Yes, Mr. G really missed a good opportunity there. Great analogy of Steakhouses.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

Yes, Mr. G really missed a good opportunity there. Great analogy of Steakhouses.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

If Mr. G were smart, he would jump on the current “trend” back to minimalist type running and offer Vibram's, Inov-8's, etc at his store, offer tech classes on running form and classes/seminars on barefoot running. It would be akin to top-level steakhouses reading the writing on the wall and offering grass-fed beef. A no-brainer.

Fortunately we have the power to choose which shops and retailers to support while sending a message to this guy that he's way off course.

I think shoes can often cause us to run in a way that is more harmful than we initially think. Now, if you have learned how to run properly already, you can run well in even thick shoes (albeit much more difficultly). However, if you're new to running (or haven't for some time since most everyone did when they were kids) you are given by many running stores the thickest shoes to start out with. These shoes block much feeling and allow you to do all sorts of horrendously bad things like heel strike. That's when you end up injured and in the hospital like myself.

I think that part of the problem I see with many runners online is they think that if you're not running ultras or tris, or even marathons, then you aren't really a runner. They forget that there is a whole population of people out there spread all along a spectrum from world class athlete to weekend jogger.

“The speed at which we run a race (any race—100 miles or 100 meters) measures our knowledge of running. I think that’s why most of us bother to race at all—to measure how much we’ve learned and improved since the last time.”

Some people never run races. Does that mean none of them understand running? I think not. They just don't like races for some reason. Some have no desire to go faster, but only to maintain a certain level of fitness. They are still runners in my book.

I agree that being experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled with something is an plus when it comes to teaching. But there are a lot of counter examples. There have been successful coaches in all of the major sports that either never played or only played in high school. Many very successful teachers, at all levels, have never had a “real world” job in the field they teach in. I had a Physics teacher in high school that never worked outside the classroom but I learned more from him (about Physics and life) than most of my college science professors.

I don't think barefoot running is a panacea either. And much of what we hear is indeed anecdotal and/or based on limited time frames. But at this point, with literally hundreds if not thousands of people finding value in it, it clearly should not be dismissed as something that is too dangerous, particularly by someone who has financial motivations to do so.