Snap Judgements and Instincts

I just read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. You may have heard of this author from his other books, like Outlier or The Tipping Point. This book is all about our innate abilities to make judgements based first impressions and instinct. Actually, that is simplifying things a little, but thats essentially the idea.

There's tons of great examples in the book about how "thin-slicing" people and situations can allow us to make the same or even better ideas than "thick-slicing". In one example, people were asked to assess and judge the effectiveness and abilities of a professor based on a 2 second clips of them teaching. This seems ridiculous, but most of the participants in the study, something like 80% of them, were able to assess them close to the professor's actual assessment by the university. In 2 seconds, people were able to tell if the professor's were good or bad at what they do. Why? That's the mystery to book looks into uncovering.

I'm not here to write a review of the book, but it is very good if you are looking for some very interesting information and studies. The idea of this book is more interesting to me.

Everyone at one time or another has come across a time or situation where you just have a feeling about what you should do. Everyone has met someone at one time or another and decided very quickly if you liked this person or not, but then are often left wondering why we felt this way.

We tell kids all the time when taking a test, that their first impression of the answer is probably the correct one. But, we also teach them critical thinking. We teach kids that, when they come across a situation, that they should think it through thoroughly before acting. That seems like the best way to approach anything, really. But the information presented in this book makes me think that its possible that its not... that maybe we should be working and processing more based our instincts and snap judgements. MOST (but not all) of the time, these decisions are just as good or better than the decisions we make when thinking it through and weighing every piece of information. Perhaps we should be teaching kids to hone their instinct and gut judgements. Not that they shouldn't learn all they can to make informed decisions, but that they should take that information they have learned and trust their judgements and instincts.

For example, think about a sport like basketball. I wouldn't expect 14 year old to make the right play and/or decision all the time while playing. In basketball, one has to make lots of decisions and make them in quick succession. It would be difficult for someone young and newer to the game to make the right decision in a split second all the time. BUT, after someone has spent a few years practicing and playing, these decisions come easier and faster. The more you practice and play the game, the more scenarios and situations you have come across. The more your practice and play, the more physically able you are to follow through on your decisions. If you have played, think about a time where you were playing someone one-on-one. I can think of many. One in particular comes to mind.

I was in 8th grade and we were playing another undefeated team. They had a really big kid on their team same Steve Young. He had a damn beard... seriously. He was very big for his age, but that meant I was quicker and faster (being our center, but being only 5'8" and skinny), which was true, but also made me feel better to tell myself. My coach told me to call for an isolation play if he guarded me one-on-one so I could dribble past him for a lay-up. In the last moments of the game it was tied and we had the ball with a chance to win. Our coach had called a play for a screen to get the ball to our best shooter and have him take a shot. I noticed, though, that they were in a man-to-man. I told everyone to change the play and held up the signal for an isolation play for me. I got some questionable looks form my teammates, but I was so confident (for no reason), no one questioned it. I got the ball off the inbounds, everyone cleared out... I took Steve Young on, skinny young man against man-child. I drove him to the free throw line... stopped... pulled up... and launched a shot. I heard my coach yelling, "Nooooooo!", which amazingly turned into more of a "Noooooeeeeyaaaaah!" because I swished the basket at the buzzer. We won!

This picture seems to sum up what middle school basketball is like

I realize that this story may not be as exciting for you, but there's a point. How did I know exactly when to stop and shoot? There was no play or plan. The plan was, take him one-on-one. In that moment, though, I didn't think... I reacted. Thats a normal idea in sports, right? You react. But, how do we know when and how to react best. I had played enough one-on-one at the YMCA and in my backyard and on the playground to know when I had enough space to pull up and take a good shot. As the situation developed, by learned instincts kicked in and I made the play. Even if I had missed, it would still have been a good, open shot. The key words, I think, though, is LEARNED instinct. We train for this in sports all the time. You practice and train your instinct and judgments. Maybe we should spend more time doing this in our everyday lives?

In the book, Gladwell brings up a comparison between military personnel and stock market traders, and it makes complete sense. These traders are making tons of decisions on, what seems like, very little information. They have "hunches" or "feelings" about what to do and when to do it. Thats not to say, though, that they they are guessing. They study trends and analytics all the time. But, when its time to trade, they use their instincts and judgement, trusting that what they have learned and studied will kick in. If they spent all their time trying to think their trades through critically, they would miss everything.

I know I tie in a lot of my ideas to school and education, but its the world I live in.... I think this idea of preparing ourselves better in order to make smarter "snap judgements" or improve our instincts is a very interesting one. What if we took that approach in the education system and when teaching? We told the kids, "Hey, I don't know when you will need this information, but at some point you might. When that time comes, you can trust you know what to do and can  trust your judgement and instincts  and make a decision. Thats why we are learning all of this. So that when you are out there, in the real world, you can trust yourself to make good decisions based on your initial reactions." Personally, that  approach sounds more exciting to me than trying to learn chemistry and ecosystems just because the textbooks says I need to know it. I think it would feel like you are actually training and preparing for something.

There are so many situations I can think of where having the ability to make a good, quick decision, would be so helpful and that overanalyzing makes things worse. If I felt like I was more knowledgeable on a subject, though, I think these situations would be much, much easier.

One example I can think of was when my wife and I were trying to buy a house. We looked at well over 100 houses and looked for months. The market was crazy and the economy had crashed, so cost was low, but our salaries were also frozen indefinitely. It made things a little more complicated, in our minds, to choose. In one house we put an offer on, we were actually under contract for a month before the deal went under. The whole time I remember not having a great feeling about it, but thought I was just nervous abut a house in general. But maybe my instincts were kicking in to tell me it wasn't good. On another house I saw what knowledge and expertise combined with snap judgements and instincts can do. My wife and I liked the house were looking at with our realtor's partner. Our realtor is an amazing dude, but couldn't make it to the house to show it, so his very capable partner came to show it. The layout was good, price was decent, location was nice, etc. We were starting to get desperate to find something, so our judgement was suspect. In the unfinished basement, we noticed two sub-pumps. Whatever...right? We were ready to put an offer down and we called our main realtor to tell him. His partner explained the house and the price and casually mentioned the two sub-pumps in the basement. I remember hearing our realtor on the other line go, "Wait! Two sub-pumps? Hmmm... I don't like that.... I driving up." A 45 minute drive for him later, he burst into the house, said a brief hello, and started sniffing around like a drug dog looking for a hidden stash. He started in the basement, saw the pumps, and grunted...not happy. Then stared at the cement walls int he basement, made more faces and grunts, then headed up stairs. He felt the tops of the doors and then looked like someone who found the remote control in the couch after looking for it for so long. "This house has foundation problems, don't buy it". There were fixed cracks in the foundations concrete. The tops of the doors had been sanded to fit after everything had shifted. The multiple sub-pumps were to deal with regular flooding. All this makes sense... but he drove 45 minutes on a week night, late, based on a casual piece of info about 2 sub-pumps. He knew instantly something was wrong, and he was totally right. His well informed instincts told him this was a bad house. He didn't need time on the phone to talk about what could maybe be wrong. He felt it was wrong and immediately headed put to see us. That ability, though, came from years of experience seeing thousands and thousands of houses. Now, maybe someone off the street might be able to come in and make the same decision based on instinct, but his instinct were informed.

What if we taught kids this way? Learn so you are prepared. Learn so you are ready when you need to be. When they get a to a test, we would tell them to trust their instincts and judgements. Read the questions through, jot down notes or numbers if needed but trust the answer you initially believe is correct. If they paid attention and learned throughout their classes, their instincts should serve them well when testing. If we teach them well, in the real world they should be able to make good decisions faster and more frequently as they will be able to trust their instincts.

I do teach this some in my art class. I tell kids, in order to check their work, have someone hold it up from a distance. But I tell them to close their eyes first, then open them and decide upon first look whats right and whats wrong with the work. Their initial judgements should help them in creating better work. I teach this as almost a trick, but now I am thinking I need to teach it as a real and useful tool. There's this big emphasis on art critiques and the steps one needs to take when critiquing a work of art. I get why and I think the thinking behind it is valuable, but maybe instead of teaching it to be repeated, I should really be teaching it so they don't have to do it anymore and tell them that. "If we can get good at this is as a class using the formal critique steps, then we can et rid of the steps and the writing and have conversations based on how you feel about the work." Doesn't that sound like a more fun way to live, anyway?

New Baby Boy

Well, he's here....!!!!! Two days ago my little baby boy entered the world. It's was scary and amazing and worth it.

His original due date was December 27th. After some issues (not to the baby but with fluids, etc.) his date was moved to December 14th. After another appointment, only five days later, his date was moved to December 7th, which would have been considered full term. That freaked us out. There was so much to do! It's been a scramble!

Well, December 1st my wife had another appointment. She called me at 4:00 pm. I was at school prepping materials for NEXT week's substitute teacher. Then she let me know...... The baby was coming that night! He was healthy, but his fluids were low. I froze... not sure what to do exactly. 

Jen told me all this calmly, but with a "please get home" tone in her voice. Her mom was with her. She flew in to help get the house ready and make some meals.... She was jazzed!! I could hear her on the other ned of the phone... very excited. 

Me.... Scared. Not of the baby or of him being healthy. Just scared, like I was before my wedding, but with far less time to prepare. The moment I had been preparing for was here.... All of a sudden. I almost cried, sucked it up, and went to find my principal, whom I had told an hour earlier nothing had changed in the schedule of the baby. 

I threw together my emergency sub plan and headed home, writing an apology on the board and promising to return and allow them to finish glazing their clay projects. My wife had called our friends and they were getting the dog from day care for us. She was in day care because our contractor friend was sanding the drywall in the basement. He called me and asked if I could pick up some mud....I couldn't. The whirlwind had begun. 

The night before I had just started reading a short cliff notes-style dad book full of quick tips and info. I stopped at the page with the checklist for the hospital, vowing to put that stuff together the next night... Which I did, but much faster that I originally thought.

We pulled ourselves together in a movie-like frantic montage. Picture the scene in home alone when they wake up late for the airport, but a little calmer... But not by much. We got the the hospital and checked in. The information came in fast and in large amounts. 

We went to a monitoring room where my wife became part of the Borg being hooked up to a million machines. They went through information about what was happening like the guy who used to do the Micro Machine commercials... really quick. I did not catch any of it, hardly. I knew there was a C section in the future and that I would have a new baby at some point. Jen would need a spinal tap and I would put on scrubs and then follow someone to somewhere and then I would have a baby...

All that wouldn't be so nerve wracking if I had maybe learned to change a diaper, or hold a baby, or how to feed them, or anything about babies at all. It was all happening, though, and I needed to be ready. My wife needed me to be ready. My son needed me to be ready. So I switched my mindset and decided I had nothing but time after he came to figure it out. I also am lucky and blessed to have friends and some family around that are more than willing to help. Thinking about that really helped me feel much calmer. It takes a village.....

After the took my wife away for her spinal tap (turn in to 11!), I got in my scrubs and paced, waiting for someone to com get me. It felt like forever. It felt like the moment after you ask a girl out and are waiting for their reply... it wasn't that long, but felt like a long time. I was finally brought into the operating room, where there were like 20 people moving around, a big sheet covering my wife's lower half, and my wonderful, beautiful, tough wife, lying there doing her best as they tugged on her numb lower half. I held her hand and rubbed her shoulder.

And then... My son entered the world...as they announced it, but he wasn't really moving. He was pale. He wasn't making any noise. They brought him right over to a warmer and began helping him get some oxygen. They discussed things in quiet tones and we couldn't hear what was happening. All we could do was see him 10 feet away, struggling. Time froze. I am almost crying now thinking of it, but at the time I think I just held my breath. I must have. I don't know how else I passed those moments. I squeezed my wife's hand and rubbed her shoulder and watched and waited in, yet another, brief moment in time that felt like forever. Finally, he let out a brief cry, but it was the best cry ever. It let us know he was alive and well and ready for the world. My wife shed some well deserved tears of joy and relief. I just felt like the world was okay again.

I won't go into details about the next night and day and feeding and all the other fun stuff. Each experience is unique, I'm sure. I was unprepared, but I feel like I'm getting it. Make no mistake, if you are a guy reading this, your responsibilities are very different from Mom's. What I noticed immediately and have become quite okay with, is that my allegiance is with mom. I love my baby with all my heart and soul, but my job right now is to make sure mom is good so that she can take care of baby. Her allegiance is with my son now. Thats the way it is going to be for some time.

I am just glad he is safe and healthy and that my wife is recovering. The moral of this story might be to be ready much earlier than you thought......but it doesn't matter, really. I wasn't really "ready" and everything is fine. Just go into it ready to learn and with a heart ready to love and you will be fine. I will be fine.

Born to Run

Before you decide not to read this whole thing because you think it’s going to be about running only, I will tell you that it’s not. But it’s mostly about running. I also broke it into 5 sections with my thoughts on each. Please go ahead and skip a section if its uninteresting to you. The sections are The Tarahumra, Joe Vigil, Evolution, Running shoes, and My training. This post is kindof long....sorry. 

I just recently finished reading Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run.  I know I’m a runner and cross country coach and that this book would probably be up my alley. It’s been out for a while, but I didn’t want to read it. The barefoot running craze that started after it came out seemed a little crazy to me. Plus, I’ve never been interested in running an ultra-marathon or anything like that. My assistant coach and few of the cross country parents do that stuff, but I always saw myself as a 5K guy. I want to run as hard as I can for 20 minutes, then go home, have a beer, and take a nap. My legs would always start really hurting in training around 10 miles or so. Hurting is maybe the wrong word. They would feel weak and flimsy… like they wouldn’t move right. So, yeah, 50 mile runs seemed silly. Who wants to run slow for days? Just ran fast for minutes… right? Well, after reading his book, I see it all very different now. 

If you don’t know the book or like running, I think it would still be a very interesting read. It’s a great story and goes into some very interesting information about our evolutionary past, the running shoe industry, diet, etc. The characters are interesting and what makes them great is that they are real. I’m not going to go into a full explanation of the book. You can read (obviously). But there are a few things I wanted to point out and get into.

1. The Tarahumara

First, the Tarahumara Native tribe in the Copper Canyons… they are fascinating. I have never been to the Copper Canyons, but they sound intense and awesome in the most brutal way possible… not meant for sightseeing or a quick hike with your dog. They seem devastating and beautiful at the same time. The Tarahumara live in these canyons and run them like we walk our dogs around the block. They are running superpeople. It’s part of their culture. They race and run the hills and trails and rocks and ravines with mystifying speed and agility. Not only that, but they enjoy every minute of it. This is really the premise for the whole book. How do these people do this and enjoy it? What are their secrets?

I've seen in my years coaching and just living out here in Colorado what a culture can do to create and encourage excellent running and fitness. Just take a hike here in Colorado and it will motivate you. If you go to Boulder for a nice 1-2 hour hike, while you are taking a water break to catch your breath, someone will run right by you, making you feel ashamed of your fitness level. When I climbed my first 14'er (14,00 ft. mountain), I felt pretty good about myself... until I saw the really old dude popping his head up from the back side, the steep side, of the mountain without breathing hard at all. The first time I went to Red Rocks on a Saturday morning to check it out, I was amazed at the huge number of people using the steps and stairs to work out...running up them, doing push ups down them, carrying others piggy-back on the way back to the top....  The point is, there is a culture of fitness here in Colorado. In areas like Boulder, where Olympic runners from all over the world come to in order to train, the cross country teams are huge and amazing. There is a culture there built around fitness and running and it breeds incredible results. The area I coach in is a little to the east and where the mountains end and the plains begin. I have spent 8 years trying to build a culture around running and am just starting to see the results. I used to get a lot of push back about an easy 5-6 mile run. Now the kids want to go run 10 or 12. The Tarahumara have spent generations upon generations building up a culture of running. Not running to prove anything, but for the love it it. To compete in friendly competition, be in awe of the environment around them, and enjoy life. This idea makes me appreciate what I've been working towards in coaching, but also makes me incredibly happy to know there are people and places like this out there. That there are still pockets of humanity out there that have not become homogenized and have a different and amazing way of living makes me love the world that much more.

2. Micah True

A large amount of this book is dedicated finding the elusive Caballo Blanco (The White Horse), or Micah True as we discover later. The story of Micah true could be its own fascinating book. I don't want to give up too much, but you can find out a lot of this information online now. Micah was from California and lived in Boulder for quite some time, which is not shocking at all. In the book, you finally get his real story at the end and its worth the wait in my opinion. Micah was a fighter and boxer for a long time, but began running after a breakup and re-evaluation of his life. He began running ultra-marathons. One fateful evening at the Leadville 100 mile race in Colorado, he met one of the Tarahumara (another story altogether also in the book and is great). Not long after this he moved down into the Copper Canyons for large portions of the year to run and for friendships with the Tarahumara. 

There's a lot more to his story, but what most people have heard is that he died while out on a trail run. A lot of people heard this and though, "See? That's what all that crazy running got him... dead on a trail somewhere. All that running isn't good for you." I will be honest... I had the same thought. After reading this book, though, I now realize that it wasn't a tragedy, a cautionary tale, or something frivolous. It ended for him exactly as he thought it might. As dictated in the book, he knew the dangers of running out in the wilderness on his own. He knew every run could be his last for one reason or another. He couldn't have guessed he had a heart issue. Maybe all that running gave him one. But so what? So what if all that running lead to a heart attack? He lived! He ran through canyons and wilderness with a secretive native tribe! He left behind all the things that made him unhappy and did the things that made him feel alive! Would we rather have him die of old age in a hospital, unable to move or think clearly?! I don't want to die like that. I hope I can die somehow doing something I love or something bold or something that makes me feel connected to something greater. Micah True may have been a wacky guy and driven by something very few of us can understand, but he lived his life, in the end, free of all the things that tie us down. He saw more and experienced more than most of us ever will, even if his life was cut shorter than most. The way I have been seeing things lately, we could go at any minute. A speeding car could get us, a meteor could hit, we could catch a superbug,... whatever. Nothing is for certain. While we may not always be doing what we love to do all the time, I am starting to think I need to make sure that I have no regrets at the end of the day. Whatever I do, I'm going to put into it what I can and make sure I am alive. Even if it's putting up drywall in my basement, as I have been doing for days. Is that fun? Not really. But I am working hard at it and no one can take that from me. If I die tomorrow, no one can say I died being lazy at dry-walling the basement.

3. Joe Vigil
If you follow running, you have probably at east heard of Joe Vigil before. In the book, he plays a minor roll, seemingly, but plays a major roll in the spiritual and emotional aspects of running. What's even ore interesting is why. He isn't some random guru due that believes in meditation and positive energy. Actually, he like a crazy genius. His technical knowledge of running is completely mind-blowing. He uses this knowledge to build Olympians and a completely dominant college cross country team at Adams State here in Colorado. (He guided Deena Kastor to a 2004 Olympic bronze medal in the Marathon and Adams State has won 18 National Championships, including one year where got a perfect score).I've had the amazing opportunity to listen to him twice in person. Both times were amazing. In the first, he dropped knowledge on everyone. He talked about lactic threshold, VO2 max levels, and even got into how to train and improve your mitochondria's ability. Mitochondria!.....Inside your cells! It was way over my head, but riveting.

The topics in the second talk I heard him give were all about his principles for becoming a better runner. These are the principles discussed Born to Run. These aren't what you might think they are. He is big into philosophy and reads a lot of eastern philosophy. He firmly believes that, in order to be come a worlds class runner, you must become a world class person. I can't find the notes I took while listen to him at that second presentation, so I don't have an exact list of his principles, but they are what you might think. Treat others better, don't get caught up in having stuff, eat like poor person (less food and better nutrition), etc. He believes in building positive role models. When you listen to him talk, he is obviously far more proud of the fact that he has turned these amazing athletes into amazing people and role models than he is of their running accomplishments.

Now, we come back to the Tarahumara... Remember earlier when I mentioned Micah True being in Leadville the night the Tarahumara ran and own the 100 mile race? Guess who else was there that night to see this guys run?

Vigil, being the mad scientist he is, would have loved to get a hold of those Tarahumara and run tests on their VO2 max, VVO2, lactic thresholds, etc. But when they ran by him, he found what he was really looking for in their running.... joy. They ran by him in the cold and dark desolate landscape smiling. Vigil believes by changing from the inside, we can become better athletes. He can help people become better humans. He described the following mental picture at his talk:

Imagine standing at the base of a big long hill you're going to run up. You have everything you might need for this and are ready, but you also have this large rounded bolder you're holding to your torso. Its big and very heavy. This bolder represents all of your stuff, all of your worries and fears, and all of your poor choices. You are constantly carrying it around and have gotten used to running with it. Imagine being able to let that thing go before you go run... That long hill is going to be much easier.

This is Coach Vigil's idea behind becoming a better person to become abetter runner. The longer I coach, the more I realize that my real responsibility is in building these young high school kids into good people. I'm not going to say that I do all sort of stuff that does this or that I give speeches or whatever. I don't. But I do try to keep the culture around my team a positive and inclusive one. I make them work hard but tell them how to get through it. I work with hem on how to set goals and achieve them. I celebrate little things and stay positive about our races. I downplay the negatives and look at how to use them to get better. I am honest with them and don't try to pretend to know everything. I try to take them on hikes and beautiful places in the summer. I make them a big, long PP presentation for our end of year banquet with pictures of everyone. I try not to be too serious all the time. When I cheer them on, they get everything I have. I write letters of recommendation that focuses on them as people. I tell them to call me if they need anything after they graduation. Coaching has turned me into a better person and I am far more proud of all the kids and what they have been able to do after being on the team that what they do while on it. I may not be a coach that can take a team to a state title or turn them into an Olympian, but I also know how my kids feel about being on the team and look back on it with joy. Thats all I really want. If you can't be happy while you run or do any other thing you might choose, why do it? If it doesn't make you happy in the long haul, why do it? Life doesn't seem long enough to live that way. In then end, how will we all ultimately be remembered? How did we impact our world? If I win a bunch state titles with kids, but they hate running afterwards and didn't enjoy themselves, what have I really accomplished? When you look at a lot of the really successful teams in this state for cross country, though, you'll notice many of the same things. Their sense of team and joy is easy to spot. They care about each other and support each other. The successful teams way more often than not are full of good people, positive coaches, and loving families. It seems the secret to success might be easier to explain than we thought, but ultimately, cannot be found in book or a workout or in a quote about hard work. It comes from within and radiates out. If we can be a success in our own approach to life and happiness, perhaps we have a chance of success within the rest of the world. But, maybe its not success in terms of winning a trophy or getting a high paying job, but in how many other people you can help and positively influence.

This is the legacy of Joe Vigil. I highly encourage you to read his books or seek out a chance to listen to him.

3. Evolution
Another major theme in the book is the discussion of human evolution and if we were truly "born to run". This aspect of the book is one of the most fascinating to me. It makes me want to become an evolutionary archaeologist. The hypothesis is that we evolved from our previous, primate selves into a creature that could run to retrieve its food, and, specifically, it protein. I will not get into too many specifics, because you can look this up and the book does a great job (In my opinion) of helping you understand the idea (right or wrong, its an interesting theory). Anyways, the idea is that we, humans, beat out theNeanderthals because we could run. Neanderthals were bigger and stronger with larger brains than us.  How could we beat that? The answer put forward, as you may have guessed, is running. We ran down  our prey... probably...maybe.

The theory is that we developed Achilles tendons and big ol' booties so we could run. We can't out sprint a deer, but we can keep running at a steady pace, while the deer has to sprint, then rest, then sprint, then rest, etc. If we go on long enough, they will collapse, and we get the meat. The problem is, before this, we didn't need meat. Think of gorillas. They don't eat meat. They could kick our ass any time, but they don't eat meat. Their brains are also smaller than ours. Some people will claim that we had a brain size jump 200,000 years ago and that this new protein source may have been the cause. There are also a ton of scientists that go against this idea.

Either way, the idea that we evolved to run make sense to me. Not that we were born to run neighborhood 5K's or Rock N' Roll Marathons. The idea is that our hardware, our bodies, were born to move in running fashion. We can run for long periods without exhaustion. There are also studies out there, as I learned from book The First 20 Minutes, showing that walking is actually our best ability as far as efficiently goes. That may be true, but it doesn't mean we didn't use runnings' advantage. If we think of it this way... Most animals that run do so in a way that is fast as hell (cheetah), they bound strangely (gazelle), or they can charge your ass if they are pissed but will wear out quickly (rhinos and hippos). We, like birds in flight, can just keep going...if we train.

Whether or not we evolved to run will be up for debate for a long time. The idea, though, I hope, doesn't die. Its fascinating. What if we are able to prove we DID NOT evolve to run? How much more badass would running be?

4. Running shoes

Right after Born to Run came out, the barefoot running craze began. People started buying the skeleton toes shoes and shoes with the Vibram soles, which was a safe way to get close to barefoot running. I actually own a pair of the Merrell Trail Gloves shoes, which are made with his idea in mind, but I don't use them to run. In the book, there is a character named Barefoot Ted. As you may have guessed, he is a big proponent of barefoot running. The Tarahumara barely wear anything on their feet. They usually use sandals fashioned from old tires and leather.

The main idea behind switching to barefoot running actually stems from Bill Bowman and Nike and what they did to move away from that. Creating shoes that were more cushioned seemed like a great idea at the time. But, since then, it has allowed us to over stride, not keeping our weight centered, and heel strike like crazy, adding jarring pressure throughout our bodies with each running step. The modern running shoe is one of the worst things for running... according to the theory in this book. Which I tend to agree with for the most part. I, too, used to wear "control shoes", trying to control my pronation and "fix" my running. I then read some research about how this actually weakens your legs. Pronation is natural and helps absorb impact. After learning this, I switched to "neutral" shoes. My legs hurt bad for 2 weeks. All those balancing muscles I hadn't been using were getting a serious workout. But, I was able to run further and harder than I had in the past. Now, when I am working shifts in shoes at the sporting goods store I am employed at part time, I try to steer people away from control shoes. I also try to steer them away form the most expensive shoes out there. There is a lot of research, some of which is used in the book, showing that people who where more expensive shoes are more likely to get injured. I wear shows that cost about $150. I love them, but this book has me thinking I need to change it up.

Here's where I am at on this whole idea of switching to barefoot running, etc. I think its probably a great idea and allows your body to move the way it is supposed to. i actually have my running warm up on the football field barefoot for 1 mile before practice. I see why many people jumped on board, but we have to remember that we have been wearing shoes that have weakened our muscles and feet. We cant just jump right into it. Our legs and bones cant handle itMy. plan is to continue to wear my expensive shoes for shorter, harder runs, but concentrate on my form and not over stride, etc. For my longer, easier runs, I am going to look for a more minimalist shoe. I will workout this way and see how I do. I am going to see if it benefits me or not. If it does, maybe I'll transition even further. I saw a guy in my neighborhood a few years back who would run in his bare feet all over the place. I saw him do this for a few weeks. Then I never saw him out running again. This could be for other reasons, but I think too much right, right off the bat, could lead to injury.

I believe that there is certainty something to be said for barefoot running and minimalist running. It is probably the best way to go in the long run (pun intended)... but, I also think the transition should be a slow one. Moving slowly towards a minimalist approach is my plan. I will let you know how it goes.

5. The effects on my training

I like to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I run. It was fun listening to a book about running while running. There was a little extra motivation. I found myself running a little longer. I also found myself really concentrating on my form. The benefits were immediate and great.

When I started this book I had about a month to go before a 5K I wanted to do well at. I realize many people will think, "Its just a 5K... what's the big deal?" But I  wanted to try to break 19 minutes, something I haven't done since my freshman year of college and was still on a team. For me, I was looking at it as a big deal. Also during this month I have been frantically trying to finish my basement and its been difficult to train. I listened to most of this book doing drywall in my basement, which allowed me to really listen to it and concentrate on it. I really took to heart the parts about form and how we should be running... shorter steps, keeping our weight under us, breathing rhythms, etc. the first big run I went on after starting this book was a planned 10 mile run. I had to run and errand over in the city of Arvada, west of Denver and and fairly hilly area. I decided to do my run here and really work on my form and technique according to what I had learned from the book so far. It was one of the best runs I have ever been on. I felt like I could have run for much longer and the hills were not nearly as difficult as usual. I averaged a 7:45 mile. I started out nice and easy but worked my 8th mile into a 7 flat. I felt great. Keeping my stride short and keeping my weight underneath me helped. I kept thinking about not stressing but finding "easy" or zen mode.

Since that run, I tried to apply this new information on form to every run. You'd think a book on Ultra-running would have me out running really long, slow mileage. It didn't have that kind of time, nor was that going to help me run a fast 5k (in my opinion). I applied the techniques to short hard runs. During this past month, in all my training runs, about 80 miles (a little low for me), I averaged a 7:09 mile (really fast for me). I just made the most out of every run I was able to take, most of the time blasting the last mile as hard as I could run it. Using this new stride allowed me for have greater turn over. The greater turn over allowed for more speed. Instead of using this ultra-running technique for distance, I was able to translate it to speed.

In the week leading up to my race I felt really good. I ran 4 x 400 with a 400 jog in between intervals. I ran each one under 1:15. The last hard mile I ran after 3 easy ones was a 5:20. I haven't been that fast since the beginning of college.

The two days before my race, though, it snowed and iced all over the place. Without boring you with the details of the race (I fell down once on a turn due to ice)..... I took 5th overall and won my age group. I was unable to run the time I wanted due to the ice everywhere, but no one did. I was happy with my effort and place.

In the future, I am not sure what I want to train for but it feels like it might be time to tackle something bigger than a 5k. Perhaps I will start with a half marathon. I would like to do something on a trail. I will be incorporating longer, slower runs and then mixing in these new hard fast runs. I also need to find some time for at least minimal strength training.

I realize this post was longer than long. It was a culmination of ideas and training and coaching all wrapped up.