100-Up & Patriot's Day!

Happy Marathon Monday! I have been spending way too much time this morning tracking some brave runners and scoping out race coverage. Can’t wait to virtually see how everyone does despite the heat. Congrats all!

Speaking of, in celebration of the Boston Marathon, NaturaStride is offering 30% off all orders today and tomorrow, by entering promo code PATRIOTSDAY at checkout. Go get em!

Anyways, thank you all for the encouraging comments on my last post regarding my reevaluation of my 2012 race schedule. I am more confident that my decision to drop out of a few spring/summer races is the best decision for me. I’m excited for a low-key summer of recreational running, light cross training, and yoga. Bring on the NYC Marathon!  

Last Wednesday, I was lucky to see Chris McDougall, author of Born to Run, speak at UPenn. Coming off the heels of Caballo Blanco’s death 2 weeks ago, I was looking forward to hearing him speak more than ever. 

He essentially summarized the contents of the book, in particular the science supporting the theory that humans were built to survive as distance runners. Definitely interesting stuff. The information I find the most intriguing and convincing is the minimalist running/forefoot strike part. Yup, Chris paced the stage in his Tarahumara-esque Luna sandals. Although you won’t see me running along the Schuylkill in sandals anytime soon, most of you know I’m an advocate of the minimalist running movement, as it completely changed running for me, and I’m convinced the transition cured my chronic knee injuries.

But, I could definitely use improvement in the forefoot-strike part. I recently got some photos back from the Cherry Blossom 10-miler that included some cringe-worthy heel-strike photos. Yikes.

A member of the audience during Chris McDougall’s presentation asked how someone who is interested in improving their form could modify their foot strike. Chris suggested viewing a video he provided for the New York Times demonstrating the “100-up” technique, which essentially should help train the body to adapt to a more natural running form. 

Ironically, my friends over at Natural Running Store recently launched round 2 of their 100-Up Challenge, which encourages runners to perform the 100-Up every day for 30 days before or after their daily run, to see if this practice can improve your running form. I figured, why not, and joined the group. (You can join, too, by joining their 100-Up Facebook group.) .

Speaking of minimalist running, I got new shoes! I loved my Altra Eve’s, but after racing in them a couple times, I noticed that my heels were pretty sore. Yes, I now know this is likely due to my habitual heel strike. But I decided to look for something with just a little more material under the heel. I have been eyeing the Merrell Pace Gloves for months now, and finally picked up a pair last week:    

I don’t like posting shoe reviews until I have run in them for about a month. But, so far so good. If you do decide to pick up a pair, I highly recommend getting at least ½ size bigger, if not a whole size, as they fit pretty snug.

The rest of the weekend was fabulously low-key. I am just loving this summer preview, although I’m sure all running Boston today are not so enthusiastic.

Anyways, congrats to all who ran! Boston is my favorite and I definitely have marathon fever again.

Again, 30% off ALL NATURASTRIDE ORDERS through Tuesday 4/17! Enter PATRIOTSDAY at checkout!!

Q’s: Ever heard of the 100-Up exercise? What are your thoughts on the minimalist movement?