Born to Run is essentially three stories in one book, intertwined. The stories revolve around the Tarahumara tribe and the “greatest race you’ve never heard of.” The book also hits upon an evolutionary discussion that humans evolved to run. The third story is on the shoe industry, which McDougall asserts is a lot of hype and marketing and that running shoes are more likely the cause of running injuries than the solution.

This book was on par with Christopher Leer’s Running with the Buffaloes, which I would say is my favorite running book of all time. I should preface my review that I have had a strong interest in the minimalist shoe theory for the last year, after coming to some of the same conclusions that McDougall made with regards to the footwear industry and running injuries.

I have had little interest in ultra-running, but Born to Run sparked an interest. A huge part of it is that I am a time oriented individual, so if someone says they ran 100 miles in 19 hours, I don’t really have a feel or gauge as to what type of accomplishment it was or if they are a good runner. For ultra runners it’s more about the experience or placement in the race than the time and the time is only relevant to others who have ran that course or if you the runner have ran that course in the past. Thus, in no way can you compare times to other ultras since most of them are run in the mountains.

Now, I have a slight interest in ultras. Not saying that I would ever do one, but I did find myself reading up on the Western States 100 and looking at the results. It was also cool to see Zach Miller take 6th in the race as we went to college together and we ran Cross Country together, he was a senior my freshman year. However, I do have a new found respect for ultras and five years ago I had zero desire to run a marathon and now I have run five, so who knows, maybe I will get out there someday.

McDougall’s assertion that humans were born to run is extremely interesting. I don’t know a lot about anthropology but the evidence that he provides seems to be solid and well documented. The stories about humans being able to literally run down an Elk were fascinating.

Lastly, the book focuses on the shoe industry. McDougall is no fan of the marketing and hype that surround shoes. For the most part I agree with him, but I think some of the conclusions are a bit of a stretch. I do believe that motion control/support shoes are not necessary and I am skeptical when I hear so called experts advising people to run in a shoe such as the Brooks Beast to alleviate injuries. My opinion is similar on orthotics and my guess is that if you were to go in to see a Podiatrist that 90% of the time they will try to sell you a pair regardless of your ailment.

Where my opinion differs from McDougall’s is that I still believe that training is the result of injuries for most runners and not the shoes. Simply that most people ramp up the training too quickly or people who have never ran before try to run a marathon six months later. A lot of the studies that are cited in the book are looking back at runners from the 70’s and 80’s and let’s face it, today’s marathons are filled with recreational runners which the sport did not have 20+ years ago.

I agree with McDougall that the human foot is a thing of beauty, flexible in so many ways and that putting a bulky shoe on your foot will only weaken your foot and affect your gait. What I’m not so sure of is that the human foot has evolved over the last two million years to be able to run and walk on dirt and grass. The modern running shoe has only been around since the Bowerman era. Where I struggle is the surfaces that we run on today are completely different than what the human foot evolved from. Thus, the human foot did not evolve to run on asphalt and concrete, thus perhaps we need more protection on the foot? On the counter argument you have people who are able to run and win marathons, running barefoot on asphalt, so it is possible.

The book has been inspirational for me. So much so that I went out and bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and have been doing about two to three runs in them per week. I’m also gradually moving to lighter shoes, hoping to eventually do all of my running in “heavier” racing flats.

Overall, I give the book 5/5 stars. I even gave my signed copy of Born to Run to my Mom and she finished it in four days and loved it, she is not a runner. The book has wide appeal that I believe non-runners would still enjoy it; on the flip side I would not recommend Running with the Buffaloes to a non-runner that is more of a niche book.

Pick up a copy, might change your opinion of the shoe industry, regardless it’s a fantastic read.

Interview with Christopher McDougall

6/22 – 7 Miles in Vibram Five Fingers (VFF)
6/23 – 4*800 on the track at 5k race pace, quarter mile recovery, 5.6 total, later that night 2 Miles in VFF
6/24 – 8 Miles
6/25 – 2 Miles in VFF
6/26 – 4 Miles in VFF
6/27 – 12 Miles at Lair O’ the Bear
6/28 – Lyons River Run 5k in 17:55, 2 mile warmup/cool down, later that night 2 miles in VFF

49.71 Miles Total

Good week of training and I was happy with my time at the Lyons 5k. Trying to get a few interval sessions in this summer on the track to help with my leg speed, that and I would like to go <5:00 at Pearl Street Mile. However, running only 2 miles worth of intervals is a bit weak, I’ll step it up going forward. When it comes to running intervals, I prefer running them by myself. In the past when I did interval workouts with the RMRR, I would always run them too fast, get competetive, etc. Running them by myself, I tend to stay in control and keep them around 5k race pace.

Last Wednesday my achilees was killing me. It’s been sore on and off again for the last two months. Wednesday night I thought about taking a week off, letting the injury heal not wanting to risk anything once I start my buildup for the NYC Marathon. The next day two days I took it easy running in the VFF and the achilees pain subsided, even after running Lair O’ the Bear, I would have surely thought that it would have flared up but it did not. Now it’s not bothering me at all, it sort of comes and goes.

Right now I am trying to eliminate the variables. I think my work shoes tend to make it flair up, with the raised heel and all. Thus, I plan to change up the shoes that I wear to work for a bit, see if I can figure this achilees “injury out” also taking ibuprofen seems to help a lot.

Like all running injuries, I like to run through them if I can!

Results here

Lyons River Run 5k Race Review

I love going to races in small towns. Growing up in Iowa, almost every race that I ran was in a small town and connected with whatever spring/summer event the town had going on. Be it the Sweet Corn Festival, Watermelon Festival, Strawbery Festival, etc. Thus, going to a small town and parking a block away from the start line brings back fond memories.

Arrived at the race with temperatures in the low 60’s, a bit warmer than what I would like, but generally warmer weather is not that big of a deal when racing a 5k. In fact, I like it a bit warmer for a 5k than for a Half Maraton or Marathon, because it’s nice to let the sun warm up those muscles.

Just looking around, I knew that the Lyons 5k attracted some fast runners and this year was to be no different. The start of the race was a bit hectic, but JM and myself made sure to line up on the left hand side of the start line, running the tangents and to get the inside lane on the first turn which was about 100 meters from the start line.

The first mile had a bit of joslting for position, I kept looking at my watch, hoping to hit the first mile in 5:45, but came through in 5:41. I felt great, was running smooth and picking off other runners. Shortly after the first mile, runners made a loop in a parking lot, which was odd and the corners were a bit tight, thus I had to slow down. The second mile I felt great and came through in 5:40. At this point in the race, I couldn’t believe how well I felt and was confident that I could bust out another 5:40 mile for a 17:3+ 5k.

What I didn’t know was that the last mile of the course was completely different than the first two miles. The first two miles were run on city streets, plenty of room to move and solid footing. The third mile was a steady incline for .75 miles, but what made it difficult was that we were now diverted onto a bike/running path that was made of gravel.

When I hit the gravel, I immediately realized how hard it was to push off, compared to running on the roads. Combine the slow surface with the numerous turns on the trail and I mentally sort of checked out. It didn’t help matters that the guy closest to me was about 15 seconds ahead of me and no one was close to catching me, I could have used some competition that last mile to have kept myself sharp mentally.

With a tenth of a mile to go, runners had to make a 90 degree turn onto a bridge, where you can then see the finish. I kicked it in and finished in 17:55. I ran the last mile in 6:08.

I was pleased with my time, the goal before the race was to break 18 minutes. However, I was so confident going into that last mile that I could have busted out my fastest mile of the day, oh well. I just hate, hate, hate running on bike paths. The turns are sharp and the inclines and decline grades are always much steeper.

The Garmin had the course at 3.08. I suspect the course might have been a tad short, they also had to make a detour due to some flooding, thus the runners were diverted off the path, up on to the road and back onto the path, this created about two more sharp turns as well.

Overall, pleased with my race and I had a lot of fun, Lyons is a cool town. The Lyons River Run 5k was a great event, plan to do it again.

Finding a fast 5k in Colorado seems to be difficult and Evergreen cannot be tossed in there as that is not a legit course. The SkirtChaser 5k is probably my best hope for a fast time. The course is difficult, but running in the evening and having tons of runners to chase down (girls) gets me fired up to run fast.

I ventured south to Boulder Running Company in Littleton and picked up some gear tonight. General Manager Brock Quimby was on hand to help me out and provided a pleasant shopping experience.

I picked up a pair of Brooks Racer ST 4, in my quest to move to more minimalist footwear. The ST 4 tip the scales at 8.6 ounces.

I tried on a few other “heavier” racing flats, looking for something in the 8-9 ounce range but found the Brooks to be the most comfortable. Also picked up two new singlets and shorts and it’s true what they say about running shorts. In the past I would buy the longer running shorts, but now when I wear them, especially on hot days they just bother me.

Anyway, if you need some running gear stop by the BRC Store in Littleton and tell them RunColo sent ya!

Vibram Five Fingers Review

I have to say, I love the Vibram Five Fingers!

6/15 – 7.35 Miles Total with 8*400 on the track at 5k pace, with 200m recovery
6/16 – 4 Miles in Virbram Five Fingers
6/17 – 15 Miles on The High Line Canal
6/18 – 3 Miles, was planning on going longer but tripped on the sidewalk and cut my hands/knees up, so I cut the run short
6/19 – Off
6/20 – 7 Miles
6/21 – 7 Miles

43.35 Miles Total

JM pointed out that the Stadium Stampede prizes only brought out two fast runners in the Men’s race. Simon Cheprot is becoming the king of the local racing circuit and is taking home a nice collection of prizes. He took home $500 in cash and a Frontier plane ticket, thus one of the better prize purses for a local race.

I have to wonder if giving away prizes is in the best interest of the race? To preface, I am all for rewarding excellence, but am guessing that it is not in the best interest of the race to give awards to the top runners in terms of ROI. Game Theory is at the heart of the discussion. A lot of elements are at play here, for starters Simon Cheprot has been dominating the local racing scene and perhaps this discouraged some of the other top runners in the area from even coming out. Of course Cheprot has been coming to any race within the last month that has been giving away money, thus I think there was a high probability that he would be at the race.

The race used getmeregistered to process online registration. One of the features of the site is it allows you to verify registration, which also allows you to check to see what other runners are registered if you know their name. Thus, if Simon Cheprot was pre-registered it would have signaled to other fast runners that they should not bother showing up if they did a search for his name.

Perhaps if you are going to give out prize money at a race this feature should be turned off? One thing I do know about game theory when dealing with auctions, it’s always better for the business that the players involved know little about who else is playing and when you can find out what other runners are participating it hurts the field and the race’s bottom line. But who knows, for all I know Simon Cheprot could have registered on race day. His Coach has posted on my blog before, I guess I could email him and ask him.

Interview with Stephan Andrade:

Stephan, thanks for participating in the RunColo Interview Series. Please tell us about yourself and how you became the Race Director of the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon?

My pleasure and thank you for the opportunity to tell the Story of Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half. I have been a runner for over 28 years and ran this race a few times back in the mid 80s and just had a great time. When I moved to Evergreen about 15 years ago I found a great school district and continued to run the race. Then one day a parent told me that this race is the main fund raiser for our schools and I wouldn’t have to sell candy bars or Christmas wrapping paper anymore if I volunteered for the race. That led me to actually offer to be the Race Director and as they say the rest is history.

This is the 31st annual Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon, can you tell us about the history of the race?

The race was started by Lee Campbell and the Buffalo Bar in Idaho Springs as a way to get some money raised for the kids in the schools. They needed everything; support for prom, to team uniforms to calculators to scholarships. In a small rural area we have to be creative in our fund raising efforts, you can only ask your neighbors and family for so much and the base is small enough that you can give every student something back because over 80% participate in sports, after school activities or something that gets funding from the race. So Lee was the Race Director for over 24 years and did a great job, since then we have all been trying to live up to the standard that he set. We have been fortunate to have great runners and over half of the fastest half marathon times for all ages groups set in our race. It has a rich history and its just one of those Colorado institutions.

Are there any races that are older in the state of Colorado?

As far as I know we are the oldest Half Marathon, there were a couple of others that started around the same time but they have since stopped being run.

Please discuss the growth of the race over the years?

It’s funny but we are best when we have between 3000 and 3500 runnersWe don’t really want to get much bigger than that because we feel it takes away from the closeness of the runners the sponsors and the volunteers. We are very much a community event, well supported by the towns the county and everyone that lives in the area. When we get much bigger (we have been as large as 5000 runners) we start to put stains on the relationship of the neighborhoods being cut off by cars being parked where the should or in one case not having enough parking in Georgetown so the racers started parking along i-70, that was a real problem. Bigger is not always better we want quality and a great experience for each and every runner or walker. I start getting emails in December about people planning their vacations in Colorado and want to do this around our race. When I see those emails I know we have something special and we need to keep it that way.

What difficulties are you experiencing in these rough economic times?

We are getting a few no’s from potential sponsors but all of our historical sponsors have come back and we have added a few new sponsors and exhibitors this year. So I know that people need to stretch their funds and with our exposure on I-70 (40,000 cars per day) and the great demographic of our runners, the sponsors do see a great marketing opportunity and when they realize how much value they are getting by working with us I am getting fewer turn downs, but any “no” hurts.

Your registration fees, currently $35 through July 5th make the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon one of the least expensive half marathons in Colorado; this begs the question…why so cheap?

We feel we have a strong base of runners who have been good to us over the years, why make them pay too much. We also have a great group of sponsors that cover our operational costs, we just feel it is fair to all parties and we still make enough money to take care of the kids, so if it ain’t broke why fix it. I will continue to work hard to get more sponsors and exhibitors so that we can keep our entry fee low, I feel strongly that it is important to get as many people out and running as possible.

I noticed that the registration fees state that an additional $5 is for the timing fee and registration, why is this cost broken out?

I like transparency and wanted our runners to know that we do have some operational costs that have gone up over the years, I guess I just wanted everyone to see where their money goes.

I was glad to see Mountain High Yoghurt was one of your sponsors, can you tell me their role at the race?

They have been a sponsor for over 15 years, without them donating product and our watermelon at the finish expo we would have some very sad runners.

What sort of logistical problems do you face with a point to point race?

Transportation and parking are the two biggest challenges. We have great support from the School district and the drivers volunteering their time to get everyone to the start, but between Georgetown Lake and side streets in Idaho Springs it is tough to find parking. We are thinking about ways to pick people up closer to Denver making the logistics a little better and being a bit “Greener” but I have not worked out all the details so I am not sure it will happen for this year’s race.

What are your goals for this race in 2009 and beyond?

I would like to get 3000 to 3500 runners this and every year. Our theme this year is “Running through History” as a way of recognizing the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Gold in Colorado and Clear Creek. The large rock at the bus pickup area is one of the first gold finds in the state. We want to start the “Colorado Challenge” a traveling gold pan trophy that goes to the best age rated team from training groups, running clubs or stores. This award would have the name of the runners and the team engraved on the award and given from one year to the next to the winners. A running Stanley Cup! After that I would like to find a group of corporate sponsors just believe in our cause of helping the kids as much as we do. We really do have a great time and it is hard to be asking for more when you see all the issues that other races face. I count my blessings.

6/08 – 6.3 Miles, ran the LOHI 5k Course, found out it was short.
6/09 – 5 miles at 6:59 pace
6/10 – 8 Miles
6/11 – 2 Miles in Vibram Five Fingers
6/12 – 4 Miles in Vibram Five Fingers
6/13 – LOHI 5k, 10 Miles Total
6/14 – 4 Miles in Vibram Five Fingers

Total 39.3 Miles

The Vibram Five Fingers, wow, I love them, I will post a review soon. I live close to Sloan’s Lake, thus I can run from my house to the lake, crossing a few people’s yards, make it to the lake for a nice four mile loop all on the grass, so it has been a blast.

OK week of training, not where I wanted to be though. However, picking up the Vibrams tossed me for a loop and resulted in shorter runs on two of those days since I was eager to try them out. I also had a 15 miler planned but bailed when the storm warnings hit one evening.

The Rocky Mountain Half Marathon had an impressive turnout, this year they had 1,497 finishers, last year they had 977 finishers. That is substantial growth over a year. One thing that I find odd is how the competition for the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon and Colfax Half Marathon do not seem to attract the faster runners. This year out of those 1,497 finishers only 28 finished in under 1:30. Wonder why that is, I realize that the course is difficult but still a 1:30 should not place you in the top 1.8% of a Half Marathon. My guess is a lot of the fast runners went down to race The Garden of the Gods 10 Miler, Simon Cheprot is cleaning up on the local race scene!

Also, what is going on in Boulder? The Boulder Marathon is on 9/20 and the brand new Indian Summer Half Marathon is the week before on 9/13, both races are run at the Boulder Reservoir. In addition, the Boulder Marathon now has to compete with the new Zooma Women’s Half Marathon which is also on 9/20. My guess is that both of these races will really draw participants from the Boulder Half Marathon. Be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Also, check out the RunColo Forum, several new race reviews have been posted by myself and others.

LOHI 5k Race Review

A race in my ‘hood, the first annual LOHI 5k. JM and I arrived at the race early to pick up our “bibs” which were actually similar to bumper stickers, I had “0007″ which is not nearly as cool as “007″ but what can you do, pretty sure that I have never had a race number that was preceded with zeroes.

I had run this course on Monday, just to check it out, since it’s only a mile from my house. What I noticed after the completion of that run and what was confirmed after our warmup was the course was short, way short, .3 miles short to be exact. It’s hard to get motivated to race when you know the course is short, so you have to mentally check yourself and go out and race. I knew that a course W was not in the cards, because for some reason I decided to invite Justin and I was already second guessing myself for this decision as I’m not sure if I will be able to take home any other W’s this year, last year I had two.

The start of the race was bizarre. The Denver North High School drum line was playing and all of a sudden the Race Director yells “Gooooo!” I’m pretty sure that zero percent of the runners were ready, no one was on the line, Justin had his back turned to the start and I even waited a second wondering if he was joking, he was not. So I fumbled with my watch, hit the start button and took off. The “funny” thing was I saw 5-7 other runners a block or two from the start, with a serious “WTF” expression on their face; they hit their watch and joined the pack.

I let Justin take off and settled behind five other runners. The course was really challenging, essentially it’s all downhill then back up hill to the finish. At the first mile I was in 5th place, but pretty confident that I could come in second. I started moving up and at the 1.5 mile point, I took second and started pulling away.

I ran at about a 95% effort, finished with 5:55 pace, thus a good workout. The website says that they are going to post results of the first 100 runners. Not exactly sure how they are going to do this, since a timing company was not hired, perhaps they were just using a stopwatch?

Anyway, Justin picked up a trophy for the victory and I was sullen. We then did a 4.5 mile cool down, finished with about 10 miles for the day.

The race has potential, tons of police, but they made a few gaffes in their first year. I’m honestly not sure how the course can be that short? Worst case scenario, you get your 1985 Chevy Impala out there and use the odometer and my guess is you’re within ~3% of a 5k. Most serious runners know that if a course starts and finishes in the same spot and runners do not run around a cone or perform a 180 degree turn at some point on the course, that the course is short. Oh well, hopefully they fix the course next year, because otherwise it is a great course, albeit challenging.

The other “funny” thing was I had two guys come up to me, asking me my time; they then said something about how surprised they were about how fast they ran. I then told them the course was short, the guy responds “Ahhh, I figured it was too good to be true!”

I went and spectated the Uni-Hill 2k tonight, cool event. The race is two laps on “The Hill” in Boulder, criterium style. Essentially you run up a hill for .5k, then down hill for .5k, then repeat for one more lap. Which makes it a great event to watch if you’re a spectator, because if you position yourself at the right spot you can see the runners pass by four times.

Results are here

Men’s Winner Lee Troop

Women’s Winner Chantelle Dron