Running the Streets

My latest for The Dallas Morning News, this time about a group in Plano, Texas, that combines group counseling with fitness and nutrition. The results? A better emotional state than solely counseling, and better fitness than just hitting the gym. Click here for a link to the story instead.

I’ve been terribly absent here for a while. I plan to hop back on soon with an update on my own personal fitness/running state.

The Dallas Morning News: Team Move

Here’s my latest Dallas Morning News story, this time about how to choose the right gym, understand the contract and stay motivated. Click on the link to see the whole thing. Thanks to an old school chum’s wife, Natalie Dickey (pictured with barbell, below), for participating in the story. She’s lost more than 85 pounds in a year and a half — pretty awesome, huh?

The Dallas Morning News: How to pick a gym

Big ‘ol overachieving running nerd! Most of us have to work our glutes off to keep up our running routines, and this dude’s complaining about his 7-day “vacation” from it. Which I suppose is why he’s an editor of a little magazine called Runner’s World and I’m not. But hmm … I guess if I had scenery like << that << to run around in, I might complain just a bit about the absence, too.

Pout time. Here’s the sad happenings since my last post: My body has been amazingly immobile this holiday season. Well, except for my hardworking mouth, which has done nothing but masticate gluten-free-crust pumpkin pie smothered in Cool Whip, chocolate-covered peanut butter balls and other epicurean badness for the past 30 days. (more…)

I need your help! I’m doing a story about how to choose a fitness center and what to do once you’ve joined. You can answer in the comments here or on Facebook. The story is aimed at people who are out of shape and/or are new to fitness. Now, fitness/the gym scene/running/etc. have always been a part of life for some of you — I have a question for you in a minute. But here are a few questions for those of you who discovered things later as an adult:

• What did you wish you knew when you joined a gym for the first time?
• Were there any instructions or answers that were difficult to get from staff?
• What classes, equipment, services, or other aspect was the most intimidating?
• After you joined, did you discover or experience something that made you wish you’d joined another gym instead?

Now for you fitness lifers (or anyone who’s joined a gym):

• What are your top five factors in choosing a fitness center? For instance, four my must-haves are proximity, fairly low-cost dues, an indoor track and yoga on its group exercise schedule. If the place has a wet sauna, too, I’m there. What about for you?
• What gadgets or programs do you use to keep you on top of progress?
• What do you do to motivate yourself to get in the car and go to the gym?

I look forward to your insight! The story is due to run the second week of January as part of a health package in The Dallas Morning News.

Christopher McDougall, the man who put a spotlight on barefoot running and the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico earlier this year, will give a free lecture, answer questions and sign copies of his book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, at the Cooper Aerobics Center. Details:

When: Noon-2 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 10
Where: Cooper Clinic Auditorium, 12200 Preston Road, Dallas (Click here for a map)
More: This is free, but it’s limited to the first 100 guests. Call 972-233-4832 ext. 4329 by Nov. 9 to reserve a spot.

Thanks to DMN editor Mike Merschel for the tip.

This blog sure has been all about the bare foot lately. Thanks to the commenters in my previous post who’ve read the story already. For those of you who haven’t, here you go:

• Barefoot running offers new challenge

(My foot after my first barefoot run; later, with a blood blister. Ew!)

Next, some interview highlights from my awesome sources that didn’t make it into the story:

Josh Stevenson, adventure racer from Christchurch, New Zealand

Q. What’s the worst barefooting injury or situation you’ve been in?
A. Stepping on dog poo would have to be the worst problem.

Q. What do your feet look like?
A. My feet are in the best shape they have ever been as you wear the dead skin off, and one of the important parts of bare foot running is looking after your feet … using products like glycerol bp to stop the feet from cracking and using medicated methylated spirits for drying certain parts out as to harden them up as required. (more…)

The nice folks at Vibram sent me a pair of FiveFinger Sprints the other day after hearing that I’m doing a story on barefoot running. I haven’t tried them out yet (rain! work! laziness!), but when I do I promise to give it to you straight. How weird do they feel? How is running different in FiveFingers vs. my cushy Asics? Will I get used to the toes? Will passers-by point and laugh? Will my husband cross the street? We shall see.

My story on barefoot running will be in The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the GuideLive section. Stories on this latest wave of the barefoot fascination have been written this year, and this one isn’t any more focused than that. It’s a general overview for folks who are like, “Barefoot what? Why?” I’ll post it here when it’s ready.

I’ve been following the barefoot running trend for a while, and I’m intrigued. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been a shoes-off kind of girl to begin with, and because my toes can function like most people’s fingers. I’ve always taken pleasure in tugging at the grass with them while sitting outside, or in raking the dirt with them, trying to decide if I think the granules feel rough or smooth. My bare feet have aided in my laziness, too. Dropped a pair of underwear while carrying an armload of clean laundry from the dryer to the bedroom? No problem, that’s what toes are for.

But running — I’m not so sure. I’ve technically run barefoot before, by default because I needed to run and happen to not have shoes on at the moment. I admit, it feels pretty fantastic. A completely different sensation than never realizing there’s this stuff called “ground” beneath the sole of those perfectly-engineered running shoes. My feet sort of register it like that delicious excitement a kid gets when she’s left alone with a box of donuts, television or the cute next-door neighbor boy after being over-protected all the time. Freedom.

So I saw this Active.com story on Twitter today about running barefoot and became re-intrigued. My whole life, running shoes have been the norm if you want to, well, run. Which is why it’s never dawned on me that running-shoes-for-running is a pretty recent phenomenon. I’d also never thought about the fact that the human foot has quite a few more years of structural engineering to help its owners run than do Nike or even (blasphemy!) Asics. Thing is, I’m not so sure that just because the human foot has been around a while, that means it’s made for the kind of running we do today, which is pretty recent, too.

Besides running nude-footed or with fancy FiveFingers, apparently you can also wear minimalist hurache sandals if you’re worried about glass or hot pavement (shown in the vid above — what’s up with the rooster and the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in the background?). Which, I have to say, I would totally wear whenever.

Will I give barefoot-running a try? Hmmm. I’m doing good to train the “regular” way for the Rockledge Rumble. But who knows? I might just get a wild hair soon and accidentally-on-purpose forget my over-protecting shoes.

It was just two miles, but MAN was it hot! And it was only 9:30 a.m.! Texas, our Texas.
I ran a route close to home that includes the perimeter of the apartment complex. My gear: hand-held water bottle (thank the lord), Sansa Disk and pepper spray in case of crack heads or feral dogs. Time: 19:38.

As far as running logs go, I’m trying both RunnersWorld.com and MapMyRun.com. I think the latter will win out. I like the interface better. I’m totally giddy about being able to, well, map my runs with Google maps and find routes in the area that others have mapped, too. Fun!

I’ve got a status update on Facebook asking for suggestions because I start my first official run of my 15K training tomorrow! I registered for Runner’s World’s training log, but I’m not entirely sure what I think of it.

My old soccer captain Kelly Spurlock has suggested MapMyRun.com. Any others?

Actually, today started the training-proper. It was a strengthen and stretch day, DIY-style: 3×20 crunches, 3×10 push-ups, 3×12 squats and some yoga-ish sprawling, reaching and splaying. Felt nice.