The Running Event 2015 - Postcards from the edge!

I just arrived back in France after a hectic 2 week trip to the USA, primarily for The Running Event in that home of barbeque.. Austin, Texas.TRE is an event I always look forward to, primarily to check out all the new footwear trends, but also to meet with friends and colleagues and totally geek out on all things running. This year was no exception, except for one exception.. where is the innovation?

This was a trend I observed at the Outdoor Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, earlier this year, lots of shoes.. lots of posturing, but also a ton of copying and little if no innovation. So let's take a look at the highlights and lowlights of TRE and try to get a handle on just where, if anywhere, the industry is headed.

The concept of “drop”: what does it mean for the runner? (1 CME credit)

The concept of “drop”: what does it mean for the runner?

If we believed everything that was written, every athlete should now be running in a minimalist shoe, with minimalist gradient or “drop”, and that in doing so he or she would achieve perfect form, a more “natural running experience’, and far fewer injuries.

Somewhere, someone said everyone should run at 180 steps per minute. Noooo!!!

I love folklore and mythology.. you know, King Arthur, Damsels in distress.. all that stuff! And the richest source of all for folklore and mythology is the magical world of running and the running shoe.

The myths are countless.. that a zero drop shoe will make you run on your forefoot (an upcoming blog), that shoes make your foot weak, that going barefoot will "ground your foot", ensuring correct exchange of electrons and guaranteeing you will never get the 'flu again! Hahahaa.. absolute GOLD!

Barefoot and minimalism: Have they gifted us something worthwhile, or do we just trash it right now?

In the last couple of days, there have been not one, not two, but THREE separate papers examining the effects of either barefoot, minimalist footwear or a combo of both on the running athlete.

Now, I thought this issue was over to be honest, and rightly so, but these articles really got me thinking... What if the discussion has entered a new and meaningful phase? Might we actually be able to learn something from the carnage of the past few years and apply it in a useful manner to help prevent injury and improve performance in the running athlete?

How good would THAT be...

The Outsole: The Ronnie Woods of shoe construction?

In part 3 of our series deconstructing the shoe, we look at the outsole, the poor cousin to the upper and midsole.

The outsole is kinda like Ronnie Woods of the Rolling Stones. He has all the chops and does all the hard work, but Keith Richards gets the credit! I bet most people think of the outsole as primarily the shoe component responsible for grip. Granted this is a big and important role, but the humble outsole is, and can be a lot more than that.

The mythical midsole, is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Part 2 on our 3 part series on deconstructing the running shoe focusses on the midsole. 

This little beastie is often endowed with mythical, mystical and magical powers, but I reckon it is a bit overrated. There, I said it!

Don’t know your “upper” from “strobel”? Time to deconstruct a shoe! Part 1: The Upper.

To kick off footwear month, I thought we might demystify what has become an extremely complex topic: All the “stuff” that goes into a running shoe. 

This will be in 3 easy to digest parts. It really should not be that complicated, because, in real terms, there are only 3 parts to a shoe...

The dirty little secrets of the running shoe industry, part one.

I thought it might be informative and entertaining if I posted a few of the little known “secrets” the big (and small) manufacturers employ to sell truckloads of athletic shoes.

This might help you to understand the processes a bit better and also be better informed to help your clients...