About Last Night: The Vancouver Running Symposium – Traditional Shoes vs. Minimalist Shoes

Chances are that by now you have come across someone wearing those ‘crazy looking’ toe shoes either at the gym, a fitness event or even at the Golden Globes. And in the running community, the topic of minimalist shoes (a shoe that imitates the feeling of running barefoot) versus traditional shoes has become the source of much debate. I may get raked across the coals by some of my peers for this over-simplified analogy, but it’s kinda like the iphone-Blackberry battle in the cell phone world.

Now I’m a Blackberry girl, I have been for the past eight years, but I do use Mac and have an ipod Nano. I like both brands (this would be where Conny would ‘cough-whore’ me), but certain products have features that I prefer over the other, and they work well in my life. So although I do wear traditional running shoes, I am naturally curious about the minimalist movement.

To find out more on the subject, last night I attended the Vancouver Running Symposium – Traditional Shoes vs. Minimalist Shoes with Conny, Soraiya and two hundred other running geeks.

We arrived early, saved our seats and headed for a quick bite to eat. The event was held at the Hotel Vancouver, so I was instantly a fan. Really, how often do you get to start a running symposium evening off in your favourite hotel lobby bar? No lemondrops were consumed on this excursion, but we did run into our friend Kim.

The event started promptly at 7:00pm with a brief introduction and then a 5-minute (and it was timed) presentation from each of the panel experts (each with his own set of very impressive credentials) on where they stood on the role of traditional footwear versus minimalist footwear in helping running performance and preventing injury.

A short break then took place where you could check out many of the sponsor minimalist products (those awful looking vibrams come in pink), grab a glass of water and popcorn (I never did find out where the popcorn was coming from). We then returned to our seats where three questions were posed to the panel (not exact wording)

1. What type of runner would you prescribe for a recreational runner?
2. What is the goal of footwear in injury prevention?
3. What orientation should shoe designers take in the next five years?

What ensued was a very educational and entertaining (if you like running geek humor) debate.

Here’s what I got out of it:

• A few stats: 80% of runners are heel/toe runners, 20% of runners are forefoot runners and there has been a 59% increase in runners from 2001-2009.
• Research shows the benefit in the use of minimalist shoes over traditional shoes when rehabbing many injuries including acute ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis.
• If you are thinking of making the switch from traditional shoes to minimalist, go slow, don’t expect to change shoes overnight and be able to do your regular training volume. If you are not already a forefoot runner (and 80% of us are not) your body and your running gait will need to adapt. Consider your goals before making the switch.
• When it comes to re-training your gait, get some advice from a professional, youtube can’t teach you everything (ok, I already knew that, but there are many who don’t). Don’t forget about your entire body, form, core, as well hip, ankle and foot mobility.
• Most injuries come from too much too soon or an old injury that was not properly rehabbed and has come back, I repeat most injuries come from too much too soon or an old injury that was not properly rehabbed and has come back.
• Shoes are an element of a good training plan.
• Each shoe manufacturer has their own variation of a minimalist shoe, some are more minimal than others, do your market research.
• Consistent variability – vary terrain, pace, grade, planes, movement and shoes.
• And just like in the iphone-Blackberry scenario, new developments in technology occur rapidly, the shoes you buy today will most likely be outdated in three months!

Will I be making the switch anytime soon? Here’s the interesting part, if you had asked me before Thursday evening, with all of my princess foot issues I would have said unequivocally no. But after listening to the panel and realizing that I am already doing a fair amount of barefoot training (albeit not running) in my Studio and spend a great deal of my time in minimalist shoes (hello Uggs) stranger things can happen. And have you seen the pretty colours they come in?

What do you think?

10 Reasons Running Doesn’t Suck As Much As You Think

When Conny posted this article earlier today by Susan Lacke, I felt it my duty to share.  And without further ado I give you

10 Reasons Running Doesn’t Suck As Much As You Think

The word “running” used to conjure up painful and awkward memories of gym class. My middle-school gym teacher, Mrs. Morey, would stand her roly-poly body at the top of the hill behind our school, barking through a megaphone between bites of beef jerky at us red-faced kids as we ran circles around the track. According to her, running  was supposed to build character, or whatever it is they teach gym teachers to say in gym teacher school.

Needless to say, most of the gasping kids on the track were thinking the same thing: Character? <bleep> you. Choke on your jerky, fatty.

Your first experience with running was probably in gym class. And it’s quite possible it left the same rancid taste in your mouth, with little desire to ever run again. But no more! I hit the reset button on my attitude towards running, and for the last two years, have gone from hating running to loving it (most of the time). Running really doesn’t suck as much as you think. Here’s why:

1. Most races and fun runs are full of hot bodies in very little clothing. Let me repeat that: HOT PEOPLE. WEARING PRACTICALLY NOTHING. Wear sunglasses, and ogle with reckless abandon.
2. You can lose weight by drinking nothing but hot water with lemon. Or you can run for an hour, treat yourself to a cookie and still fit into your skinny jeans. One of these options makes you bitchy; the other makes you rad.
3. Take your iPod with you, and your runs suddenly become a safe place to indulge your love of boy-band music. With enough practice, you can even blend in a couple dance moves from ‘Bye Bye Bye’. Don’t lie: You’ve still got that routine memorized.
4. When your boss, your melodramatic friend and your nagging to-do list won’t leave you alone, calmly put on your running shoes and head out the door. They won’t follow you. It’s a safer alternative to storming out with both middle fingers in the air (though you can -and should- still do this in your head, just for spectacular effect).
5. You’ll discover lululemon pants are good for more than just buying tampons and Cheez-its at Target (I know, ladies. My world was rocked with that discovery, too.).
6. Running is the last place you have to “be a lady.” Sweat, snot and sneaking behind a bush to pee is not only liberating it’s fun, in that giggly-childish-naughty kind of way.
7. Getting a run in before happy hour means you get tipsy on half a glass of wine instead of your usual two. That’s not being a lush, that’s just sound economic planning.
8. Studies have shown that runners have better sex. Sex counts as a cross-training workout, which in turn makes you a better runner, which – hello! – leads to even better sex. Really, the whole thing is full of win-wins.
9. Girls are lucky; there’s an entire industry committed to making us look awesome while getting our sweat on. Workout clothes come in all sorts of cool colors and designs. Jockstraps, on the other hand, will always be ugly with questionable stains.
10. Non-runners will sit on the couch and call you crazy. Those folks, sadly, will never learn what their bodies are capable of. You, on the other hand, will die knowing you completely, totally, unabashedly used up the body that was loaned to you. That’s not crazy. That’s freakin’ awesome.

Read entire article

Meet Susan Lacke

Celebrating With Garmin

This weekend Garmin and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary together!  So how does one celebrate such an occasion with a running device?  Easy, by going for a run and then of course a candle lit home cooked meal!  On the menu: grilled sirloin steak (mine topped with gorgonzola cheese), grilled veggies, mashed potatoes, gravy (oh yes I can, wait til you see my calories burned) and a glass or two of wine.  Hey, we have endured a lot together in such a short period of time; plantar fasciitis, IT band issues,  pulling out of marathon training, 3 1/2 marathons, 2 trail races, 1 Warrior Dash, 1 night race, a few dark days, a little RA damage, 4 pairs of runners, 2 boxes of hot shots, 1 1/2 tubes of Body Glide and 13 loops of Hayward Lake!

I will let the numbers speak for themselves, drum roll po-leeze…

	Trail Runs	Road Runs	Total
# of runs	100	82	182 Runs
Distance	834.09 km	632.67 km	1,466.76 km
Time (h:m:s)	118:23:28	70:47:55	189:11:24
Elevation Gain	19,016	6,999 m	26,014m

These numbers do not include Beginner Run Clinics, Speed Training Clinics and a handful of Fall runs where we were not on speaking terms.

The best part, total calories burned 84,369 (3,500 cals/lb), that’s just over 24lbs!  Now I know that this is not an exact number, it is a generic guess-timate by Garmin based on my age, height, weight, gender info.  And while my weight may have fluctuated over the year by 5lbs or so (for the better), and I do consume more food than the average bear, it is easy to see how with little or no exercise one’s weight can creep up over the course of a year.

So here’s to you Garmin on this margarita Monday, cheers to another year of running bliss!

Vibrams At The Globes?

My first reaction to this photo of The Descendants’ Shailene Woodley wearing her Vibram Five Fingers to the InStyle Golden Globe Awards After Party was “EESH”. Fitness attire is fitness attire. But after thinking about it for a moment, maybe she really does have the right idea. Perhaps if I had considered this look before running the Vegas Rock ‘N’ Roll this past December, I wouldn’t have scars from from the nasty blisters I received from my inappropriate choice of footwear, and Miss M wouldn’t have had the maraschino cherry stem experience!

However, I still firmly believe that you should NEVER wear your running jacket to dinner, no matter how casual the restaurant is.

Snow Day

Dedication? Insanity? Nope, this morning was all about bragging rights, photo ops, Susa’s first run in the snow and Boston…we may not all be running it, but we certainly all seem to be training for it!

However you spent your morning, I hope it involved playing in the white stuff.

Sit and Slide?

2011: The Year Of Wonder Woman

2011 was a year all of its own.  To quote Charles Dickens, 2011 “was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.  And I chose to pay homage to it by running the Las Vegas Rock ‘N’ Roll ½ Marathon dressed as Wonder Woman!

At first glance the whole costume thing may have looked like just a fun way to run a race, but it was really quite deliberate.  Although I am slightly shorter in stature, smaller in build, but maybe not when I am wearing my good bra (as I found out when I took the “Which Superhero Are You Quiz” and it asked if I wore a push-up bra), Wonder Woman is an adventurer, a princess, an ambassador and a warrior, which I can relate to.  She believes in truth (me too), justice (yes, also) and can psychically communicate with animals (something which I can’t do, but I do have that doggy/kitty voice that we all talk to our animals in), my jet isn’t invisible, it’s blue, but that’s ok I left it at home, but I did wear my star sapphire ring, which has been the object of much speculation and criticism, hey, I like it!  Thanks to my crafty Mum, my boomerang tiara was not only practical, it was sweat-proof and my indestructible gauntlets accommodated my Garmin…which of course didn’t work. I opted not to wear the lasso of truth for my trek, and for those of you that know me, you know full well that I would have ended up tangled up or tripping over it no matter how securely it was fastened to me, all part of my charm.

So after a year of ‘undulation’ for lack of a better word and also turning 40, running 21.1km up and back down the Vegas strip in a pair of booty shorts covered with stars paired with a red and gold lamé top, was to say the least liberating and pretty much my highlight of 2011.

Let’s raise our glasses together one last time this year.   Here’s to climbing the mountain and enjoying the view!

And to 2012, may it bring peace, good health and happiness.  Cheers my friends.

About Last Night

Spent last night in the big city. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to work off the oysters, Caesar salad, Ahi tuna, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mushrooms, creme brulee, wonder woman and a lemon drop martini or two, than with an early morning run through Coal Harbor and along the seawall.

T’was The Day Before Christmas

T’was the day before Christmas and all through my house,
My running family was stirring and so was my spouse,
Their wet shoes were placed by the backdoor with care,
In hopes that Vanessa’s goodies would soon be there.

The runners were nestled around the table ready to be fed,
While visions of Rae’s mimosas danced in their heads;
And Tony in his Santa hat and I in my cap
Had just settled down to shoot the crap.

When out in the hallway arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my counter to see what was the matter.
Away to the hallway I flew like a flash,
To see D’s birthday wine on the floor, thank goodness it didn’t smash.

The mud and the rain on my somewhat clean floor,
Gave luster, who am I kidding, hey, who’s at the door,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a big box of chocolates, and six more runners spreading Christmas cheer.

“Now, Colin! Now, Soraiya! Now, Murray you vixen!
On, Barry! On, Shelley! Oh Conny, is she still Blitzen?
To the top of the stairs! To the top of the wall!
Now eat away! Eat away! Eat away all!

We spoke many words, but not about work,
And filled all our bellies, without worrying about calories, what a perk.
Before I knew it, coffee was drawing to a close,
And giving a hug, to the door they rose.

They sprang to their cars, to my dog gave a whistle,
And away they all drove like the down of a thistle.
But I heard them exclaim, ere they drove out of sight,
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Jingle Bell run! I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the morning of my favourite day of the year. Merry Christmas.

Vanessa’s recipes:
Sausage and Egg Casserole

• 6 slices bread, cubed
• 1 pound sausage, browned, drained
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 8 each eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon, salt
• pepper to taste

Cube bread and place evenly in greased 9×13 pan or baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with sausage and cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over ingredients in pan. May cover and chill overnight. (if left overnight, remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking). Bake 45 minutes at 325 degrees or until set. Cut into squares to serve.
Serves 8 to 10.

Mini Cheddar and Bacon Frittatas

• 4 eggs
• 2 T. creamo
• ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 3 strips finely chopped cooked bacon
• 2 T. salsa
• ½ cup chopped bell peppers
• pepper and chili powder to taste (approx ½ t. each)

Beat eggs and creamo in a medium bowl – add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Grease mini muffin tin. Fill cups with egg mixture almost to the rim. Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes or until centers are set. Makes 12 mini frittatas.

Graduation Night

Due to traffic, the flu and a baby due in just days (not one of the runners, the wife of) the graduation run of the Beginner Running Clinic was small in numbers but HUGE in spirit.

Congratulations everyone on taking that 3 minute run at the end of September and turning it into a 30 minute run last night! I am so proud of you all.

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