Its been a week since I bought the Vibram Five Fingers. Thus far I've only had one comment about my shoes. This evening while shopping at Whole Foods I had a lady come up to me and say, "Those are some gnarly shoes!" I went on to discuss with her why I bought them. She revealed that she had horrible hip problems that prevented her from even doing long distance walking.
Maybe a convert?
Meanwhile...
These shoes by themselves are not a miracle cure for all things. But they are a good entry into the world of barefoot walking. The shoes have made me much more aware of how big a difference going barefoot can be. For example, when walking upstairs to our apartment while wearing shoes, my left knee (the one that had runners knee) flares up. BUT, when I walk barefoot, I don't feel any pain at all. The Vibram Five Fingers are somewhere in between.
Also, I have to admit, I like the feel of the pavement and cracks below my feet. I can't walk at high speed like I used to. I did one heel to toe foot plant on concrete -- it was not pleasant.
I've also started running with shorter steps (in running shoes of course) in order to land in the middle of the foot instead on the heel. Its not faster, but there is a definite difference in how my body reacts. Its hell on the calves, but its much easier on the rest of the joints. Also, the calves seem to adapt better to the workout than the knees, hips, and quads.
For example, the other day I did 4 miles around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Lake Merritt is a pain in the ass -- literally. For reasons that neither I nor others who run around the lake can explain, running the trail around there is painful on the joints. I've been doing it for 4 years, up till this week my joints would always ache after running around it. But the other day when I ran around it, focusing on landing mid-foot instead of on the heels, and odd thing happened. My calves got trashed while running. But the next day -- no pain in my knees, quads, or hips. My calves weren't even sore. They had recovered within 24 hours.
The lesson therefore is that my entire way of walking and running for the past 30+ years has been a recipe for pain and discomfort. I had always taken for granted that stretching my legs out really far in front and landing on my heel (both when walking and running) was my natural gait. While I don't think I'll be using the Vibram Five Fingers to run on SF concrete, I think I will start focusing on shorter steps, higher cadence, and see where it takes me.
If I'm slower, so be it. At this stage of life, being able to keep running long distances for another decade or two will make me happy.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
My Weird New Shoes
Just finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249533175&sr=1-1
For anyone who loves to run, or used to love running but got sidetracked by injuries, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.
It basically takes much of the conventional wisdom regarding running shoes, aging, and running injuries, and throws it out the window. It also explains, to some degree, why ultra-marathoners can run the crazy miles they do without hurting themselves. Lastly, it pushes the idea of running barefoot as both a training tool and a general way of doing all long distance running.
But I digress, after reading the book, it inspired me to buy these bad boys.
Its the Vibram Five Finger shoe. According to one of the ultra-runners in the book, the Infamous Barefoot Ted, it can give you some of the benefits of barefoot running without the dangers (broken glass, cut feet, etc.).
A running store owner in the East Bay had mentioned these very briefly to me earlier in the year. He mentioned in passing that these shoes were the only things he knew of that could fix flat feet and restore arches -- but he didn't go on about why, nor did he try to sell them to me.
After reading the book and doing some additional research on the web I decided to give them a try. My legs and feet are not holding up as well as they used to. At this point I would try almost anything that would strengthen my feet, restore my arches, and reduce injuries to my joints.
I bought them at a store in Oakland, and walked out the door with them to the BART Station, then back home to the City. It was interesting. I did get a few stares. As I sat on the BART platform waiting for the train, reading the final chapters of the McDougal book, a woman who was dressed to kill in stiletoes stopped and looked at my feet. My shoes might have been a bit much for her.
In total I've only spent an hour walking around in the shoes. My observations so far;
-Despite the thin bottoms, I didn't feel nearly as much of an impact when I walked around on hard surfaces with them.
-I could, though, tell the differences between different surfaces. Shifting from the concrete sidewalks onto the stone surfaces at the BART stations, you could feel a difference.
-You do feel the changes in the pavement -- cracks in the pavement, the safety padding on the BART platform, steel tracks for the cablecars -- but its subtle. Its not as sharp as you would think it would be.
-I love the way these things feel on my feet!
I'll have a more detailed verdict a few weeks I think. The plan for now is to get used to walking around in these things outside the office, then start using them for short runs.
That will be the point where things get harder and potentially more painful.
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249533175&sr=1-1
For anyone who loves to run, or used to love running but got sidetracked by injuries, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.
It basically takes much of the conventional wisdom regarding running shoes, aging, and running injuries, and throws it out the window. It also explains, to some degree, why ultra-marathoners can run the crazy miles they do without hurting themselves. Lastly, it pushes the idea of running barefoot as both a training tool and a general way of doing all long distance running.
But I digress, after reading the book, it inspired me to buy these bad boys.
 |
| From Storehouse |
Its the Vibram Five Finger shoe. According to one of the ultra-runners in the book, the Infamous Barefoot Ted, it can give you some of the benefits of barefoot running without the dangers (broken glass, cut feet, etc.).
A running store owner in the East Bay had mentioned these very briefly to me earlier in the year. He mentioned in passing that these shoes were the only things he knew of that could fix flat feet and restore arches -- but he didn't go on about why, nor did he try to sell them to me.
After reading the book and doing some additional research on the web I decided to give them a try. My legs and feet are not holding up as well as they used to. At this point I would try almost anything that would strengthen my feet, restore my arches, and reduce injuries to my joints.
I bought them at a store in Oakland, and walked out the door with them to the BART Station, then back home to the City. It was interesting. I did get a few stares. As I sat on the BART platform waiting for the train, reading the final chapters of the McDougal book, a woman who was dressed to kill in stiletoes stopped and looked at my feet. My shoes might have been a bit much for her.
In total I've only spent an hour walking around in the shoes. My observations so far;
-Despite the thin bottoms, I didn't feel nearly as much of an impact when I walked around on hard surfaces with them.
-I could, though, tell the differences between different surfaces. Shifting from the concrete sidewalks onto the stone surfaces at the BART stations, you could feel a difference.
-You do feel the changes in the pavement -- cracks in the pavement, the safety padding on the BART platform, steel tracks for the cablecars -- but its subtle. Its not as sharp as you would think it would be.
-I love the way these things feel on my feet!
I'll have a more detailed verdict a few weeks I think. The plan for now is to get used to walking around in these things outside the office, then start using them for short runs.
That will be the point where things get harder and potentially more painful.
The Control Experiment
Did a follow up to the simple pork rib recipe. Wanted to see if I could replicate the same results using beef ribs I purchased from Cala market -- a far cry from the boutique Niman Ranch meat I got from the smaller corner store.
The recipe was basically the same;
Half a rack of beef ribs
salt
pepper
garlic rubbed on the ribs
dried rosemary
Broiled it on both sides to give it color and flavor, then wrapped it up in tinfoil, and left it alone for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Results are below;
The results -- mixed.
The good;
-Very juicy.
-Lots of meat flavor, the limited spice and herbs didn't smother the meat
The problem -- it wasn't nearly as tender as the pork ribs from the night before. Two things might be going on.
One, as I said before, these aren't premium ribs like the Niman Ranch ones I had the other night. The lack of tenderness may reflect this.
Two, beef ribs might just be harder to work with then pork ribs.
If it is the former, then my simple rib technique is only really applicable to premium ribs. If it is the later, then maybe I just need to cook beef ribs for longer -- maybe a full hour. This would still be less than the 2 hour marathon bbq recipes I keep on coming across.
Will follow up.
The recipe was basically the same;
Half a rack of beef ribs
salt
pepper
garlic rubbed on the ribs
dried rosemary
Broiled it on both sides to give it color and flavor, then wrapped it up in tinfoil, and left it alone for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Results are below;
 |
| From Storehouse |
The results -- mixed.
The good;
-Very juicy.
-Lots of meat flavor, the limited spice and herbs didn't smother the meat
The problem -- it wasn't nearly as tender as the pork ribs from the night before. Two things might be going on.
One, as I said before, these aren't premium ribs like the Niman Ranch ones I had the other night. The lack of tenderness may reflect this.
Two, beef ribs might just be harder to work with then pork ribs.
If it is the former, then my simple rib technique is only really applicable to premium ribs. If it is the later, then maybe I just need to cook beef ribs for longer -- maybe a full hour. This would still be less than the 2 hour marathon bbq recipes I keep on coming across.
Will follow up.
Monday, August 3, 2009
A Simple Rib Recipe
Tonight I discovered something.
All those recipes for making ribs, especially BBQ'd ones, that emphasized;
- Complex spice mixtures & marinades;
- Hours of low heat to make meat tender;
It was ALL A LIE!!!
All those baroque preparations involving exotic multi-colored sauces with secret spice recipes, the debates about various types of fuel (mesquite vs. gas), the enormous smokers, none of that is necessary unless you are insistent on (to paraphrase Anthony Bourdain) forcing the meat into submission.
I made a pork ribs this evening for dinner. It was a VERY simple recipe that I threw together. But it turned out to be the most tender batch of ribs I ever made, and far quicker than all my previous attempts. The basics were as follows;
Half a rack of Niman Ranch pork spareribs
Two cloves of garlic
A handful of fresh sage
Salt & pepper to taste
I rubbed the garlic and sage all over the ribs. Sprinkled salt and pepper on them. Plopped into the broiler just long enough to brown both sides, switched onto oven mode, and roasted them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
BUT, I DID ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING, I wrapped the rack of ribs in tinfoil before putting them back into the oven. The meat already had the searing from the broiling, from here I wanted to wrap them in foil and sweat the meat.
A half hour later, I pulled them out of the oven. The results are below.
In the picture above you see a rib furthest to the right where the bone is sticking out more than the others. My hand accidently bumped into it, knocking the bone off the meat. After only at most 45 minutes of cooking the meat was falling off the bone.
It might have just been because I used high quality pork, but the ribs needed very little spicing up. Sage, garlic, salt, and pepper, was all these ribs needed. Smothering it into a reddish sweet/sour/salty/spicy mixture for several hours, or even just for the 30 minutes it was sitting in the oven, would have done nothing to improve them.
I wrote months back that Texas BBQ was overrated. After tonight I think ALL AMERICAN BBQ is over-rated. What BBQ preparations do to meat is excessive and unnecessary. It's like taking Ingrid Bergman and making her get a boob job, liposuction, and botox. If the meat is good to begin with, there is no need to smother it.
All those recipes for making ribs, especially BBQ'd ones, that emphasized;
- Complex spice mixtures & marinades;
- Hours of low heat to make meat tender;
It was ALL A LIE!!!
All those baroque preparations involving exotic multi-colored sauces with secret spice recipes, the debates about various types of fuel (mesquite vs. gas), the enormous smokers, none of that is necessary unless you are insistent on (to paraphrase Anthony Bourdain) forcing the meat into submission.
I made a pork ribs this evening for dinner. It was a VERY simple recipe that I threw together. But it turned out to be the most tender batch of ribs I ever made, and far quicker than all my previous attempts. The basics were as follows;
Half a rack of Niman Ranch pork spareribs
Two cloves of garlic
A handful of fresh sage
Salt & pepper to taste
I rubbed the garlic and sage all over the ribs. Sprinkled salt and pepper on them. Plopped into the broiler just long enough to brown both sides, switched onto oven mode, and roasted them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
BUT, I DID ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING, I wrapped the rack of ribs in tinfoil before putting them back into the oven. The meat already had the searing from the broiling, from here I wanted to wrap them in foil and sweat the meat.
A half hour later, I pulled them out of the oven. The results are below.
 |
| From Storehouse |
 |
| From Storehouse |
In the picture above you see a rib furthest to the right where the bone is sticking out more than the others. My hand accidently bumped into it, knocking the bone off the meat. After only at most 45 minutes of cooking the meat was falling off the bone.
It might have just been because I used high quality pork, but the ribs needed very little spicing up. Sage, garlic, salt, and pepper, was all these ribs needed. Smothering it into a reddish sweet/sour/salty/spicy mixture for several hours, or even just for the 30 minutes it was sitting in the oven, would have done nothing to improve them.
I wrote months back that Texas BBQ was overrated. After tonight I think ALL AMERICAN BBQ is over-rated. What BBQ preparations do to meat is excessive and unnecessary. It's like taking Ingrid Bergman and making her get a boob job, liposuction, and botox. If the meat is good to begin with, there is no need to smother it.
Back in the Saddle Again
Went out on the bike for the first time in two weeks this weekend. A short 20 miler in the city on Saturday, and a 40 miler in Marin the next day. I was able to squeeze three ball busting hills into the urban 20 miler -- up Arguello from the Presidio, up Lincoln Boulevard from 25th Avenue down to Crissy Field, then back up from Crissy Field up Lincoln Boulevard back to the Richmond District. For the Marin ride (for safety reasons) I didn't go down the Sausalito Lateral Road, took the zig zap access road to the left after getting off GG Bridge, and went along Conzelman Road to Sausalito. Then I headed up Camino Alto, and looped back over on part of Paradise Loop.
A couple observations.
1. My bike has actually held up despite the crash. None of the squeeking and cracking that I was warned to check up on. Just in case, after the first day, I stopped, sat both butt cheeks on my top tube, pressed the sole of my foot into the bottom bracket, no noise.
2. Despite the lay off from the injuries, and not riding consistently during the past 7 months, the hills in Marin really aren't much harder than they have ever been.
3. Even before my smackdown I was getting cautious on downhills and flats. I have lost something in terms of both aggressiveness, situational awareness, and reflexes. This reflects the fact I hadn't been out on the road for awhile. I haven't lost that much in terms of overall fitness, but cycling isn't a pure brute endurance sport. You do have to pay attention to the road, and if you ride aggressively, the need for bike handling skills and situational awareness goes up significantly.
The next few weeks won't just be an exercise in building up my endurance for the events ahead. It will be an exercise in getting a feel for the road again.
A couple observations.
1. My bike has actually held up despite the crash. None of the squeeking and cracking that I was warned to check up on. Just in case, after the first day, I stopped, sat both butt cheeks on my top tube, pressed the sole of my foot into the bottom bracket, no noise.
2. Despite the lay off from the injuries, and not riding consistently during the past 7 months, the hills in Marin really aren't much harder than they have ever been.
3. Even before my smackdown I was getting cautious on downhills and flats. I have lost something in terms of both aggressiveness, situational awareness, and reflexes. This reflects the fact I hadn't been out on the road for awhile. I haven't lost that much in terms of overall fitness, but cycling isn't a pure brute endurance sport. You do have to pay attention to the road, and if you ride aggressively, the need for bike handling skills and situational awareness goes up significantly.
The next few weeks won't just be an exercise in building up my endurance for the events ahead. It will be an exercise in getting a feel for the road again.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wow, Chinese Medicine Actually Works!
M and I discussed our mutual body aches and pains. A friend of hers referred her to an acupuncture specialist in SF J-Town. Given our mutual conditions, it seemed like a good time to go check it out.
Despite being of Chinese ethnicity, I had never gone to a Chinese medicine specialist, even when I was in Taiwan. In fact, I don't think any of my relatives have. Chinese medicine was one of those things that (even for Chinese people) seemed mystical -- great potential to help you, but also a great potential to hurt you. The emphasis was always on two things;
- Only use it for stuff that is just hanging on you, problems that linger for months if not years, that Western medicine can't handle.
- Only use a practitioner whom a good number of your friends and associates can vouch for.
Technically, the J-town practitioner fit the bill. I also added a sprained wrist the day before to my list of ailments, so I was more than ready to have someone provide some help for my aching joints.
It was, to say the least, very interesting. The Chinese Medicine Doctor had almost as many forms as a doctor at my HMO -- including all of the usual CYA forms.
After a general check of my pulse and my tongue, the practitioner asked the following;
- Your pulse shows stress & pain, is that the case? (I'm always stressed, and my joints are in much pain).
- Do you have chest congestion. (No.) OK, don't worry about.
- Your pulse shows that the stress is attacking your stomach & spleen, do you have problems there? (No.) Don't worry about it, then.
The Chinese Medicine Doctor then had me lie down on the bed, and inserted needles in my shoulder, elbows, wrist, and knees. I could feel the needles just break my skin, but they didn't hurt at all. The needles were connected to electrodes that sent a low voltage electric pulse into my muscles. Some areas (my chest and shoulders) got a bigger pulse of electricity. Others (my wrist) the electric pulse was barely noticeable.
On one level, it seems a little wacky, needles and electricity. Then I remembered what a colleague of mine told me about how professional athletes get low level electrical surges as part of their physical therapy from injuries and general muscle strain. The only difference was that my Chinese Medicine Doctor was using needles instead of whatever overprice electrode that an NFL doctor uses.
The Doctor also used an odd suction device on my back. I couldn't see it, but I could definitely feel it. I think it was the moxubustion thing I had read about, how you drop a match into a glass cup, it sucks air, creating a vacuum that is ideal for sucking large chunks of skin into the glass cup. She ran the suction glass cup up and down my back. It hurt a bit. I could feel a good hunk of my skin going into the cup, and the cup running up, down, left, and right, across my back.
The result.
It wasn't 100% recovery, but it was a definite improvement. In detail;
My Wrist;
It still hurts, but the the range of motion is much improved. Moving it up and down and left and right doesn't hurt as much as it did this morning. I'm thinking maybe the electrical therapy brought down some of the swelling on the inside of my wrist that was making it hard to move it around.
My Shoulder;
In the back of the shoulder, a lot of the fatigue had gone. Also, related to the shoulder injury, it didn't hurt nearly as much to move my head left and right. The muscle pain along my neck and spine was gone. The muscles that connect my shoulder to the center of my chest still feel a little painful and stiff. But about half of the stiffness and discomfort that I had on my left shoulder has (for now at least) gone.
Maybe the ultimate validation, the Doctor left a few bandages with short needles embedded in them planted against a few pressure points around my shoulder, and a thick gauze bandage around my wrist. She told me to keep them on for the next few days, try not to let them get loosened up by showers and bathing.
She did not recommend a follow up visit. She didn't see the need.
Overconfidence in her abilities, maybe.
Or maybe she was honest, and not out to squeeze a buck out of me.
Maybe there are a few honest quacks out there.
Despite being of Chinese ethnicity, I had never gone to a Chinese medicine specialist, even when I was in Taiwan. In fact, I don't think any of my relatives have. Chinese medicine was one of those things that (even for Chinese people) seemed mystical -- great potential to help you, but also a great potential to hurt you. The emphasis was always on two things;
- Only use it for stuff that is just hanging on you, problems that linger for months if not years, that Western medicine can't handle.
- Only use a practitioner whom a good number of your friends and associates can vouch for.
Technically, the J-town practitioner fit the bill. I also added a sprained wrist the day before to my list of ailments, so I was more than ready to have someone provide some help for my aching joints.
It was, to say the least, very interesting. The Chinese Medicine Doctor had almost as many forms as a doctor at my HMO -- including all of the usual CYA forms.
After a general check of my pulse and my tongue, the practitioner asked the following;
- Your pulse shows stress & pain, is that the case? (I'm always stressed, and my joints are in much pain).
- Do you have chest congestion. (No.) OK, don't worry about.
- Your pulse shows that the stress is attacking your stomach & spleen, do you have problems there? (No.) Don't worry about it, then.
The Chinese Medicine Doctor then had me lie down on the bed, and inserted needles in my shoulder, elbows, wrist, and knees. I could feel the needles just break my skin, but they didn't hurt at all. The needles were connected to electrodes that sent a low voltage electric pulse into my muscles. Some areas (my chest and shoulders) got a bigger pulse of electricity. Others (my wrist) the electric pulse was barely noticeable.
On one level, it seems a little wacky, needles and electricity. Then I remembered what a colleague of mine told me about how professional athletes get low level electrical surges as part of their physical therapy from injuries and general muscle strain. The only difference was that my Chinese Medicine Doctor was using needles instead of whatever overprice electrode that an NFL doctor uses.
The Doctor also used an odd suction device on my back. I couldn't see it, but I could definitely feel it. I think it was the moxubustion thing I had read about, how you drop a match into a glass cup, it sucks air, creating a vacuum that is ideal for sucking large chunks of skin into the glass cup. She ran the suction glass cup up and down my back. It hurt a bit. I could feel a good hunk of my skin going into the cup, and the cup running up, down, left, and right, across my back.
The result.
It wasn't 100% recovery, but it was a definite improvement. In detail;
My Wrist;
It still hurts, but the the range of motion is much improved. Moving it up and down and left and right doesn't hurt as much as it did this morning. I'm thinking maybe the electrical therapy brought down some of the swelling on the inside of my wrist that was making it hard to move it around.
My Shoulder;
In the back of the shoulder, a lot of the fatigue had gone. Also, related to the shoulder injury, it didn't hurt nearly as much to move my head left and right. The muscle pain along my neck and spine was gone. The muscles that connect my shoulder to the center of my chest still feel a little painful and stiff. But about half of the stiffness and discomfort that I had on my left shoulder has (for now at least) gone.
Maybe the ultimate validation, the Doctor left a few bandages with short needles embedded in them planted against a few pressure points around my shoulder, and a thick gauze bandage around my wrist. She told me to keep them on for the next few days, try not to let them get loosened up by showers and bathing.
She did not recommend a follow up visit. She didn't see the need.
Overconfidence in her abilities, maybe.
Or maybe she was honest, and not out to squeeze a buck out of me.
Maybe there are a few honest quacks out there.
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