There is a perfectly good tool for that!, why would I choose to run barefoot?

I bought a pair of Merrell Barefoot trail running shoes over the weekend. Let me start by saying that I’ve been skeptical about barefoot running for some time. I still am actually. I am one of those people who look at forks as the evolutions of archaic tools that have evolved over time and the whole idea of using chopsticks is still ridiculous to me. So why would I choose to run around with shoes that basically mimic me running without shoes? My Vomero +6 Nikes are wonderful and I recently completed my first half marathon in them and the very next day was walking around with minimal muscle soreness. Why am I entertaining using a tool that seems archaic to me?

In my research of barefoot shoes, I noticed that over and over again, people said that running in these shoes forces your body to use different muscles. Having been athletic since my youth, I know that changing up your routine is great for muscle development and as an adult runner, cross training is good for many reasons that help you maintain a healthy and long running life. So why purchase these shoes? In the back of my mind, I wondered if similar to fartlek’s and tempo runs, if weaving in a few barefoot runs into my training for distance races, if it would help my ability to complete distance races with less fatigue and ultimately faster finish times.

A number of people, including the woman at the counter at the sporting store that I purchased the shoes from told me that I shouldn’t just switch wholly over to the barefoot shoes, but should ease into using the shoes in my running schedule.

I did the research on the value of barefoot running, researched types of barefoot shoes, have now purchased a pair of shoes and have run a short distance in them.

The shoes are amazing! Walking around in the Merrell's is very comfortable and I definitely feel closer to the ground. Maybe it is just because the shoes are physically lighter than my Vomeros, but I do feel lighter wearing the Merrell’s. I then went for a short mile run at my 80% pace, which is about 9:15 per mile. Instantly I felt different running without my cushy Nikes. I was nervous that my shins would start hurting, which is my indicator when my cushy sneakers are at the point of needing to be replaced, but my shins didn’t hurt. What I noticed was that the rear sides of my calf muscles were being worked. The mile seemed to fly by and I even kicked up my pace to 9, 8:30, and finally 8 minutes per mile at the end of the mile.

I’m still not advocating switching wholly to barefoot shoes, but am interested in adding this type of running to my arsenal of training tools for preparation for distance racing. Don’t worry my dear Vomero’s, I still love you and you are my loyal partner come race day.

New Year

Happy New Year!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Bedroom

Italian to English - 003

This time we learn about Anthony and Bruno's school, and their friend Christine and her friend Jennifer.

Antonio frequenta l'ultimo anno del liceo classico. Le sue materie preferite sono latino, scienze e inglese. I professori sono bravi, ma molto esigenti. Interrogano gli studenti ogni giorno e assegnano molti compiti.

Anthony frequents the last year of high school. The material that he prefers is Latin, Science and English. The professors are good, but very demanding. They interogate the students every day and assign a lot of homework.

Antonio e un bravo studente; ogni giorno studia molte ore con il suo amico Bruno. Entrambi prendono sempre buoni voti. Quest'anno hanno il difficile esame di maturita. Dopo il liceo i due ragazzi desiderano studiare medicina per curare i bambini ammalati.

Anthony is a good student; every day he studies many hours with his friend Bruno. Both of them always get good grades. This year they have the difficult final exam. After school the two friends would like to study medicine to treat sick children.

La sera, quando sono stanchi di studiare, Antonio e Bruno incontrano Christine e la sua amica Jennifer al bar Tre Scalini in piazza Navona. Insieme bevono un caffe e parlano italiano e inglese.

In the evening, when they are tired of studying, Anthony and Bruno meet Christine and her friend Jennifer at the Tre Scalini bar in the piazza Navona. Together they drink a coffee and speak Italian and English.

Qualche volta vanno a giocare a biliardo e a calcetto in un centro giovanile o guardano una partita di pallacanestro alla televisione.

Some time they go and to play billiards and table football in the youth center or they watch a game of basketball on the television.

Italian to English - 002

In the second installment we learn more about Anthony and Christine’s schools.

Antonio è gentile e simpatico.  Christine è carina e allegra.  A scuola di Antonio ci sono molti studenti.  Alcuni sono italiani, altri di diverse nazionalità: marocchini, albanesi e polacchi.  La scuola di Antonio è nuova, bella e grande.  La scuola di Christine è piccola.  Ci sono solo studenti americani.

Anthony is kind and nice.  Christine is pretty and cheerful.  At Anthony’s school there are many students.  Some are Italian, others are of diverse nationalities: Moroccan, Albanian, and Polish.  Antony’s school is new, beautiful and big.  Christine’s school is small.  There are only American students.

Italian to English - 001

This is the first installment of the Italian to English translation blog.  The first paragraph is in Italian and the second paragraph is the English translation.  Here we go…

Antonio e Christine sono amici.  Antonio è un ragazzo italiano: è di Roma.  Il suo cognome è Ciampi.  Christine è una ragazza Americana: è di Lancaster, una piccola città della Pennsylvania.  È in Italia con la sua famiglia.  Il suo cognome è Smith.

Tony and Christine are friends.  Tony is an Italian boy: he is from Rome.  His last name is Ciampi.  Christine is an American girl: she is from Lancaster, a small city of Pennsylvania.  She is in Italy with her family.  Her last name is Smith.

A new idea

I finally came up with a unique idea for a blog and ultimately an RSS feed.  I know many people who don't use a web client to view blogs, but simply pull up google reader or a similar tool to read their favorite blogs over RSS.  My idea is not that unique, but an expansion of an existing idea.  We have all seen the "word of the day" feeds in a variety of languages.  I am thinking about publishing a semi regular RSS feed that translates mini conversations into Italian.  Why you say?  On those "word of the day" sites you get to see a word used in one sentence, but that is it.  It is the same in non-English languages.  Yes, I'll admit that I am using this as a self teaching tool for myself too, but I do think that if there was more than just one sentence, it would be easier to learn the language.  This may turn into another idea that fizzles out, but I'm up for trying it if you are. 

First Post

First Post

This is a first post through openoffice and a new plugin I downloaded.

Test Color

Jason