A couple of weeks ago Chris McDougall caused another little stir in the barefoot/minimalist running world with an article for The New York Times entitled The Once and Future Way to Run. Within this article he mentions something called the 100-Up exercise...

Earlier this year, I may have found it. I was leafing through the back of an out-of-print book, a collection of runners’ biographies called “The Five Kings of Distance,” when I came across a three-page essay from 1908 titled “W. G. George’s Own Account From the 100-Up Exercise.” According to legend, this single drill turned a 16-year-old with almost no running experience into the foremost racer of his day.

I read George’s words: “By its constant practice and regular use alone, I have myself established many records on the running path and won more amateur track-championships than any other individual.” And it was safe, George said: the 100-Up is “incapable of harm when practiced discreetly.”

Could it be that simple? That day, I began experimenting on myself.

[... two pages later ...]

Last fall, at the end of a local 10-mile trail race, I surprised myself by finishing five minutes faster than I had four years ago, when I was in much better shape. I figured the result was a fluke — until it happened again. No special prep, awful travel schedule and yet a personal best in a six-mile race.

“I don’t get it,” I told Cucuzzella this past June when we went for a run together through the Shepherd University campus in Shepherdstown. “I’m four years older. I’m pretty sure I’m heavier. I’m not doing real workouts, just whatever I feel like each day. The only difference is I’ve been 100-Upping.”

Naturally, this last bit got everyone excited and within days, Justin of Birthday Shoes fame, knocked up a dedicated site - HundredUp - to raise awareness and put out a challenge to people to try it themselves for 30 days and report back.

Naturally, as I'm keen on learning about improving my performance, I read through McDougall's article, watched the video, and read through the HundredUp site. McDougall's demonstration of the exercise in the video in the NYT article instantly rang bells, but I couldn't place why.

It was only this weekend that I worked it out... this is a lot like the "tapping" and "change of support" exercises from POSE running, except with more emphasis on high knees than on bringing the foot up under your body.

Compare for yourself. First, the 100-Up video which shows the minor and major:

Next, the tapping and change of support exercises from POSE (the commentary is in German, but you're only meant to be looking at the pictures )...

Interesting stuff. Of course there will be some overlap in methods taught - I'm sure Chi Running probably has a similar exercise too - and for all I know, Dr. Romanov could have taken some of his inspiration from W.G. George's 100-ups.

Whatever the reasoning, I think any exercise that encourages people to land on their mid-foot or forefoot and that strengthens the muscles and tendons around that area is better than nothing at all.

I received a great comment on my previous post that I thought deserves a post of it's own in response.

Jason's comment was as follows:

What a great find regards V Billat. Some good stuff on that pponline site. Have read other V02 stuff on there but that was another level. Have been following your blog as I am experimenting with vibrams myself. Like all other blogs I have read, sore/stiff calf muscles are a right of passage as muscles that have been dormant re-awake. My own observation has been the distinct lack of joint pain following a run. Only doing 2 - 3 miles at a time. But when I go back to shoes my knees suffer for 3 - 4 days after.
1 question if I may. On your runs in the vibrams, how did your pace compare to running in shoes?
I ask as I seem to be clocking = or better than in shoes. I did not expect this or at least not yet.

First off, it's great hear there's someone else trying to run in the Vibrams, but more importantly, great news about the lack of joint pain after running in them. Sounds like nature may be telling you something there Jason.

The question itself is why I thought it best to provide a post of it's own.

I've not had a chance to do much in the way of distance as I was silly enough to switch to the Vibrams full time whilst I still had the remnants of an old injury, but for those runs I did get in, I found my Vibram times were mostly quicker than my shoe runs and with less effort too. I believe it's the way they encourage you to run, rather than the lack of weight, that is responsible for this.

I've found running in the the Vibrams seems to encourage a lighter and more fluid running style. I'm a forefoot striker so never really thought my running style was being affected by the braking effect commonly seen with heel striking, but switching to the Vibrams soon let me know I was experiencing some sort of braking effect (which may explain the shin splints and knee injuries I used to get in shoes) - running in my usual style just didn't feel 100% right - it felt quite jarring, so I had to adapt. It was this jarring and need for change that made me look into my running style and is what got me onto the POSE technique.

Running in the Vibrams provides instant feedback via your feet and you soon learn to adapt. I think it's this adaption that leads to more efficient and graceful running, which in turn leads to the quicker times with less effort.

Aaaahhhh... all this talk of running is killing me. I'm so eager to get running again, but I have to be patient: I want to be 100% sure all injuries have healed - I don't want to be stuck on this rower any longer than I need to be. The rower does have one advantage though: it's a great opportunity to shed the Christmas weight

If you're running barefoot, or in Vibrams, let me know your experiences. It'll be great to see what other people's experiences are.

Welcome to the start of what will hopefully turn out to be a great success. This is my little challenge to see if I can go from running in shoes to running the way nature intended: BAREFOOT.

Now this isn't just a whim, it's something I've been considering quite seriously for quite some time and I'm set to begin my journey on...

Monday 13 October 2008

Just a little short of 10 years ago, I moved over to the UK from South Africa to see how life in Europe is. It was essentially a new start for me. At the time, I was running a lot in South Africa, and actually ran my last 10k road race the week before I flew out. That was the last time I officially ran a race.

On arriving in the UK, the whole prospect of finding a place to live, a job and generally settling in took priority, and as a result, running took a backseat. Actually, backseat is the wrong word: it was left out of my life entirely. I did try keeping up the running, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get myself to run with any sort of regularity with the weather being the biggest deterrent. Instead I opted for joining the gym, only after a few too many beers and far too much food .

Joining gym had the right effect and soon I was losing fat and gaining muscle, and lots of it. As part of my gym program I tried to get back into running again, and well, let me just say running on a treadmill has got to be the most boring form of running in the world. On sunny days I ventured out into the woods or on the road, but my aspirations were short lived: I went too far, too fast and too soon and ended up injured. Time and time again I tried getting back into running, and each time I spent more on running shoes and still ended up injured. My heart could take the challenge, just my knees and bones couldn't.

I then turned to correcting my running style, after all I'm a lot heavier now and "fixing" the shoes wasn't having any effect and that's when I discovered the POSE method and so far, I've been pretty injury free since I started using this method of running.

I've also now got myself a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and absolutely love the natural feel of running in them. This is pretty much where my desire to move to running barefoot has come from, and the thought that thousands of African runners can't be wrong.

So, I've set myself the goal of moving from running in shoes to running barefoot and running my first 10K race in the UK barefoot. My current goal is for the middle of summer 2009 and I hope to document my progress and training as I go along.

At the moment things are hectic at work and home as I prepare to go away on my honeymoon, but things are all set to get going when I return. My first step to running completely barefoot will begin on Monday 13 October 2008.

Until then, I'm not running one step. I want to be sure all my joints and bones are ready for the start of my new running career.