Anyways, here are some links that I’ve found over the past few weeks…

• Altra Running – Awesome new minimalist shoes hitting the market soon. I hope to be one of the first customers! Check out their pictures on Facebook.
• Merrell Barefoot Collection 2011 [Birthday Shoes] – All the most current information on the upcoming Merrell/Vibram partnership.
• Sandals do not deter Sweeney from 10K win [Palos Verdes Peninsula News] – Another race victory for Patrick Sweeney, one of the top minimalist runners out there right now.
• Baring It All: The Barefoot Running Trend [Yahoo! Shine] – Just more barefoot running coverage by a major news/media outlet.

Last week I went for a couple of 2-3 mile runs and while the foot seemed fine on the runs themselves, the following day or two it was sore again. I’ve started to get pretty frustrated with it actually, to the point where I’ve just about scrapped the idea of running the marathon in October. I guess things could change, but for now I’ve gotten the bike out of storage and am also setting up a home gym, so that I can switch between the three activities and keep in shape while my foot keeps healing. You might see some non-running posts on the site in the meantime, depending on how into biking and weight lifting I get!

Anyways, here are some links that have piled up over the past month since I last posted…

• Vibram FiveFingers 2011 [Gear Junkie] – Always interesting to see the new VFF models on the horizon.
• Things Fall Apart [Running and Rambling]
• July 11th Comic [Over the Hedge]
• Ultra Runner – Video (feat. Scott Jurek) [Vimeo]
• Inov-8 Evoskins and Bare-Grip 200 – pics [Runner's World Forums]
• Runblogger’s Guide to Minimalist Running Shoes [Runblogger]
• Hung Star Hates Shoes, Loves Vibram FiveFingers [Wired]
• Wilderness Unsurprisingly Impedes Insane Wilderness Marathon [Deadspin] – A trail/ultra running post on Deadspin? Nice!
• Running Barefoot Becomes Increasingly Popular [Hartford Courant]
• Barefoot runner will make 760-mile trip across N.C. to raise awareness on state budget cuts [Winston-Salem Journal]
• The Importance of Sleep [Aaron Davidson]
• Caffeine Content of Drinks [Energy Fiend] – See where your favorite drinks stacks up.

• Since you asked… and Ol’ Tenderfoot [Because All the Cool Kids Are Doing It...] – Another convert to the barefoot side…along with some of his “growing pains.”
• Christopher McDougall Interview [OllyHermanTaylor] – I agree with Olly that Born to Run is a great book, if only because it’s inspiring and makes running seem fun/awesome/badass and I honestly thing it would encourage a lot of non-runners to lead a healthier lifestyle if they gave it a read. The primary reason why I think this book should be mandatory reading for high school students!
• Posterior Tibial Tendinitis – Massage and Stretch [Standing on Top] – Another victim of the PT Tendon! That makes three of us so far.
• Western States Images [Riding the Wind] – Awesome photos of Anton Krupicka running Western States 100. Check out the shoes his pacer wears (hint: Inov-8 F-Lite 230′s!)
• Anton Krupicka Post-2010 Western States 100 Interview [iRunFar] – Krupicka’s reaction to coming in second place (still a course record pace!) at Western States.
• 37th running of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run [The Sacramento Bee] – More pictures from WS100.
• Hung star Thomas Jane wears bizarre split toe trainers to glamorous premiere party [Daily Mail] – If you have HBO you should check out this show. Oh yeah…he also is the latest “celebrity” to rock Vibram Five Fingers!
• Fleet Feet Sports… not you, too?!? [Barefoot Chronicles] – Another running store using scare tactics?

Anyways, I don’t want to carry on too much, so here are the highlights from the race:

• Finished with a time of 1:53:42, which was just over six minutes faster than my time last year, but about a whole 29 seconds slower than my PR in Providence last month
• Ran the race in my Vibram Five Fingers Sprints, which have easily become my go-to minimalist “shoe” for running on pavement.
• As I mentioned previously, this course is VERY hilly. With a couple less feet of incline/decline, there’s no doubt in my mind I would have had a new half-marathon PR!
• I hadn’t run since the Tuesday before the race, which was a four mile run in my brand new pair of New Balance MT100′s that I bought as an alternate trail shoe. After the run on Tuesday (and after a TON of painting and yardwork at the new house) my foot was feeling a bit sore and I figured it would be better to rest it all the way until race day instead of testing it and re-injuring it before Sunday.
• The temperature at the start of the race was rapidly increasing, already reaching 75 F with 70% humidity, but luckily the cloud cover came by the midpoint in the race. Without those clouds, the end of the race could have been a little more interesting (assuming I didn’t drink enough fluids.) Being able to walk right into the ocean after the race was pretty nice though!
• There were a few musicians on the course and I have to admit, I got a huge boost of adrenaline from one band playing Jimi Hendrix! I don’t run with music anymore, but it’s not because I didn’t enjoy it. These bands (or boom boxes) definitely make the race more enjoyable if the right music is played!
• I obviously hadn’t done enough hill training before this race, because yesterday and today my calves and quads are super sore! I’m supposed to help move my fiancee’s furniture tonight as well, so that should be interesting. Going down stairs is the worst…but must have meant I was flying down the hills!

At this point I’m not sure I want to make the Fairfield Half-Marathon my annual race for the distance, so we’ll just have to play it ear next year to see which races end up on the schedule. I do prefer the small town-ness of the course over the big city-ness of Providence, so there’s a good possibility that you’ll see me there next year.

Along with the Evoskin was the announcement that Inov-8 plans to put out even moer minimalist shoes than those already in their product line, including (gasp!) a shoe with zero heel-to-toe drop! You can see their explanation of the “Shoc-Zone” here, including images of two potential new models (both of which I’ll be anxiously awaiting!)

Not to be outdone, Vibram and Merrell announced that they’re working together on a new minimalist shoe line, called the Merrel Barefoot Collection. They’ll use Vibram’s expertise in shoe soles and experience with the minimalist market with VFFs, along with Merrell’s reputation as a manufacturer of high quality hiking/trail shoes. You can see some of the prototype images here and here.

Finally, it appears that we have a new player in the minimalist shoe market, with GoLite set to introduce a few models later this year.

It’s great to see so many new options coming in the future, even if many of them (Evoskin, new Inov-8′s) won’t be out until next year

Earlier this week though I was looking for some new running spots at the new house and headed north into Rhode Island to the Arcadia Management Area. I brought the dog, so I knew he’d only be able to handle three miles or so, since he gets exhausted pretty quickly in the heat these days! That was fine with me though, as it was after work and I didn’t want to get too far into the woods without knowing exactly how to get back to the car (other than turning around and coming back the same way.) I found a map of the place, but since I couldn’t even find the “you are here” mark, it was pretty useless! I’ve since done some research and should have a better idea of where to go next time though.

Anyways, here are some links for your enjoyment…

• Barefoot Ted likes running naked from the ankle down [Seattle PI] – A great interview with Barefoot Ted (of Born to Run fame) about, what else, barefoot running! In the interview he discusses some of the fundamentals of running barefoot, along with tips for beginners and more.
• The Barefoot Running Book review [Barefoot Josh] – Josh gives a quick review of Jason’s (of Barefoot Chronicles) barefoot running book. If you want to buy yourself a copy, feel free to head to my Recommendations page (hit next at the bottom) and check it out!
• The Steve Magness Interview [Tips 4 Running] – Just felt like sharing this interview, which had an interesting quote, “The key is running form. Certain shoes simply impede the process of running right. It doesn’t matter if you wear the most minimal shoe or even no shoes if you still run wrong…You can absolutely run correctly without having to go barefoot. You can run correctly in the heaviest of trainers. It will be much harder to do because you are not getting the conscious or subconscious feedback that occurs barefoot or in a minimalist shoe, but it can be done…The bottom line is that barefoot running should be a tool to improve running form. “.

Last but not least, here’s a video of Miss Canada World 2010, Denise Garrido, who makes Vibram Five Fingers look good!

Anyways, here are a bunch of running links that have been piling up the past week, starting with an incredible barefoot running achievement. Enjoy!

• Barefoot 24 hr race- 165,200 meter or 102.65 miles [The Running Barefoot] – Amazing feat by barefoot/ultra-runner Todd Ragsdale, who I assume set some kind of record with his Relay for Life (Medford, Oregon) performance!
• Why Anton Krupicka Runs Barefoot – Embracing the simplicity of running [Running Times] – Great article about why elite (and minimalist) ultra-runner Anton Krupicka trains and runs barefoot or in minimal shoes. Also, he posts a picture of his feet following his Miwok 100k victory. Just think, if he ran the race barefoot, the top of his feet would still be pretty…not sure about the bottom of them though!
• Barefoot running is NOT “injury free” [Barefoot Josh] – Josh stresses that it IS indeed possible to hurt yourself running barefoot if you’re not careful and smart about how you do it. Just take it easy and think about what you’re doing!
• You owe me $1000 [Barefoot Josh] – Another post by Josh, where he takes a jab at yours truly, in response to my What’s In a Name post. Although I’m not sure he fully represented the point of my post, I’ll let it slide for now I DO agree with the points he makes in the post though, as runners going straight to minimalist shoes like Vibram Five Fingers and doing too much too soon, then hurting themselves, could easily give a bad name to barefoot running…even if they weren’t even BAREFOOT running! In my defense, you’ll never see me refer to a run as a “barefoot run” unless I was actually barefoot.
• Report: 37th Annual Hospital Hill Run (UMKC School of Medicine 5K) [Barefoot and Grounded] – Congratulations to @BarefootMichael on his first organized (and barefoot) race!
• 10 More Things I Learned From Barefoot Ted [Running Quest] – More barefoot running tips from Clynton, based on his learnings from the one and only Barefoot Ted.
• Video review of the Inov-8 F-Lite 230 trail running shoe [Inov-8] – Just realized that my post got mentioned on the official Inov-8 website! Although I can’t take credit for the actual video
• Recovery–don’t skip it! [MissZippy1] – Reasons why you shouldn’t skip your recovery run.

Finally, here’s a cool video from the Pineland Farms Barefoot 5k race…

(via Run to Win)

Another video of the same race (no music this time!)

After a lot of talk about the Hartford Marathon as my first marathon, I made a knee-jerk decision to sign up for the Amica Marathon in Newport, RI this afternoon! The marathon is October 17th, about a week after the Hartford Marathon would have been, but that really had no bearing on my decision to switch. Newport is MUCH more scenic than Hartford to begin with, plus the website for the Amica Marathon claims it to be the fourth best marathon in the country. That’s all the convincing I need!

Now it’s time to get to some serious training. With my brother’s wedding this weekend, my running might suffer a bit, but I’ll be back with a vengeance starting Monday (or Sunday if I’m feeling extra good after a night of celebrating!)

Anyways, time to start worrying :-\

This argument is between the “true” barefoot runners and those who wear minimalist shoes like VFFs or Terra Plana Evo’s. The barefooters say that you need your soles in direct contact with the ground to get the real benefits. Even minimalist shoes allow you to ignore some of the bodies warning signals and allowing your form to suffer. The minimalist shoe wearers argue that a thin sole between them and the ground allows nearly the same form as if they were barefoot, but with the added benefit of being able to worrying less about scrapes and puncture wounds. This allows them to run at a faster speed and maintain their competitiveness in races, etc.

Even more recently however, in the Minimalist Running Google Group that I subscribe to, there was a post debating the point at which someone could refer to themselves as “Barefoot <name>.” Naturally, this would strike a chord with Barefoot Brandon! Many of those responding on the post came to the conclusion that you had to run a full marathon barefoot before you could give yourself the title. As someone currently referring to himself with the Barefoot prefix and as someone who has never run a marathon in any time of footwear (or lack of,) I figured I’d give my excuse/justification/defense…

• My name is Brandon and considering all the domain name squatting going on these days, BarefootBrandon.com was just too good to let sit by the wayside until I ran a full marathon barefooot! Plus, Minimalist Brandon just doesn’t have the same ring to it…and also makes it sound like I’m promoting nudism or something
• I believe in ideas and concepts behind barefoot running and use my limited (at the moment) barefoot running as training for when I run longer runs in my Vibram Five Fingers (or other minimalist shoes.)
• I plan to run barefoot more often in the future, although it’ll take somewhat of a backseat until I’ve run my first marathon (in VFFs.)
• I’m barefoot or wearing minimalist shoes nearly 100% of time I’m not running.
• The blog isn’t all about ME! I also share links to studies about barefoot running and posts by other “true” barefoot bloggers.
• However, it is MY blog and I’ll do what I like…so there!

Anyways, enough complaining, time to share some links from the past week for your enjoyment…

• A Simple Kind Of Man [Competitor] – Great interview with minimalist ultramarathon runner Anton Krupicka, who recently won the Miwok 100K. Definitely interesting to see his take on the Ultra Marathon Man, Dean Karnazes.
• Interview with Patrick Sweeney, Winner of the Palos Verdes Marathon [Birthday Shoes] – He won the marathon wearing Vibram Five Fingers! We need more finishes like this to legitimize them. Sweeney also runs the blog Bourbon Feet, where he discusses his love for drinking adult beverages…running…and sometimes both at the same time!
• Michael Wardian Video Interview: 2010 Comrades Marathon [iRunFar] – Interview with Wardian, who Krupicka (above) bested at Miwok, regarding his running of the Comrades Marathon.
• Desperate Housewife Stalks Male Supermodel in Sports Death March [Outside] – Interesting article about extreme ultrarunner Pam Reed, who attempts to go head-to-head with Dean Karnazes for publicity in the world of ultramarathon running. While generally a reclusive and ego-free sport, Reed and Karnazes are doing everything they can to take it mainstream…whether or not anyone else likes it.
• The Barefoot Running Injury Epidemic [Competitor] – Author Matt Fitzgerald discusses an apparent increase in barefoot running injuries recently, which makes sense due to the increased number of people doing it these days. He also elaborates and hints that the rate of injury is greater among barefoot runners than among those wearing shoes, which is where he starts to get into murky waters. The injuries to barefoot runners are primarily due to lack of discipline in taking it slow during the transition. If the situation was reversed (run barefoot whole life, then jump to shoes and try to run same distance,) we’d probably see an article mentioning the alarming rate of injury for runners wearing shoes. The problem is that there is still a lack of data to really tell which style of running causes/prevents injuries at the higher rate. Proper running form is probably the biggest determinate of whether you’re going to injure yourself or not anyways, so if a lot of people who have poor form in shoes are switching to barefoot and running too far to start, of course they’re going to injure themselves. Alright, enough rambling, read the article if you like.
• Remains of the Day: The Caffeine Potency Chart Edition [LifeHacker] – For those coffee and energy drink drinkers out there, here’s a good chart to see how the caffeine levels measure up.
• 20 Worst Drinks in America 2010 [Men's Health] – Sticking with the beverages theme, here are the worst drinks you can find, compared to the sweets you could eat instead

Finally, just wanted to let people know that I made another purchase of Vita Coco coconut juice. I heard somewhere that coconut juice is even better than Gatorade for re-hydrating and using Amazon’s subscription deal (free shipping, plus a discount!) it’s pretty cheap!