Vivo Barefoot, the great "barefoot" shoe company, recently came out with an instructional barefoot running video.  The teacher in the video, Lee Saxby, is a Level 4 Pose running instructor based out of England.  I have heard a lot about him through the Pose running message boards, and he is an incredible teacher.

In the video he shows how form improves by merely removing cushy running sneakers, but that poor form can still exist even when barefoot.  After a few drills to correct postural alignment, the runner in the video notices how much more easy and fun running is.  It almost becomes effortless when you really get in the zone.  Effortless running?  Sign me up.

The slow motion examples in the video are great, and be sure to look how the hips land above the ball of the foot.  If you're looking to learn barefoot running or Pose running in the NYC area, I offer both group clinics as well as one-on-one lessons.  I l

On Sunday, August 15th, I ran the fourth half marathon in the New York Road Runner's 5-Borough Half Marathon Series, this time up in the Boogie Down Bronx. I have never really walked around in The Bronx, so I was looking forward to touring a bit of the borough. Wake-up call was at 5:20am, about 40 minutes later than most other of the past outer-borough races since it was just a short hop north on the 4/5/6 line. I munched on my bagel on the crowded train uptown, and felt ready for the 13.1 miles ahead of me.

I spotted a few fellow Vibram Five Fingers wearers as I walked to my corral, but didn't talk to anybody for the 20 minutes before the 7am start. However, there was a woman named Elizabeth who said a quick hello to the one and only Barefoot Benny right after we crossed the starting line, so that was pretty cool. Within the first mile, I was passed by a speedy barefoot runner who looked like he was moving slowly but was actually cruising at a 7 minute mile pace. My plan was to catch up with him and say hi, but he got way too far ahead too quickly.

The course started weaving through a bunch of side streets with parked cars on both sides, and then opened up in a 3-lane road for a bit. There was a turn around only a few miles in, so I got a glimpse of the leaders flying down the course. Those guys friggin' run so fast it's unreal! I don't even think I could sprint and keep up with them!

I felt great for the first few miles, but was worried about hitting a wall at mile 6, much like I did at last month's Queens Half Marathon. The weather today was only 70 degrees and cool, opposed to 90 degrees and humid for the Queens, so that was working to my advantage. Surprisingly, I felt great after mile 6, and before I knew it, I was nearly at mile 9! I like when 3 miles go by without even realizing it!

I decided to kick it up a bit after I passed mile ten, telling myself all I had to run was a 5k and I'd be done. At another turn around I passed a guy named Tait who I met at two previous half marathons, so I gave him a quick shout out as he flew by the other way. I bumped into him post-race on the way home, and he said the quick shout out gave him a boost of energy and an extra kick.

The last few miles I tried to keep pace with an older out of shape guy with a headband that said "JIM" on it, but he was just too fast for me, and all I could hope for was to keep him in my sights. I had to remind myself to run my race, and not get caught up in running faster than I wanted. The worst case would be to pace with someone 30 seconds faster per mile than me and run out of steam and end up walking.

I kicked it up a notch for the last mile, since I still felt great and nothing hurt or ached. I made sure to concentrate on my form since I felt my hips and core giving out a bit. It's very important to run with a straight back with the chest high, and I feared that I was bending forward at the waist. The barefoot runner who passed me in the first mile came into site, and I caught up with him after a couple of minutes. I asked him if he got his shoes at CitySports, and he laughed at my corny joke. He said the bottoms of his feet were fine, but that his legs were kind of sore. He then saw me wearing the Vibram Bikilas, and informed me about a barefoot runners group in NYC. I said I was aware, told him to keep it up, and proceeded to pass him for the last half mile. I straight up sprinted the last 200 meters or so, and crossed the finish line with a new personal record of 1:39:55 (7:38 minute pace)!

I was extremely happy with the whole run, and loved that I felt great and not really tired at all during the course. The weather was perfect, the course was well laid out and fun with some good hills mixed in, and I just had zero complaints (well, the train ride back too a ridiculously long time, but oh well.) The Staten Island Half Marathon is the last race in the series, and I should be rocking that in October. When I first set the goal to do all 5 half marathons this year, I didn't think my body would hold up, but with only one race left, I feel confident that I'll achieve it.

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!

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.

This past weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, I made the trip up to Greenwich, CT, for the Pose Level I Running Certification course taught by the one, the only, Dr. Nicholas Romanov. I've been interested in Pose running for about a year and a half now, ever since I started my search for a pain-free way to run. While barefoot/minimalist running is better than shod running, it is not a panacea, a cure-all for good form. Very few humans are able to run with perfect form (even Usain Bolt could improve his 100m time by .4 seconds with some coaching) so it is unreasonable for them to think they can just shuck off their shoes and run without damaging their bodies.

I learned so much during this two-day intensive course, which consisted of running technique and drills the first day, and then coaching the technique and being able to coherently explain it the second day. Even though we worked an talked from 9am-5pm both days (including during lunch), there is so much more to learn and explore which would take way more than a week of discussion.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Romanov back in June of 2009 at a running clinic at La Palestra, a private gym just off of Central Park. He had a wonderful sense of humor then, and still has that same wit even today. Since the clinic consisted of only eight students, he was able to get comfortable with us and be more candid in our conversations. One thing that cannot be denied is that Dr. Romanov is extremely passionate of Pose running and the Pose Method, and is very frustrated by the running community's stupidity and ignorance when it comes to learning about his theories. He has sound science behind him (as well as proven results) but runners are too entrenched and scared to change their ways. I understand his frustration, and I hope I can enlighten and teach runners to be open-minded and run more efficiently.

On Saturday morning we discussed the basic theories and the how any deviation from the running STANDARD (which is POSE) is an error and will cause slowness and pain over time. Running consists of starting in Pose, falling (from the ankles), and then pulling the FOOT under the hip to move forward. It is physically impossibly to propel the body forward without the use of gravity (I'll prove it easily to you if you'd like) but many runners try to do just this with excessive muscular efforts.

After discussion we headed outside and he videotaped us running so we could later see our form (and our errors.) We practiced drills, ran some more, then practiced more and more drills. It was perfect! The video analysis showed that we all had a fear of following (body language in slow-motion reveals a lot) which caused our general center of mass (our hips) to land behind our foot. This creates a braking motion which slows us down and creates more impact and joint pain and eventually injury.

The rest of the day consisted of more drills, discussions, Dr. Romanov's tangents, and more running. It was an intense day, immersing us into the technique and theory behind Pose. I digested all the information on my trip home in the cab with my three new Japanese friends. Huh? Well, Metro-North wasn't running due to downed powerlines, so I made three friends who were also waiting at the station and we all split a cab back to Manhattan. I miraculously made it home in time for my date with my hot wife (I told the cabbie if we didn't get back soon she'd kill me!) so the trip had a happy ending.

I woke up around 6:30am again Sunday morning to get out to Greenwich by 9am. Sunday focused completely on teaching theory and teaching the Pose concept to clients. We analyzed, poked, prodded, and debated with our fellow classmates until everything sunk in and we were able to tell the error of an incorrect pull or a bad fall (don't stick your butt out!) We learned so much, and were lucky enough to be taught by the discoverer of Pose himself, Dr. Romanov.

There was a final exam after the 8 hours of class on Sunday, and I'm pretty sure that we all passed with flying colors. I always felt confident in my ability to teach Pose and the finer points of barefoot running, but now I have many more tools at my disposal about the method for teaching clients how to move in the most efficient and pain-free way possible.

I'd like to thank Dr. Romanov for a great weekend, and also thank all the other participants in the class for being great models, partners, and participants for the weekend's course. 16 hours is a long time to spend with a small group of people, but we all fed off one another and were able to learn better because of each other's participation.

Wednesday night I attended a barefoot running clinic led by "Barefoot Running" author Michael Sandler. The event, hosted by the Barefoot Runners NYC Meetup.com group, attracted over 70 barefoot runners, which is pretty awesome! I arrived in Central Park and laughed to myself as a huge group of people, mostly shod in Vibram Five Fingers or just their bare skin, mulled around talking to each other. I've seen other VFF runners in Central Park and during NYRR races, but never have I seen such a large gathering of us.

Once things got underway, Michael Sandler told us about his personal discovery of barefoot running. He used to be a professional athlete who could bike, run, rollerblade, and basically do everything else that could be considered active. After a horrifying blading accident that left his leg mangled, he underwent many surgeries to repair what was left. The doctors place a titanium rod in his leg, among other things, which was a lot better than amputation, but he found it difficult to run again. After becoming frustrated with his sneakers, he took off his shoes and started going barefoot, which enabled him to feel the ground, which in turn enabled his body find a correct form which didn't cause pain. Pretty impressive stuff!

The clinic was a bit different than Erwan LeCorre's or a Pose Running session in that he focused more on how your upper body should be positioned, as opposed to what should be done with your legs. Sandler stressed these few essentials:

• Your hips must be in a neutral position, instead of tilted down with your bum sticking out
• Suck your belly in
• Chest is up and out
  
• Bring your arms into a "W" and then roll your shoulders down your back, leaving your arms in a 90 degree angle, with your hands near your ribs and elbows back
• Straighten yourself up, like somebody is pulling a string from your head
• Fall forward and take tiny steps and begin running

We practiced this starting position many times, as well as a foot strengthening exercise in which we grabbed the grass with our toes as we walked.

While there was the obvious motive to sell books, Sandler also felt very passionate about spreading the word on barefoot running. He was very genuine and engaging, and was able to cite studies and statistics about how running barefoot can improve your form, make you more efficient, and greatly reduce the risk of injury. While I've never read the book, I heard there are a plenty of drills in it to further educate yourself on how to run. I personally will not be buying the book, but for the beginner it is probably a great read.

If you're interested in learning more about barefoot and minimalist running, sign up for one of my barefoot running lessons in Central Park and find out what all the excitement is about!

An Austin, Texas, entertainment website wrote up a quick article on the Pose Method of running and included a short video on the basic Pose to change of support move.  If you've taken one of my barefoot running clinics, you know all about transferring from the Pose position into the falling motion by pulling your foot off the ground.  The woman in the video, Valerie Hunt, does an excellent job of demonstrating this pulling motion.

The article interviews a 48-year old man who says running is Pose "almost feels like I'm cheating a little bit."  Once you get the muscle movement down and understand the concept of Pose, you're able to take advantage of gravity to do most of the work for you.  I refer to it as lazy running since all you're doing is trying to get your legs out of the way of your body so you can fall forward faster.

If none of that makes any sense to you, please contact me to come out to a barefoot running clinic in Central Park to learn all about it.  Also, check out posetech.com for more on Pose running, and visit the Links page for some great barefoot running links.

Have an awesome Memorial Day, and enjoy the hot weather we're in for!

Along the routes of most NYRR races are photographers hired to take photos of sweaty runners in action.  While they're usually not the most glamorous shots, they definitely capture the intensity of athletic struggle.  Check out these three from last Saturday's half marathon in Brooklyn.

This Saturday morning I woke up at 4:45am and was out the door by 5am on my way to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Half Marathon. After grabbing a bagel from the place on the corner, I encountered some subway trouble, namely the trains weren't making all stops. It wasn't the most pleasant situation to face this early on a Saturday morning, but luckily I factored in extra time to my commute. The total trip took about 1:40 minutes or so, and the timing worked out perfectly as I hopped into my starting corral as the National Anthem was being sung just before 7am.
I used to play a lot of ultimate in Prospect Park, so I was somewhat familiar with the area, though I had never run it's three mile loop. I felt great in my new Vibram Five Finger Bikila's for the first lap (I was probably still half asleep) and the second loop also went by without much problem. I chatted with a few runners about my shoes, and made a point to run up to (and then pass, hehe) other VFF runners. The four or five VFFers I spoke with (all males, though ages varied from people in their 20's to early 50's) all loved their shoes and were all enjoying the run.  I even talked to a guy who was running in the Vivo Barefoot Evo running shoes.  He really liked them, though maybe it was because he worked for the company.  I gushed about how I own three pairs of Vivos and that they need to get some other colors and styles in for next season.  At that point he had enough of my ramblings and ran on ahead.

Once we left the park at around mile seven I started to get a bit tired, though I pushed through it and kept my pace up. I made sure to focus on my form and kept telling myself to "pull" my foot off the ground, a la Pose style. My breathing thus far was perfect, as my heart rate stayed low and I was able to breath smoothly in and out through my nose. The next six miles were flat and straight as far as the eye could see down Ocean Boulevard, which was actually kinda boring. The road surface wasn't as smooth as Central Park, and I felt the balls of my feet tingling a bit as the miles wore on. This was a bad sign, so I kept checking in with myself and made sure my form was getting sloppy. Fatigue leads to injuries, and with only last weekend's 10k run as my longest recent run, I had to be careful. The worst part about running on the flat, straight, endless road was when I could have sworn I was approaching mile ten, but alas, it was only mile nine. Argh.

The route didn't get interesting until the very end when we made a turn onto the famous Coney Island boardwalk. I think by that time my form went to poop, as the soft planks yielded to my weight. At the very end there was a guy running next to me who said, "C'mon, you can do it!" So I picked up my pace and said, "Ok man, let's do this", and I took off like a rocket and sprinted across the finish. I could have sworn some spectator on the sidelines said, "Wow, look at him!", but I was going too fast to really hear. Boo yea!

My official time was 1:40:26, which is a new personal record for me, beating January's time by over six minutes, and improving over my first half last July by over thirteen minutes! A lot of that has to do with my running form improving, my workout routine which includes more leg exercises, and my knowledge of what 13.1 miles feels like so I can better gauge my pace. My breathing the whole race was calm and easy, and I breathed through my nose the whole race, which I'm most happy about. I still have three more half marathons to run this year to complete the NYRR Half Marathon Series, and I'm eyeing the Bronx one in a few months to further improve on my time.

My new VFF Bikilas held up great, though I think I hit the pavement a bit harder than necessary during the latter part of the race, causing the slight tingling sensation on the balls of my feet, and a small blister under my left foot. Overall they held up really well, and I'm looking forward to wearing down the tread a little bit to made them thinner and more flexible. I'm definitely still a fan, and I highly recommend them to any newbie minimalist runners out there.

Race Notes:
-Total runners: 7006
-My place: 988 (cracked the top 1,000!)
-Total time: 1:40:26
-Race pace: 7:40 minute miles
-Note to self: Coney Island is friggin' far from the Upper East Side

So I've been running either barefoot or in my Vibram Five Finger KSO's for over a year now and I was pretty excited when I heard about the new VFF Bikilas that were specifically made for running. Unfortunately, I heard about them many months ago from BirthdayShoes.com and learned I had a long time to wait before I could get my hands on a pair. My KSO's were holding up fine until about two weeks ago, when the worn down, paper-thin forefoot of the right shoe developed a small hole. I knew that if I kept running, the hole would exponentially get bigger and the shoe would tear to shreds in another couple of weeks. I'm doing the Brooklyn Half Marathon through the New York Road Runners this Saturday morning, and there could've been problems had the soles disintegrated mid-race.

LUCKILY, the new VFF Bikilas just hit the stores, and I was able to order a pair of the red and white ones online two days ago through CitySports.com (great store, by the way). Somehow, they arrived arrived today, even though I used the free shipping method (it's good to live in NYC - it's a major shipping hub.) I unboxed them and they felt a bit stiffer than my well-worn in KSO's. I was very skeptical about this since my goal is to find a shoes that will do the bare minimum of protecting my feet from the elements - the thinner the better. I did really like the color scheme, and thought the podded soles looked pretty cool.

I had to order a size larger than my KSO's since they fit a bit snug, but they actually felt a bit loose from when I tried them in the store two weeks ago. Uh oh. There's ample room in the toes, and the heel isn't as snug as I'm used to, which is my fault in ordering the M46's instead of the M45's. There was only one way to see if I had made a mistake in my sizing, and if all the hype surrounding them was warranted: I had to go for a run!

From being unboxed to the ten minute walk to Central Park, the Bikilas were only breathing NYC air for maybe 15 minutes before I took my first strides in them. The verdict:




...Wait for it...




WOW! While they may have felt a bit loose while walking around, they fit perfectly once I began running. The extra padding on the forefoot limited the feeling I had with the ground, which may upset some more hardcore barefoot runners, but it allowed me more freedom to "fall" froward as I ran (read up more about the Pose-->Fall-->Pull here.) I also felt I was using the ground reaction force and the natural spring in my foot to run more efficiently and faster, which felt awesome. I was a bit worried that the extra padding vs. my paper-thin KSO's would negatively affect my Pose form, so I made conscious efforts throughout the run to check in with myself to see if I was still "pulling" my foot off the ground and that my GCM (general center of mass) was landing over my forefoot.

My plan was to only run four miles at a moderate pace to train for the upcoming half marathon, but I just felt so friggin' amazing that I kept going for an extra mile, opting to include the southern tip of the Central Park loop instead of cutting across at 72nd St. My form felt great, my breathing was steady, and all I wanted to do was go faster and faster. It was an amazing feeling, very different than what I thought would happen (I'm pretty skeptical about new, hyped-up products.) I actually sprinted, straight-up sprinted, uphill for the last minute just to see how my feet would react, and let me tell you: it felt awesome! My form was perfect, and the Bikilas pulled up effortlessly from the ground. The five plus miles over the forty minute run (probably 7:45 or so pace) flew by, and I had an extremely fun time running them in my new shoes (when was the last time you had that much FUN running?)

I even stopped for a minute to talk to another runner who was wearing the green and white Bikilas. He only had good things to say about them too. I think Vibram may have a best seller on their hands.

By no means do I get paid to endorse VFF's (I wish I did), but take this review as you will. The more rigid forefoot might not be an improvement in the eyes of some people, but after just one run in them, I'm a believer. Good job Vibram Five Fingers!

If you live in the NYC area and are new to barefoot or minimalist running or just want to improve your running form, check out the running clinics over at Barefoot Benny Personal Fitness. Just because you're running barefoot or in VFF's, you may not necessarily be running in the most efficient way possible - your joints may still be taking a beating.

Please enjoy the pictures below of the unboxing and first time putting them on (I think my cat Brady likes them as much as I do!)