Matt Metzgar

Walk Breaks

I think one part of running that hasn't been studied enough is the use of walk breaks.  A few weeks ago, this New York Times article generated a lot of discussion about the subject.  Some people felt that taking a walk break during a race was not appropriate for "real runners".  Others commented on how they have effectively used walk breaks to complete marathons and stay injury-free.

From a strictly racing point of view, walk breaks would not help an elite runner, except for maybe walking though a water station.  I don't see the Kenyans taking time to walk and recover during a race.  What I'm more interested in is the health aspect.  Is running with walk breaks healthier than continous running?

Based on the evidence available, I would have to say yes.  If you read accounts of hunter-gatherers on the hunt, they often stop for walk breaks or to check the trail.  Also, you can look at the ultra-runners on trails who stop to walk up steep hills.  In the book, "Born to Run", the author discusses how the Tarahumara Indians often choose to walk instead of run up a steep hill.

The underlying key here is energy expenditure.  If a hunter is on an endurance hunt, only a moderate overall pace is needed to keep up with the prey.  Why risk exhaustion by running up steep hills if walking will still keep you in the chase?

In addition, here is a new study I found related to this.  Subjects performed either a low-intensity continuous run or a moderate-intensity intermittent run, both for 90 minutes over the same distance.  It turns out that the continuous run raised LDL "bad" cholesterol, while the intermittent run raised the HDL "good" cholesterol.  No matter what one thinks of the cholesterol theory, it certainly looks like the intermittent protocol was superior in this regard.

The Vibrams Are Back

I have received my Vibram KSOs in the larger size.  I have been wearing them and so far, so good.  The only problem is that the back still rubs against my Achilles tendon a little bit.  To remedy this, I've put a small piece of sports tape on the back of each heel.  This seems to have solved the problem.

These are shoes that you can forget you're wearing.  I put them on this morning to go outside for a bit, and since then I've had no motivation to take them off.  Normally, I immediately kick off whatever shoes I'm wearing when I enter the house.

The next step is to wear them on extended walks and then some running.

Natural Posture Running

I came across this website for "Natural Posture Running".  This running style is similar to Pose and Chi running with some subtle differences.  The method has been developed by two runners in their 70s, so it shows you that this style is applicable to all ages.

Natural Posture Running emphasizes good posture and the familiar lean to harness the power of gravity.  It also highlights relaxed arm and leg movements to mimic how children run.  This method was tested at a university and was shown to improve running.  The website is worth a look.

Unbalanced Meals

Normally, you read about prescriptions for "balanced meals" - proper amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat in a meal.  However, I've noticed that with my toddler, this seems to be the exception more than the rule.  I see more of an intuitive approach to eating, rather than an attempt to get all the macronutrients in one sitting.

For example, some meals end up being only fruit consumed, or only vegetables consumed, or only meat consumed.  Sometimes a little of each, or sometimes only two of the three.  It is much less common for equal amounts of fruit, vegetables, and meat to be consumed.

I feel this intuitive way of eating is probably gone for most adults.  There are too many artificial foods or foods with chemical additives that have probably dulled the sense.  Probably if you grew up eating natural food I would think this intuition is still there.  Growing up eating the Standard American Diet, I'm not sure this sense can be fully restored.

Efficient Walking

For some time, I've thought that modern shoes are just as bad for walking as they are for running.  I often see people walking with giant steps that land heel-first, and this looks terribly inefficient and painful to me.  I don't think anyone would walk barefoot on a hard surface this way.

The above video shows a more efficient way to walk.  Just like with proper running, the key is to land with the feet under the center of gravity.  I think of myself as a compact walker.  I try to keep my feet underneath me while "walking the line".  I feel it's also helpful to cut down on unnecessary upper body movement as well.

Quadrupedal Movement

During my parkour session a couple of weeks ago, we did some crawling on hands and feet (quadrupedal movement - QM) to warm up.  Then I saw where QM is one of the 12 MovNat categories of movement.  This led me to start practicing at home to get the hang of it.  Good form is, I believe, keeping your hips low and your back flat.

For my last few outdoor workouts, I have included some QM.  For example, tonight I did a set of sprints and then a set of QM.  I think the key is that this type of movement is really enjoyable.  It certainly feels natural, and it gives me a good feeling afterwards.  It may be one of those movement patterns that humans are "wired" for.  One other unexpected benefit is that it seems to have strengthened my lower back!  Whatever the case, I plan on keeping with the QM for the time being.

Running at the Speed Limit

If you take the ideas that historically, humans ran barefoot and ran on trails, you start to wonder how this impacts stride length.  Christoper McDougall has discussed this recently: "Modern running shoes let people run with their foot in front of their hips, picking up two feet of stride. You can't do that with the naked foot—it hurts."

I think both parts of historical running, trails and bare feet, are important.  For example, as Will commented, a person running on trails with thick modern shoes is not really having to deal with the trail.  They do not have to worry much about stepping on harmful objects.  Running in shoes on trails may be better than running in shoes on pavement, but there is still something missing.  If you are running barefoot on a trail, you have to run in more of a defensive manner.

Also, if you run barefoot on a manicured surface, you are also missing something.  For example, last winter I ran inside on a track barefoot.  While this was better than nothing, it missed out on the variation that comes from natural terrain.

It seems like trails and bare feet would create a natural "speed limit" for running.  In these conditions you would undoubtably take a short stride length to protect yourself from injury.  It may then turn out that very short stride lengths are "natural", even though they may not lead to the fastest race times.

Below is a video of Erwan from MovNat doing some barefoot running.  Notice that he can speed up sometimes, but other times he has to slow down due to the terrain.  This type of running experience strikes me as almost completely different than running at a constant speed on a track or flat surface.

Rochester Parkour

I found out that there was a local parkour club in Rochester.  Today, they had an open session so I decided to check it out.  I am a parkour novice, having only read about parkour and seen a few videos.

The session was led by a younger guy, who I think is a local college student.  I was a good bit older than everyone else, but that was okay.  After a warm-up, we started with a simple obstacle, jumping over a park bench.

Next was a running wall climb, where you sort of run up a wall and try to get over it.  For some reason, I seemed to excel at this.  A couple people said I made it look easy - I have no idea why, I've never done it before.

Finally, we moved on to balance, where you are walking on or vaulting over a railing.  After this, people started to do their own thing, and I called it a day.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience.  It actually made me feel both younger and older.  Younger because I can still do these things, but older because once you move out of your early 20s I think you lose some natural athleticism.  You can eat right and exercise but you can't turn back time.  Nevertheless, it was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and I will probably do it again.

Trail Running

For my workout yesterday, I did some intervals on grass in bare feet.  Then I decided to drive over and check out the trail I recently discovered.  On one side of the road, the trail was more "sanitized" - lots of gravel and out in the open.  On the other side of the road, the trail was mostly overgrown with plenty of trees providing shade.

I decided to check out the overgrown trail.  The trail seemed pretty clean, so I decided to do some barefoot trail running.  I ran about 4 minutes out and then 4 minutes back.  I didn't want to go that far because 1) I had no idea where I was going, and 2) I didn't know how my feet would hold up.

The run went surprisingly good.  Even though I was stepping on rocks and weeds, it wasn't that painful.  I can see where a person could build up to running longer distances barefoot on a trail.

I did notice something about my running form on the trail.  If I focus on using my hamstring to pull up my heel (like in Pose running), it somehow causes the foot to relax.  Otherwise, it feels like I am using my foot muscles too much.  It's a little hard to explain but I can feel the difference.

In Search of Trails

Since I've been doing my running on grass lately, I decided to see if there were any local trails.  As it turns out, the Genesee Valley Greenway has a trail right outside of town.  It is one of these many rails-to-trails projects that have been done across the country.  I plan on checking it out soon.