In case you missed it, there was an article in last Sunday’s NY Times about how the “barefoot running” trend is effecting the shoe industry. Actually, it’s not so much a barefoot trend as it is a current upsurge in the questioning of the running shoe company’s ability to produce a shoe that actually has any effect on running injuries. ChiRunning was named as one of the organizations helping to promote good running technique and endorsing more of a minimal shoe approach to running.

The big debate is whether or not building more cushioning and structure into running shoes has the advertised effect or if it’s just another case of corporate marketing looking for an effective way to sell shoes to an uneducated populace. Well, in answer to the first part of the debate, as we’ve seen by the percentage of runners who get injured every year, nothing has changed since running shoes for the general public began being produced in the 1970’s. If anything, the injury rate has gone up. And, in answer to the second part of the big debate, yes, it seems to have been a very good marketing ploy that sold gazillions of shoes to people thinking that they’d be safe in their running by buying the right shoe.

I’m so thankful that articles like this are starting to surface in the national media. More attention needs to be paid by the shoe industry to make shoes that fit the needs of an ever-growing population of runners who are working on changing their running form, to prevent injuries, instead of thinking that the right shoe will do the job. For ten years now ChiRunning and ChiWalking classes have been teaching runners and walkers how to run and walk pain-free, injury-free and faster. Check out our schedule of classes if you’re interested. And, while you’re there, check out the results of a West Virginia University poll done with 2500 ChiRunners which reports remarkable findings on the effectiveness of running technique improvement on injury rates.

There are a number of forward thinking shoe companies out there that are working on producing less of a shoe and that’s good news for those of us who are no longer willing to suffer through the over-built “corrective” shoes that have been the norm since the running boom started in the ’70’s. actually almost all of the running shoe companies sell shoes that are perfectly good for the midfoot striker…but many runners are scared away by the model name “racing flat.” Most racing flats have all the great attributes a midfoot runner craves: lots of flexibility in the sole, great ventilation, very minimal lift in the heel and (until the secret gets discovered by the shoe companies) a cheap price. I wear NB-790’s which cost $45 online (while the supply lasts) and which, in the past few years, have been one of the best selling running shoes NB has ever produced. But, as with all great running shoes…they’ve decided to quit producing what I’ve considered the perfect shoe. Go figure. I’m now looking at FiveFingers, Adizeros, La Sportiva, and yes, even the Nike Free for the next “ideal” shoe.

Viva la revolution!
Danny

p.s. Since the article in the NY Times came out it is the 8th most emailed article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/30shoe.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Blog 8/24/09

Well this is it…the week I’ve been waiting for. The USATF National Trail Championships are this Saturday. I’ve booked my hotel room and downloaded a map of the course and I’m ready to roll. Last Saturday I did a Time Trial on my practice course. It’s roughly 6 miles long and very hilly trail running, so I figured it would be a reasonable mock-up of the actual race course (most likely easier than the real course which has 1300′ of vertical gain… and, of course, another 1300′ of loss as well). Three months ago best time on my practice course was just under an hour…58 minutes and some change. Last Saturday my training partner, Billy Jonas, and I ran it in 47:10 which tells me that all of my conditioning work is paying off. Since I haven’t been on the actual course, I’m not making any predictions on how I expect to do.

Here’s my race strategy. What I do plan to do is focus for the entire race on all the ChiRunning hill focuses I’ve been practicing… lots of upper body and arm swing on the uphills and as much speed as I can ask of these old legs on the downhills. As is traditional for me, I don’t plan to push the uphills much since that’s the place where most runners burn through their stored glycogen too quickly. I’ll be racing in a pair of La Sportiva Crosslite trail shoes designed for fell running. They’ve got incredible traction and they’re flexible, flat and lightweight…couldn’t ask for a better shoe for this event.

I’m taking it a little easier for the rest of this week…stoking up on my carbs and spending as little time sitting in my office chair as I can get away with (it’s deadly on my hamstrings and back). You’ll be the first to know how I do.

Happy trails,
Danny

While teaching in Denver this weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to visit some old friends, some I haven’t seen since I left the area ten years ago. After spending most of my childhood in the Denver area, I moved to Boulder where I went to college and lived for the next 32 years. Needless to say my running roots here run deep.

I stayed with a friend in Boulder for a couple of days and was blessed to be able to run some of my favorite trails again. The familiar sights and the beauty of the foothills of the Rockies brought back many fond memories of the years I spent running and exploring the canyons and meadows with fellow runners. I realized that some of the most peaceful and deeply nourishing times of my life been spent while being immersed in Nature, and I’m eternally thankful for the lessons, insights and ideas that have come to me during my “running meditations.”

On the recommendation of a friend I went for a trail run in the hills just south of Boulder in the Eldorado Canyon area. I borrowed his bike to ride to the trail head, about three miles away. It was a nice way to warm up for the run. The first part of the run was a steady 3-mile climb which led me up to the base of some of the huge sandstone formations that Boulder is famous for. At the top of the ascent the trail turned north and meandered through meadows filled with Bee Balm flowers so thick that at times they completely obscured the trail. I could see Boulder way off in the distance and the Front Range mountains extended north like the spine of an endless dragon.

The best part of the run was when the trail abruptly spat me out into a breathtaking view of Eldorado Canyon…world-renowned for its thousand foot rock-climbing walls. I stopped dead in my tracks, totally awed by the immensity and striking beauty of what I was looking at, feeling that I could easily spend the rest of the day right where I was. I didn’t follow my impulse, but I did shift into a more effortless running gear as I left the spot. I spent the remainder of my run with my eyes wide open and running with the sense that I didn’t want to miss any part of the beauty that was being presented to me. And then the question came up in my mind…what would it be like if I were able to allow myself to experience every moment of every day with the same sense of wonder and awe that I was momentarily swept into?

We all get so caught up in the details of our everyday lives, that we need experiences like this to remind us of how blessed we are to partake in this thing called Life. I finished my run feeling a deep sense of well-being and gratitude and got back to the trail head to find my bike with a flat tire.

Just as I was beginning to feel jerked out of my bliss I spotted a man in the parking lot who had just finished a trail ride with his daughter. He gave me a lift back in to Boulder and I was once again reminded that all is well.

Thought I’d fill you in on my training progress for the National 10k Trail Championships. I’ve got just over a month left to train and I’ve just finished my conditioning phase which meant lots of slow aerobic distance running (mostly 1-hour runs at a comfortable pace … 120-125 heart rate).

I decided to test myself with a set of six ½-mile intervals on the track to see how well my breathing would hold up. All of that aerobic training is paying off, because I was able to run the entire set without getting winded.

Here are my splits for the set in the order I ran them. My main goal with the workout was to progressively run each interval faster without increasing my perceived rate of exertion (which I wanted to keep at a constant 6-7 on a scale of 1-10). This is the perceived rate of exertion I plan to use on race day.

Six ½-mile intervals
Resting heart rate: 41
Max heart rate during exercise: 155
Resting heart rate during 200m jog breaks: 114

1. 4:09
2. 3:45
3. 3:35
4. 3:24
5. 3:21
6. 3:10
Average of the six: 3:34

According to “Yasso’s Rule” I should be able to run a 3:34 marathon if I take the average of my 6 intervals and convert the split time from minutes to hours and seconds to minutes. This not only tells me that I’m ready to run a marathon at a Boston qualifying pace, but that I’m now ready to safely add speed work into my workouts without overtaxing my lungs or starving my legs of oxygen.

My current training plan from now until race day:
I plan to change my daily running workouts to include sets of 10 x 3-minute hill intervals twice weekly for the next two weeks. I’ll then increase the length of the intervals to 4 or 5 minutes each and do six of these intervals twice weekly. One run per week will be a 6 mile run at race pace and one run per week will be a Long Slow Distance run of 10-12 miles. ALL of my weekly runs will be on trails up to race day and I plan to do a 4-day taper before the race.

Within all of these various workouts I will always be working to perfect both my uphill and my downhill running technique so that on race day I can run efficiently and fast. Let’s hope my plan works.

Cheers,
Danny

Well, I finally did it. After 38 years of running I finally bought myself a heart rate monitor. Why now? After that many years of running you’d think by now I would be able to Body Sense everything I needed to know to run injury-free and run long distances without burning myself out. The truth is, I can do that. But what I’m currently in the midst of is developing specific training programs for beginner, intermediate and advanced runners for everything from a 5k to a marathon…and beyond.

The key to training and conditioning oneself properly for long distance running and walking (and the most sane way), is aerobic training which was used quite effectively by Arthur Lydiard, one of the best running coaches ever. Training in your “aerobic zone” means that you do the vast majority of your workouts at a pace where you’re not gasping for breath or feeling like your heart is trying to jump out of your chest. So, if I’m going to be giving advice I need to make sure it’s good, accurate advice and not just theory.

There have been volumes of books written about how to train for all of the distances I mentioned, but what is needed today more than ever is a system that helps runners and walkers to realize their fitness goals in the safest and most energy-efficient way. To me that means not just putting out another training manual that tells you how many minutes or miles to run during each workout. That’s easy. But if you’re training for a 10k race, you’ll get a lot more bang for your training buck if you add great running technique onto all of that great conditioning. My goal is to offer training programs for running and walking that not only help you too increase your conditioning level by training within your aerobic zone, but actually help you to master your technique at the same time. As long as you’re going to be out there, why not kill two birds with one stone?

So, to make a long story (what could be an entire book, in fact) short, I bought a heart rate monitor so I can measure the effect that any of the ChiRunning form focuses might have on my performance and efficiency…measured in heartbeats per minute. For me it’s a biofeedback tool for measuring whether or not my efficiency is effected by making slight adjustments in how I run or walk. I’ll let you know how it goes.

My first use of the heart rate monitor was to measure my resting heart rate as soon as I opened my eyes… it was 41. I’m going out for a hilly trail run this morning, so we’ll see if I can get this thing to help me run hills more easily.

See ya later,
Danny

I’ve received a lot of ChiRunning email lately responding to my blogs about trail running. One topic that has popped up more than once is poison ivy, that nasty little plant that loves to make your skin look like an overcooked cheese pizza. I’m highly allergic to it, so I can empathize with all of you out there who spend a good part of your summer running in places other than your favorite trails, because they’re covered with the stuff. I flatly refuse to let a little toxic plant ruin my trail running so I spend a couple of hours a week covered from head to toe, in 80º heat, clearing trails near my home here in Asheville. I’ve never run in a place where poison ivy is the predominant ground cover.

Apart from resorting to clearing trails, I have found a great way to prevent the onset of a rash or to cure an infestation before it grows into a full-blown systemic case (which has happened every summer since I moved here three years ago).

Here’s what I do. When I return from a run where I know I’ve brushed up against poison ivy, I immediately throw all my running clothes in the washing machine with plenty of soap and a small amount of bleach…even my shoes! I then take a shower and pretend that I’m trying to scrub my skin off of my bones, using plenty of soap. I use a soap made from Jewel Weed which is an antidote for poison ivy, but any strong soap will work. Never take a bath after being in poison ivy or if you have an existing rash! Always take a shower.

As soon as I get out of the shower and dry off, the first thing I do is swab my legs with hydrogen peroxide to neutralize any oil residue that might still be on me. So far (knock, knock) I haven’t had a single case of it this year…and I’ve waded through plenty of it!
If I happen to get a rash (it starts of as little blisters on your skin) I immediately reach for the hydrogen peroxide, in which I soak cotton balls, and scrub the little blisters hard enough to break them. Then I repeat the hydrogen peroxide scrub about 4-5 times a day until the rash dries up and goes away. This technique has worked 100% for me and since I discovered it at the end of last summer. Since then I’ve never had a case of poison ivy last for more than about 3 days, which is completely acceptable compared to the usual 3 weeks (after a round of steroids) it used to take to get over it. So, now you don’t have to let a little poison ivy stop your summer trail running fun, you can go running in the hills to your heart’s content.
Happy trail running,
Danny

When I ask attendees at my ChiRunning workshops, I’m always amazed at how many runners don’t run trails. I suppose there are lots of reasons why someone might be a bit shy about heading out into Nature with nothing but dirt to land on. Could it be the wild animals that lurk in the woods? Or maybe it’s just the serial killers. Whatever the reasons are for anyone, I’m sure it’s based in fear of some sort. There have been only a very few times in my 35+ years of trail running that I’ve felt fear. I’ve never been chased by a wild animal and certainly not by another human being (with the exception of my competitors in racing events). I have been caught in a lightning storm at 11,000′ elevation in the Colorado Rockies and I’ve jumped over a rattlesnake that I mistook for a rock. I’ve run along trails where one misstep could result in a vertical plunge of a couple hundred feet. But, generally I feel trail running to be much safer than running in a city. So, if we can take some of the fear out of running on trails, maybe we can turn more runners on to the joys of running “pavement free.”

Here’s my contribution to dissipating some of the fears that might come up. I’m guessing that one of the reasons for not trail running has got to be either the fear of running on an uneven or slippery surface or even worse…falling down on an uneven or slippery surface. So, here are a couple of tips for you newbies.

Running Downhill on Loose Gravel
If you’re running downhill on a single-track trail and the surface is loose dirt or gravel there are a couple of things to do. If there is grass growing along the sides of the trail I suggest running there where the traction is better. The next best thing to do is look for spots on the trail where your feet won’t slip. These could be buried rock, roots or any place where you can see solid ground. If you begin to train your eye to see only the solid places on the trail, pretty soon all of the loose footing will disappear from your field of view and all you’ll see will be the multitude of safe places for your feet to land.

Spring is in full force and summer is quickly edging around the corner and I’m watching the trails turn from the starkness of winter into the million shades of green that pop out at this time of year. I love running trails because it allows me to witness the changing of the seasons firsthand with all my senses.

Since I spend many more hours running trails than on roads and streets, I’d like to offer some tips and suggestions for making this particular aspect of running, even more enjoyable.

Take care of Mother Nature and she’ll take care of you
The most important thing I’ve learned from my years of trail running is how important it is to take care of the trails you’re running, and there’s no better way than to devote a couple days every month to doing a little “housekeeping” so that you and everyone else can enjoy those trails more. Here are some things you can do.

Trimming the trails
I went out this morning packing a pair of rose clippers, the kind you use to trim small shrubs. They’re easy to carry with you when you’re running and are great for clipping away overhanging branches that are a hazard to your head, or small roots that could snag your footfall. When I go out for a trail maintenance run I don’t plan on actually getting much of a run in. I stop for every obstruction that I can clear up with my clippers.

It’s springtime and new shoots are springing up everywhere along the trails. Some grow so thick they can block your view of the trail or soak your shoes if you brush them with your legs. These are the ones I’m after. I clip them close to the ground (or pull them up by the roots if they’re really small) before they can grow large enough to create problems. I always throw the clippings as far off the trail as I can so as to keep the natural beauty of the trail intact. In fact, I do my best to leave a trail looking as if it just naturally grows as a clear path.

Remove any loose rocks
Another thing I do is practice my foot agility by flicking loose stones off to the side of the trail with my toes like a soccer player maneuvers a soccer ball. Don’t ever try to kick a rock off the trail. You never know how deeply it might be buried. If it’s obviously lying there on top of the ground, it’s fair game. There’s nothing worse than landing on a loose rock and rolling your ankle, so these are constant targets for me.

Poison ivy removal
I am extremely allergic to poison ivy, so I caution any of you that are thinking of thinning the sides of your trails, to know what it looks like and take protective measures if you’re going to take it upon yourself to rid your trails of this toxic plant. I wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves when working with poison ivy. When I’m done, I wash my clippers in detergent and throw my clothes in the laundry by themselves, being careful to not touch anything but the inside lining of the clothing. Getting rid of poison ivy along the trails I run is a definite hazard, but it gives me lots of peace of mind. So, for me it’s worth the risk.

There are plenty of other things to do to help out your fellow runners and I’ll write about them in future blogs. Until then, this will get you started on doing your best to give your fellow trail runners a nice clean trail to run on and everybody will go home happy.
Happy trails,
Danny

P.S. As an added note to this series on trail running, I’d like to let you all know that a new revised edition of the original ChiRunning Book has just been released and it has a new chapter on how to run Hill and Trails. We hope you enjoy reading all the new material we’ve come up with since the book was first released in 2004.

View looking uphill and south along the Matt Davis Trail - Marin County, CA

Funny you should ask that. I was just out running this morning and came up with the answer.

Since I moved here to Western North Carolina almost three years ago, I’ve been learning how to play the fiddle (when in Rome…). I have a great fiddle teacher named Jamie Laval and I highly suggest you check out his website if you’re interested in any form of Celtic or Scottish music. He’s one of the best around.

I’m still very much a beginning fiddle student and so Jamie has me do these great warm-up exercises where I’m learning finger placement. I begin by playing one note at a time with my first finger, and then matching it with an accompanying string so that I get the right pitch. Then I do the same thing with my second finger and so on until a four fingers of my left hand have practiced their respective positions on all four strings. When I can hit a good pitch with all 16 notes I get to move onto playing the songs I’m learning. What this does is get my fingers to always land on the right spot on the finger board so that playing the song is much more fluid and  accurate. I’ve already noticed a huge difference in my playing when I do these warm-up exercises.

So, I was out on my run this morning doing my 1-minute intervals on the trail. It was a one-hour run and I started out the first five minutes pretty easy and then got into alternating one minute of race pace focuses with one minute of easy resting pace. As I progressed through my workout, I noticed that my body was feeling more and more relaxed and the speed intervals were feeling easier and easier. So, I started doing 2-minute race focus intervals with one minute of rest. Throughout my run I gradually increased the length of the fast intervals and kept the resting intervals at one minute. By the end of my run I finished the last ten minutes at race pace feeling very little effort because I’d spent the better part of the run warming up and working on focuses.

My goal is to get to the point where I can run at race pace for an hour without stopping for a rest break. My race is at the end of August, so I don’t see any problem with working my way up to that. And, as you can see, it is absolutely the same thing I’m doing with my fiddle practice. It’s built on the premise that if you do your technique work up front, the rest just falls into place. I meet many people who think that speed comes strictly from strength and I couldn’t disagree more. Speed with running, just like speed with the fiddle, comes with efficiency, accuracy, and most of all relaxation. If you don’t have all three, you’re going to have to work harder to get that speed you’re looking for. It doesn’t matter whether you’re watching Salina Kosgei (the Kenyan woman who won this year’s Boston Marathon) or Itzak Perlman, they’re both doing the same thing underneath it all.

 For Spring Break our family traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area where ChiRunning was conceived and launched. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing many of our old friends and doing a little sightseeing, which for me means trail running in the Marin Headlands, home to arguably some of the most beautiful trail runs in the world. Over the next few blogs I’ll post some of the photos I took just before my camera died an untimely death at Stinson Beach.

Spring is upon us and I hope these shots inspire you to get out and see Nature in its finest season (in my opinion). There’s nothing better than feasting your eyes on the millions of shades of green that paint the landscape this time of year. I had a wonderful 90 minute run through redwoods, past waterfalls, and along vast fields of blooming Lupines. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed running to find them. I find that it’s really hard to match trail running for connecting your eyes, your heart …and your legs!

Carpe diem!
Danny

This is a shot of San Francisco looking south from the top of the Matt Davis Trail above Stinson Beach. The tower in the background is Sutro Tower which rises above Golden Gate Park. The water you see is the Pacific Ocean as it enters the San Francisco Bay (to the left, out of the picture). 

Looking south from the Matt Davis Trail towards ocean side of San Francisco