MBT Tembea Shoe Review

MBT bills itself as The Anti-shoe – so I’ll start by telling you everything that their shoes are not.

They’re not traditional – in fact, they’re not like anything else on the market. They’re not sleek or flexible or low profile or lightweight. They’re not intended for athletic activity. They’re not cheap. And they certainly won’t make you feel like you’re barefoot.

That last point seems like a contradiction, given that the company’s initials stand for Masai Barefoot Technology - but MBT takes a different approach towards combining the benefits of barefoot walking with the practicality of everyday footwear. Whereas other companies like Feelmax and Vivo Barefoot strip away as much material as possible between your foot and the ground, MBT replicates the postural alignment and musculoskeletal demands of barefoot walking on an augmented, elevated platform. So if you’re looking to feel pebbles on the ground and cracks in the sidewalk while you’re walking, MBTs definitely are not for you.

From MBT website

MBT shoes are primarily intended as a therapeutic device to alleviate back or leg pain for people who are on their feet all day, and there is a loyal contingent of followers - approximately one million customers in more than 20 countries - who swear by their restorative effects. The company’s origins trace back to the early 1990s, when a group of Swiss researchers began studying the biomechanical and physiological effects of walking barefoot. Their studies of African Masai tribesmen convinced them that walking barefoot over unstable surfaces (a key feature, as I’ll explain in a minute) had tremendous impact on resolving back problems, relieving neck tension, easing joint pain, improving muscle tone, and burning more calories compared to using traditional footwear.

Early prototype from MBT website

Striving to provide those benefits for people in urban settings, the researchers created a prototype shoe model in 1996, and founded a company called Swiss Masai in 1998. The prototype provides great insight into the intended style of walking: elimination of the traditional heel-strike in favor of a downward-angled forefoot landing, just as you do when running barefoot.

Modern MBT shoes backfill the heel area with something called the Masai Sensor (the red thing at right; picture from Amazon.com), an elliptical-shaped structure in the midsole which provides the key component to the biomechanics the company promotes: having an unstable platform regardless of whether you’re walking or standing.

All of MBT’s benefits stem from the idea of natural instability; that the highest degree of postural and musculoskeletal advantages from barefoot walking occur on soft grounds like the East African savannah, or Korean paddy fields, or even just your local beach; all of these surfaces trigger small, intuitive, compensatory movements of the lower extremity muscles. However, if you’re walking on hard surfaces, those benefits are diminished – so being on an unstable platform forces those adjustments to take place in your home or business setting just as they would if you were barefoot in the sand.

The result of all this design innovation is MBT footwear – and for something called the Anti-shoe, there’s an awful lot of shoe to wrestle with here. I was somewhat shocked at the overall weight of the shoe – it’s not specified on the website, but Zappos lists the Tembea model I tried at 23 oz – and how generally large it is in comparison to all the other models I’m reviewing.

The MBT Tembea, in black

After wearing “barefoot shoes” for so long, stepping into the MBTs felt like strapping on a pair of platform boots: my standing height in the Tembeas is more than two full inches higher than my barefoot height. Remember how I mentioned in another review that some of my co-workers had mentioned that I looked shorter lately? When I wear my MBTs, they must suspect that I’m on steroids.

The midsole and outsoles are extremely firm, with almost no forefoot flexibility. A TPU and glass fiber shank runs the length of the midsole to create a rigid support surface that rolls over the Masai Sensor as a single unit. A polyurethane midsole component provides the softness that further contributes to the natural instability concept.

I'm pushing as hard as I can - and no flexibility in the forefoot at all.

The uppers are very comfortable, and probably the most stylish (or “business-looking”) of any of the barefoot shoes I’ve tried. The Tembea has a soft, full-grain leather upper, and an antimicrobial 3D mesh sock liner. They aren’t extremely breathable, however, as my toes got fairly warm if I wore these shoes on a hot day.

Walking around in MBTs is actually kind of fun – the feeling in your legs really does mimic walking on sand, or across a soft gymnastics mat, or some other surface where you have to make constant balance adjustments with each step. The rounded heel forces you to use a midfoot strike pattern and eliminates sending impact forces upward into your knees. After using the shoes for a while, your natural instinct is to walk with a slightly flexed knee pattern, and you can feel your foot roll forward very naturally with each step. They’re also effective at triggering an upright spine and forward weight shift as you would have while walking barefoot.

The collection of styles MBT offers is fairly extensive, with looks ranging from dressy to athletic. It’s worth noting, however, that MBT doesn’t recommend actually using their athletic shoes for any sports; the rep I spoke with said they are recommended only for light jogging or walking, as the unstable platform could potentially lead to injury with high-demand athletic activities. Aside from fashion considerations, the sneaker styles of MBTs appear to have more breathable uppers than the nubuck or leather version, which may be an advantage for some folks.

It’s easy to see how these shoes would benefit people who are on their feet all day, especially in a confined position like a cashier or operating room nurse or assembly line worker that prevents a lot of walking around. MBTs are even being prescribed by health-care providers for people who suffer from back pain while standing for long hours at work. Anecdotally, one of our local shoe stores has a group of nurses who tried MBTs, and have started coming back for more.

That’s no small statement, considering the retail price of these shoes, which is admittedly quite steep – it almost seems as if the medical care aspect of MBTs is being used to justify a very high cost of entry. The Tembea model that I wore sells for $235 at Endless.com. Even the Teva-style sandals that MBT produces sell for $150, which represents the low end of the range. Shoes can also be purchased directly from the MBT website.

I’d love to see a future generation of these shoes that are more lightweight and closer to the ground, possibly preserving some of the ground feel I love about minimal shoes. Until then, the MBT presents an intriguing option for those seeking some barefoot biomechanics in a sturdy, stylish package.


See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Bridging the Gap

My original intent for this post was to embed Part 2 of Patagonia’s current Footprint Chronicles series, called What Comes Next?, which speaks primarily to the notion of whether any manufacturer can truly call itself “sustainable”, and briefly discusses what an overwhelmingly consumptive culture we have become all over the world – especially in the United States.

Sadly, the episode isn’t embeddable yet, so I’m going to postpone that particular video until a later day (although you can watch it on the Patagonia site linked above if you really can’t wait). In the meantime, since I’ve propped myself up onto something of a social responsibility soapbox this week, I’m posting a few other videos in a similar vein, which speak to some issues I’ve mentioned before in previous posts. Each one is only a few minutes long, so they shouldn’t take too much time out of your weekend.

The clips all come from Patagonia’s previous Footprint Chronicles offerings, which began in 2007 for the purpose of examining various aspects of responsible manufacturing and consumerism. There are literally dozens of videos to choose from on the website (and on YouTube), and it’s this series more than anything else that gives me a ton of respect and appreciation for the company.

Remember how I said that you can find positive information about a company from its website, but were pretty much out of luck trying to learn about their shortcomings? Patagonia stands out as the exception: they’re not only willing to put themselves under the microscope, but they then take the additional – and unthinkable, to most companies – step of discussing their problems in public, on the Internet, for all the world to see.

This first clip is a perfect example: Patagonia’s Footwear General Manager, Craig Throne, appraises the positives and negatives of the company’s manufacturing process – things they are doing well, as well as things they aim to improve. It was filmed at the beginning of the Footprint Chronicles project, as a sort of “where we are now” in preparation for the revelations that would come in future installments:




The next clip is in response to the question of how a company can utilize Chinese labor forces in a humane and respectful manner. Stella Footwear is a partner company that employs over 50,000 people at its Dongguan City facility to make several brands of shoes, including Patagonia. Business Director Buddy Huang is an American-born Chinese who speaks to the importance the company places on providing a healthy work environment and a middle-class standard of living for all of its workers:




And what if a company claims to take care of its workers, but really doesn’t? That’s where something called social audits come into play. Patagonia’s partner companies are routinely visited and inspected by independent organizations to ensure they are adhering to Patagonia’s standards of conduct. Nicole Bassett, Patagonia's Social Responsibility Manager (how many corporations even have a position like that?), describes the importance of the social audits, and Alex Kaufman from Global Solutions, the third-party auditing group, describes how these audits are conducted in the apparel industry:




These videos certainly aren’t incontrovertible proof that every facet of Patagonia’s manufacturing process is 100% ethically sound, but it certainly shows a willingness to put itself out there for public scrutiny. In light of the difficulties I described yesterday regarding the knowledge gap between corporate business practices and consumer awareness, it’s nice to know that at least one company out there is working to bridge that gap as much as possible.

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Responsible Dysfunction

Admin note: reading over this post afterward, I feel like I somehow channeled my inner Abe Simpson: I don't understand what's going on, I can't figure out this confounded technology, and I just wish someone would sit me down and explain things in a nice, simple manner. I'm not usually prone to ranting, but that's kind of what this post seems like in retrospect: a long, rambling airing of grievances that may serve no purpose other than to demonstrate how mentally discombobulated I can become. When exactly did I become a cantankerous old man?

**
One of the saddest paradoxes of socially conscious consumerism is this: more people would probably make thoughtful purchase decisions if it weren’t so darn-near impossible to stay properly informed.

Put another way: if you ever want to fall down an Internet rabbit hole, try Googling something like “socially responsible shoe companies”, or “eco-friendly corporations”, and start clicking your way through the mind-bogglingly vast, infuriatingly disjointed world of corporate watchdog agencies.

When I posted my plea for good sources of information on responsible businesses, I had no idea the quest would get so complex – or that so many promising avenues would lead me to dead ends. This isn’t a knock against everyone who gave me websites; I’m very grateful for all of your assistance. Rather, it’s an indictment of just how confusing and fruitless the queries of a conscientious shopper can become.

It becomes obvious that the term “responsible” is far too broad, requiring an immediate narrowing of your search into very specific categories. Are you interested in which companies treat their workers fairly, or those who prevent animal mistreatment? How about those who contribute to worthy social causes, or who work for change with repressive governments? And what about preserving our natural resources, eliminating toxic by-products, and minimizing our carbon footprint? Every one of these considerations introduces a whole new squadron of players.

From Patagonia website

There are dozens of “corporate accountability” websites, and literally hundreds of “eco-awareness” sites that try to hold companies accountable to certain manufacturing guidelines or business practices. The trouble is that there aren’t any uniform criteria for what qualifies as “responsible” – and nearly all of these agencies seem to be working independently of one another. Even worse is that many of the larger, more recognizable agencies aren’t overly forthcoming with information geared towards the general public.

For example, the Fair Labor Association is one of the major players dedicated to (among other things) eliminating sweat shop practices by major manufacturers. They write annual reports and investigate complaints of substandard workplaces – but I dare you to find out from their website which companies currently do well, and which act poorly. The most recent annual report online is from 2007, and their tracking charts are incomprehensible. Even typing a specific company’s name into the search engine doesn’t pull out any tangible information.

From FLA website

Here’s another: let’s say you wanted to support responsible businesses by investing in stocks or a mutual fund comprised entirely of socially responsible companies. One of the most popular indexes is the Domini 400, created by a New England-based group called KLD. It consists of publicly traded American companies that have met certain standards of social and environmental excellence … so wouldn’t it be great to see which companies are included in the 400?

Well, you can’t – at least, not without ponying up some cash. You have to buy a paid subscription to KLD in order to receive their index lists – and if you just want a simple yes/no about one particular company, you have to e-mail a general “info” mailbox and sit around waiting for a reply. Even if you buy today’s list, you won’t be notified of future additions or removals from the index – for that, you have to pay an additional fee to subscribe to a daily constituents list.

What’s worse is that KLD’s criteria for including companies on the “responsible” list is influenced more by reputation and Internet buzz than by doing actual inspections or any other investigative legwork. Some companies have an enormous target on their backs – like Nike, who has been dismissed from and later reinstated to the index - even as they use the exact same factories and labor force as companies like Timberland, who is widely recognized as one of the most socially conscious companies around. Under these circumstances, a company may benefit more from hiring a sharp PR agency than to whole-heartedly commit to social responsibility.

From Patagonia website

(Tangent #1: I don’t mean to pick on KLD specifically – they’re probably no better or worse than most other agencies. They just happened to be the subject of a very insightful New York Times piece I found, which you can read here for a more detailed account.)

(Tangent #2: The story of Nike’s relationship with social watchdog groups could be a whole series of posts, if not an entire book. They’ve actually made tremendous changes since their much-publicized failings of the mid-1990s, and now they’re often listed among the most eco- and socially-conscious companies in the world by some agencies. Other groups still consider them the corporate devil for various reasons, some of which are probably legitimate. And that’s about as far as I’m going to wade into that particular quagmire.)

I mean … this shouldn’t be so difficult, should it? Let’s say you’re thinking about plunking down $100 for a pair of shoes, and want to know if Company X has a solid sense of corporate responsibility: I’m no closer to having a good resource to give you than I was when I first started digging into this stuff a few weeks ago. All we’re really left with is to Google something like “Company X corporate responsibility”, which 98% of the time will direct you to Company X’s own website.

From Patagonia website

To their credit, most companies do a great job highlighting their commitment to the environment, their charitable giving, and their various global partnerships. What you won’t see, of course, are any complaints or reports of irresponsible business practices leveled against them – so it’s hard not to feel like you’re only getting half of the story.

That’s why it’s especially impressive when a company not only does an honest assessment of itself, but openly discusses its shortcomings and limitations in a particular area. That was also supposed to be the introduction to some new videos from the Patagonia company – who, suffice it to say, are continually impressing me as I learn more about them - but for now, we’ll call this a stopping point and feature The Footprint Chronicles separately. The new segment has enough talking points to be the subject of its own discussion, which is what we’ll do in an upcoming post.

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Better Than Something

Admin note: A somewhat random post for a midweek diversion, and as a placeholder before a longer post tomorrow. No shoe reviews, no bare feet, and for that matter, no real importance. Sometimes you just go with what comes easy.

But first, an update: Last week I announced Kilian Jornet's attempt to break the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail circumnavigation record held by ultrarunning legend Tim Twietmeyer. Kilian didn't just break the old mark - he shattered it by more than seven hours; the new record is 38 hours, 32 minutes. You can stay updated on Kilian through Salomon's Facebook page, and catch up on a fantastic video series at Salomon's Kilian's Quest page.

*
Last week, as I was leaving the community college pool after a swim workout, I was surprised to see a crowd of about 30 people gathered on the curb, all looking very intently into the street, every one of them holding cameras.

Now, when you’re driving through Yosemite National Park and see a bunch of people like this standing on the side of the road, you figure there must be something pretty cool to see …

… like, perhaps, a bear. In my hometown of Carmel Valley, similar crowds frequently assemble when a local golden eagle decides to sit lookout on his nest that overlooks a cow pasture.

In Salinas, it’s an entirely different story. In this wildlife-deprived, trouble-plagued city, large sidewalk crowds typically trigger one of two immediate thoughts: 1) a horrific car crash, or 2) a gang-related shooting. Not necessarily in that order. (And yes, shootings happen in broad daylight sometimes.) So I had a sudden sense of dread approaching the group with their backs to me, fearful of what might be on the other side.

Upon closer observation, however, there was nothing to see; the people were taking pictures of cars and bikes that passed on the road. I hung out for a minute or so, and overheard the project to be some sort of class assignment to observe and capture everyday street scenes.

So naturally, I did the first thing that came to mind:


I took their picture, and went on my way … thankful that there was nothing else to see - because in some cases, nothing can be much better than something.

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Newton Gravity Running Shoe Review

“Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;

God said, "Let Newton be," and all was light.”
- Alexander Pope’s epitaph for Sir Isaac Newton, 1727

**
There’s a biomechanical theory that describes the act of walking – and by extension, running – as nothing more than a controlled fall.

The physics go something like this: your body’s center of mass sits at a point near your pelvic area, and your natural base of support is like a small circle drawn around both feet. In standing, the center of mass hovers directly above the base of support, which is a position of stability. But as soon as you shift your weight forward, the center of mass leaves the base of support, and your balance is disrupted by a downward-directed force; you’re essentially tipping over forward. The act of taking a step not only initiates walking, but – more importantly, from a safety standpoint – prevents you from falling on your face.

As for the force that creates this instability and pushes you forward? That would be gravity, as first described by Isaac Newton.


It’s no accident that Boulder, Colorado-based Newton Running Company took the father of modern science as its namesake; in the same revolutionary manner that Sir Isaac changed the way we see the physical universe, the shoe company’s intention is to change all the rules you thought you knew about normal running motion.

By business standards, Newton is a completely radical company: they’re barely three years old, and were founded by a couple of guys with no manufacturing experience who decided to enter the industry with the most expensive shoes on the market. And they introduced themselves by telling all of us that we run wrong. It’s a wonder they lasted three weeks, let alone three years. For that reason alone, you figure the product must be something pretty distinctive.

The Newton Gravity

The company's co-founders aren’t complete neophytes when it comes to running, however: CEO Jerry Lee is an avid marathoner, and Chief Technological Officer Danny Abshire is an experienced ultrarunner, with repeat Leadville 100 finishes under his belt. And their passionate belief that conventional running mechanics were flawed is gaining more and more widespread acceptance with each passing day, and has captured the attention of some of the biggest names in endurance sports.

Newton’s team of professional athletes includes the best triathletes in the world: Craig Alexander (known for his blazing run splits), Michellie Jones, Heather Fuhr, Paula Newby-Fraser, and Natascha Badmann among them – that’s five Ironman World Champions, if you somehow needed a reminder. You won’t find a more impressive roster of athletes anywhere. The company also supports several young marathoners and triathletes who subscribe to the idea that the mechanics supported by Newton shoes not only increase your running efficiency, but improve your overall speed as well. (Curiously, given Abshire’s ultra background, Newton hasn’t really targeted the trail running community yet; more on that a bit later.)

Helloooo ... Newton! Sir Isaac goes along for the ride.

The Gravity is Newton's top of the line neutral performance trainer, with a price tag steep enough to do a double-take. So what makes these shoes so special? That’s where Newtonian physics come into play again. Specifically, Newton Running builds shoes specifically for midfoot running, encouraging you to "fall forward" with each step, and mimicking the mechanics of barefoot running as closely as possible.

(Admin note: the Newton website has a wealth of video content discussing everything from proper midfoot running form to shoe technology and construction and social reponsibility. I'll probably embed one or two of them in a future post, but if you want to have a look around for yourself sometime, click here.)

The underside of the Gravity makes it awkward to do a traditional heel strike while running. Rubber “actuator” lugs extend almost a half-inch from the base of the forefoot, and the bulk of the heel area is purposely minimized. The lugs are designed to act as the primary cushion on impact, and then as a lever to propel the body into the next stride. Once you’re accustomed to the different feel, you find yourself landing naturally on the actuators in the forefoot, as you would if running barefoot.

(The familiarization period is no trivial matter: if you’re used to running in traditional footwear, Newtons will require some significant adaptation. Newton clearly cautions runners to adjust to the shoes in small doses, and to expect some muscle soreness after the first few runs. In my case, having run so many barefoot miles already, I had no problem with the adjustment – perhaps another testimony to the Gravity’s effectiveness at mimicking barefoot running.)

Close-up view of the actuators

The actuators also promote increased speed with their patented Action/Reaction technology. Remember Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, where every force has an equal and opposite counterforce? That’s the principle behind this Action/Reaction idea. The technology is designed to absorb and then return your own energy back to you with each stride.

When your midfoot lands on the ground, shock absorption comes as the actuator lugs are pressed into hollow chambers in the shoe's midsole via an elastic membrane. Then as your forefoot levers inside the shoe, the lugs release their stored energy to help propel you forward. The materials involved with this process are supposedly much more effective than typical air cushions, gel, or foam models; the science page on Newton Running’s website claims that they’ve spent over 12 years researching and developing their technology, with 9 US patents. From personal experience, the net effect is a feeling like you’re rolling smoothly from one stride into the next.

Pretty good forefoot flexibility, too

It’s tough to quantify the tangible impact of Newton’s speed-enhancing features; by all accounts, Craig Alexander and Natascha Badmann were pretty darn speedy even before they started using Newtons. I can attest, however, that if you’re a comfortable midfoot striker, these shoes make it easy to run fast.

I’ve previously documented my frustration with the slowness of this whole barefoot running experiment: slow accommodations to rough surfaces, slow progression of mileage, and above all, a VERY slow average running speed. My response to that has been to really crank up the intensity for several runs in my Newtons over the last several weeks. I’ve done short interval workouts and longer tempo runs, and been very impressed with their performance.

Very airy - and very red! -mesh upper

Overall weight of the shoe is a mere 9.4 oz – a number that’s closer to racing flats than everyday trainers. The uppers are very comfortable, consisting primarily of an extremely open mesh pattern that is perfect for cooling in warm climates, but terrible for keeping debris out if you happen to mix a few trails in with your asphalt. (Newton has developed another model, the Sir Isaac, with a closed mesh upper and a bit more traction for running on dirt. It’s still classified as a road trainer, but it appears that Newton is making slow strides towards creating a true trail running shoe. If all goes according to plan, I'll review the Sir Isaac this winter.)

Finally, there’s the matter of price. The Gravity retails for $175 from the Newton website, and I found very little variation in my brief Google shopping search. That’s a significant jump above most high-end running shoes – and if you’re just looking for a comfortable high-mileage trainer without making a serious effort to adjust your running form, you’re completely wasting your money with these.

Part of the cost of admission, then, is making a commitment to practice midfoot running – and the high price tag makes you take that commitment seriously. These shoes would also be a great option for any of the following:

• Those who’ve struggled with injuries and want to learn a more efficient running pattern, but aren’t ready to jump completely into the wild uncharted waters of barefoot running.
• Practiced midfoot runners who want a lightweight, comfortable shoe for fast workout days or racing. (Newton does make a race-specific shoe that is one ounce lighter, but the Gravity is a better multi-purpose shoe for training and racing.)
• Triathletes who want to run like Craig Alexander (OK, I made that one up … )
• Barefoot runners who want some basic shoe protection for super-long runs or easy recovery days while maintaining most of their customary biomechanics.

Historically, revolutionary ideas take time to be accepted; nobody’s really certain whether today’s incontrovertible evidence will hold up to some new scientific approach much further down the road. That’s how it’s going to be for Newton Running shoes for a while: a core group of believers, a vocal group of skeptics, and a whole lot of time for the rest of us to decide what seems to make the most sense.

Count me in on the side of the believers.


See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Feelmax Video; Kilian's Quest

A couple of videos to carry you through the weekend, one of which features yet another young adventurer taking on an epic running quest – but it’s not the enigmatic Tellman (last seen somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania) mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It’s someone with far more organizational (not to mention promotional) support who seemingly has a far better chance of success at his task.

But first, one more brief and slightly bewildering mention of the Feelmax company whose products I reviewed this week.

I’ve mentioned a few times how the whole barefoot running movement has taken a few small companies by surprise, and Feelmax is a classic example. They made unique footwear, to be certain, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what target demographic they had in mind with advertisements such as this one:



It’s visually stunning, for sure ... but the purpose seems kind of vague - unless, of course, you make a habit of loading up a backpack to hike through forests and up enormous hills for the purpose of playing hacky sack at the top, in which case this one’s right in your wheelhouse. Otherwise, maybe not so much.

I find myself really cheering for Feelmax to get a foot in the door (see what I did there?) in US markets and become part of the running and fitness industry landscape, but you never know how it’s going to play out for some of these smaller businesses over the long haul. I’d absolutely love to see them on Shark Tank one of these weeks, scoring some big financing along with expert marketing and distribution folks in their corner to help make that happen – but perhaps they shouldn’t take business advice from someone who is hooked on reality television. It’s probably better if I just stay out of it.

**
The second video highlights the current exploits of a phenomenal young ultrarunner named Kilian Jornet.

I was contacted by a PR rep of Kilian’s, which almost always triggers a quick “No, thanks” reply from me, but it’s one of those cool stories that could potentially become a “I remember the first time I heard of that guy” type of thing if Kilian becomes the next Scott Jurek or something. So I’ll just provide a brief summary with some links and a video, and let you follow along if it interests you.

Kilian’s a 21-year-old Catalan who has been pretty much unbeatable over the past couple of years in several prestigious mountain races and ultras – he’s the 2-time defending champion of the Mont Blanc 100-miler, for example - and is now turning his sights to a year-long series of mind-boggling multi-day ultrarunning adventures. He is sponsored by Salomon Running, who have dedicated an entire video series to Kilian’s exploits over those 12 months.

This Monday and Tuesday, Kilian will be attempting to break the Tahoe Rim Trail speed record set in 2005 by an ultrarunner most Western States enthusiasts have heard of once or twice before – a guy named Tim Tweitmeyer. The current record for the mountainous 165-mile loop stands at 45 hours and 58 minutes; many ultrarunning insiders predict that Kilian will take that record down quite handily.

One of those insiders is Bryon Powell, who operates the outstanding iRunFar website. He’ll be covering the record attempt all weekend, so check out his blog for further updates.

Here’s the Salomon teaser for Kilian’s TRT attempt:



And since I said it for the oddball barefoot guy, I guess I should say it for the young stud ultrarunner: Run, Kilian, Run!

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The Barefoot Files: Training Update #4

"Let it flow, let yourself go -

Slow and low, that is the tempo."
- Beastie Boys, "Slow and Low" (video after post)

**
An old-school shout out seems appropriate for the current barefoot report, which features low mileage and very slow speeds. This two-week period was also a classic “one step back, two steps forward” phase for me. The steps back were partially logistical, and partly stupidical (yes, I just made that word up – but trust me, it fits), while the steps forward moved me into some uncharted waters as far as time and distance are concerned.

And I’m happy to say that after nine weeks of dedicated training, I’ve finally progressed beyond the level of a 7-year old; more on that later. For now, let’s get to the numbers. Also, if you missed them …

Update #1 is here

Update #2 is here.

Update #3 is here.

These updates probably deserve their own sidebar by now – I’ll add that to my list of things to do this month.

Week 8: 2 barefoot runs, 1 minimal footwear run

Barefoot:

• 24 min on asphalt
• 20 min on top of Half Dome

Minimal footwear:

• 45 min w/ Feelmax Osma

This was the week of my planned Half Dome run, so I knew going in that most of my miles would be done in shoes, and the barefoot thing would have to take a backseat for a while – that’s the logistical part.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the barefoot bug out of my system, so on the Monday holiday, after doing some yardwork and going for a short bike ride with my son, I ditched my shoes and headed out for a late-afternoon run on my neighborhood streets.

More specifically, it was late afternoon on a hot summer day - when it was over 90 degrees outside, and the asphalt had been simmering in the sun for several hours prior to my arrival. Needless to say, this wasn’t the wisest choice I’ve ever made.

Not quite like Badwater, but far too hot for my tender soles

The strange part was, for the first few minutes, the discomfort on the bottom of my feet didn’t feel remarkably different than it normally does when I’m dealing with the rough asphalt of my neighborhood streets. After about 10 minutes, however, the situation became clear: the asphalt was giving me heat blisters on the underside of my feet, and I needed to shut the workout down. Trouble was, I had headed out in a direct beeline from my house – so there weren’t any shortcuts home aside from retracing my steps. By the time I returned, I had some decent sized blisters on my big toes and across the soles of my feet, with only days before I was scheduled to head off to Yosemite. Does my stupidical word make sense now?

(And don’t worry, I won’t post any closeup blister pictures here - but feel free to enlarge the final photo if you're in the mood for something a little bit graphic.)

The next morning, I jogged around in regular shoes (well, not exactly regular: the Newton Gravity, which I’ll review next week) for a while, and used my Feelmax shoes the day after that, and by the time we started our 18-mile adventure up and down Half Dome, I was pretty much recovered – in fact, I was able to kick my shoes off on top of the rock and jog around up there for a good 20 minutes or so.

Barefoot and happy on top of the world

Seriously – if there’s any cooler feeling than bouncing around barefoot on top of one of the most beautiful, distinctive mountains in the world, on the most perfect kind of day imaginable, I’d love to know about it. Because I’m still wondering how I’ll ever top that particular experience.


Week 9: 3 barefoot runs, 2 minimal footwear runs

Barefoot:

• 34 minutes, 50 seconds on asphalt
• 25 minutes on asphalt
• 35 minutes on mixed asphalt/grass/dirt

Minimal footwear:

• 45 min w/ Feelmax Osma
• 90 min w/ Vibram FiveFingers

A brief note about the FiveFingers: this was my longest trail run to date in them, and at the time, I felt like I could have kept right on going … but afterwards, I was much more sore than usual after a typical 90-minute trail run. I love wearing them so much that I’m probably pushing beyond the recommended buildup period for your body to get accustomed to the changes, but I don’t really care. Call me impetuous.

As for the barefoot exploits: after a couple of days recovering from the Half Dome run, I climbed back on the horse in pretty good style. This week marked a key transition point, in that my barefoot runs have become long enough in duration to stand alone, as opposed to tagging a few extra minutes onto the end of shod workouts. It’s a good news/bad news situation: it’s great to know that my asphalt tolerance is in the 30-45 minute range, but I’m still moving at such a snail’s pace that I’m uncertain whether I’m getting any cardiovascular benefit or caloric burn from these outings. And since they’re now taking the place of my regular runs, my overall weekly mileage is trending steadily downward.

(Translation: I’m getting fat and slow. Thank goodness it’s the off-season.)

Here’s a good example of what I mean: notice that one of the entries above doesn’t say “35 minutes”, but rather “34 minutes, 50 seconds” – that’s because I decided to actually time myself on a measured course to get a realistic assessment of how quickly I could move with an honest effort.

After my first asphalt 5K: the white spots don't hurt nearly as bad as they look.

I chose a completely flat 5K course that I ran more than three years ago with my son, who was 7 at the time. When he and I did the race together, he was still in the porta-potty at the starting gun, took several walking breaks, and was trading places with a potential Biggest Loser contestant in the final mile … and he completed the course in 37 minutes. Alongside him, it barely felt like exercise to me; I think I wore a warmup jacket for the entire race.

So obviously, it was unfathomable to imagine that I would ever clock a similar time while racing on my own someday – but that’s almost precisely what happened when I tried the course barefoot. Fortunately, my clock time put me just a shade of my son’s age 7 posting … and the terrible part is, I had an actual sense of accomplishment about it afterwards.

I mentioned last time how frustrating the idea of running slowly was, but I feel like I’m finally starting to have some acceptance of that fact, at least for the time being. Slow and low's going to be my theme song for a while - and rather than drive myself crazy with frustration, I might as well just accept it. Perhaps that’s the most noticeable change this barefoot experiment has affected thus far: it’s changed my expectations so completely that I’m gloating over running faster than a 7-year-old.

Whether that represents progress is a little difficult to say.

**
This song is too old for a video, so you're just stuck with the iconic Licensed to Ill album cover while tripping down rap's memory lane. Quick question about the Beastie Boys: If someone had told you in 1986 that a group of three white Jewish boys would have a 25-year, multi-platinum career in the rap music industry, would you have believed him? Me neither - but I'm sure glad they did.

Beastie Boys, "Slow and Low" (click to play):

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