with pose-race knee pain, and I can attribute that to the breakdown of my running form, which I blame solely on the heat. I hope they start feeling better soon, because I'm running the Bronx Half next month on August 15th.

I saw about 5 other VFF shod runners during the race, one who flew by me right at the end. I need to coordinate a VFF/minimalist/barefoot running NYRR group so we can chat a bit pre and post race. I need to get on that.

I enjoyed the course in Queens, and really like passing Citi Field where the Mets play, and running by the old World's Fair sculptures. The park outside Arthur Ashe stadium was gorgeous, and overall it was a very peaceful and clean environment. Two thumbs up to Queens, zero thumbs up for the bazillion degree weather.

I'm going to give today's Quick Workout Of the Day a little extra juice, a little bit more depth than some of the past ones we've done.  Why?  Solidarity, brutha.  While most of you are just waking up and checking your emails and favorite blogs (this one, this one!) over a cup of coffee, I'll have already run a half marathon in Queens that started at 7am.  And I had to wake up before 5am just to arrive at the starting line!  So if your arms are burning or your quads are filling up with lactic acid from this workout, keep pushing and thank your lucky stars you're not running 13.1 miles in this 95 degree weather.

QWOD - Saturday 7-24-10

• 50 biceps curls with gallon water jugs or soup cans or up to 5-10lb dumbells.  Do 25 standing on your right foot, 25 on the left
• Plank for 1:23 - keep those arms like railroad track, back flat, glutes squeezed.  If 1:23 is too easy, switch off raining a leg every 10 seconds for the whole time)
  
• Single leg squats - 25 per leg (I'm not going to lie, this will burn!)
  
• 40 shoulder presses (holding the weights in each hand, press the weights overhead, 20 on right leg, 20 on left leg)
• 6 supermans with 10 second holds
• 23 dips on the edge of the couch/chair/bed - keep one leg raised to increase difficulty
• 1:23 jumping jacks
• 20 pick-it-up, put-it-on-the-shelf (aka diagonal squat lifts) per side (Standing in a squat position, pick up a 5-10lb weight by your right foot, bring it up and to an imaginary shelf on the upper left of your head, and then bring it back down back to the right.  That is 1 rep.  Do 20 per side.)
  
• 16 burpees (keep good form on those pushups, and jump nice and high)
  

Yesterday began the first day of the new Jumpstart! Fitness Challenge, and we had a ton of fun sweating and working hard in Central Park!  Whether you're participating in the Challenge or not, I highly recommend giving today's Quick Workout Of the Day a try.  Try to not take any breaks and push the pace!


QWOD

• 20 triceps dips off the edge of a couch or chairs
• 40 lateral side lunges (20 per side)
• Small arm circles for 3 minutes (switch off forward/backward every 30 seconds)
  
• 25 oblique crunches per side
• 20 more triceps dips
• 100 jumpropes (fast, quick jumps on the balls of your feet, jumprope not required)
• 20 staggered hand pushups (switch hands, one in front, one back a palm length, every rep)
  

A short article came out the other month in "Running Times Magazine" about one man's decision to switch to barefoot running.  While barefoot running can be more efficient, making you faster, and can reduce running injuries, one of the main reasons the author runs either barefoot or in minimalist shoes is to allow his foot to "operate more effectively, efficiently and naturally while freely relaying proprioceptive information back to the rest of my body." 

Tactile feedback from the ground allows the body to react faster and thus safer, helping to prevent serious injury like twisted ankles, torn knee ligaments, or worse (falling off a cliff would suck!)  This is especially important while trail running.

The quote I like best about the author's experience barefoot running is this:

"My best runs are where the felt kinesthetic experience of moving quickly and efficiently through a natural landscape is most fully realized, not necessarily the runs where I make it to the top of the mountain and back down the quickest. However, I think it is not by accident that these two ideals often coincide."

As far as the above picture goes, that runner will experience knee, joint, calf, and other pain over time due to incorrect form.  Assuming the runner's left foot is in contact with the ground at this moment, his general center of mass (GCM), which is basically his hips, are behind the ball of his foot.  Upon impact, the GCM should be directly over the BOF, and the rear leg should be more forward.  Basically the runner in this picture is "putting on the brakes" with each stride.  With some Pose running coaching this runner could be running even more efficiently.  Remember, just because you're running barefoot, it doesn't mean you're running in the most pain-free and efficient manner possible.  To fix your stride, sign up for a running lesson with Barefoot Benny.

Last week the "Today Show" filmed a piece for a story that aired Thursday morning talking about the booming shoe industry.  Part of their story had to do with the barefoot and minimalist running movement, so they filmed the Barefoot Runners NYC club in action.  The creator of the club, John Durant, had invited me to participate in the run last week, but I unfortunately had to teach a kicktush Barefoot Benny Boot Camp at the same time.  Knowing the segment was being filmed on the other side of Central Park kinda tore me up inside, but my clients needed me!  Duty called!

Check out the segment and try to imagine me somewhere in the background between the shoeless guy and the other shoeless guy!

The New York Times recently had an article about adjustable-height desks, and how many people prefer to stand while working at a computer for some of the day as opposed to sitting in one position all day long. I am a believer in this alternative setup, and plan on buying the Salli Saddle to help unlock my tight groin and hip-flexors (let me know if that was too much info.) and am thinking of using an adjustable height desk to allow me to move freely.

If you've never thought about your sitting situation, just think about how many hours a day you sit in the same position, and how that posture could be hurting your lower back, making your head jut forward, and keeping your hips flexed all day long. If I'm going to spend eight or more hours a day in one position, I'd rather be either laying down, like in a bed, or being upright by either sitting in a saddle chair or standing. It's little changes in your lifestyle like this that can make huge differences down the line.

Don't knock it until you tried it!