It's the journey, and the destination.
Last Friday night was Halloween Eve. Without coincidence, I found myself running away from demons on the trail in pitch dark. It turned out to be good practice for exorcising the demons that play havoc on your mind while you run near exhaustion. At least that’s what I’m writing it off as. Let me explain how this dance with the devil on Halloween Eve came about.
If you saw a strange, motley looking crew running in Palo Alto Saturday with naked feet, that was us. Contrary to what surely was the conclusion of most passersby, we are not the latest new age cult to hit California. We’re merely fans of natural running. Brought together by a common interest in running without shoes, we had gathered with Barefoot Ted (of Born to Run fame) to learn, practice, and improve our running form and have a good time. Both goals were met.
There are many tips out there on how to run barefoot, with more being offered up on a daily basis. Some of these tips can be confusing or downright contradictory to one another, though, which can kill curiosity and interest in giving it a try. Or worse yet, people end up injuring themselves and giving up. The confusion can make putting a barefoot running program together for yourself rather difficult. Here’s the training plan I put together for myself to run barefoot.
We’ve all heard it from time to time – we shouldn’t sit at our desk so much. We need to pay more attention to proper ergonomics or we’ll get carpal tunnel syndrome, become fat, or even get a bad back. But is sitting really that bad for us? Well, I found out the hard way that it’s even worse than that.
I saw my physical therapist today for the first time since before my back surgery. After she showed me the exercises and stretches I am to do, I mustered up the energy to ask a question I thought I didn’t want to hear the answer to. I hesitantly mentioned that I had my eye on a 10k trail race in December. I cringed, waiting for her to tell me there was no way in hell she was going to let me run any time this year.
Remember how much fun running was when you were a child? Too much pressure can lead to stress and kill the fun in running. If you haven’t been smiling on a run recently, it’s time to switch things up. Here are four things I did to regain the joy I once had while running.
I learned a very important lesson over the years that I only fully realized while talking with my psychologist today: While running is an individual sport (after all, it’s up to you and only you to keep your legs moving) running is not something you can succeed at alone. Put another way, you will always run better when you share your experience with others and get feedback and advice. As I learned first hand, there is just too much that you can do wrong.
I recently finished reading Born to Run, A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. To say that it turned everything I thought I knew about running upside down would be an understatement. I literally discovered that things I had just learned about running – and from some of the most accomplished coaches out there – were completely wrong. In fact, some of the lessons people taught me could very well have been contributing to my injuries!
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Running Backwards is Better!
Scratch everything you’ve heard from me about barefoot running. I had it all wrong. I have just found infallible proof that – this is huge, folks – running backwards is better! Recent studies have shown that you can save more energy and run faster with less injuries if you run backwards.