Don't go barefoot!

Runners are slowly catching on to the fact that although the running shoe industry churns out increasingly "protective" shoes, we're still geting injured in our droves.

The New York Times has picked up on the trend among runners to switch to minimalstic shoes. The NYT showed that it was particularly taken with the Vibram Five Fingers (should be toes), which are more socks than shoes.

They are a giant step beyond the Nike Frees, which were advertised as being able to give you the barefoot experience, but are still very much cushioned shoes, albeit giving the foot a fantastic degree of freedom compated to standard running shoes.

But the NYT piece was a oittle confusing. A running friend who alerted me to the story said: "Interesting though about there being no evidence that one type of shoe or another helps/prevents injuries. Sort of negates all that panic about running in old shoes. Apparently, it doesn't really matter what you run in."

Which is not at all what the research says. I couldn't help going into a mini-rant when I emailed back:

"That's not how I read the research (what there is of it). What little there is supports the idea that motion control/"protective"/whatever you want to call, them modern running shoes do not reduce the injury rate in runners and may even CAUSE injuries (that was the gist of Richards' earlier research which this article didn't dare quote).

"So it is important to wear the most minimal shoe you can get away with given your weight, flexibility/lack of, strength/lack of and biomechanics. The average overweight, barely-in-shape heel striker might be worse off in minimalistic shoes, but the problem is while they continue to use "protective" shoes those shoes will actively stop them developing the proper gait and form they need to run efficiently and injury-free (Catch 22). Ideally, runners need to be doing strength and conditioning exercises to help them transition to an efficient gait and to gradually experiment with more neutral shoes... but no one bothers to do that.

"End of that rant. Part two is that none of this evidence and experience supports the idea that running in worn-out old shoes is good for you!! Trust you to look for an excuse not to buy new running shoes!!!!

"The problem with old shoes is that the wear pattern on the sole exaggerates whatever quirks you have biomechanically and will increase the risk of injury - in an extreme case it can be like permanently running on a camber! But it's true that what doesn't really matter is the fact that the cushioning foam wears out and doesn't "protect" you any more."

She got the message :)

"Yes, I will admit that my no new shoes might be a stretch, but I liked my interpretation. I was going to buy new shoes today, but when I read the article last night, I promptly put it off until later this week. And now I am thinking of going back to getting a new pair like my shoes from a year ago, which were sort of neutral, not those structure things, which I didn't really like. "

What's the best diet for an athlete?

I'm thinking about tweaking my diet.

I eat healthily, but noticed today I haven't had real live vegetables for about a week. My standard dinner is often a tin of tune and a can of beans. OK, so i mix oilive oil, turmeric, oregano and rosemary in the tuna... but eve so. This is like convenience wholefood eating.

So I may give the Stone Age eating style another go. I'm naturally inclined that way, and the latest stimulus comes from Dr Loren Cordain - author of The Paleo Diet and co-auhtor of The Paleo Diet for Athletes.

Dr Corain's latest e-newsletter reports

"Athletes use the Paleo Diet while training: As an athlete training for London 2012, Ursula James is following the Paleo Diet with the help of The Paleo Diet Implementation Program. On Ursula's blog she talks about being inspired to hear that Bryan Volpenhein, 3-time Olympian rower and chef, also followed Paleo while training and he felt leaner and recovered quicker. The Paleo Diet for Athletes has helped athletes achieve breakthrough performances, improve endurance, train more intensely, increase muscle mass and leanness, recover more quickly, and eliminate upper respirator y infections. Ursula also shares some the changes she made in her choice of foods, such as a great source for alternative flours like almond meal flour, on her blog."

Naturally I bombed over to Ursula's blog to check this out. "The big push for a change in diet is ultimately athletic performance, but also changing to become a healthy lightweight for rowing", she says. Now that hit home; in running, the quickest way to improve your time is to lose 4lb or so :) . Look how lean our running Gods the Kenyans are.

"Watching Michael Phelps eat so much ‘take away’, junkie-food was unbelievable! That he could perform at such a level eating that! All us athletes should be so lucky. But lightweight rowing requires more attention to have you get your calories." Same for us runners.

So.. let's, see if I can do this...it's basically fruit, veg, lean meat/fish and nuts. No bread, no milk.

Read your way to better performance: new book is the best ever written on the Lydiard system

Simply the best book ever on the training system that has probably transformed more runners into champions than any other.

I got a copy of Running the Lydiard Way in 1978 and it went everywhere with me, 24 hours a day for at least two years, while Arthur's way changed me from an average club hack into a county-class runner. I don't know where Keith Livingstone's book is going to take me, but I've already started carrying it around.

Finally, 30 years on, we get an update and a full explanation of what the Lydiard system really is and how it works. Very exciting!

Even better, Keith writes as a New Zealander born and bred right there in Lydiard land, being himself coached by Olympic medallist Barry Magee, one of Arthur's originals. So here is the true word on Lydiard, direct from original sources.

It's become fashionable to bash Lydiard these days; many of us who had direct contact with the "master coach" have tried and failed to correct the complete tosh that is often claimed as being "Lydiard training" - the most common myth being that he advocated a minimum of 100 miles a week at barely above jogging pace. Here at last is chapter and verse on EXACTLY what Arthur intended, with plenty of real-life examples of how Arthur and his runners adapted the basic system to individualise it for runners of different capabilities.

You'll see, for example, how to use sessions of long slow distance therapeutically, to help recover form. Keith has also done a great job of providing the missing science; although Arthur has been hailed as the greatest running coach of all time, Keith reminds us that Arthur was actually a milkman; he worked things out by experimenting on himself and then with trial and error plus intuition. 30 years on, and with the benefit of the latest research, we can see why Arthur's system works so well -- and also what we need to tweak to make it even more effective.
To that end, Keith brings in the research of Dr Jack Daniels on Vo2 and "V dot" pacing that clarifies what some of Arthur's sessions were out to achieve; he incorporates the "mass-specific" model of strength training developed by Barry Ross; and he includes contributions from Nick Bideau, coach of Craig Mottram, and NZ triathlon coach Chris Pilone, who guided Hamish Carter to 2004 Olympic gold.

A brilliant book, endorsed by Barry Magee and marathon great Lorraine Moller, co-founder of The Lydiard Foundation -- this is a must-have.

Fame at last: I'm a Colorado Runner of the Year

It's fame and glory time: this month's Colorado Runner magazine features me and Dwight Cornwell as winners of our age divisions in the Colorado Runner Racing Series - headlined on the front cover as "Colorado Runners of the Year".

All the interviews were edited for reasons of space, which left out a mention of training partner Patty Murray as well as one of my key training secrets. The unexpurgated version is below.

Picture shows me and team-mate Susan Brooker in the Aetna 10-miler. This year it was a 15-race series starting in January and ending in November.There were 4 5ks, an 8-mile trail race, 2 half-marathons, 2 10milers, 2 10ks, 1 12k and 1 25k trail race, all over Colorado, some at 8,000-feet plus. I ran 9 scoring races, winning 4 and getting 2 2nds and 3 3rds.

I opened the Series in January by running 20:05 for third place in the Oatmeal Festival 5K in Lafayette, CO. I clinched the series by winning the Eerie Erie 5k in 19:02.

That put me more than 200 points clear of second-placed Heath Hibberd, from Montrose, a trail running specialist who handed me some severe defeats in the longer events of the Series. Third place was Devin Croft, from Littleton. We were all 55.

Tell me a little about yourself: your age, where you live, what you do for a living, etc
I live the life of a professional elite athlete only without the recognition, the sponsorship and the million-dollar winnings; I also have to work and I turned 56 in December, but apart from that it is a very similar lifestyle. I moved to Boulder from London four years ago in pursuit of a more laid-back place to live and had no idea what I was getting into.

Why do you run?
Because I'm too scared to stand and fight.

How do you train?
Carefully.
My 2nd year in Boulder I had a blisteringly successful year, taking 11 minutes off my 10k time, and I've been recovering ever since. I'm really greatful for advice from Lorraine Moller, who made me throw my Garmin away and taught me that training has to be fun. She put me on the road back. I since found a "home" with Ric Rojas, who has been my day-by-day coach this year and opened my eyes to a doing more with less style of training that suits me down to the ground. I have driven him crazy by constantly switching goals.
Most of my emphasis is on recovery after training, rather than the training itself; this involves lying on the sofa and drinking lots of tea. I believe that groaning and complaining a lot are key.
Do you have a favorite place to train?
At home, indoors, doing repeats up three flights of stairs with my two cats.

What is your favorite race?
Any race where I perform better than expected. Also almost any race where I come home with something more than yet another race t-shirt. I need to be able to stagger in the front door saying "Look what i won today, honey!"

Do you have any advice for other runners?
The absolute best way to fail is to copy what everyone else is doing, and/or take advice from people who don't really know why they get the results they do.
Apart from that, something from Ric: often the most important thing is showing up - consistency in training inevitably brings results. Look at the Racing Series: to do well you have to stay healthy and be consistent enough to turn in reasonable perfmances from January to November.

What did you enjoy most about running this year?
1) Running fast and effortlessly along a trail out near Wonderland Lake and being blessed with having a eagle glide at the same pace and just below me for 100 yards. 2) Occasionally being able to train with triple national champion and world's medallist Patty Murray - which is very similar to running with an eagle, but requires more effort on my part.

What are your goals for 2009?
1) To decide that I am a 1500m/mile/5k specialist and stick to it. 2) To develop some sort of facial grimace and/or a signature grunting noise so that my friends in Ric Rojas Running will accept I really AM trying.

Is there anything about you that other runners might be interested to know?
I am British born and bred and regularly hallucinate that I am Seb Coe, Steve Ovett or Steve Cram, sometimes Lasse Viren, and more often than I like to admit, Paula Radcliffe. I am plagued by an inbuilt drive to relentlessly explore new ideas about running (as well as my specialist field of complementary and alternative medicine). I benefit here from ongoing discussions with and feedback from team-mates Dwight Cornwell (winner of the 60-64 age group) and sprinter Steven Sashen, while Ric somehow succeeds in keeping me grounded in reality.