In response to all the current interest in barefoot running (spurred on by Chris McDougall’s Born to Run book and the recent study published in the journal Nature by Dr. Daniel Lieberman, suggesting that barefoot or minimal-shoe running creates less impact on your legs) I’ve come up with a list of recommended shoes to try if running barefoot is just not what you’re drawn to. The shoes on this list represent only a small smattering of the spectrum of shoes available to those wishing to try running in a low-profile, minimal shoe instead of the basic “high-heeled sneaker that has been the trend for the past 40 years.

Bear in mind that any switch to either barefoot running or to a more minimal shoe (than you’re currently wearing) will require you to make a GRADUAL transition into the new way of running. If you’re going the minimal shoe route, start off by wearing them for brief periods around the house and for only short runs until you see how your body responds to the change. As your body “tells you” that it’s ok, you can slowly increase your time or distance accordingly. This isn’t macho training, it’s sensitivity training, so be smart about it. If you feel the slightest bit of discomfort in your plantar fascia, your ankles or your calves…back off and try it again tomorrow. As Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton says, “Don’t strike the ground. If you do it’ll strike back!” The idea of running barefoot or running in a minimal shoe is to feel what your feet are telling you about how to create less impact with the ground… so that you don’t get injured. It just wouldn’t make any sense to run in minimal shoes if you didn’t listen to what your feet are telling you.

The other thing I’d like to add is that the shoes listed here are only recommendations. Since everyone has different feet and different tastes when it comes to comfort and feel with their shoes, I leave it up to you to do the research at your local running shoe store to see which shoes actually work best for your feet and running needs. If all of the shoes choices is just too overwhelming…keep it simple and Go Barefoot!!!

Good luck with the journey.

Danny

The List

NB-790 (9 oz.) One of the best ever made for all terrains, from running a marathon on pavement to ultra trails. This shoe might be too much for someone really interested in feeling the barefoot feel. (discontinued in men’s models only…go figure…or better yet, write NB and complain) $60
NB-505 XC racing flat (7 oz.) very light, flexible and fast on trails or roads. $60
Adidas – Adizero Rocket (7.2 oz.) very flexible and wicked fast – better for narrow feet. $90
Brooks Mach II Spikeless (7 oz.) ultra-thin carbon rubber aggressively lugged sole – $60
FeelMax – Niesa 1mm thick sole with Kevlar to protect against sharp objects (Barefoot Ted likes them) Some complain that they’re too hot, but they are extremely minimal and give a good sense of the ground against your feet. $80
VivoBarefoot EVO– I’ve tried the Vivo street shoes and I’m waiting to be sent a pair of their running shoes to test (not available to the public yet). I love my street shoes and they are my favorite traveling shoe. They’re wonderful for any kind or any amount of walking.
Vibram FiveFingers – KSO’s are the most popular model of the VFF’s and I can see why. They’re thin, flexible, easy to get on and off and the next best thing to running barefoot. I prefer my Treks when I’m trail running because they have more traction in the dirt.
ECCO – haven’t tried them yet because I can’t afford a pair (hint…hint)
Wilcor Aqua Shoes – Bought these at a hardware store in Hot Springs, NC for $10 and they’ve proven to be one of the best trail and wet-running shoes I’ve ever had on my feet. They’re like moccasins with an attitude. Get some if you can find them for sale somewhere (not in running stores). This shoe, like most shoes designed for water sports and poking around tide pools at the beach, is a great way to run close-to-barefoot without spending over $30.
PUMA Cabana Racer II – (7 oz.) Was first introduced as a lightweight racing flat in 1981. Features a leather upper, EVA midsole and rubber outsole. As far as I can tell it is the exact same shoe brought back from the dead. $45
Asics Hyperspeed 3&4- (7 oz.) I haven’t run on these shoes myself, but I’ve heard from a number of folks that this is a good minimal shoe…very light and very fast. The downside of the shoe (as with many racing flats) is that they’re very narrow in the toe box, so they’re off my shopping list because my feet are EEE width. It’s a shame they don’t make racing flats in widths…they could multiply their sales by tenfold. $60

TRAIL SHOES
La Sportiva Crosslite – A great trail racing flat built low to the ground with extremely aggressive treads. Not a true minimal shoe, but one of the more minimal (while still aggressive) trail shoes. Reasonably light (10.0 oz.) for a trail shoe. $85
INOV-8 Rocklite 295 – (8.5 oz.) This is a fabulous shoe for trail runners looking for a very low-profile, light-weight shoe with great traction and flexibility. Sticky rubber soles with very aggressive lugs. They have a nice rounded toebox with plenty of room for my paddle feet. This is a more subtantial trail shoe for those looking for a good, dependable, lightweight, aggressive-soled shoe. $90
INOV-8 Talon 212 - (7.5 oz.) This is the stripped-down, mininal heel lift version of the 295 reviewed above. It’s a no-bones-about-it-flat-out trail racer…. a bit narrower in feel than the 295, but not uncomfortably so. It hugs your foot well and transfers the traction from the sticky rubber soles directly into your feet. I feel like a spider with them on. I haven’t tried walking up the side of a brick building yet, but they tempt me to try. I feel very fast and agile in them, and I’m sure I’ll be running in these at the next USATF Nat’l Trail Championships later this year. Hats off to INOV-8! Note: These shoes have very minimal cushioning and might not be for everyone. If you run on very hard-packed trails, these might be too minimal for you unless you’re minding all your ChiRunning P’s & Q’s. If you’re doubtful, go for the 295’s. (BTW, the numbers show the weight in grams of the shoe model!) $100
NB-MT100 – (7.0 oz.) One of the lightest trail shoes ever made. Very flexible and breathable…also drains well when wet. Great for most trail running, but tend to lose traction on wet surfaces, especially wet rock. Personally, I’d like the lugs a bit more aggressive for these North Carolina mountains, but they’re totally adequate on dry trails. $70

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.

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

Here’s an add-on to my last blog about running one-minute intervals. In the last half of this workout, depending on how I feel, I’ll begin extending the “racing” intervals to two minutes instead of one. I still keep the “resting” intervals by running in 1st gear for a minute. (Just as a side note, I avoid walking during my rest breaks. It does nothing for my conditioning or my psychology to be giving myself an “out” unless I absolutely need it.) Lengthening the time of the racing intervals, especially once I’m well warmed up, is fun and it stretches the conditioning phase of the workout. My goal is to very gradually increase the length of the conditioning intervals over the next few months until I can comfortably run at race pace for an hour, taking “rest” breaks only when I absolutely need them.

When I transition into running the “race” pace intervals during these trail runs, I’m not focusing on speed per se, but on the running form required to run the fastest through whatever section of trail I happen to be passing through. Then, instead of working harder and harder, I’m actually making it a fun game. I’ve only played a few video games, but approaching my runs in this way feel much like playing a video game where you’re working through different levels of difficulty and developing new skills in the process. I would have to say that this is a far cry from a video game because it’s in real time and it has a direct influence on my mind/body connection in ways no virtual reality could possibly do.

Happy Trails,
Danny

In preparation for the 10K trail race I plan to run in August, I’ve started my race-specific training by doing hill intervals on the trails above my house. I have a half mile loop that is just about exactly half uphill and half downhill. I began with six repeats of this loop with no rest in between loops. I use the downhill section to recover from the uphill section and to work on lengthening my stride.

Here’s how I run hill intervals.
I start at the top of the loop and begin by running down to the halfway mark. In this section I’m trying keep my upper body as far forward as I can while at the same time allowing my pelvis to rotate as much as possible to absorb the shock of running downhill at a fast pace. If I do it right, I don’t feel like I’m expending any energy. In fact, I feel like I’m resting even though I’m going at a very fast pace.

Then, when I hit the halfway mark and begin running the uphill section back to the top, I change a number of things. The first thing I do is shorten my stride so I’m running in a lower gear. This saves me a ton of energy without sacrificing a lot of speed. Next, I pull my hands in closer to my chest and swing my arms with a powerful forward/upward motion. Believe it or not, this helps my obliques to drive my pelvis which then drives my legs in the most efficient way. This feels like “whole-body” running, and it should, because I don’t want to rely solely on my legs to get me up the hills…especially those long, steep ones.

Another thing I do on the uphills is lean my column into the hill so that I feel as though I’m falling up the hill. This saves my hamstrings from having to work to “pull” me up the hill.

The most important thing to me when running hill intervals is to keep my perceived rate of exertion (PRE) as consistent as possible on the uphill sections. I’m trying to maintain a PRE of about 7 (on a scale of 1 to 10) on each of the six uphill sections.

Here are my chronological split times for each of the six intervals:
1. 4:27
2. 4:30
3. 4:26
4. 4:18
5. 4:11
6. 4:03

As you can see, each interval with the exception of the second one was faster than the one preceding it. I lost focus on the second one, which is why I lost 3 seconds. The idea is to have each progressive interval just slightly faster than the one before it…without increasing your PRE to get the job done. By maintaining a very consistent sense of energy expenditure my body will learn to run more efficiently which should always be way at the top of your list if you want to do well in your event.

To keep my energy expenditure constant and my PRE constant I use all the uphill focuses I mentioned above in varying degrees depending on which one I feel will help me most to accomplish that consistency.

Play with this on your own runs or walks, and challenge yourself to run or walk hills faster without changing your effort level. It sort of forces you to practice your focuses…and that’s always a good thing.

For some additional suggestions on how to run hills click here.

Happy Hills,
Danny