I enjoy blogging. I like to share my views and opinions and knowledge, but more importantly, I like to inspire, especially when it comes to running. The other day I received this great email from Jon which I thought others considering barefoot or minimalist running may find interesting and motivational...

Hi Colin

Just found your site (barefootrunner.co.uk) whilst searching for flat running shoes and have enjoyed what I've read.

Much like you I started running many moons ago, suffered shin splints and knee problems so gave up running, got into weights and then tried running every few years (only to find the injuries kept coming back).

A year or so ago, my wife started running, which gave me a push to try again - only this time I was armed with all the powers of the internet : ) I learnt about persistence running and decided to change how I ran and I've not looked back since - I now run mid / forefoot without any heel strike. I only run twice a week (both times off road, one 3 miler in the hills and one 4 miler on sand dunes). I wear a pair of hi-tecs with hardly any heel and virtually no cushioning at all (it's taken me several months to get to the point where I can run without the usual padding but it's so much been worth it).

I've taken it slowly as I herniated a disc in my spine 3 years ago which has taught me a lot about going steady and building on solid foundations. At the time, all the medical professionals told me that I had to give up weights but after a dose of hard graft I'm still training with weights and my back is getting stronger all the time. I'm certain that running has helped me get through this nasty injury and strangely, going through the injury has helped to teach me to be more adaptive. Consequently I am back running when before the injury I would have simply given up on it and said that "I'm not built for running" - how many times have you heard that?

I love barefoot hiking so barefoot running is something I'm working towards (or at the very least barefoot running technique combined with barefoot running shoes).

Anyhow, keep up the good work!

Cheers - Jon

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I've just been in Orlando, Florida giving a presentation at Collaborate 11 and just happened to come home with 4 news things in my suitcase...

A left and right one of these...

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This week I find myself in the tropical (read: sweltering humid heat) of Orlando Florida as I'm presenting at Collaborate 11 on Tuesday morning.

Travelling always has an effect on my training in two ways:

1. It's much harder to find time to squeeze in the good workouts I desire, and if I do find the time, the lack of familiarity with the environment makes it hard to come up with good routes for my sessions. Thankfully, I had a bumper week this week on the mileage front, so I can take things a bit easier next week. A series of long gentle runs should be sufficient to allow my body to recover after last week's efforts, provided the heat doesn't kill me first.
2. My diet goes to pot. Restaurant food just isn't the same as home cooked food and often contains way more calories and "bad stuff". I also love the opportunity to try new food when in foreign countries (especially when I'm expensing my meals ) and I find I turn to the plethora of junk foods and sweets we don't get in the UK just to see what they're like.

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Are you a runner - barefoot isn't essential? Are you a stickler for recording your training runs? Are you interested in helping a PhD student with her studies in the field of running injury causes and prevention? Keen on being a guinea pig in the name of science doing what you love? Fancy showing the world that barefoot running is good for you? Well, then drop Jenny Perkins at the University of Bath an email and offer your services.

To quote the article...

A University of Bath researcher is looking for keen runners to keep an online diary of their training habits and injuries, to help find out how they can reduce common running injuries.

PhD student Jenny Perkins, from the University’s Department for Health, will analyse the information to look at links between the type of training runners are doing, distance, age and injury.

She hopes to be able to tell runners what they can do to reduce their risk of injury, such as shin splints, back problems and knee pain.

Jenny is looking to recruit at least 1,000 volunteers from across the UK to the study, to log their training and injuries into a free online training diary over 12 months.

Runners of any ability are invited to take part if they are doing a minimum of three hours of running per week. Participants must be UK residents and aged over 18 years of age.

There is no upper age limit to the study and Jenny is particularly interested to find out about age-related differences in injury and training habits.

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A great post in which Ian Griffiths smashes the 4 common myths used by almost every running shop and publication, including Runner's World, when it comes to selecting running shoes for a runner.

Whilst this isn't barefoot specific, it is running related and certainly worth a read.

I can't believe I missed this. Christopher McDougall (author of Born to Run) has a good discussion on the barefoot running debate

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So I've gone out and bought The 4-Hour Body book, not because I believe I'll be able to become an Adonis with a quick fix, but because I like to read up on interesting and different methods of achieving certain goals in the world of fitness and exercise.

I've not finished reading the book, but so far I'm quite impressed with the little bits I have read. Some of it I will have to take with a pinch of salt, but after today's little experiment, I'll certainly be trying out a few of the ideas in this book.

As has become habit as part of my current training programme, I swim on Tuesdays - I'm paying for a gym membership with a pool, so I'm going to blooming well use it. Prior to today, my sessions comprised of 80 lengths of 25 meters broken up into sets of 10 lengths alternating crawl and breaststroke.

The alternation was required because my crawl has never been my strong point and I was finding completing 10 lengths pretty tiring and hard. I'm well trained in breaststroke as it was my primary stroke when I competed at school so it's a breeze in comparison.

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Oooops, I've just realised I missed my own 1st barefoot anniversary. So...

Tuesday, 1 February was the big day. A whole year since I made the big decision to run completely barefoot as much as possible. I've not run all my runs and races barefoot in that time due to sensitivity, rough terrain, extreme temperatures, shoe reviews or because I really didn't feel like it, but well over 95% of my running has been completely barefoot since then.

It's been a great year and certainly a massive learning experience. The muscles in my feet are stronger than they've ever been. The skin on the bottom of my feet is becoming more and more like tough leather. My form is good and I know my running is the best it's been since I moved over to the UK. The last year hasn't all been a bed of roses, I did suffer what was probably a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal

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Sign spotted at the foot of the steps into the Wheatsheaf Pub last summer when my wife and I went for a walk around Virginia Water (I've only just found it after trawling through all my photos I've taken but not done anything with)...

I can understand the need for tops at all times (some people don't like looking at boobies) and shoes in the pub, but what's so wrong with toasting my piggies in the garden? I promptly ignored the sign and kicked off my Vibrams (I put them back on when I went inside) and no one commented or made a complaint. Someone may have tutted, but I'm immune to the English tut

2011 is now well under way and I think the usual window of people declaring their well intentioned, but never actually achieved, new year's resolutions has passed so I'm going to post my running specific goals now.

The problem with most people's new year's resolutions is they're often unrealistic, not thoroughly thought out and never include details of how they're going to achieve their goals. I've done this in the past, but that's changing this year as I've actually thought about it and put the plan into action already.

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