A friend sent me a link to an interesting article in the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (see link below). The story is about the slow, but growing emergence of barefoot and barefoot-like running. Companies like Vibram, maker of FiveFingers (picture above), are causing established shoe giants to recognize this growing trend … popularized in the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. Asics, Nike and others are either considering or have released minimalist running shoes to hedge their bets on whether the movement is a secular shift or a mere fad. As I crossed the line at the NYC Half, I noticed a runner next to me wearing the FiveFingers. He looked fine and smiled as I pointed towards his feet. My current shoes of choice are New Balance 903 (races) and 826 (training), both of which are lightweight and lack unnecessary heel cushioning. I don’t have any current plans to make the switch to minimalist shoes, but do advocate that less is more when it comes to most things in life and especially cushioning, bells and whistles on running shoes. Continue Reading
Entries from August, 2009
Monthly Running Stats – August
As today is a standard rest day (SRD), time to take a look at the monthly running stats for August. Continue Reading
Famous Folks Who Run
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the Reservoir
I’m glad I found a photo of this … On July 18th, I was stretching before a daily run at the South Gate of Central Park when I turned around and saw a smallish, yet recognizable guy rumbling by with a group behind him. I looked at a couple of fellow runners and asked, “Was that Nicolas Sarkozy?” They all nodded. I’m bummed because he and his security entourage moved passed me before I could pull out my iPhone. I had to settle for the above photo from the NY Daily News. Continue Reading
Hitting the Trails
Central Park Bridle Path
Solid 5 mile recovery run this morning on the extended bridle path. Legs were a bit stiff to start … not a surprise given 12 miler yesterday on asphalt, but after ~800 meters I felt normalcy. I ran opposite a pack of elite runners training for the NYC Marathon. I believe they were led by Olympian John Henwood (21st in 2008 NYC Marathon). Pleased that today’s effort marked the biggest mileage week to date (38.2). A very nice beginning to becoming a serious distance runner (post-NYC Half). Off season weekly goal is 35-45 miles per week with long run progressing 1 mile per week … next week 13. However, I will also need to vary my routes not just day to day, but also within a run (e.g. mixing bridle path, reservoir, asphalt loops w/in a daily run). Continue Reading