"I know that you think you know what I said. But I'm not sure whether you understood that what you heard is what I meant." -Alan Greenspan

It's no secret that I like barefoot running and love running in my VFF. To the point that I actually have the following in a draft and just copy/paste the text in to emails for people. ding! Post this on my site. So here's my spruced up little intro and info about Barefoot running.

I don't talk about much personal online, but this is fact and something I'm proud of recovering from. I'm a 6'4" male who had reconstructive surgery when I was 15 due to a skiing "accident." My definition of "accident" includes tearing both of my ACLs, a 2nd degree posterior Meniscus tear, and a ruptured Patellar Tendon. It hurt, took a loooong time to recover from (multiple years = ~5yrs? A loong time), and all around sucked hard. When I started running again, I did so with normal running shoes. And when I ran and started putting on the miles, I did so under the constant threat of knee pain, icing, ibuprofen (a.k.a. Advil) and was chronically worried about overdoing it. But now? Let me summarize:

Dear Knee Pain, you can kindly go fuck yourself 'cause you ain't no more. With apathetic love, Sean.

I'm a barefoot running junkie and am so because I can jog, run, or sprint and do so without any knee or joint pain. On a fast day, I'm now poking down in to the sub-7min/mile range and when I head out for a jog, I average around 9-9:30 min/mile depending on how I'm feeling that day. My average "run" sits squarely in the middle at ~8min/mile and my routine course is 5mi. A long run is 8-10mi, and short is a 3 miler. Over the last twelve months my times have dropped and are continuing to drop, all the while my distance is steadily increasing. So with that as my running background, I'm hard pressed to recommend running in running shoes to anyone.

I'm not a doctor, but the science/data at hand makes sense and fits my experiences. Walking, yes. Hiking, yes. Running? Abso-fucking-lutely, hell yes! The only tangible downside that I've found so far is I have to slow down when running downhill because there is no padding for your heel to strike (you have to slow down to strike on the arch/bridge/ball of your foot). On the plus side (and this is a big plus), both VFF weigh less a pound and running uphills is stupid effortless (you'd be surprised how much effort you spend lugging ~3-5lbs of shoe uphill).

Here's the science of barefoot running: http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

And here's the YouTube video that summarizes the above science (well produced 6min video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE

This is what I started running in (very light, the seams around my big toes started to wear out around my toes after 9mo, but the sole was completely in tact and in perfect condition):http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_KSO_m.cfm

This is what I'm running in currently (I love 'em, but it took a good 50mi for the leather to loosen up):http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_kso_trek_m.cfm

Here's the running-specific version of the VFF (these look sexy and I'm looking forward to trying them in the future):http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_bikila_m.cfm

Here is the sock that I prefer running in (micro version, find sales and get 'em in bulk - and if/when you get socks in multiple sizes, mark them the instant they show up otherwise you won't be able to differentiate the sizes): http://www.injinjistore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IS&Product_Code=TPMICRO. Surprisingly enough, the socks ended up being a pretty sizable investment even at ~$10/pair. Worth it though.

Parting tips:

1. START SLOW!!! Really. You'll find interesting muscles you've never used before that come out of the woodwork and yell at you in really painful ways until they strengthen up your new running style. The muscle part only took a week or two to get up to strength.
2. Other - and much more important - perk of starting slow: you won't rub the pads of your feet off. Them thar running shoes? Yeah, they make the soles of your feet soft. If you're anything like me and think, "hey, this is pretty sweet!" when you're on your first run and think you can keep going for 10min... you're wrong. Stop at 5min and please trust me on this one. Blisters will form if you don't let your feet toughen up. Muscles adapt quickly, your skin doesn't. As is, I'm up to 90min without incident and it only took me a few months to get there, but you have to let your feet adapt.
3. Slow down when running down hill. You will make up for this on the hills and flat surfaces.
4. Search for the black/black VFF. VFF has some really silly colors that look down right ugly, but that could just be me (pink? really?)

Running is mega goodness, especially now that it's a pure cardio activity vs. a rugged "this is going to destroy your joints" activity.

Ultimate running happiness comes from throwing in a little RunKeeper action, an arm band to hold your iPhone, maybe a bluetooth headset (my bluetooth headset crapped out on me recently, but being wire-free was really nice) and you're good to go to start thumping out some miles (pain free if you're doing right). Enjoy!

Debate? What's that? Opposing views? This was a good little bit. Click image I think to view.

Rachel Maddow reviews some of the answers by Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle in her first interview outside the right wing media bubble. (msnbc.com)

This is one of those blog posts that horrifies you how awful most sugary drinks are.  Three Starbucks drinks in there.

http://worldmysteries9.blogspot.com/2010/05/harmful-drinks-in-america.html

Extremely impressive.

Very good. After the break is the original Pachelbel Rant. Happy Friday.

Continue reading "Axis Of Awesome"

A little something to laugh at on hump day.

1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
3. Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.
5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.
6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).
7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
8. Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.
10. Law of Bio mechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
11. Law of the Theater and Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.
12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.
15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.
17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.
18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.
    

This is one of those profound videos that should help center a person's understanding of "the world." Or, more correctly, uncenter their understanding and realign it with reality.  Thank you, Carl.

This caught my eye.  Thanks Logan!

I whooped my own ass today running around the Stanford Ear today. Not the best run I've done there, but it was a nice even and steady pace, so I can't complain. Beautiful view and weather, so it'll go down as a winner of a 60min trott in my book.

I ran with my normal KSOs today and am glad I did. Compared to the Treks, the normal KSOs are easily 50% the weight of the KSO treks and I was able to keep hammering away at the hills. At this point, I can safely say I like running uphill more than I do down. Uphill isn't effortless, but I find it satisfying to stride up without carrying 2 lb weights strapped to each leg. If you have VFF, you probably know what I mean. Cheers!

PS No knee pain from running up or down hill. Win.

Continue reading "Running around the Stanford Ear"

One of my favorite TED talks. All marketers and economists would probably enjoy this nugget. Paraphrased: "I wrote an entire book trying to explain to myself why I was less happy with my just-purchased pair of jeans that fit me better than any other pair of jeans that I've owned in my entire life."

Continue reading "Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice"

Pretty handy cheat sheet for IGPs.  IOS_Interior_Routing_Protocols.pdf