Running

My friend Tom turned me to TED for the first time a few year ago.  Then another friend said on Twitter that the TED iPad app was awesome.  Since I have little TV to watch here in Geneva TED has become my 20 minutes a day before going to sleep where I try to see an interesting video to make me think about something else other than work and the kids (then I try 20 min. of meditation right before going to sleep).  So last Friday night I saw this TED video on running and was very intrigued by the Tarahumara story



I didn't know whether to believe the whole TED speech by Christopher McDugall or not but my friend German had been trying to convince me for a while to try barefoot running which I was honestly too scared to try (I've always had either knee or ankle problems and have felt that I need all the protection I can get in the form of really bulky but stable shoes). But last night after I saw ANOTHER amazing speech from TED on running, I decided to download the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I'm only 10% into the book but I'm already fascinated by this whole barefoot running thing.  Of course it seems like the #1 question people come up with is "how do you do it, how do you run barefoot?".  So I looked up a couple of videos on YouTube that explain how to get started.  I think I really want to do this after the half marathon on May 15 (I'm definitely not brave enough to attempt it during training for a half marathon).  I've already looked up these Vibram Five Fingers shoes for barefoot running that I'm going to get myself for Mother's Day and try out a couple of weeks after the half marathon. Even if I don't do it all the time it seems that at least doing it part of the time helps to diminish some of the pains and injuries from running with traditional shoes.  I also looked at the NIKE Free shoes but it seems that the Vibram Five Fingers might be the best way to go.  I just hope I'm not doing something totally crazy. Who knows? This might be the thing to inspire me to go for a whole marathon.  Also, there was a quote from the Born to Run book I found really cool so I wanted to share it here. I hope it's inspiring to my friends who are trying to get into running.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." 

Happy Running!

Comments

Tom said…
Ivette - Awesome! Go for the barefoot running! I saw the TED video and was interested but haven't tried it yet - but everyone who runs marathons at work have been trying to get me to read Born to Run (I haven't yet). One of Meghan's sister's friends ran a 100 mi ultra marathon and I think he used those "barefeet shoes" which look a little crazy but I saw some at the Pig last year and the Turkey Trot so I think they are getting more popular.

I can't wait for your product review blog later!
Unknown said…
Thanks for the encouragement Tom. I am now 35% into the book and it keeps getting better and better, highly recommend you read it. It's hard to believe it's non-fiction it's so interesting!
Unknown said…
Tom, check out this talk@Google from BarefootTed.com!

http://barefootted.com/labels/fivefingers.html
Jan said…
Glad you will use Vibram soles for a good transition. You should also run barefoot on the beach when you are in PR. This strenghtens toes, feet and ankles. Try to run barefoot on grass before you hit the asphalt. My feet got so hard running barefoot I could put out cigarette butts. have fun experimenting!

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