Author: andi

AJ is the person behind the electron pattern on your screen.

GoSt PaleoBarefoots: A round up of questions on chain mail running sleeves

The PaleoBarefoots® from GoSt that I mentioned in my last post have recently been generating quite a lot of comment around the web – with my little test video even reaching as far as China!

Here are just a few of the links that have discussed (some more positively than others) the PaleoBarefoots.

http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/style/shoes/chainmail-shoes.asp

http://www.humanosphere.info/2013/01/les-chaussures-en-cotte-de-mailles-ont-la-cote/ (In French)

http://fashionablygeek.com/shoes/chainmail-sneakers-are-perfect-for-knights-on-casual-fridays/ (I’ll be taking this advice and wearing them for casual Friday!)

http://apocalypseequipped.blogspot.com/2013/01/wish-lust-gost-paleobarefoot-chainmail.html?spref=fb (Australia)

http://www.likecool.com/Gost_Barefoots_chainmail_barefoot_shoes–Shoe–Style.html

http://gizmodo.com/5972550/can-chainmail-sneakers-possibly-be-comfy

http://www.gizmag.com/barefoot-shoes-metal-chain-mail-socks/25615/

My responses

What a lot of these reviews have in common, apart from the “Whoa! Chainmail!” type reaction, are a number of misconceptions about the PaleoBarefoots, particularly around their comfort and usefulness. So I thought I’d try to address some of these here.

Firstly – comfort. Let’s get this out of the way, anything you read about barefoot running in general also applies to PaleoBarefoots. If you think you’ll just slip them on and run a marathon on the roads without ever having run barefoot since you rocked around the house as a 2 yr old, you are deluded. Changing to barefoot (and even minimalist) running is a process, it takes time, effort and care. There are no prizes for being macho. Running in shoes made of metal are no different – however, I have never had a blister from running in them – if I run for longer distance, I run with the provided ‘ankle savers’ – as the only place likely to rub is the instep or around the ankle where the PaleoBarefoots are secured. Blisters form because of friction between surfaces – often because shoes are too tight or because you have bad running form – in this case, between your skin and whatever shoe you are wearing. One interesting thing with the PaleoBarefoots is that when I run, my feet don’t sweat as much. If you sweat in a traditional running shoe, even with socks, the chances of getting a blister increase with the dampness. This doesn’t happen in PaleoBarefoots. So, yes, it’s metal, but as I point out in my video, once you get used to it, it’s actually quite a nice sensation – the mesh is extremely smooth, and it moves very naturally. You will need a little time to get used to wearing them, it is a different sensation, but they reward patience.

Secondly – saftey. If you run completely barefoot, and you land on a reasonably sized sharp stone on a hard surface like concrete, you will likely cut your foot, and even more likely get a painful bruise. If you do the same with PaleoBarefoots, guess what – you’ll likely get a nasty bruise, but you probably won’t get the cut. Bruises are a function of impact against your body, cuts are the action of sharp/penetrating objects against your skin. The PaleoBarefoots are for the explicit purpose of ensuring that you can run safely and not get cut. Is it possible to run safely totally barefoot on almost any surface? Yes, probably, if you’ve spent your life without shoes, running on those surfaces. As a forty+ guy who spent his life mostly in shoes, not so much. The saftey the PaleoBarefoots afford means that you can pretty much forget about getting cut up, and you can just run. But don’t go leaping onto any sharp stones with your full body weight – they’re not airbags – you can still get bruised.

Thirdly – grip. This is a counter intuitive one. You’d think that metal would be slippery – well, guess what, it isn’t. If you go and run on a polished tiled/marbled floor, you might find that there’s not much grip – but get on to packed sand, mud, dusty trails, ice (yes, ICE), snow and yes, even concrete or asphalt* and you’ll find that the grip is not only fine, in many cases, it’s much better than any sneaker or your bare foot. If you’ve ever run in slushy ice**, or mud with your bare feet, you’ll find that the PaleoBarefoots are way more grippy.

Fourthly – price & durability. They are made of metal. Wash them in clean water (or the dishwasher occasionally) so that salt or acidic soil types won’t lead to corrosion, and store them in a cool and dry place and you will find they last FOREVER. For comparison, I’ve run around 400 miles in my current Merrell RoadGloves, and they’re just about worn down (and lose grip in the rain). At around $90 each pair, I’m looking at 2-3 pairs per year – a minimum of $180. So to pay the price of, perhaps, 3 pairs of those for PaleoBarefoots doesn’t seem so crazy. In ten years time, I might have had to replace a few pairs of the laces, but the Paleos themselves will still be fine.

Fifthly – Internet Snarkiness. It’s amazing how many ‘experts’ pop up out of the deep recesses of the ‘net, ready to scoff at any new idea. All I would say is, you cannot judge until you have tried, as a fully qualified Internet Snark (TM), I might have agreed with you before I actually went and tried the PaleoBarefoots. Your intuition might tell you that PaleoBarefoots are silly, overpriced, sure to be uncomfortable, pointless, and all sorts of other negative things, but your intuition is denied by my direct experience, and the direct experience of many other testers all over the world.

Well, this was quite a long post, so I’ll leave it there. Feel free to leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you!

*GoSt explicitly states that the best environment for PaleoBarefoots is natural surfaces, they’re not really for road warriors – though personally I have used them on concrete with no problem.

**If you run on ice, please do be careful about temperature, you MUST wear at least a 0.5mm neoprene full sock, and listen to your body. I have a friend who runs in these every day in Iceland (on ice/snow), and he reports that the grip is amazing.

Some thoughts on Barefoot running

On one of the forums that I am a member of, someone posted this link about  how to do barefoot running all wrong. It contains some really salient advice about understanding your body, the ambient conditions and the way the two interact!

I do like running barefoot on concrete – it’s always nice and warm here in California, but I am not at the point where I would run in the cold, nor would I try to race barefoot.

In a race there’s simply too much else to think about – there, the point isn’t so much to enjoy the sensation, but to achieve some separate goal from that. For me, running barefoot is just one aspect of all of the running that I do. I like to run hard and push myself, but for that I need at least a minimalist shoe. I’ll probably make a new post sometime about all the different types of shoes I’ve tried, including GoSt Barefoots, which I have made a video review of here (I apologize for the sound quality – it was my first time and my head cam was banging against my sunglasses!).

Ultimately, I think my friend Jörg’s advice in this recent article* is the right one – you need to find the correct combination of shoe and surface. Some surfaces are always great barefoot, some surfaces are not. Knowing the difference will keep you running injury free and enjoying it more.

There’s no badge of honour to be had for running across a mountain with bare feet simply to prove how manly you are – particularly if you come back with injury and then can’t run for weeks. Listen ONLY to your own body’s signals, not to what you think you can do, what someone else pressures you to do, or what you think is trendy.

*any fault in this article is entirely due to the fact that I translated it from the German and may well have messed up the meaning!

Run for Fun: Pt 2

In my last run for fun post, I got to the point where I’d finished the Bay Bridge run.

Although I’d finished the race and I was happy that I’d beaten my target time, I did feel that I’d let myself down a bit. I was particularly disappointed that I’d gone out so fast on the first mile – a rookie mistake that had cost me a better time.

Not willing to give up, I decided to sign up for another race – this time, an 8 mile race (double the distance I’d ever run before) that would be run on the low tide mark on sand. I was finding that the compression sleeves and the insoles combined with my new shoes were helping, but I really was struggling to build back up to longer runs without pain in either my knees, shins or sometimes my back. However, I was running regularly and starting to really enjoy the benefits of being fitter. More energy, more strength in my legs and more lung capacity – running didn’t leave me gasping for breath anymore! The 8 mile went ok – I couldn’t run all of it – ran the first 4.5 miles, walked for 1/2 mile and then finished the rest running. I was pretty happy with the performance – it took its toll on my shins – but I had the bug. I got home and signed up for another 8.3 mile race – this time around the beautiful Balboa Park in San Diego – 50% of the course was on trails, and there were some big hills in there too. This time, I managed to finish with only a very short walk on the steepest hill (mile 7!). The problem was that it hurt. It hurt really badly – my hips ached, my knees hurt and I felt like hell, but I’d finished and I was happy that I had made it.

Being a geeky kind of a guy, I started to research running in a more serious way. I started with simple searches on things like ‘running shin pain’ etc. Lots of different advice turned up, but one consistent theme that kept popping out was the idea of barefoot running. The more I read, the more it seemed like less of a crazy idea, and more like something I should try.

My first attempt resulted in large and painful blisters on the soles of both feet and several toes. Oops. I bought some rubbing alcohol in Rite-Aid and nursed my wounds for a few days, going back to running in my normal shoes.

I did more research – and  decided to buy some books on the subject. First I read “The Barefoot Running Book” by Jason Robillard, which helped me to understand that I needed to transition more slowly, and also that I would need to change how I run.

I decided, at first that I would keep running in my ‘normal’ shoes, but that I’d also try to get some minimalist shoes to try out – rather than going directly to barefoot (against the advice of the book!). So another trip to my favorite running store resulted in a new pair of Vibram FiveFingers. For about 2 weeks I ran in my regular shoes, but was running in Vibrams part of the time to get used to them. Pretty soon I discovered that going back to the ‘normal’ running shoes was just awful; my feet felt imprisoned, I hated the way they bounced me around and I felt awkward and unstable in them. After gradually increasing my distances, I went out and did a serious run in the five fingers – and did my fastest 5km time ever – but the best thing – no shin pains afterwards. Less than a month later, I discarded the compression sleeves – Bingo!

Around that time, I read the book ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall, which really inspired me to think differently about running, I started to run for the sheer joy of it. My initial aims of losing weight (it worked – I dropped 18lb and two pants sizes in 6 months) and feeling fitter were supplanted by the desire to run further and to see where it would lead.

This was just the start of my new running adventures, and I’ll share a few more things as time goes on.

Here’re a few links to the books and shoes I mentioned in this post.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

The Barefoot Running Book: The Art and Science of Barefoot and Minimalist Shoe Running

Vibram Mens SeeYa Running Shoe Black / Dayglow Size 42

Run for fun!

So, it’s been a very long time since my last post, but there’s a reason. I started running. Over the next few posts, I’ll share my journey from couch to runner with you.

In February of this year, I decided that, since I wasn’t getting any younger, those dreams of one day doing a marathon would fade fast, unless I got off my butt and did something about it. Having drifted into middle age and a sedentary lifestyle, I’d almost resigned myself to buying new pants every couple of years as my waistline grew, and to being less able as more and more of my body parts gave out on me.

A visit to the doctor for a physical (yes, that one), and a poor showing on my cholesterol levels convinced me that if I didn’t want to add taking statins to the list of ‘stuff that you have to do as you get older’, and staring at 200lb  (90 kg) on the scales I knew it was time. So I started to run – it was the only thing I could think of that would really work, and I’d always had that dream of doing a marathon.

So, I did the typical geek thing – bought some apps for my iPhone, bought some hi-tech shoes and a bunch of running gear, got some sport headphones, and got myself down to the treadmill. I nearly died. I couldn’t run for a minute at a time. The app I chose seemed incredibly optimistic – with wildly outrageous schedules, but I stuck to it. Within a few weeks my endurance improved, and I signed up for a run (the Bay Bridge Navy run in San Diego) – 4 miles of nightmare with a mile of steep uphill in the middle. I’d done the same run the year before, with literally no training, and barely made it – walking most of the way on the hills, and barely jogging the rest of it.

The problem was, my shins hurt. Badly. So badly, that I sometimes couldn’t walk afterwards. Three weeks before the bridge run, I was out. I simply couldn’t run anymore. No way I could train. I took almost 10 days off while my shins recovered. I bought new shoes with custom fitted insoles with extra arch support, as apparently my feet were ‘over pronating’ and compression sleeves for my calves.

A week out from the race, I was worried whether I’d even be able to complete it. I avoided the treadmills (one of humanity’s most boring inventions) and hit the roads, running gently in the beautiful city of San-Diego. I managed a 3 mile training run, just.

The shin pain was better with the new shoes and compression sleeves, but still not great – I did the run, but didn’t achieve the time I wanted. I went out too fast (a symptom of rarely running on the roads and not being experienced with setting my pace) and was winded after the first mile – just before the bridge climb. I had to walk most of the way to the summit, then managed to run the last 2 miles – encouraging a straggling colleague on the way. I sighted the finish line, but had nothing left in the tank for a final push, so just kept going and jogged across. I’d beaten my previous year’s time by around 3 minutes. But, I’d finished, and I knew I could do better.

I went back to basics, and I learnt a lot – the next race would be better – but that’s for the next post!

The app I used to get to 5km.
http://heavydutyapps.com/5k-runner/

A little about the Coronado Bay bridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego-Coronado_Bridge

It’s over, it ain’t going any further: marriage in the future is for all.

If you are still thinking that somehow you can reverse the tide and that ‘marriage’ will go back to being to something that you’re happy to define as between a man and a woman, you’re wrong. You’re out of time. The argument is over. What’s happening now is just the cleaning up. Marriage is for all, and the only future is to watch that freedom to marry spread throughout the free world.
Of course, you might want to cling to your theology – your unchangeable holy books that state that homosexuality is a sin – but you’re wrong there too. Eventually, your religion will catch up, or it will be sidelined.

You see, it’s already happened. Things change, laws and countries move on, and mainstream religion follows.
Decriminalization is now much more widespread than ever,, as is the recognition of civil unions and married rights equivalency laws, so it’s just a matter of time before permission to marry is given.
So much has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. This issue is not going away, and it’s certainly not going to be shouted down by the forces of conservatism or the religious.

Slavery still exists today (actually, some sources say there are more slaves now than at any time in history) but that doesn’t mean that the argument over whether it’s right or wrong isn’t over, and every country now outlaws it. It took hundreds of years for slavery to become completely outlawed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline). While it was still legal, it was justified by the major religions as being acceptable.

For Christians, the Apostle Paul refers some of his comments to slaves e.g. 1Ephesians 6:5,  Timothy 6:1-2 and Jesus clearly acknowledges slavery (and doesn’t reject it as wrong).
Also for Christians, and for Jews, the ‘Old’ Testament / Torah is full of references to slaves e.g. Leviticus 25:44-46, or this nice one covering the rules for a man selling his daughter as a slave: Exodus 21:7-11
For Muslims, Islamic scripture (both the Koran and the hadiths) is actually very good to slaves, treating them equally as regards to religious freedom, but still recognizing that slavery is acceptable, while encouraging the praiseworthy act of manumission.
However, Islamic states were some of the last to finally outlaw slavery, with Saudi Arabia (1962), Yemen (1962), UAE (1963), Oman (1970) and Mauritania (1981) being the last five countries in the world to allow slavery.

The point of all this is that, eventually, the religious arguments follow the law of the lands. It is unlikely you will find a modern, mainstream Christian leader in America or Europe who would advocate the return of slavery.
You’ll still find pockets of extremism, but then, you still find people who protest abortion clinics…and that too shall pass.

So it will be with the issue of allowing homosexuals to marry. It may take many years, but the argument is already lost, and eventually, your future co-religionists will simply ignore these parts of your holy books, as they do so many other parts today.

There are more and more countries allowing the free right to marry to all citizens, and while there are some bumps in the road (e.g. California flip-flopping on the issue), the tide cannot be turned back. Eventually, all countries will allow it, and then, so will all the major religions. (Of course, some religions already do!).

Conservatives and liberals will move on to arguing about new things (when was the last time you had an argument about slavery?), and everyone else will be able to get on with marrying who they like. The truly anachronistic ideas about homosexual marriage are just like the ideas people used to hold about slavery.

There’s a lot of work still to do, but the main war is over…and to finish the paraphrase of Leonard Cohen in my title …”It’s over, it ain’t going any further, I’ve seen the future, baby, it is marriage.”

Today 16th of January is, in the USA, Martin Luther King day. This incredible speech is a reminder of how that great man inspired change that brought freedom and civil rights to African Americans, who although they had been freed from slavery, still lived under segregation and institutional racism. I share his dream of the day when we are all truly free from injustice, discrimination and the hatred of bigots.

QR Code #FAIL or not?

QR (Quick Response) codes are becoming ubiquitous in advertising (and business cards – I even have one that has only a big orange QR code on it), and yet many people just don’t know what they are. As a geeky kind of guy, I’m interested in how they can be used and in finding interesting applications for them (one of the nicest uses I’ve seen is on this board – all the points of interest were marked with QR codes that contained location information).Info Map with QR Codes

So, when I saw the article linked below, I found myself first of all being a bit annoyed that the writer was criticizing the use of these codes, and then more and more agreeing with him, as he’s absolutely right. We’ve mostly only done boring and stupid stuff with them. It’s a great article, and also contains some creative ideas about how they could be used. If you’re in marketing or advertising, you should certainly think about some of the points raised: http://www.imediaconnection.com/article_full.aspx?id=30267

If you have an iPhone (as I do) you’ll need a third party reader for QR codes – my favorite is “Red Laser” which is also available for Android. So next time you see a QR code somewhere, pay a bit more attention – it might be the start of something cool.

 

Sometimes change is just not fast enough

Today brings the terribly sad news that, once again, a teenager has taken his own life because of bullying about his sexuality.

http://www.shewired.com/soapbox/2011/10/17/gay-teen-jamie-hubley-commits-suicide

So much has changed in the last 50 years or so; we’ve moved (here in America at least) from a country where slavery was legal and black people were considered sub-human, to a better world where slavery is a receding memory and we can have an African American (in the truest sense of that descriptor) president. That is not to deny that, sadly, racism is still found in some measure.

However, we still have so far to go as a society (globally) in our acceptance of diversity. We need teachers and schools to adopt a positive attitude towards LGBT individuals, and to help them support such young people as Jamie (whose lives are hard enough just with going through their teens). We need to be tougher on bullies, and we need to teach more positively around homosexuality.

But, school reflects society as a whole. Children have all the biases of their parents, in concentrated and unfiltered quantity. Therefore, a big part of the change that is needed is going to have to be the decline of traditional religious attitudes towards homosexuality. Teachers can only do so much, but much more needs to be done in churches, synagogues and mosques around the country (and world), to help to build a more tolerant and accepting environment. Parents need to teach their children that slurs like ‘faggot’ are simply unacceptable, no matter their private beliefs about the subject. Surely if you truly believe in ‘god’s love’ you should teach your children to love others without judgement – lest you be judged yourself?

Of course, I’d rather that nobody felt the need to cling to any religious dogma at all; particularly where it impinges on the freedoms and safety of others; but recognizing that many people of belief are essentially good, and sincerely believe while wishing no ill to others, I have to accept that change will be slow, and that perhaps it can only come from within the belief systems themselves. Most ‘true believers’ will not accept the pleas of an atheist, but perhaps if their pastors/rabbis/imams and other leaders begin to teach a more welcoming religion, one tolerant of the natural diversity in our society, then perhaps there will be hope that we won’t have to see another Jamie.

My sincerest condolences to Jamies friends and family, he was a truly brave young man.