Discover newsworthy stories from all over the world on running –inspirational profiles, cool things and people, the weird and useful, injury prevention, diet, shoe reviews, videos, and a lot more. Just head over to the Natural Running Center Facebook page. Here are 15 of our more popular FB posts since the beginning of the year….
In the 80’s and 90’s, if you were serious about triathlon, you moved to one of the small, sleepy beachfront towns north of San Diego. Like surfers looking for the best swells, you wanted to be on the home turf of the world’s best triathletes, seeking out the steepest competition, for training, and then more…
by Bill Katovsky “Free range” is one of those terms that’s been in the news recently, and refers to parents’ dropping an over-protective, helicoptering approach to raising their children, and replacing it with much less restrictive control. It’s how childhood used to be. That was how it was with me and my brothers growing…
If you are reading this post, chances are you’re still very much a strong believer in minimalism, and have yet to drink from the maximalist Kool-Aid trough. Or if you have, it’s with extreme caution, and not in large mileage gulps. “Less shoe” is very much a key consideration for improved footstrike and body-ground spatial…
I recently spent time at the San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The ground floor of injury prevention for military members is Basic Military Training. For the US Air Force this is San Antonio-Lackland. Preventable injuries during physical praining in all the Armed Services costs millions of dollars a year in lost duty time…
by Jim Hixson, CSCS Minimalism isn’t going away. Too many runners have discovered for the first time what it’s like to run injury-free. They have awakened to the joy of a midfoot strike instead of heels hitting first, something that conventional running shoes with stiff, outsized crash pads pretty much guaranteed. But in the…
Teaching courses on healthy running is one of the greatest pleasures of work as an educator. I learn so much from the participants as we share experiences and variations on simple training principles that work to keep us healthy. The thing I like best is when after we tell a story, we do an exercise…
Part One, by Jim Hixson, CSCS It was exhilarating and vindicating to see the increase in the selection of lightweight, flat, thin, flexible shoes several years ago. But now the minimalist utopia is threatened by market forces. I looked at the 2014 survey Peter Larson had on Runblogger.com –two of the top 20 shoes were…
by Elinor Fish After successfully completing Colorado’s infamous Leadville Trail 100 several years ago, I was on cloud nine, dreaming about my next big endurance challenge. While my imagination soared, my body plummeted into depths of exhaustion I’d never before experienced. I couldn’t seem to recover from Leadville, and almost a year after the race…
by Sarah Young We were born to run. We were also made to move. Our birthright is movement in all its forms. As babies, we began laying the building blocks to be runners by doing such seemingly mundane things as lifting and controlling our big heads (which weighed about 1/3 of our baby bodyweight). As…
About once a week, the Natural Running Center will receive an email from a reader complaining about chronic plantar facsiitis pain in his or her foot. For these sufferers, conventional treatment ranges from orthotics to NSAIDS, neither of which are natural methods or recommended. Nor are they effective. These readers are looking for answers. Maybe…
by Dr. Ray McClanahan. During a vacation with my family in Hawaii, we attended a Luau, where nearly every native Hawaiian had beautiful spread toes and strong healthy feet. That is not often the case on the mainland. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to the fact that they work and live barefoot…
In preparation for my return to the JFK 50-mile run this weekend, I’d like to share my race report from the 2008 run. This top photo was taken at mile 48 and made the front page of the Hagerstown Herald Mail in Maryland. It captures the spirit of ultra running. I wanted to relive this…
After enjoying another Marine Corps Marathon (47th place in 2:49 age 48) curiosity led to digging into past races that stretch back several decades. So into the archives I plunged to see how many MCMs (I thought it was 22) and what the times were. So I contacted my friend and Marine Corps Marathon historian…
As you enter the week prior to the Marine Corps Marathon, or any marathon, here are a few visualizations to help you set your plan. Running your best 10K is mostly about fitness. Running your best marathon is part art, science, guts, and faith in what you can do. I’ve had the privilege of running …
by Dr. Phil Maffetone. With his day-glo orange racing flats flashing through the Berlin streets, Kenyan Dennis Kimetto blazed to a world record 2:02:57 marathon. The weather did not hinder his pace, and it may not have helped much either, as other race times were not particularly quick (third-place men’s time was almost 2:06, and…
Sharing the journey of friend and fellow Race Director Dave McGillivray. Dave directs the “Big Boy” races, including the Boston Marathon. His message of fitness vs. health is a must-read for all. From his extraordinary run across the U.S. to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1978 to serving as technical director…
by Jay Dicharry. Running is pure. You may run for yourself, seeking to improve your time on your local neighborhood loop, or maybe simply to knock out the stresses of daily life. There are few other sports in the world in which you can compare yourself purely against the clock. It’s just you covering distance…
School has started. It’s a time when parents are buying their children new shoes for gym class, cross-country and everyday wear. Given what we know about childhood development and the elements of natural running gait movements, here are a few things to consider before you start shopping for shoes. — Ultra-thin soles allow proper proprioception,…
Here in our small town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia you will find truly amazing people with their own amazing personal stories. So please enjoy this fun and inspiring interview with Two Rivers Treads’ leading ladies, Diana Gorham and Sheri Fiolek, who finished the Burning River 100 miler in Ohio on August 3. If anyone tells…
Two bold, young documentary filmmakers, Dana Richardson and Sarah Zentz, left their home in Big Sur, California, and traveled to the depths of Copper Canyon in Mexico in search of the “seeds of health.” They lived among the Tarahumara who suffer almost none of the modern illnesses of Westernized Society. The Tarahumara are famous for…
The sub two-hour marathon is running’s final, most elusive barrier. The first runner to go 1:59 will become universally celebrated as marathon’s Roger Bannister. This timely book by Dr. Phil Maffetone, “1:59: The Sub-Two-Hour Marathon Is Within Reach—Here’s How It Will Go Down, and What It Can Teach All Runners about Training and Racing,” examines…
Dr. Ryan Green is managing partner at Varsity Sports Mandeville in Mandeville, Louisiana. He received his athletic training certification in 1997 and received his PhD in Kinesiology from Louisiana State University in 2006. After graduating from LSU and then teaching in the athletic training program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Dr. Green went…
We are happy to share the following essay from my friend and colleague Jeff Gaudette, who is the founder of Runners Connect, which is a team of expert coaches dedicated to helping runners train smarter, stay healthy and run faster. Jeff is one of the forward thinkers in natural running movement as well as a…
We all learn from our travels. By witnessing amazing accomplishments and the spirit of others trying to change the world in places of need, there is much to learn and appreciate. I recently had the privilege of returning to South Africa to teach an International Sports Medicine Symposium with Dr. Tim Noakes. Dr. Noakes has…