Freeing the Captives..... 2 Barefoot Soles at a Time....

Do You Have a S.A.D. J.O.B? or a GLAD Way to Fund Life?

2011-09-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

Traditional Jobs are the "funding" equivalents to the S.tandard A.merican D.iet or SAD way of eating. A way of earning a buck that like the dietary equivalent that is suppose to endorse who you are and optimize your ability to express your life your way only JOB's steal everything from you and leave you with mostly a drained corpse to drag home having poured out more than is healthy into all of it's short comings like, too many hours, long periods away from home and those you love, sitting on your back side too much or standing around on your feet in on concrete or tile floors for hours on end, nasty acidic bosses that get their jollys out of using your life force like dog using a fire hydrant, forced to put on false fronts when you'd like to tell clients and co-workers to stick it.
These are just some of the life stealing qualities we all adore about our jobs...

Hold that thought! Like the SAD way of eating there is a better way! Just as many of us have discovered that humans thrive on fresh fruits, young tender greens and veggies; We all intuitively know that having all 24-7 of our time with unlimited access to all the resources we could need to live out our lives our way and all the resources to help and equip those we want to lift up is optimal.

A "Resource Based Economy" as proposed by Jacque Fresco via is the ideal we must all learn more about and teach to others as the World is creating ripe conditions for this kind of way of life to be born and forever put an end to a ton of stupid stuff we all witness every day locally, nationally and globally.

But until that time comes we've all got to look at an implement "Organic Funding" options that allow us a much greater degree of control, freedom and flexibility to have our provisional needs met without selling ourselves daily like some 19th century slave to the lowest bidder.

Funding our lives like the links in a chain has become all of our greatest weakness. Like a chain with a weak link that's naturally where our lives will break every time the economic winds blow in the news or on on TV.

I've made it my priority to master cash flow as simply and as permanently as the monetary system as it is will allow.

Here are 2 of the best and most relevant funding tool systems I've found so far.

ZingBizPro is a Social Network Platform for people that want to show case their business, hobbies, interest, sport, something they like to teach or like attending all kinds of uplifting webinars, video conferenceing, chats, keeping track of a lot of social networks all from one place conveniently. ZBP is in the "PreLaunch" stage to go live in 2 - 3 months. It will be a $19.95 mo subscription site that pays lucratively for referrals not just once but monthly, month after month. Check this out: In this couple month window of time before this launches you pay nothing, you dont even give your credit or debit card info. If you join me in this and just follow my lead and doe what I'm doing you could end us on day one of this going live be in line for over $16k pay out in your first month or more. Yeah, it's real and there are webinars on Sunday and Thurdays at 7pm PT to explain the simplicity and beauty of this package.

The other is JuicePlus+ You probably already know that I live and run as a Fruitarian meaning I am almost 100% fueled by fruit, supplemented with a few greens and veggies. I recognize that even here in sunny Southern California the quality and even the availability of fresh, raw, water rich and especially organic fruits and veggies is questionable and spastic. As 85-140 mpw (Miles Per Week) Runner my fueling requirements are large by anyone's standards. Many who want the benefits I enjoy as a Fruitarian like low body fat, clear lungs, no lactic acid burn, fast recovery, higher anaerobic threshold, no body or bowel movement odor to name a few think living frugivorously is expensive and inconvenient. In truth its cheaper because I instead of buying gas, insurance and car payments to get around I "eat" my gas and drive my feet!! If given a choice I'd rather invest in me than a God forsaken automobile or any other form of transportation that robs us of the opportunity to express energy through effortless effort.
JuicePlus+ complements both those of us who have transitioned fill in the gaps in our store bought fruits and veggies and as Bear Grylls (My direct Mentor and Sponsor in JuicePlus+) uses JP+ as his guaranteed nutrition source in the back ground when his doing Survival shoots in the Wilds JP+ can come in handy for if and when traditional supplies of trucked in groceries becomes disrupted in the future by the forces of nature or man made train wrecks economically or other wise.

Never mind that the parent company NSA is debt free, privately owned, organic certified suppliers only, and long established paying out millions to members globally. Check it out and join me in this and I'll help you grow another nice dependable income stream that will allow us to meet up and do what we love outside the dark holes traditional jobs track the masses into.

I am available for questions by Facebook email, chat, Skype chat or video chat, texting or phone calls. My contact info is all over my Facebook Profile. I'm running with these....Run with me...

Erskien: Living Life to the Plus!

2011-08-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I live as a Frugivore thriving at Barefoot Ultra Distance Running on fruit as the core of my diet and no animal products. I supplement my diet with a few leafy greens and veggies.

Living in Southern California I have access to a pretty constant supply of fruits, greens and veggies year round from both local and global sources.

Most of what's available is not organic and of questionable sources as far as what's on its surface. Thus I eat the innards of fruit and not their peels and toss the seeds. Running as much as I do I eat 3500 to 5000 calories per day in fruit. 85-125 mpw is normal for me.

I'm a firm believer in studying the successes of others and have friended a growing group of other very successful Ultra Runners, Adventure Racers and a World Renown Survivalist: Bear Grylls AKA: "Man vs Wild" show who all decided to add dried assortment of fruits and veggies in capsule form to their "health insurance" package to make sure they get quality raw materials for optimal performance when living "Life to the Plus" as they call it in Juice Plus circles.

I've tried a lot of different supplements over my years and can look back and clearly see that none of them made a sustainable or healthy difference or even made sense.

After hearing story after story of the difference Juice Plus has made for people I know are even fitter than I am, downloading into my brain all the research and information available on Juice Plus's products, formulation, effects, Sports Medicine endorsements and realizing that even in this economy all the above "Super Heroes" were funding their high energy, high travel lifestyles with the fruit of consistantly growing networks of other like minded athletes I had to give it a run.

For me the results came literally over night in that I have noticed I feel so present even when I am not running now. My evening salad size has gone down by 50% and I'm feeling more satisfied and satiated longer in between meals. My body hair is coming in softer and shinier. On the mornings after a short nights sleep I have no sense of sleep loss.

I can't help but think of all of you who have shared with me that obtaining quality produce where you live (in the USA or other countries) is spastic to expensive and it's bothered me that I didnt have a viable solution for you all.

Well here it is: https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Home.soa?site=el67838

It cost me $50 to set up an account with them (kind of like if you joined a local produce co-op) and for as little as $35 month you can both add to your fruit or veggie intake for an entire month and put yourself in business to get your fruits and veggies for free with the option to grow a part time or full time income on a very part time effort.

Check it out and feel free to get back to me with questions.

BTW: My personal partner in this is Bear Grylls! Since he is traveling so much to do his next "Man vs Wild" show for TV I am working with the person who brought him to Juice Plus long ago when he was just teen.

Check it out and let's team up and create our own bomb proof health and fitness while supporting each others efforts to grow a fun business community that endorses our desires to meet up and run together.

Erskien Lenier

Why I Became a RAW 80-10-10 VEGAN

2010-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

So many people ask me about my diet, I’d like to write a concise article describing the “what and why” of my diet. Since this is intended as a brief explanation, I won’t include references or in-depth scientific information. Both are available in the resources listed at the bottom, all of which come highly recommended.

I eat a high calorie, high carbohydrate, low fat raw vegan diet, best described in the book The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Doug Graham. I eat only whole, fresh, ripe, raw, preferably organic plant foods. I get most of my calories from fruit, since vegetables are so low in calories that it would be impossible to build a sufficient diet around them, and grains and legumes are totally unappealing in their whole, unprocessed state.

Some typical food days for me might be:

¼ - 1/3 of a large watermelon for breakfast,
12 bananas and 2-4 mangoes for lunch

Mid afternoon or evening meal: 1-2 large Red Delicious apples, 1-2 heads of romaine lettuce, ½ lb fresh spinach, 2 celery stalks, ½ cup shredded cabbage, 1-2 large carrots, ½ cucumber, 1 bell pepper or 6-8 sweet peppers

On days when I am running 15-30 miles 20-30 fresh dates and 3-6 more bananas or more watermelon, mangoes, peaches to rehydrate and reload carbs and minerals.

I usually aim for 1700-6500 calories in a day depending on whether I am running that day or not and how far I go on those runs. I use a free program called Cronometer to track my calorie and nutrient intake occasionally to verify that I am taking in enough calories and nutrients to maintain about a 5-6% body fat ratio.

I grew up on SAD (Standard American diet) including meat, dairy, eggs, breads, fruit and vegetables, like most of us (Even though most of it was grown either in our yard or on a local free ranged farm. I had appendicitis at age 13 and they found a piece of rotting BBQ beef in it on removal! I transitioned over the next couple years to a Vegan diet and was discovered by a local Bicycle Race Team and invited to become a part of the Bicycle Race Community.

Before my appendectomy I was always super ripped with a very defined “6 pack” and afterwards I saw that no matter how active I was I held onto more body fat especially in the abs than I was used too. As a Vegan relying mainly on vegetables and some fruit, I did bring the fat ratio down but mostly in my legs. I had chronic cravings, I was too low in body fat everywhere except my abs and would resort to raw nuts for more calories and the included fat to try to satiate my cravings.

I had to break my Vegan streak by going back to cheese, yogurts, eggs and some wheat (even though I knew wheat inflamed my digestive tract like nothing else!) Over the years I kept exploring various versions of raw vegan diets. When I came upon Internet blogs and sites speaking about the RAW Fruitarian way of eating, I dismissively assumed that it was for spaced-out hippies and a video I saw by a raw food ‘guru’ confirmed this suspicion. However, I began to come across Ultra Marathon Runners who were performing at levels non Vegans dream about and were holding at 4-5% body fat without cravings and became interested in trying a 100% raw diet.

I tried the typical, “Hollywood raw”/gourmet raw diet, which is very high in fat (as much 60-80% calories from fat, compared to the already high-fat SAD around 25-30%), and includes ingredients like vinegar, oil, salt, spices, garlic, onions, superfoods, and supplements, all of which I now know create cravings, imbalances, overdoses and over eating. I was unable to stay on this diet because I was constantly hungry and craving cooked foods. Most “raw vegan” restaurants are of this design.

After a while in the raw vegan community, I heard about a crazy character called the Durianrider (real name Harley Johnstone). I watched one of his youtube videos and he immediately had my attention. He was talking trash about meat-eating and cooking foods, as well as the typical, high-fat, gourmet raw diet. He was promoting a simple, fruit based diet called the 80/10/10 Diet. I was impressed by his athleticism, his passionate, abrasive approach, and the health he displayed. His wife Freelee Love had beat out bolimea and candida and they were both beautiful examples of health and vitality. He mentioned getting a copy of the 80-10-10 diet book and I was still hesitant. Then through his Friend List on Facebook I connected with Victoria Arnstein and her husband Michael who both also exemplified what eating “811” could do and I bought the book. Sucked it up like a sponge!

During that reading time and at conclusion I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what I had done wrong in my prior attempts to find the most natural and functional way to fuel my body there is. Within days I experienced the inflammation in my guts dissipating, my cravings diminished, especially for salt, crunchy nacho chips, all desire for anything animal sourced disappeared, and my mind suddenly retained longer chains of information when I read a serious of numbers and needed to retrieve them later.

I did notice a few weeks of “cleansing” where I had periods of the day where I felt a bit sluggish as I fully expected my body to do some deep house cleaning since I no longer loaded up my digestive system with stuff that made it acidic instead of alkaline.

A partial list of some benefits I’m experiencing:

· At my perfect weight (and the return of my six-pack!)
· Greater muscle definition and vascularity
· I tan easily as a 80-10-10 RAW Vegan. Melanin: the hormone your body uses to regulate pigment production is thrown out of balance by eating animal products (which contain the melanin that the animal was using).
· Pleasant body odor
· Not weighed down after meals
· Natural 4-6% body fat without having to “diet”
· Food prep is no more complicated than peeling a banana, slicing a mango or tossing a salad (No more need to wash cook ware or other big messes!)
· I enjoy my food more with no concern about getting fat or becoming tired I am after a delicious meal.
· I know now when I’m hungry, and I only eat when I’m hungry. I have no impulse to eat for amusement, or emotional comfort. This leaves me much freer to focus on getting things done, running, and relationships, things that really matter to me.
· My diet doesn’t contribute to the white washed cruelty and killing of other animals. (I recommend reading Animal Liberation by Peter Singer for a very compelling argument in favor of equal consideration for non-human animals’ needs)
· By eating food grown in trees, we encourage the reforestation of the planet, which is vital to combat climate change and desertification.
· By eating fruit, we dramatically decrease water consumption in food production and even for personal consumption like from bottled or filtered water by several factors of ten compared to eating meat.
· I wake up feeling energized and happy.
· My breath always smells good, even right when I wake up.
· The Gout that was forming in my left foot – toes is 80% gone and continues to abate week by week as my body becomes more alkaline and replaces less than optimal tissues now that it has what it actually has always needed.
· Bowl movements take moments instead of half the morning and no longer stink up to bathroom. No more gas either!
· The quiet and peace I feel in my body whether I am at full throttle out running or sitting on the couch at my home with my family.
· I don’t waste money on excito-toxins, fractionated and broken foods or stimulants like vinegar, oil, spices, so called super foods, or supplements.
· I don’t consume energy cooking/heating my food. A significant amount of energy is consumed in America from household cooking.

I’m more excited about this way of fueling than any one else in my household but the results have some of my family reading The 80-10-10 Diet book and researching it online! It’s certainly subversive but I’m not at all the only person doing this. At an online community called 30 Bananas A Day , there are thousands of people interested in this lifestyle, including World Class Ultra Marathon Runners, Cyclists, Weightlifters, Cross Fitters and Body Builders, Rock Climbers, Speed Skaters, Gymnast, and many other athletes. There are several other LFRV (low-fat raw vegan) online communities that have sprung up in the last year as well. Now is the time for you to experience greater health than you have imagined possible!

Go bananas and eat some fruit!

If you’re interested in learning more about this diet, or vegan diets in general, check out these books and websites:

The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas Graham
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/811diet.htm (best prices @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/80-10-Diet/dp/1893831248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281203598&sr=8-1

Food’n'Sport http://foodnsport.com – Doug Graham’s website, full of great articles

The Fruitarian – website of Michael Arnstein, incredible Marathon and Ultramarathon Runner http://www.thefruitarian.com

Diet For a New America and Food Revolution by John Robbins http://www.foodrevolution.org/market/products1.htm

30 Bananas A Day – my online LFRV community of choice. Great people, great info, great support. http://www.30bananasaday.com

Raw Natural Hygiene – another great online forum http://rawnaturalhygiene.ning.com

The McDougall Program by Dr. John McDougall http://www.drmcdougall.com

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell http://www.thechinastudy.com

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer

Charlie Abel – raw vegan bodybuilder http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14053

Why and How I Became a Barefoot Runner?

2010-03-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

I came from the sport of Bicycle Road Racing at the International level.

In that season I logged over 750,000 mile of racing and training.

Because of those decades of being bent over my bikes handlebars my body optimized itself for being in that position and not being a “Bi-ped” or person designed for moving gracefully or efficiently across the land. (I mention this because most of you did not grow up running as a natural and daily part of your lives. Most people grow up wearing shoes and moving from chair to chair especially as the decades pile on).

I came to a season 3 years ago where I transitioned to running from cycling and I quickly learned that my feet were so atrophied from being encased in carbon fiber soled shoes the right one had gout and many of it's bones were fusing due to calcification and the left one had no stability at all.

From coping with decades of seasonal crashes and being in a leaning forward position for so many miles my pelvis tilted unnaturally forward at the top and my gluteus and quads were very over developed.

Most short races or criteriums are run in a counter clockwise direction around courses that are less than a mile in diameter for up to 40 miles. These are very high speed races with lots of anaerobic level sprinting in tight packs where elbowing for room to pass with riders all across the road pursing cash prizes for being the first person across the line on any given lap where the winnings can be anything from $25 to $1,200 lots of crashes due to landing on the same side so many times my body had compensated by twisting my pelvis counter clockwise when viewed from above resulting in a timing difference for the nerves firing in my right leg faster than my left creating a timing difference when applying power over the top of the pedal stroke. This added in the wonderful effect up the biomechanical chain of creating a scoliosis spine, a dropped right shoulder and my head literally being a whole inch off centered on my shoulders to the left due to the scoliosis.

Why did I bother to illustrate this?

Because 3 yrs ago after a brand new "Star Wars" grade $10,000 carbon fiber "Wonder Bike" I was breaking in on by taking it down a small mountain grade at 61 mph decided to disintegrate with zero warning (frame exploded out of no where!) leaving me on the asphalt with significant road rash I felt like Forest Gump once he had run back and forth across the USA enough times he just stopped and knew it was time to go home. I knew that I had turned my last pedal. A nice couple in a Honda CRV was kind enough to stop as they witnessed the whole thing happen and they offered the pieces and myself a ride home.

I got a full refund from the manufacturer of that rig and after a week or so of my burns healing I began to get the itch for sweat, lungs full of outdoor air and bumping up against my max heart rate.

A few days later I woke up with the distinct impression I was to go buy a pair of running shoes.... and run again.... Something I had not done since back in my late teens to early 20's in the mid 1970's.

Never the less I immediately loved sweat, breathing deeply and feeling myself moving across the land under my own power again. That quickly evolved into dreams of being able to run as far as I used to be comfortable riding a bike in a day (25-160 miles at a clip was normal) I figured if my engine (heart and lungs) was more than adequate for it all I had to do was get my feet and legs up to that level of adaptedness.
Within a coupe to 3 wks I was running 12-17 miles per day but dealing with chronic knee pain, shin splints, blisters, blue toe nails, foot fungus, back and hip pain, ankle and toe joint pains to name just a few parts that I hobbled home with.

Oh, and my wife who occasionally went out running with me for part of those miles told me I didn't run upright. She said my posture was like an Ape! Hunched over and loping instead of being vertical and graceful. I was both embarrassed and knew something was very wrong but I'd figure it out if I kept stressing my body and allowing it to adapt before going back out to lay up the next layer of adaptation stressing.

Well over a few months of realizing I was also on the hook for replacing $130 shoes every 21-28 days due to my heavy heel striking style which caused the heels to be shot in that little mileage (about 280-325 miles per month) I hated that. After my bike broke I and I took to running one the things I realized I had done over the decades is wasted 100's of 1000's of dollars on bikes and all the gear needed to ride and support them and wished I had all that back and in the bank. I couldn't help but think that being fit should not be a financial drain of any kind.

As my knees and shins got worse I began to research on the internet how others had coped with this stage and gotten to where they now ran at least a marathon or 2 per month or how the 100+ milers (Ultra Runners) seem to do 1-2 of those per month, month after month relatively injury free.

This lead to my meeting a fella out of Huntington Beach called Ken Bob Saxton over the Internet who ran a marathon or 2 a month Barefoot! Ken Bob has his own site dedicated to Barefoot Running at

As we exchanged message through post on his website I eventually got him to agree to a phone call. On that call after sharing my laundry list of symptoms he explained to me that we were never designed to wear modern day running shoes as their design actually had no relevance to how our biomechanics were designed to function. Meaning most people whether walking or running have been "Retrained" to land on their heels when in nature no Native or Natural tribes land on their heels. Instead they land on the balls or the pads of the "mid foot" so that the cantilevered structure of the arch is activated as a natural "leaf spring" not unlike what is found underneath the back axle of most pick up trucks for both suspension, shock absorption and load carrying capacity if you care to get down on your belly and look up under one if you've never done so.

Landing on the heels not only by passes this natural beginning to optimal loading of your weight during the "walking or running gait or movement" It encourages us to over or hyper extend the knee by over activating the "hip flexors" in effect straightening out the upper and lower legs bones to make the knee joints into nothing more than a non cushioning biscuit to be smashed on every heel strike while the shoe makers tell us they have put adequate "Super Duper Star Wars" form and other dinosaur juice based technology into the heel areas to protect us from the "pounding of the pavement" (actually our ignorance and stupidity) This behavior and programming (as it is a form of hypnosis since the soles of our feet were designed to supply us with feed back so that we would constantly adjust our stride, gait, sole firmness, angle of sole contact, feel for the need to lighten the loading of the foot if something potentially injurious were under it and to be more conscious and intentional about where we place our feet or step for more certain and safer footing)

I knew a ton about the biomechanics of Cycling and optimizing ones position on a bike comfortable and relatively injury free mega mileage with very high speed capacity. I had never thought of running in regards to actual biomechanics, efficiency, gait break down and optimization of fluidity during the movement of shifting ones weight from one side of the body to the other at higher and higher speeds.

Ken Bob Saxton in all his simple wisdom shared with me a single sentence that forever changed how I looked at running.

He said, "Barefoot Running FORCES CORRECT BIOMECHANICS." Within seconds of hearing that statement it hit me like a ton of bricks why all those years of paying for Chiropractic treatments, working out at the gym, seeing various doctors about foot, leg, hip, back and neck pains was a huge waste of time and money and why not even the Chiropractor could give me a viable or straight answer as to why they could "crack me" back into correct alignment but could not teach me one thing I could do on my own to retrain my body to stay stacked up properly so I didn't need them or the MD's dumb ass suggestions of replacing knee joints, or the nutritionist suggestions of taking supplements to support the joints and such. Totally bogus paths to permanent and sustainable health for the rest of my life!

No needless to say within a couple of days of pondering this totally out of left field idea of heading out the door without my "Foot Condoms" I woke bolt up in bed at 130am one night with the distinct impression I was to go out for night time run of perhaps 10-12 miles as the pain in my knees and shins was down to "tolerable". So I got dressed and slipped on my Camel Bak on to have a place for my keys and bit of water and headed out the door. I didn’t get 10 feet down the sidewalk approaching where it curved around the end of my garage when I heard as if there was someone on the roof of my garage, “Lose the Shoes!” I spun around triggering the motion detection lights on the front of our garage and looked up. No one there! I thought, “I must not be fully awake and am having an awake dream bleeding through out here!” Pondered that for another second and went to set into a running gallop only to hear it just as loud again! I spun around looking towards the house expecting to see someone who would bust out laughing after having successfully pulled a very funny prank on old serious Erskien! Nothing! No one! At this point I look to the sky and state, “Is that you Lord?” Knowing full well in my soul I prayed for more guidance on navigating and mastering the mind field running had unveiled that I was taking more hits than I thought I could endure through.

So in a split second I felt confirmed that this nonsensical suggestion was of Divine Origin and I knew that so many forks in the roads of my life where I thought that direction was not logical had in fact turned into blessings in disguise. I took my Asics Star Wars shoes off with their Super Duper Super Feet orthotics and stuffed them into the outer pockets of my Camel Bak as I didn’t know how far I could go without them or if I’d reach a point where I’d had enough barefooting but still want to go more miles.

So off I went….

It took me all of about 50 ft on the cool smooth concrete sidewalks to find myself feeling “Giddy” (That joyous feeling that makes a plan face develop a smile for no definable reason other than the feeling to smile just flood upward out of the soul like a well that just became a geyser of pure fresh cold water!)

Suddenly I was so happy I literally did just begin smiling and could feel it and KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that the end of my “Valley of the Shadows” journey through what seemed link endless and deepening pain was coming to a close! Adding to the joy was the realization and confirmation that God had heard my prayers and actually waited for me to become humbled enough to ask for “His WILL for my Life” over my own (how to run in shoes or according to mans way over what he built this “Space Suit” called a body to do by NATURE.

Nonetheless, that day began my Barefoot Running Adventure into a realm of Running that is invisible to those who only know it through the filter called shoes. I’ve logged over 6800 miles in the last 3 yrs or so and I can tell you there were many miles and months of discomfort, aches, pains and bruises to endure but not one moment did I ponder going back to shoes or riding my bike. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was a Divinely Inspired Path for me and that my traveling this path would become a liberating and healing path for literally millions of others to discover the most obvious yet hidden door to healthy mobility, fitness, inspiration and sanity built right into the very fabric of life there is.

I did reach a point where my soles were so bruised from rocks and pebbles (the gritty kind that’s everywhere here in Southern California) that I realized I could not go back to my “jacked up back end squishy running mattress shoes” so I got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (basically a soft rubber casting of the sole of your feet with a lycra top and they have toes like gloves so your toes can spread out naturally. The soles are cut with “S” shaped lines to make them extremely flexible in all directions for a much closer to barefoot feeling but with enough rubber to mute some of the feed back normal to going pure Barefoot.

I have since found an much cheaper and simpler “Minimalist Sort of Shoe” called Huaraches made by Invisible Shoe owned and run by Steven Sashen of Colorado that I like a lot more than the Vibram’s as they are open, lighter, do not rub against the toe nails in the latter miles of long runs and as mentioned are much cheaper. I am most impressed with how much they mute out gravel and grit on top of concrete or hard packed trails yet give me plenty of feed back about pressure or loading of the foot parts, natural flexibility of the whole foot, quietness and how well they cling to the soles despite being held on by merely pieces of rope! I am finding that on days when speed is the priority the Huaraches are what I prefer. On days when just cruising miles and being more intimately involved in what and where I step are OK I go completely Barefoot. Due to the light weight of the Huaraches I am more likely to bring them along in my Camel Bak’s outer pocket for extreme surfaces, latter miles of a super long run or to be able to go into Barefoot Unfriendly businesses for resupplying during long runs.

If you have questions or would like any kind of consultation on what your dealing with or insights on some sticking point in your adaptation to Natural Running feel free to contact me through any means I’ve listed on my Facebook Profile. My prayers for you are that you discover what I have and it blesses you even more than it has me.

PS: I might also add that I have become inspired to plan a “Run Across America” to launch in the Spring of 2011. Not sure if it will be completely Barefoot or supplemented with such minimalist shoes as above depending on how my feet continue to adapt to more extreme terrains and surfaces. I’ve put all that in God’s hands as he has and is my Coach on the “Road of Life” anyways. J

Erskien Lenier.

The Most Common Questions I'm Asked About Barefoot Running

2010-01-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

First concept to understand is to think of how hard a horse with horseshoes clops down on the pavement.

Then think about how graceful, silent and low impact a mountain lion or cougar would walk or run across the same terrain or pavement. Huge difference in shock or force put into the feet and the ground.

Like the horse and the big thick hooves and even more so if you add horse shoes, humans wearing shoes are muting a lot of "feedback" from their God designed soles on how much force one is putting into landing on the foot.

Those who chronically wear shoes become practically unaware as to what and how they are stepping on almost 100% of the time. Shoes mute out most if not all awareness of what part of the foot we land on, how effectively we distribute body weight on the foot for agility and safety, the amount of down force during foot landing, the stability of the landing and loading of the foot and ankle and even how to walk or run compared to how God designed bi-pedal the movement to happen.

An example of this is the fact that the injury rate has sky rocketed for both people who walk (everyone) and those who run with fancy running shoes.

Bunions, Gout and Arthritis don't exist in shoeless tribes all over the planet and the foot, ankle, shin, knee, hip and back injuries which are normal and common in shoe based running don't exist for those that have never relied on shoes or have "ran away from them" and allowed their feet to reteach them how the legs and feet were designed to land, load and lift off in a natural walking and running gait.

The first thing that happens when one takes off their shoes is they become conscious and intentional as to where the step and how we step.

In nature, notice the mountain lion does not walk or run staring at where each of his 4 feet will step next.

He or she can do that because God designed them and us to be able to read the terrain before we get to it out our peripheral vision and automatically tell the legs and feet how how navigate with precision and agility.

Another symptom of chronic overuse of shoes is our feet become over reactive to stimulus such as walking on common surfaces in our environment like dirt, rocky trails, sidewalks, streets and such.

This over-reactive tendency is no different than if you chose to wear a blind fold everyday for decades to avoid seeing sunlight (which makes about as much sense as wearing shoes to me now a days!) and then taking the blind fold off one sunny day thinking you could now go out into the sun and be functional.

Not a realistic scenario, but can be done over time as you force the "atrophy" out of the eyes by gradually exposing them to low light and limited time exposures or are willing to put on shades once your eyes have absorbed as much as they can for the day out and "allow" them to return to doing what God designed them to do.

The feet atrophy a lot from being in shoes chronically and require time and lots of miles of use on a variety of surfaces to restore their natural health. The rewards for choosing to take that journey go far beyond just having healthy feet!

The skin on the feet does not become hard and calloused nor become all cut up and gnarly as is commonly thought. Instead the soles becomes slightly thicker than it's anemic shoe-self allowed or encouraged. They tan and the soles become more durable and elastic, kind of like "Kevlar" in a police officers bullet proof vest.(Elastic, stretchy and pretty puncture resistant!)

When I do step on shards of glass, thorns and such the leg of that foot naturally without conscious thought in a micro second, reduces the amount of force I was about to load on that spot and the foot flexes and shifts its load to other parts of the sole.

The skin stretches and usually the object either does not even stick to the sole or it slightly sticks in the surface of the skin but does not pierce through to any nerves or blood supply.

The natural reflex is to use the the next step to brush that sole gently against the pavement or ground to brush whatever it was off and continue on without needing to stop or further analyze what it was. Of course also that alerts my eyes to be more on the look out for more hazards in the coming area to be even more intentional on stepping around any other things that could do the same thing. No pain, no wounds, just agilely dealing with it.

Regarding heat or cold:

The sole become acclimated to temps up to just about melting asphalt and as cold as slightly below freezing if you go out running as those temps move into your region.

You learn to increase your tempo or steps per minute across the ground or pavement in such conditions to give the soles time to cool or get warm while not in contact with the extreme temp surface.

For surfaces like melting sticky tar or long stretches of sub freezing pavement or path, snow or slush those are times to dawn some form of shoe or foot covering (Moccasins or Vibram Five Fingers http://www.vibramfivefinges.com) to protect the soles until you have passed the danger and can take them off again.

When I know I am likely to traverse such liabilities on my runs I bring along my Vibrams in the outer pockets of my Camel Bak Lobo Hydration pack for quick easy access and storage when not needed.

Shoes have their place...Just not every place!

One final insight that I have not mentioned that is very different for Chronic Shoe wearers vs Barefoot Runners is what is called "The Gait" or "Bio-Mechanics of How Walking or Running Occurs"

If a child is not allowed to go long enough barefoot during the stage of learning to stand, walk and run they develop and unnatural tendency to land on their heels instead of the ball of or "mid foot" as all Native Tribes of the planet and all children start out doing naturally.

There is no padding, fatty tissue or jointed bones that form levers like the knee to absorb shock on the boney knob that forms the heel.

So instead of teaching correct walking and running biomechanics (mans stupid way as usual) to fix the problem of bruised heels was to add padding and lifted heels to try to absorb the shock and shift the weight mechanically back to the front of the foot instead of just instructing the person to do so!

Because making, distributing and selling shoes became profitable shoes become a needed accessory to prevent bruising of the heel!

Shoes teach the occupant of the body "backwards use" of the muscles of the feet, ankles, legs and hips also!

No different than taking the body of your car and turning it around on the chassis and having the wheels that steer now at the back end of the car and removing the shock absorbers and put hard rubber tires like your tricycle as a kid had on it! Oh and while we are at it let's stuff your feet into long narrow drinking glasses and take away all the padding on your seats.

Now imagine going at a walking pace drive in this car. Probably tolerable but not that much fun. Now try driving it at freeway speeds or even God forbid Racing it!

Imagine how that would change your feeling of being agile, in control and amount of shock you would experience. You would be endlessly looking for ways to get make the ride softer and more control able! Doesn't that sound like modern shoes and modern running shoes?

Ever notice that shoes are never shaped like feet especially the front of the foot? Show me a baby's foot that is shaped like a triangle! Or even a "U"!

The "Carnage" begins at Toddler Age when we begin to stuff Gods perfect creations into "Foot Coffins" resulting in the deformation of the toes, either the collapse of the arches or the over rigidity of them (depending on how a person unconsciously adapts to the lost of stability and flex ability that rigid shoe "stole" from them.)

That pattern of weakening spreads up the ankles, to the knees, on into the hips and eventually the back and even the neck to create a whole chain of problems that keeps Chiropractors, Knee, Hip and Spinal Surgeons happy and rich and population forever becoming more hunched over, unconsciously voting to just settle for moving from chair to chair as they wait for death to come take them away from their now lifelong misery of not liking what was Natural Movement. This is so saddening to me.

I was headed down the above path until I met a Barefoot Runner over the Internet 3 yrs ago suggested I "Lose the Shoes". I prayed over that direction and God clearly helped me see that "He made my feet perfect and appropriate for the journey I was to travel over this lifetime and that I had been by default blinded to his glory in this area of his work. I was to take the path of Restoration and Redemption and use my experience to bring glory to him as the ultimate source for all guidance and insight for the "Class Room of Life and Beyond"

I am happy to report that thanks to God I am completely restored!

My knees are completely regenerated despite the opinions of an MD who did an "Arthroscopic Examination" of them a time ago telling me I should be planning on having my right knee replaced with a metal and plastic one!

I run sometimes from sun up to sun down and beyond and distances far beyond the traditional 26.2 mile marathon with no injuries, no pain and at age 52.

I feel and function better than I did at 22! I would have never believed I could run especially without shoes the kind of distances I thought were challenging on a bicycle back at age 22! Now not only do I find those distances not challenging but I find them relaxing and just plain JOYFUL!

So my suggestion to everyone is learn as much as you can about the myths perpetrated about the need for shoes through my blog at http://www.erskien.blogspot.com and put your faith in what God created more than what man created.

If you do decide to explore this path keep me informed. I've coached a lot of people back to rediscovering "Their Soles"

And by all means...Lose the Shoes and go Barefoot. The Truth truly does set you free!

Erskien Lenier

The Goal is 100% Health!

2009-12-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

What do we need to do to reach 100% of our Optimal Health potential?

I’ve come to realize in my 52 and a half laps around the sun that our society and the tribal groups we grow up in by default play huge roles programming us with hypnotic curses that blind us to Natural God given truths in some cases before even birth!

As I have found myself struggling through various challenging mentally, emotionally, financially, socially, physically over the decades I’ve identified some key areas of which I can say I have peeled back the facades and found what they were actually hiding (Much deeper and more profound truths)

Some of the areas I’ve found in great need of more light for the masses include:

1. Running: The Myth that traditionally available Running Shoes are required, needed or that they even Prevent Injuries. Also when is some sort of sole covering appropriate and what to select for those times?

2. Fueling the Human Engine: The Myth that Cooked Foods (Even Organically Grown Cooked Foods) provide the Body with everything it needs for Optimal Daily Regeneration and Function. I also bust the Myth that 100% RAW is the best way to go!

3. Funding in Life: The Myth that Jobs are Essential to Funding Life. Jobs are Time and Resource Thieves for those with Dreams larger than the cubicle they work in or the Boss that Governs their Slave Like Existence. Also when is it a job appropriate and for who?

4. Birthing: The Myth that being born is inherently Dangerous. That Woman are too meek and weak to give Birth Naturally or At Home and when is it appropriate to have medical intervention or support?

How do I expose the trail of lies, half truths and deceptive marketing that cover up the real truths to these Myths?

Below or and to the right of this page you will find links to educational sites and videos that will unpack and decompile these myths so you yourself can make have your own realizations and make your own decisions about what these deeper revelations mean to you and what your willing to do about their effects upon your life and those you care about.

Feel free to reach back to me via Facebook, text or a phone call (my mobile is on my Facebook Profile who's link is the very first listed link below) to share your perspectives, realizations, decisions, and insights beyond what I’ve seen so far.

My objective here is "Activate, Empower, and Encourage" more like Spirits to rise up and out of the muck we each found ourselves in of limited and death inducing belief and behavior patterns and become living examples of what life can be.

Bring on your "Shine"

We all live in unlocked cages.... For most that’s scary.... For the few that's opportunity!

The Feet Are Better Designed Than Any Shoes

2009-09-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this road map to finding deeper truths about Running and other expressions of Life!

This site is based on the belief that Barefoot Running is inherently safe and relatively painless provided we don't run over things that are sharp enough to puncture, burn or freeze the soles. And to minimally use thin soled coverings that do not interfere with the foot, leg or hips posture. I aim to bust myths about both physical and psychological barriers to Barefoot Running.

Foam padded, raised backend shoes, made for motion control, pronation or supination or extra shock absorbtion, orthotics, and medical personnel are not only unnecessary in most cases, they are also no match for a persons own sense of biomechanical instinct, intuition and bio-feedback through a bare sole.

Barefoot Running is built into our DNA and spiritual, magical and miraculous - Running is natural for human kind but not when it's managed, controlled, and manipulated by the shoe industry and it's way over hyped marketing machine, or hindered by the Runners own mind.

In the articles, stories and links on this site I hope to present a new way of looking at Running, and ultimately, at life.

Running is a gift to be enjoyed not a curse to be endured. The time has come for us to cast off our doubts and fears, and learn to believe in our own abilities.

What better place to start than with the slipping off of our mental myths, then our shoes and beginning to feel with bare soles the whole (Holy) ground they they were made to touch, feel, listen and adapt to?

2009-05-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

Regular Runners fear becoming Ultra Runner because they fear failure. It's not that you ran out of fuel, fat or focus...It's did you refuel and refocus... and move on?

The Red Pill or the Blue Pill? Which will you take?

2009-01-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

In the Matrix, which pill would you take, the red or the blue?

I reason for this posting is to help those that have found themselves here understand the nature of why they were directed here.

You are here because what your about to explore is beyond the box of ordinary ways of thinking. That said... Read on if you will at the risk that reality as you have known it may never be the same....

The question of which pill to take illustrates the personal aspect of the decision to study philosophy. Do you live on in ignorance (and potentially bliss) or do you lead what Aristotle called 'the examined life'...

The Matrix is a film filled with religious and philosophical symbolism. The plot supposes that humans live in vats many years in the future, being fed false sensory information by a giant virtual reality computer (the Matrix). The perpetrators of this horror are machines of the future who use humans as a source of power. Humans are literally farmed.

The central character of the film, Neo, is presented to us in the opening part of the film as a loner who is searching for a mysterious character called Morpheus (named after the Greek god of dreams and sleep). He is also trying to discover the answer to the question "What is the Matrix?"

Morpheus contacts Neo just as the machines (posing as sinister 'agents') are trying to keep Neo from finding out any more. When Morpheus and Neo meet, Morpheus offers Neo two pills. The red pill will answer the question "what is the Matrix?" (by removing him from it) and the blue pill simply for life to carry on as before. As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns Neo "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

The film as a whole and especially the choosing scene is deeply compelling. Why is the choice between what you believe you know and an unknown 'real' truth so fascinating? How could a choice possibly be made? On the one hand everyone you love and everything that you have built you life upon. One the other the promise only of truth.

The question then is not about pills, but what they stand for in these circumstances. The question is asking us whether reality, truth, is worth pursuing. The blue pill will leave us as we are, in a life consisting of habit, of things we believe we know. We are comfortable, we do not need truth to live. The blue pill symbolises commuting to work every day, or brushing your teeth.
The red pill is an unknown quantity. We are told that it can help us to find the truth. We don't know what that truth is, or even that the pill will help us to find it. The red pill symbolises risk, doubt and questioning. In order to answer the question, you can gamble your whole life and world on a reality you have never experienced.

However, in order to investigate which course of action to take we need to investigate why the choice is faced. Why should we even have to decide whether to pursue truth?

The answer in short, is inquisitiveness. Many people throughout human existence have questioned and enquired. Most of them have not been scientists or doctors or philosophers, but simply ordinary people asking 'what if?' or 'why?' Asking these questions ultimately leads us to a choice. Do you continue to ask and investigate, or do you stop and never ask again? This in essence, is the question posed to Neo in the film.

So what are the advantages of taking the blue pill? As one of the characters in the film says, "ignorance is bliss" Essentially, if the truth is unknown, or you believe that you know the truth, what is there to question or worry about?

By accepting what we are told and experience life can be easier. There is the social pressure to 'fit in', which is immensely strong in most cultures. Questioning the status quo carries the danger of ostracism, possibly persecution. This aspect has a strong link with politics. People doing well under the current system are not inclined to look favourably on those who question the system. Morpheus says to Neo "You have to understand that many people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."

The system also has a place for you, an expected path to follow. This removes much of the doubt and discomfort experienced by a trailblazer.

Another argument on the side of the blue pill is how does anyone know that the status quo is not in fact the truth? The act of simply questioning does not infer a lack of validity on the questioned. Why not assume that your experience is innocent until proven guilty? Just accept everything?

So if the arguments for the blue pill are so numerous, why take the red pill? Why pursue truth even though it may be unpalatable and the journey to it hard? In the film, Neo risks death to escape the virtual reality and discovers a brutal reality from which he cannot return. As he discovers the trouble with asking questions is that the answers are not necessarily what you want to hear.

To justify taking the red pill we might ask what is the purpose of an ignorant existence? Further still, what is there in merely existing? Simply existing brings humans down to the level of objects; they might have utility or even purpose, but where is the meaning? Existence without meaning is surely not living your life, but just experiencing it. As Trinity says to Neo, "The Matrix cannot tell you who you are."

Given the potential disadvantages of choosing the red pill, the motivation for discovering the truth must then be very strong. The film makes much of this point. Trinity says to Neo "It's the question that drives us, Neo." and Morpheus compares the motivation for Neo's search to "a splinter in your mind - driving you mad." The motivation for answering the question is obviously strong as the answer will help us to find the meaning in our lives.

What we are looking at here is the drive to answer a question, but the key to this is what drove the question in the first place. The asking of questions about our environment our experience and ourselves is fundamental to the human condition. Children ask a seemingly never-ending stream of questions from an early age. It is only with education and socialisation that some people stop asking these questions. However, we remain, as it were, hard-wired to enquire.

This is an inevitable consequence of consciousness. A being with a mind, conscious of itself and its existence, experiencing a reality, needs to organise the data that it receives from its senses. Simply observing and recording does not allow for consciousness. It is what we do with that information that allows us to think. In order to process and store the vast amount of information received, the human brain attempts to identify patterns in the data; looking for the patterns behind what is experienced. This is asking questions of the sensory information, and requires reasoning. By definition a conscious mind seeks to know. Knowing something requires more than just data, but intelligence or reasoning applied to that data. To attempt to obtain knowledge we must therefore question the data our mind receives; thus, consciousness questions.

So the metaphor of the journey to truth that Neo takes is complete. The journey starts with a question, there is a search for the answer and the answer may be reached. This shows us that the journey does not start with Neo choosing between the pills, or with ourselves deciding whether to question. The act of asking the question is itself the starting point as the aim of asking the question is to seek truth and knowledge.

We have established that consciousness is aware and seeks knowledge and that thus the conscious mind must question. To question is to seek the truth and start on the journey to knowledge. Therefore the choice between the pills is surely made for us. The fact that we are conscious appears to require us to take the red pill.
However, this can be simply countered by someone who would prefer to take the blue pill. They may wish to seek the truth in a different way, or in a less mind jarring set of circumstances. They can choose the blue pill and not deny their consciousness, but to stop seeking the truth entirely would be to deny their consciousness.

Thus we are philosophically driven to seek the truth and the act of questioning whether to seek it is in itself seeking the truth. As conscious minds we will always seek the truth. However, the choice over the red or blue pills is not solely a choice between whether to question or not, it is a personal choice on the method of discovering the truth.

My Wealth is the Richness of my Relationships!

2009-01-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

I grew up a quiet and shy kid who secretly always wanted friends to play with but had bought into the adult message (or curse) of kids should be seen and not heard.

I spent many decade bumping up against the invisible glass wall and ceiling I imposed upon myself not knowing how I created nor perpetuated this walking, riding, running prison of isolation I lived within.

This points to the nature of our decisions. In a moment we can give life to a train of thought that can change every aspect of our lives for decades or even an entire lifetime.

So how important are the quality of our thoughts? Even more important is how we feel at the time we focus on those thoughts!

If we sow the seeds of fear, lack, inability, fear of anything we literally put up a firewall in that area of our lives to keep out what we really want.

How sad?

Well, the good news is that just as it only take a moment of intense feeling about any thought to lock it into "Cellular Memory" (Try stubbing your toe, look at your thoughts about it and notice how you really begin to make an effort to avoid situations that might mean opportunities to stub you toe!)

It's also that easy to undo "blocks or blind spot" where our lives have become blocked or frozen.

If you are aware that you have self sabataging patterns or things you've been working on changeing about your behavior, perceptions or feelings but they keep returning back to the old reactionary pattern I can show you how to break them once and for all.

More to come! Time to go our for a barefoot run!

OK, I'm back...

Most associate the brain as being the source of memory when in truth every cell in our body is a part of the almost infinite "harddrive" that last a whole lifetime. That's called "Cellular Memory".

Cellular Memory begins at the moment of our creation in the union of a sperm and a egg believe it or not! That means every experience you have ever been exposed to for every second of your entire life is recorded in every cell of your whole body.

I went through a training back in the late 1980's revolving around the identification of, testing for and correction of Dyslexia's that involved the use of the body's muscles and nerve circuits via the science of Kinisiology.

The most profound thing about this training was in order to become certified to by work with private clients and qualify to teach to other professionals who wanted to help dyslexics I had to be tested at each stage of learning process and when "stress induced blind spots" where found; they had to "cleared" or unblocked.

I was astounded that so many of what I thought were "no big deal" and unrelated events along my time line of growing up and things that I experienced or happened as an adult had actual measureable impact on things like my sense of balance, coordination, depth perception, hearing, vision, caused me to alter my posture, weakened or shut off various nerve and muscle groups and pathways, even my perceptions and ability to recall were full of holes.

Every moment of our lives is a "Learning Moment" and without much conscious analysis we make decisions about what things mean, how we felt about that event, thought, person, sound, taste, touch, smell, etc. and depending on whether it was deemed a good or empowering feeling or a bad and disempowering feeling we lock that down into cellular memory so we know how we prefer to deal with similar situations in the future. Those future decisions will be based on feed back from your five senses.
If it looks like, feels like, sounds like, smells like, taste like, it must be like! From there will begin behaviors that either move us towards or away from what we believe in the outer world is that group of decisions!

So how do you break those "Re - Actions" (and by the way your Re - Actions can come in many forms. Examples: severe reaction to bee stings, allergies, hives, if your an athlete; favoring injury of a certain body part or side of the body over and over again, in ability to comprehend things you read or recall them after reading, self sabatage patterns in relationships or work, compulsive, obsessive or addictive behavior, phobias to name a few.

There is a very technical way to unravel all these patterns that I was taught and worked with for years. I will spare you the long version and share with you a means I have found to cut through all that and is much more effective and gentle:

What ever the problem appears to be as a symptom in present time go somewhere quiet and where you feel safe to close your eyes for a few minutes uninterupted.

Once there... Close your eyes and go back to the earliest time you can recall the beginning of the present time symptoms or feelings associated with the symptoms.

Remember as much of what each of your five senses percieved at that time as you can.

Then knowing what you know today and the price you paid for making the decisions you made back then about that event or time in your life ask Jesus to take over responsibility for the path of carnage you have suffered to date as the result of your thoughts and feelings you locked down at the age of cause.

Obviously, those decisions about how to think, feel and behave from that point forward costed you something or maybe even someone!

That's because those memories were never intended to be saved. They were intended to make you stronger, more tender, more understanding, to build you not to harm you.

You must give them up. Giving them up to maker of the entire Universe is actually very reasonable. After all God's heart is big enough to heal anything and contains all things... Ultimately for your very own benifit.

Don't believe me? Try it... What do you have to lose? You know what you've got to lose!

The decision is yours and yours alone. He is waiting....

Lord, I offer up to you today the baggage I've carried all these years that does not belong to me. Does not serve my becoming closer to you and living the life you brought me into this world to walk out.
Lord, I cannot shoulder this stuff any longer but I know your shoulders carry the whole world. Take this burden and do with it what you will. Allow me to move on to the next level of becoming more of what you will for my life Lord.

Give thanks for what you have learned in how life here on the Earth works and wait patiently for a sense of lightness to come over you.

God Speed

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New Technology to Maximize Your Ability to Adapt to the Stress of Running and Life!

2009-01-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder if your maximizing your genetic potential?

I know I have for decades!

I spent over $130 mo for decades to make sure I fed my body every possible nutrient it needed to adapt to everything I exposed it to.

I knew I got some benefit from the mix of vitamins, minerals, herbs and enzymes I concocted daily but I also knew that I peed a lot of them out, didn't always get what I needed and OD-ed on some nutrients and usually had little idea which or what I consumed that caused anything from rashes, to dry skin, to tender skin, swelling, joint pain, fluid retention, loss of thirst, loss of appetite, to name a few symptoms.

For years I've told many that someday a company would show up that could look at one's genetic make up and custom tailor nutrition that was perfect to what that persons unique DNA required for optimal function and to support maximally perfect cell replication or regeneration.

Recently I was made aware that such a company does just this and is available to anyone who wants to get the most out of their body's potential whether it's perfect adaption to running, work, workouts, family stress or any other force the body and it's occupant has to adapt to!

Email me at NextLevelMentor at GMail dot com for links to one click videos about this!

This is an idea who's time has come! Or look me up on www.FaceBook.com Erskien Lenier

More Testimonies of the Hand Print of the Living God at Work in Our Lives

2008-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me by a new Ultra Marathon friend of mine named Marc.

I couldn't resist sharing his story as I am beginning to hear such storys again and again as I have taken the leap of faith in putting my own story out there to show others that God is a Living God and is active, listening and responding to our prayers.

Read on....

Hey Erskien,

I posted a comment recently on Lisa Smith-Batchens blog about Plantar Fasciitis. You posted a comment below mine and I was completely blown away by your response.

I have been on this path recently where I have been wanting to improve and heal my body. My previous doctor advised me to quit running. So I changed doctors.

I am a long distance runner/adventure racer and I am 49 years old. I am planning to do the Sahara Race in Oct./09.

So, with that, I sought out a trainer who I felt could help me. He encouraged me to go barefoot in the gym and then eventually on the road. He advised me that the path to better biomechanics and spinal health was barefoot training.

It's been 6 weeks and what a difference!

I did some research and discovered Vibram FiveFingers technology. I pointed it out to my trainer and we both now have a pair.

It is funny how the Lord puts you on the proper path when you ask him. He guided me to Lisa, who inspires me daily, to a doctor who respects me and my opinions/questions, a trainer who educates me, and now you. I plan to read all your articles and gain more knowledge.

Thank you! Marc

Erskien Lenier Replying to Marc

I love it when God shows up so boldly!

My story unfolded in a very similar fashion! I ran back in my teen years (the 1970's) and got side tracked into bicycle road racing.

I had a huge engine (heart, lungs and capillary beds) to go really far and pretty fast but took a while to learn tactics and and specialization in training.

I found myself over trained and lost motivation about 2 yrs into it and returned to running for a mental break.

Being young and dumb I invested all of 2 months and went out and ran my first marathon (St. Louis) in 2:32:30 thinking maybe I'd qualify for Boston and head in a new direction from cycling.

3 weeks later I did the Heart of America marathon in Columbia, MO and began to see signs that something was wrong with my right knee.

Long story short the knee self distructed and the MD's (after Arthroscopic examination) told me it was so bad I'd need a new knee in a matter of years.

I tried speed skating... That eventually proved to aggravate the knee too. I returned to cycling because it was the aerobic activity I that allowed me to express my need for high intencity endurance sports that I thrived on.

Fast forward a couple of decades later and after breaking just about every exotic material used in modern road racing bikes and becoming disillusioned that a better bike would complete me....

I finally asked God to guide me in the healing of my knee so I could return to running and no longer need machines to move across the land. I longed for simplicity, unedited simplicity.

In less than 30 days he guided me to Tucker Sharp in Newport Beach, CA He is a practioner of a form of deep tissue muscle and its surrounding facia or sheath release called Heller Work http://www.balanceme.com/

He helped undo a lot of the cork screw like twisting of my spine and identified extreme tenstion differences in my hip muscles and ligaments.

Tucker took me miles from the debilitating contortion I came to realize my body have lived under. I went from 10-20 miles per week to 50-60 miles per week just while working with him.

He eventually saw that the more refined details of what was still needing to be done with my posture would be better addresses by another modality called the Egoscue Method and turned me onto Charlie Reid who is Pete Egoscue trained body worker @ www.egoscue.com

Charlie helped me see other areas of how twisted up my body was still and the need for more subtle yet precise work to unlock it.

He provided me with simple sequential stretches and strengthening exercises to unlock the dysfunctional adaptations my body had distorted itself into to deal with bad form I had adopted from my teen years of running in shoes, the various injuries I'd sustained and the odd cants, leans, twist and shifts I'd subtly made to run and ride around sore spots and injuries.

After all this body work I began to notice that as my milage per week moved up beyond 50 and even touching 65 miles per week I was developing shin splints, loosing toe nails, getting blister in different spots and some times in as early as 4 miles into a run and going from shoe model to shoe model looking for a shoe that would fix all this. I track out finances in Microsoft Money and it helped me realize I was spending over $120 a month on running shoes! And the other thing that really bothered me is all of them were wearing out at that the outer corner of the heal long before the rest of the shoe showed any sign of wear at all! The tops and the front of the shoe looked brand new 30 days out and the heals were worn through!
As I studied all the information on every shoe companies site and read all the reviews on running forums my head began to spin with conflicting "facts" about each show, what they were supposed to do or offer and then I came upon a forum at www.runnersworld.com that was all about the injuries runners sustain and one on shoes and I realized the carnage centered around the feet! The feet and knees were getting hammered and no one was stopping to ask why? And is there something we are missing here?

I googled "Running Injuries" to try to find out what others had found as solutions to what I was haunted by.

That's when I came upon Barefoot Running. Someone has a posting that spoke of turning to Barefoot Running and all their feet and leg problems went away! That person was Barefoot Rick at www.BarefootRunner.org He described having had most of the same symptoms I am a bazillion other runners posted on runnerworlds forum. And he was running marathons barefoot now and his legs and feet were fine!

God had revealed to me that shoes were somehow a part of the problem and were not as important as marketing and the market hyped them to be.

On his site I found contact info for a local Barefooter...

Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton of Huntington Beach, CA he said something in our email exchange that forever changed the way I viewed the valued feet: "Barefoot Running forces correct biomechanics".

Having been a world class cyclist for decades and having worked as a Master Frame Builder in the off season had taught me how importan things like alignment of the bike frames and fittings were to the wear, tear, effeciency and longevity of the attached components.

I'd just never held the human bodys biomechanics up to the same understanding! Nor did I understand beyond it's biochemistry how the human body was so naturally designed to be self balancing in regard to the tension and movement of its structural components.

I was so facinated that here I was crossing the 50 yr mark in life and God had allowed me travel this far from my teen years just to wear down my ego enough that I would simply turn to him and ask for guidance! I spent decades attempting to fix my ailments with my own will and as your about to learn he fixed decades of ignorance in moments! The key is I had to become humble enough to acknowledge the source of my own life force and of coarse the source of all wisdom. He is known as Jesus <>< The Fisher of Men.... He caught... And he taught me....

One night he woke me from a sound sleep woke me up at 1:30 AM.

I had the feeling I was supposed to go for a run.

I put on my Camel Bak as I had no idea how far I would feel like going, scribbled a note that I had my phone with me and kissed my sleeping wife on the cheek then headed out the door.

Two steps out and I heard as surely as someone was standing next to me; "Take off your shoes."

I stopped and looked around.... I heard it again...

I could not tell what direction it came from... It sounded like it was coming from everywhere and from within. I complied. I put my shoes in my Camel Bak and set out.

3 miles later and way out in Norco, CA on gravally dark roads (with tender feet mind you) I was giddy with laughter and so happy it was beyond explanation!

I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was teaching me! That he loved me and I told him there on that spot that if he would be my coach for all things running and beyond running I would dedicate my every effort to bringing glory to his message and his agenda which is that we are forgiven! There is grace. God sent his only begotten son of a virgin birth to be crucified and perish only to rise again as a means to pay the price of all of mankinds sins. We are free! Free to live as Godly a life as we can listen and follow.

Well that was 15 months ago.... 3400 miles later here I am! My right knee is perfect! No crunchies, no inflammation, no ticking or clicking and I feel so truly blessed that God has given me back what was stolen 100 times over.

No my feet are not calloused over and no I don't worry about glass or any other thing in my many paths of adventure across the concrete and asphalt land I live in. Gods taught me like life... To land softly. Be alert yet relaxed, move with momentun and allow gravity to not just hold you to this Earth but to actually move you across it. (That's another lesson you will learn if you decide to unmute your ability to feel the Earth beneath your feet.)

My mission is to share the good news with everyone who will listen.

Two BareFoot Soles at a Time!

Erskien Lenier
Corona, CA

What You Say vs What God Says.

2008-12-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

You say: "It's impossible" God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired" God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me" God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 3:34 )

You say: "I can't go on" God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out" God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it" God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13) You say: "I'm not able" God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it" God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28 )

You say: "I can't forgive myself" God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage" God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid" God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated" God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I'm not smart enough" God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone" God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Bad Biomechanics?

2008-12-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

This topic is from my friend Barefoot Ken's blog and I think it is a brilliant and accurate observation of the deeper truth about barefoot running, biomechanics and how running injuries happen. You can always count on Ken to give you the bare bones truth about barefoot running!

Bad Biomechanics? (2004 September 23) Saxton
September 23rd, 2004
A salesperson said I have bad biomechanics and should not run without special shoes, which cost an arm and a leg?
I am often told, “how lucky you are, that you have perfect biomechanics which allow you to run barefoot.”
My reply is, “I don’t have good enough biomechanics to be able to run well woth shoes blockign my ability to feel the ground beneath my feet, and respond appropriately by correcting my, otherwise, sloppy biomechanics.”
Are our “Biomechanical Problems”, simply mechanical defects in the human design, which cannot be repaired, and can only be patched or corrected by adding cushioning, motion control, support, etc., provided by wearing modern hi-tech running shoes and orthotic devices?
Do we really have “Biomechanical Problems” with our feet, our legs, our hips, etc., or do shoes actually cause it to appear that we have biomechanical issues, by depriving us of an essential component in the design of the human running “machine”, depriving us of the one thing that might help us learn to run “biomechanically” correct?
I believe that actual genetic bad biomechanics are very rare. Most of us are born to run well. It’s in our genes. When someone says we have “bad biomechanics”, they often mean that we run with bad technique. The assumption is that we are born with our running technique, instead of my presumption, that we learn how to run as we grow up.
When we learn to run WITHOUT feedback from the soles of our feet, as they touch the ground, we often learn to run badly, just as a deaf or hard-of-hearing person has trouble learning to pronounce sounds they cannot perceive.
The best runners in the world come from areas of the world where they learn to run barefoot. Good running technique in these areas is taken for granted. In fact, it is in our genes as well. The problem is, shoes often get in the way of the natural advantage a barefooter has, in learning how to run the way we are designed to run.
Even such seemingly severe problems such as seeming leg-length discrepencies, well, I suspect that most, perhaps nearly all, asymmetry issues; leg length, uneven wear on your shoes, etc., are the result of learning, practicing, and adapting unsymmetrical postural habits. The right leg might appear longer than the left leg, if we, for example, spend a lot of time standing with our weight on one leg, with the other leg stretched out to the side. This may not result in bone-length differences, but the asymmetrical posture, when it becomes habitual (you may not even be aware you are standing that way), will result in asymmetrical strengths and weaknesses of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc..
In such cases, the cure is NOT to add a shim to the bottom of the sole, which would only reinforce the leg-length discrepancy by pushing the “short” leg even shorter! The cure is to exercise, and stretch, and practice symmetry in your day-to-day posture, movements, and other physical habits - to, in short, make symmetry a habit, over the long run.
Most of our bad habits are learned because we aren’t aware, either that the practice is bad, or that we are doing something in a particular way. Awareness is key in developing good biomechanical habits. Shoes block awareness.
We can continue to depend on sales people and shoes to control the way we run, with the underlying, and obviously wrong, assumption that humans were designed to run with shoes blocking valuable sensory information about how we are running.
Or we can learn to improve HOW we run - starting by listening to and paying attention to what we learn from our bare feet.Sphere: Related ContentFiled under: Biomechanics
More posts by: Barefoot Ken BobRunning Barefoot
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Tis the Season to be Jolly.... Or is it?

2008-12-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is my blog and the topics cover everything that come to me through God.

The things I learn while running barefoot all over the country side, at work, at home, in my dreams, standing in line at the grocery store or in the midst of a church sermon or bible study group discussion.

It's Christmas season and for many out there it's not going to feel like it. As I read of the plight of those who are being laid off, let go, cut back, over worked and under paid, and the new term "Under Employed" I feel many things but one of them is not like it's time yet to count only my blessings.

Technically, I too am one of the Under Employed. I work for a local Honda dealer in the Wholesale or Internet Sales Dept. and as most know the car business as a whole has ground down to a trickle at best even on the below invoice pricing side of it.

I enjoyed helping people get a "fat free" quote and stream lining the buying process so at it's shorter than most expect conclusion I'd get to hear: "Man, that was easier and faster than I have ever bought a car before!"

However with so many of you wondering if your even going to have a job in the next few days, weeks or months very few are confident enough to take on the responsibility of a new car loan even if they can get it at dead cost and for almost no interest loans.

That's reality. I accept that.

What I don't accept is that I have to stuck or trapped by what's going on in financial markets.

That's why I have made it my business to free as many of you as I can from the mental and financial constraints of the fear that grips our nation and now the globe.

I personally do not believe a government bailout of financial instruments that have out lived their usefulness is the solution. I believe the real solution is leverage more people into no risk and low risk home businesses that anyone can do and everyone who has an ounce of hope still alive in them will do.

The Government has acknowledged that SMALL BUSINESSES are the back bone of our nations economy.

Yes, Wall St. and Detroit are and have been big players also but times are changing. How many of you realized 2-4 yrs ago that debt was the core "asset" under the supposed pile of cash our banks were supposed to be sitting on when deposited our checks every 2 weeks?

How many of you realize debt is not a asset? Debt is a liability!

Our nation is in financial difficulty purely because it framed debt as an asset and marketed to every level of consumer in this nation without teaching the truth about how wealth is built.

Well, I'm here to state that era is over. We are in the information age and we do all have access to many different sources of information instantly so we can look at most things from many points of view and have learned to trust few single sources of info about anything beyond our relationships with God.

Ok, so we all know the nature of the problem. A Nation system in great distress. Many elements of it dieing a screaming death right before our eyes. (No matter how much money is poured into institutions that have bad business models do you trust them enough to invest in them? Of coarse not!) So no more need to grieve over their down fall.

The questions we need to all be asking is what can "We the People" do about it?

For the everyday person out on the street it does truly look bleak. For those of you reading these words there is hope. Great hope!

Matter of fact I don't even believe it was any kind of accident or even cooincidence that your here right now!

Ever since God woke me up to the pervasive nature of his involvement in my own life I have asked him to use me to serve his people. To help me become a bridge to his kingdom and help build that kingdom for his return in the flesh one day.

What's this got to do with the economy?

Everything.... God does provide....

Quick story... Some of you have heard it before but tuning into it is needed to make sure any given persons heart and mind are in agreement that God's solutions don't look like the worlds solutions. But he does provide... From there we have reach...

Farmers house is one flood plain and he hears reports on the radio that a heavy rain with possible floods is coming.

He heads for home. Puts away the animals and goes in to keep dry.

Here's on the radio that the rivers rising and everyone in his area should evacuate.
He take a moment to ask God to protect and take care of him.

In a bit the local Sheriff comes by and suggest he get in his truck and leave. He tells him he if a faithfull man and God is looking out over him. He declines and sends him on his way.

Eventually, he realizes the river has over flowed into his fields and is heading for his house. He does his best to sand bag his doors.

The water rises....

Comes in through his doors and evenually the down stairs windows.

He says, "Awwwe, no big deal. I'll go up stairs and ride it out!
God will protect me...

Once he's up stairs he realizes it's coming on up the stairs!

He here's a thump out side and looks out and it's one of his neighbors in a boat up against the house upstairs window and upon seeing him is suggesting he climb in and get out there as they say this is a big one and don't see a crest in sight! (Sound familiar)

How tells his neighbor..."Nawwwww, just go on. I'm not leaving... this will crest and I'll be fine. Gods watching over me!"

Off the neighbor goes....

The waters continue to rise.... Up throught the attic and onto the roof top he goes....

The waters continue to rise.... A helicoptor comes by... "We're here to rescue you!"
And again he waves them off yelling, "NO, GO ON... I'M FINE! GOD IS PROTECTING ME" and reluctantly they go on....

The water continues to rise until he is floated off the house... and drowns....

Next thing he knows he's in heaven....

Once he realizes he has passed over he finds God and asked him....

"God I was faithful! I asked you to protect me! Why did you let me down?"

God said, "Son, I did protect you! Who do you think sent all the efforts to rescue you!"

The moral of the story is consider this blog to be your helicopter ride out of the rising waters.

Click on the links to the right of this story and find the helicopter you would like to lift you out of your deluge.

God's trying to clean up a mess made by man. He's not saying your that mess. He's saying he is here to set you free! To make you a victor and not a victim in life. To prosper you and not to steal from, kill or destroy you.

He has worked harder than you can ever comprehend to bring you to this moment in your life. Reach for my hand. I was sent to help you live through him. The tools and insights I offer were his gifts to me. They are worthless if I can't use them to lift up you.

Take him at his word... Live out John 10:10

Barefoot Running

2008-11-23T04:14:00.000-08:00

I chose to post this research because of the growing number of runners I encounter that are chronically injured by having weak feet and not believing their shoes might be atrophying their health despite their best efforts on or off road.

SPORTSCIENCE

Review: Training & Performance

Barefoot Running

Michael Warburton

Gateway Physiotherapy, Capalaba, Queensland, Australia 4157.

Sportscience 5(3), sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm, 2001 (2564 words)
Reviewers: Caroline Burge, School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4006, Australia; Larry M Feinman, Mountain Chiropractic, Lafayette, Colorado 80026, USA; Ian Shrier, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1E2, Canada

Running barefoot is associated with a substantially lower prevalence of acute injuries of the ankle and chronic injuries of the lower leg in developing countries, but well-designed studies of the effects of barefoot and shod running on injury are lacking. Laboratory studies show that the energy cost of running is reduced by about 4% when the feet are not shod. In spite of these apparent benefits, barefoot running is rare in competition, and there are no published controlled trials of the effects of running barefoot on simulated or real competitive performance.

KEYWORDS: economy, efficiency, injury, performance, shoes

Introduction

Well-known international athletes have successfully competed barefoot, most notably Zola Budd-Pieterse from South Africa and the late Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia. Running in bare feet in long distance events is evidently not a barrier to performance at the highest levels. Indeed, in this review I will show that wearing running shoes probably reduces performance and increases the risk of injury.

I became interested in research on barefoot running when I noticed that a reasonably high proportion of runners compete in bare feet during cross-country races in Queensland, Australia. I have based the review on articles I found containing the words barefoot and running in Medline, SportDiscus, and in Web publications.

I found several original research reports on the occurrence and mechanisms of acute and chronic injuries in unshod and shod populations, and a few reports on the energy cost of running with and without shoes (including an unpublished thesis). Two authors provided recommendations for adapting to barefoot running. I also found informal websites devoted to barefoot running and barefoot living. There are apparently no published controlled trials of the effects of running in bare feet on simulated or real competitive performance, nor any surveys on the reasons why people do not compete barefoot.

Injuries

Where barefoot and shod populations co-exist, as in Haiti, injury rates of the lower extremity are substantially higher in the shod population (Robbins and Hanna, 1987). Furthermore, running-related chronic injuries to bone and connective tissue in the legs are rare in developing countries, where most people are habitually barefooted (Robbins and Hanna, 1987). This association between injury and wearing shoes is consistent with the possibility that wearing shoes increases the risk of injury, but other explanations for the association are possible; for example, in developing countries barefoot runners may be too poor to seek medical attention, shod runners may wear shoes because they have problems running barefoot, and shod runners may wear bad shoes, wear shoes incorrectly, and cover more miles. Prospective studies and randomized controlled trials of barefoot and shod running would resolve this uncertainty.
Studies of rates of injury in barefoot and shod runners in developed countries are non-existent, presumably because barefoot runners are a rarity. However, there have been several studies implicating footwear in the etiology of injuries in runners. I have grouped these as studies of acute injuries (resulting from an accident during running) and chronic injuries (resulting from continual exposure to running).

Acute Injuries

Ankle sprains are the most frequently reported acute sports injury, and 90-95% of these are inversion injuries causing partial or complete rupture of the anterior talofibular ligament and occasionally of the calcaneofibular ligament (Robbins et al., 1995; Stacoff et al., 1996). It is claimed that footwear increases the risk of such sprains, either by decreasing awareness of foot position provided by feedback from plantar cutaneous mechanoreceptors in direct contact with the ground (Robbins et al., 1995), or by increasing the leverage arm and consequently the twisting torque around the sub-talar joint during a stumble (Stacoff et al., 1996). Siff and Verkhoshansky (1999, p.452) reported that running shoes always reduce proprioceptive and tactile sensitivity, and that using bare feet on the high-density chip-foam mats in gyms preserves proprioceptive sensitivity. Robbins et al. (1989) considered that behaviors induced by plantar tactile sensations offer improved balance during movement, which may explain the preference of many gymnasts and dancers for performing barefoot.

The skin on the plantar surface (sole) of the foot is more resistant to the inflammatory effects of abrasion than skin on other parts of the body (Robbins et al., 1993), but stones, glass, nails or needles can still cause bruising or puncture wounds even when the plantar skin is thickened by adaptation to barefoot running. Extremes in temperature can also cause discomfort, blistering or chill blains. Running shoes therefore will play an important role in protection on some courses and in some weather conditions.

Chronic Injuries

One of the most common chronic injuries in runners is planter fasciitis, or an inflammation of the ligament running along the sole of the foot. There is some evidence that the normally unyielding plantar fascia acts as the support for the medial longitudinal arch, and that strain on the proximal fascial attachment during foot strike leads to plantar fasciitis (Robbins and Hanna, 1987). Barefoot running may induce an adaptation that transfers the impact to the yielding musculature, thus sparing the fascia and accounting for the low incidence of plantar fasciitis in barefoot populations (Robbins and Hanna, 1987).

Chronic ailments such as shin splints, ilio-tibial band syndrome and peri-patellar pain are attributed variously to excessive pronation, supination, and shock loading of the limbs (Siff and Verkhoshansky, 1999, p.451). When running barefoot on hard surfaces, the runner compensates for the lack of cushioning underfoot by plantar-flexing the foot at contact, thus giving a softer landing (Frederick, 1986). Barefoot runners also land mid-foot, increasing the work of the foot's soft tissue support structures, thereby increasing their strength and possibly reducing the risk of injury (Yessis 2000, p.124).

Wearers of expensive running shoes that were promoted as correcting pronation or providing more cushioning experienced a greater prevalence of these running-related injuries than wearers of less expensive shoes (Robbins and Gouw, 1991). In another study, expensive athletic shoes accounted for more than twice as many injuries as cheaper shoes, a fact that prompted Robbins and Waked (1997) to suggest that deceptive advertising of athletic footwear (e.g., "cushioning impact") may represent a public health hazard. Anthony (1987) reported that running shoes should be considered protective devices (from dangerous or painful objects) rather than corrective devices, as their capacity for shock absorption and control of over-pronation is limited. The modern running shoe and footwear generally reduce sensory feedback, apparently without diminishing injury-inducing impact–a process Robbins and Gouw (1991) described as the "perceptual illusion" of athletic footwear. A resulting false sense of security may contribute to the risk of injury (Robbins and Gouw, 1991). Yessis (2000, p.122) reasoned that once the natural foot structures are weakened by long-term footwear use, people have to rely on the external support of the footwear, but the support does not match that provided by a well functioning foot.

Measurements of the vertical component of ground-reaction force during running provide no support for the notion that running shoes reduce shock. Robbins and Gouw (1990) reported that running shoes did not reduce shock during running at 14 km/h on a treadmill. Bergmann et al. (1995) found that the forces acting on the hip joint were lower for barefoot jogging than for jogging in various kinds of shoe. Clarke et al. (1983) observed no substantial change in impact force when they increased the amount of heel cushioning by 50% in the shoes of well-trained runners. Robbins and Gouw (1990) argued that plantar sensation induces a plantar surface protective response whereby runners alter their behavior to reduce shock. The less-cushioned shoe permitted increases in plantar discomfort to be sensed and moderated, a phenomenon that they termed "shock setting". Footwear with greater cushioning apparently provokes a sharp reduction in shock-moderating behaviour, thus increasing impact force (Robbins and Hanna, 1987; Robbins et al., 1989; Robbins and Gouw, 1990). However, in these studies the subjects ran on treadmills or force platforms. Further studies are needed to establish how shoes affect impact force and shock-moderating behavior on natural surfaces such as road or grass.
Other features of footwear, such as arch supports and orthotics, may interfere with shock-moderating behavior and probably hinder the shock-absorbing downward deflection of the medial arch on landing (Robbins and Hanna, 1987). These features reportedly reduce pronation and supination or offer the wearer lateral and arch support. They may help some people with foot pathologies, but their benefit is uncertain for runners with healthy feet (Yessis, 2000, p.121).

Runners with diminished or absent sensation in the soles of the feet are particularly vulnerable to damage or infection when barefoot. Peripheral neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus and may result in the loss of protective sensations in the feet. Barefoot locomotion is therefore not recommended in this population (Hafner and Burg, 1999). Indeed, proper footwear is essential and should be emphasized for individuals with peripheral neuropathy (ACSM/ADA, 1999; ACSM, 2000).

Economy

Wearing shoes increases the energy cost of running. Burkett et al. (1985) found that oxygen consumption during running increased as the amount of mass they added to the foot increased; shoes and orthotics representing 1% of body mass increased oxygen consumption by 3.1%. Flaherty (1994) found that oxygen consumption during running at 12 km/h was 4.7% higher in shoes of mass ~700 g per pair than in bare feet. An increase in oxygen consumption of ~4% is of little importance to the recreational runner, but the competitive athlete would notice a major effect on running speed.

The increase in oxygen consumption with running shoes could have several causes. An obvious possibility is the energy cost of continually accelerating and decelerating the mass of the shoe with each stride. Another possibility is the external work done in compressing and flexing the sole and in rotating the sole against the ground--up to 13% of the work done in walking, according to Webb et al. (1988). Frederick (1986) reported that oxygen consumption increased substantially with thicker shoe inserts during treadmill running. Not surprisingly, materials used for cushioning in shoes absorb energy, and stiff midsoles should produce a 2% saving of energy compared with standard midsoles (Stefanyshyn and Nigg, 2000). Finally, shoes probably compromise the ability of the lower limb to act like a spring. With bare feet, the limb returns ~70% of the energy stored in it, but with running shoes the return is considerably less (Yessis, 2000, p.123).

Adapting to Barefoot Running

Thirty minutes of daily barefoot locomotion is a recommended starting point to allow thickening of the sole of the foot and adaptation of muscles and ligaments (Robbins et al., 1993). Begin by walking barefoot at every reasonable opportunity then progress to jogging, gradually increasing the intensity and duration (Yessis 2000, p.124). After 3-4 weeks, the plantar skin eventually becomes robust and allows longer periods of barefoot running at higher average velocities (Robbins et al., 1993). To facilitate adaptation, perform progressive strengthening exercises for the foot and ankle, including foot inversion, toe flexion, and walking on the balls of the feet. Barefoot locomotion on uneven surfaces will also help stimulate the plantar surface and provide increased sensory feedback (Yessis 2000, p.125).

Conclusions

• Running in shoes appears to increase the risk of ankle sprains, either by decreasing awareness of foot position or by increasing the twisting torque on the ankle during a stumble.
• Running in shoes appears to increase the risk of plantar fasciitis and other chronic injuries of the lower limb by modifying the transfer of shock to muscles and supporting structures.
• Running in bare feet reduces oxygen consumption by a few percent. Competitive running performance should therefore improve by a similar amount, but there has been no published research comparing the effect of barefoot and shod running on simulated or real competitive running performance.
• Research is needed to establish why runners choose not to run barefoot. Concern about puncture wounds, bruising, thermal injury, and overuse injury during the adaptation period are possibilities.
• Running shoes play an important protective role on some courses, in extreme weather conditions, and with certain pathologies of the lower limb.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Christian Finn and Will Hopkins for their kind assistance in the editing of this article.
References
American College of Sports Medicine and American Diabetes Association (1997). Diabetes mellitus and exercise: joint position statement. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 29(12), i-vi
American College of Sports Medicine (2000). ACSM position stand on exercise and Type 2 diabetes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32, 1345-1360
Anthony RJ (1987). The functional anatomy of the running training shoe. Chiropodist, December, 451-459
Bergmann G, Kniggendorf H, Graichen F, Rohlmann A (1995). Influence of shoes and heel strike on the loading of the hip joint. Journal of Biomechanics 28, 817-827
Burkett LN, Kohrt M, Buchbinder R (1985). Effects of shoes and foot orthotics on VO2 and selected frontal plane kinematics. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 17, 158-163
Clarke TE, Frederick EC, Cooper LB (1983). Effects of shoe cushioning upon ground reaction forces in running. International Journal of Sports Medicine 4, 247-251.
Flaherty RF (1994). Running economy and kinematic differences among running with the foot shod, with the foot bare, and with the bare foot equated for weight. Microform Publications, International Institute for Sport and Human Performance, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Frederick EC (1986). Kinematically mediated effects of sports shoe design: a review. Journal of Sports Sciences 4, 169-184
Hafner J, Burg G (1999). Dermatological aspects in prevention and treatment of the diabetic foot syndrome. Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis 88, 1170-1177
Robbins SE, Gouw GJ (1990). Athletic footwear and chronic overloading: a brief review. Sports Medicine 9, 76-85
Robbins SE, Gouw GJ (1991). Athletic footwear: unsafe due to perceptual illusions. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 23, 217-224
Robbins S, Gouw G, McClaran J, Waked E (1993). Protective sensation of the plantar aspect of the foot. Foot and Ankle 14, 347-352
Robbins SE, Gouw GJ, Hanna AM (1989). Running-related injury prevention through innate impact-moderating behavior. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 21, 130-139
Robbins SE, Hanna AM (1987). Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 19, 148-156
Robbins SE, Waked E, Rappel R (1995). Ankle taping improves proprioception before and after exercise in young men. British Journal of Sports Medicine 29, 242-247
Robbins S, Waked E (1997). Hazards of deceptive advertising of athletic footwear. British Journal of Sports Medicine 31, 299-303
Siff MC, Verkhoshansky YV (1999). Supertraining (4th ed.). Denver, Colorado. Supertraining International
Stacoff A, Steger J, Stussi E, Reinschmidt C (1996). Lateral stability in sideward cutting movements. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 28, 350-358
Stefanyshyn DJ, Nigg BM (2000). Influence of midsole bending stiffness on joint energy and jump height performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32, 471-476
Webb P, Saris WH, Schoffelen PF, Van Ingen Schenau GJ, Ten Hoor F (1988). The work of walking: A calorimetric study. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 20, 331-337
Yessis M (2000). Explosive running. Illinois, USA. Contemporary Books

Edited by Will Hopkins Published Dec 2001

Work is an addiction! Would you like to break that addiction? What's the alternative?

2008-10-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

As I barefoot run the 8-10 miles each day back and forth to work I go past a homeless shelter called "Gods Kitchen" I find myself pondering why I can't I have cash flow on the scale of the health God has blessed me with? I so wish I could donate loads of cash to that homeless shelter.

I've complete 51 laps around the sun so far and since about lap 5 I've felt that life was not designed to accommodate those of us that would prefer to be help the less fortunate, be out running, spending time with family and and growing friendships both locally and afar and that life should provide us with a nice home, food, and plenty to share with others to lift their loads.

Do you ever think and feel like that?

When I talk with people especially if they are at work they always agree spending 1/2 to 2/3's of their waking day hitched to a job is not their idea of an ideal use of their lives.

And with the economy in the toilet the way it is most know their jobs could disappear in the handing of a lay off slip, text message or phone call!

No love in all that I've described so far, eh?

There is hope.... Matter of fact, there is more than hope!

Just as I was a running fool as a kid and "lost the loving feeling" for being a biped when my parents gave me that first shiney tricycle for Christmas. I once thought "bicycles were cooler" than running!

Then I woke up one day after having ridden over 750,000 miles on bicycles and the zillionth case of road rash mind you!) and heard the Lord whispering to me to "WALK AWAY FROM THE BIKE! I REPEAT WALK AWAY FROM THE BIKE! IF YOU DON'T YOUR GOING TO DIE A VIOLENT DEATH!" I did... As I had to! My $10,000 carbon fiber wonder bike broke in half one day with no warning!

As I pondered what the heck I was to do from here as I have always been into high level aerobic fitness the Lord whispered again... "Run Erskien, Run!" I asked, "Is that your Forest?" "He said no you fool... It's me! (just kidding there with the extra dialgogue! Sounds good though doesn't it?) Any how I got it I was being invited to go back to my very first activity of worship.... Running!

Never mind that by now I had some arthritic toe joints, really unstable ankles, clicking knees and a right hips that felt like it was on fire with just a few miles of running, scoliosis of the back, a dropped shoulder and a neck that was chronically kinked and in need of cracking!

I asked him if he was kidding? He said, "Nope, Just Do it!" I thought that meant go buy some running shoes and I did that. 10 pairs of $130 a piece running shoes later I realized the very design of running shoes was all wrong! I tried getting in touch with shoe designers in the industry and expressing my frustration about lost toe nails, blisters, heals that wore out in just a few weeks of running, heels, shins, feet and knees that ached. No one had a clue. Nothing! Get a different shoe...let's see they all have padding, they all have tops, they all are made of the same or similar materials, they all wear out at the heal in the same spot...Yada Yada Yada...

Get Orthotics! Got some! Same story...Different Days...Just adding more weight to my feet to lug over the miles. All the same symptoms!

One night God said... "Lose the shoes!" I said, "Your kidding me?" He said, "Nope, slip em off!" I said, "OK! But this has got to be a sign I am losing my mind!"

I went for my first (short) but truly barefoot run since I was probably 3-4 yrs old. For the first time in months of running my toes, ankles, knees, hips didn't hurt! The soles of my feet felt kind of raw 1 mile later but that seemed inconsequential. I knew the skin would grow back! I also realized I had been running all wrong most, if not all of my running life!

I asked God to coach me on improving my form and gait so I could run all day like that mile... He said, "I'd love too!" Get a shower and some sleep... Next lesson is tomorrow. I'll even work on tuning you you up in your sleep (assimilating the changes I'd awakened back into on just that one mile run).

Why is any of this important in regard to jobs, income production, provision stability?

Because my longest runs barefoot now are up in the 10 hr. range and go far beyond marathon distances (Beyond 26.2)

And even still you might be asking and how is this important?

The message is "God Does Deliver on His Promises!" We just have to ask... With sincerity and be open to heading his instructions. He never will tell you to harm yourself or someone else. He wants to father you or even mother you if that's what you need. But the point is I trusted his promptings and guidance and he took me places I could never have gone on my own and there are no books or people or even websites that could give me the power to do what do with so much peace and protection.

Again back to jobs, income, income protection... What can God do with those? I asked him that question a ton of times over the years. I wondered why he seemed to not answer the question while I toiled away at jobs that didn't allow me the freedoms I missed so consistently.

Before I deliver the punch line to this God sized joke (which is really not a joke!) Let me tell you he was developing my character! What was going on in my life that in my feelings I disliked, sometimes even hated was never really happening TOO ME... They were happening FOR ME!

I look at the growth in my character over these decades and I now see a bit more of Gods vision for my life.

God was busy routing out the qualities I'd adopted that would not be compatible with true freedom.

How often do we hear of someone winning the Lotto then ending up busted broke in just a few years? Our country's economy is great example of people gaining access to more money than they were spiritually ready to manage.

Well I must have made to that threshold as the Lord has answered my prayers about provision so I could be free to run more, invest in his people more time and resources and free more than just the soles of feet from shoes.

He gave me GBG!

Your saying "What the heck is that!"

I said the same thing when I first came up the letters....

Well on this blog page itself I am only going to tell you to click on the top link below to find out! I've found a hole in the fence of cash flow bondage and with the Lords grace I am setting this captive free! My freedom has only one condition! I must also grant you the same freedom.... The more captives I set free the greater mine and thus the same principle for your freedom. It gets more magical than that though! Click and see!

I want to meet you in person to run side by side.

To honor your freedom, my freedom... and the source of all true freedom...

That man who was nailed to a tree who died and rose in freedom again for us!

Ready?

Click the first link below on the right.

Watch the first short movie.

Then click "Just Push Play (LARGE) :o)

This page is for those who want radically better health and the wages to support living that way.

2008-08-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

When I look at all the wonderful people the Lord brings me in contact with daily I can't help but wonder what would it take help them find what I have found in the realm of running?

Having been a fitness trainer and an endurance and power sport athlete most of my life I've heard so many people say... I just don't have the time, I can't afford memberships, sessions, I don't have the energy, my old injuries, I'm to old, and on an on....

Well it's time to take the mystery out of achieving extraordinary healing, fitness, stamina, strength, recovery and even creating the time and energy to build these into a lifestyle that make health and fitness natural and not an extra thing to do.

A couple years ago I parked my road bike and rediscovered my love for the simplicity of running.

Having the huge endurance engine I have naturally wanted to move into the same kind of milage and time durations I was used to in cycling.

This led to a very sudden awareness that flaws in the way my legs, feet and hips worked were destroying my joints and feet.

In my quest to find out how others had over come running related injuries I began to see that those who wore shoes running seemed to reinjure often and predictably. Many seemed to resort to settling for just a few miles at a time or cross training a lot to give themselves something to do until they healed from the dameage done while running.

I also saw a huge drop out rate which told me something fundamentally was wrong with the way most approached running.

I asked God to show me a way through the carnage I was witnessing and experiencing and within a week or so he directed me to a web site that was all about Barefoot Running!

Lo and Behold.... I read story after story written by others sharing how they had ditched shoes and found that all their injuries were miraculously healed and never have come back!

Then a light came on! A facinating fella out or Huntington Beach, CA who has 2 first names (Ken Bob)said a truth that changed my understanding of running health forever.

He said, "Running Barefoot forces correct biomechanics"!

Ponder that for a minute....

If you take off your shoes and then set out running anywhere...

The God designed in biofeedback loop in the soles of your feet will immediately, accurately and repetitously coach you on every movement you make. Every weakness in the feet, ankles, toes, shins, calves, alignment of the thighs, which muscles you use in what sequence, your hip tilt and balance, your spinal alignment, the symetry of how your arms swing and hang from your shoulders and even whether your head sits centered on your torso or leans to far forward... Will all be spoken to you through the soles of your feet!

I came to realize we have all beed decieved about the value of barefeet and how that supports proper posture, movement, balance, comfort, attunement, agility, proper use of the legs as shock absorbers (Instead of a "Jack Hammers"!)

Discovered Barefoot Running gave birth to a Spirit of Satisfaction and a Passion for the art of running that I never expected.

I've turned my 10 mile comute to work and back into Aerobic Threshold Training sessions with work gear, and food and water for a day.

I'm realizing at 51 yrs of age or as I think of it "51 laps around the Sun" that having finally found out how active and involved God is in the most minute details of my life and the love and passion I have for barefoot running.

I want to create a lifestyle now that will allow me the freedom to explore how far God will take me in this new form of expression of my spirit... Actually "his Spirit"

I'm looking asking the Lord and looking for others who are discovering they feel a call to move deeper into running as a means to connect with God, inspire others, develope both friendships and lifestyles that support all the freedom that going to running events, creating running events, touring the lands that God sends us too, touching the lives of those he brings to us in his name.

On the right side of this page are links to explore that can be doorways to other aspects of what has awakened in your soul (soles?) :o)

If you do find that the journeys into any of the attached sites inspires a new awakening, confirms whispers the Lord has already planted in your mind and heart, feel free to contact me by any means I've supplied you with.

My contact info is available via a link on the bottom of the page of the first link on the right.

Remember that God Speed is the perfect speed... Stay with that and always be where God is leading you.

All men will die but most will not live fully.

Brave Heart

The Solution to the Fuel Crisis

2008-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

I hear everyone and I mean everyone railing on and on about the cost of gasoline.

I feel sad for them because they have forgotten that they have feet for something more than shuffling over to a chair or the modern day GAS POWERED WHEEL CHAIR called a car, van, truck or SUV!

God must be looking at all this and shaking his head in wonder at how his people became so lazy and blind to the opportunity he gave them to not only be healthier but to get to know his creation so much more intimately....

As I enjoy the freedom of running barefoot across the land I can't help but look at those encased in metal and glass and breathing mechanically altered air as driving metal coffins.... Every second of time wasted in a vehicle that you don't put out any effort to cause it to move is a step closer the grave at a pace that makes life seems ever shorter and less fullfilling.

The sadness deepens when I see people pick up empty of nutrient chemically laden snacks or things they assume are food and consume them without questioning it's value to their health both now and in the future. This phenomenon amazes the crap out of me! So much of modern day eating is out of reasons other than a genuine desire to replace nutrients... Why are so few not asking intelligent questions of God in their quest for guidance in this area?

Regarding the use of todays OPEC mobiles: I do see a need for being able to get someone who is bleeding to death to a hospital quickly. The rest of car use could be done away with by building both City based and Nation Wide Rapid Transit type systems like San Franciso has (BART) and bringing back Trolley Cars for main throughfares... Folks can walk, run, ride, skate, skate board or what ever else they can invent that's human powered the few blocks home from Trolleys.

Let me move back to the OPEC concerns of the masses....

Every country on the planet sits on top of an infinite supply of molten lava... Geothermal Heat to put it bluntly...

We, The United Stats of America could once and for all end our need for any outside resources and put ourselves in a position to radically and positively influence the World if we chose to get up off our collective hypnosis of thinking we need Middle East or anyone elses oil and started developing the technology to drill deep enough to tap the natural heat below our land by pumping water into those layers and using the returning steam to generate electrical power that would never be depleted (Recycle the water) Other than the initial drilling and set up cost there is no real long term over head so the cost to the public should go down over time as more of these come on line. They can be set up anywhere with no environment concerns or need for shipping in fuel to run them or hazardous waste by-products.

We'd have an unlimited supply of electricity to power an electric based society of cars, trains, communication devices and services, and everything else our technology based society uses.

We could even use that electricity to desalinize ocean water and have all the pure water we can use to green as much of our country as we could want too! What food shortage? What functional limitation would this country have?

On a more intimate note: Back to the complaints about contamination of our food supply, rising cost of growing and shipping it, lack of general nutrients in what is available, etc.

With obesity (and I call obesity any body fat over what is needed for surviving a couple weeks or so without food)rampant, and ignorance of the seriousness of our nutrient choices we could make to fuel a stronger response to all the forces that fight for our ability to decide on what will build our health vs kill our health I believe that God is bringing us to these times to force the masses to rethink how far they have wandered from his simple truths and to break the addictions to living the life he has in store for us.

Barefoot Running has taught me that feet are far more adaptable, durable and satisfying to be on than is taught or spoken of even in medical circles.

Barefoot Running and my low carb - low fat, high protien + veggies and some fruit with my GBG 10 n 1 Liquid Multi with MA Plus has shown me that one can actually regenerate gout and arthritic joints back to brand new health.

Fuel crisis? What fuel crisis? The real crisis is one of a fuel crisis is fuel for new thought! Time to break out of the sheep like mindset of the masses and rediscover this countrys sense of adventure and discovery. That desire for a life to be well lived and not waste on toil, anguish and struggle.

Life is for the truly living...

Who's out there that is WILLING to step out their boxes and discover a new country... A new people... God in new ways?

Pose running technique: a beginner’s guide

2008-05-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Pose running technique: a beginner’s guide

The popularity of running as a leisure pursuit has increased throughout the past 25 years, reflecting social trends away from organised team sports and towards less time-consuming, more flexible and independent ways of keeping fit and active.

Over the same time period, there has been an explosion in sports science and sports injury research and therapeutic practice. Among other things this has produced a wealth of advice on baseline fitness and training for running, and huge advances in footwear technology.

Yet despite all this, runners keep on injuring themselves. They continue to seek treatment, typically, for Achilles tendinosis, patellofemoral pain, repetitive calf muscle strains, big toe pain and low back pain – and it seems to those of us who have been around the sports therapy world for a while that the incidence of running injuries has not reduced significantly. Is it time to return to the fundamentals of running to find out why so many people are still hurting themselves?

Coaches, trainers, therapists and athletes have no difficulty agreeing that technique has an important role to play in leisure pursuits such as rowing, golf, swimming and ballet, but when I ask my running patients about their technique – whether, for instance, they heel-strike or land with their knees straight – I receive blank expressions. In most sports, enthusiasts will expect to devote months and even years to working on movement technique, whereas with running we tend only ever to focus on how to run faster and/or further, and how much fitter we can get as a result.

Therefore I say to you: running is practised rather than taught. This leads to the question: is there an optimal running technique that enables athletes to train without fear of injury, with a real reduction in their injury risk – and with the prospect of still being able to improve their performance?

One recently developed technique certainly lays claim to be able to do all three things. Called ‘pose running’, I describe it as ‘a graduated postural and proprioceptive approach to maximising performance and reducing injuries’.

Pose running technique was invented by Nicholas Romanov, a Russian scientist now based in Miami and consultant to the British, US and Mexican triathlon associations. During the 1970s and early 80s, Romanov was heavily involved with athlete training in Russia, where he observed that as his athletes turned up the workload, so they would start to break down physically. At that time there was little strength and conditioning training. With a heavy emphasis on improving mileage and speed, the athletes focused on increasing their cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and paid little heed to their underlying running technique.

The pose running technique
Romanov proposes one universal running technique for all runners, regardless of speed or distance: a 100m sprinter runs with the same underlying running technique as a 10km long-distance runner. The pose running technique is designed to prevent undue strain on the joints and requires a great deal of muscular endurance and resilience. The elite British triathletes Tim Don, Andrew Johns and Leanda Cave have all adopted the pose running technique under Romanov’s guidance. According to Romanov, the Ethiopian distance champion Haile Gebrselassie and the US sprint legend Michael Johnson are both examples of runners with a natural pose style – ‘born with perfect technique’.

The distinguishing characteristic of the pose running technique is that the athlete lands on the midfoot, with the supporting joints flexed at impact, and then uses the hamstring muscles to withdraw the foot from the ground, relying on gravity to propel the runner forward. This style is in clear contrast to the heelstrike method that most runners deploy and which is advocated by some health care professionals (see Fig 1).

The concept is simple enough, but the practice is extremely hard to master. It is only with expert tuition and dedicated training that the athlete can perfect the pose running technique. Running in pose is physically demanding, so runners must undertake strengthening drills before starting the programme. Maybe it is this added proprioceptive training that allows the athlete to remain injury free? As yet there is no body of research to help answer this question.

Principles
Running should be easy, effortless, smooth and flowing. We have all seen and heard the heavy runner who pounds away on a gym treadmill. Romanov says the runner is only as good as his change of support and that the runner should have a very high cadence – not a long, extended stride length. In pose running, the key is to maximise your effort in removing your support foot from the ground; good training is essential to ensure that you don’t over-stride or create excessive vertical oscillation.

The runner should fall forwards, changing support from one leg to the other by pulling the foot from the ground, allowing minimum effort and producing minimum braking to this body movement. The idea is to maximise the use of gravity to pull the runner forward.

The pose running technique is centred on the idea that a runner maintains a single pose or position, moving continually forwards in this position. Romanov uses two models to explain the rationale behind pose:
the mechanical model – the centre of gravity, which is around the hip position, should move in a horizontal line, without vertical up and down displacement;
the biological model – the rear leg maintains an ‘S-like’ form, and never straightens. This notion comes from animals such as the cheetah which do not land on their heels but run on the midfoot and deploy a pulling through action using their hamstrings rather than pushing the foot into the ground (see Fig 2).
Perhaps the most useful imagery to help with this technique is to imagine a vertical line coming from the runner’s head straight down to the ground. The raised front leg should never breach this line, but remain firmly behind it. This focuses the effort firmly on pulling the ankle up vertically under your hip rather than extending forward with your quads and hip flexors.

Pose running technique principles in summary
Raise your ankle straight up under your hip, using the hamstrings
Keep your support time short
Your support is always on the balls of your feet
Do not touch the ground with your heels
Avoid shifting weight over your toes: raise your ankle when the weight is on the ball of your foot
Keep your ankle fixed at the same angle
Keep knees bent at all times
Feet remain behind the vertical line going through your knees
Keep stride length short
Keep knees and thighs down, close together, and relaxed
Always focus on pulling the foot from the ground, not on landing
Do not point or land on the toes (see Fig 3: Toe running)
Gravity, not muscle action, controls the landing of the legs
Keep shoulder, hip and ankle in vertical alignment
Arm movement is for balance, not for force production
The power behind the pose running technique
Pose is by no means universally accepted by the running fraternity. While top athletes have sought Romanov’s help because of injuries, the method does require good scientific research to back it up. It is quite possible that many of the benefits experienced by pose athletes are the result of the rigorous strengthening programmes they undertake. You would certainly recognise in pose drills many conventional physiotherapy exercises such as eccentric Achilles tendon training; proximal pelvic control in single leg standing, and control of femoral rotation.

This focus on proprioception, together with the strong imagery of the technique, changes the physical placement of the limbs and reduces the downward displacement force of the foot on to the ground.

That said, I know of people who have tried to run in pose and have sustained injuries such as calf strains and lower back problems because they did not get their pose stance right and did not have sufficient proximal hip control.

The athlete should be committed to learning the new technique: once they have decided to learn the pose running technique, they cannot expect to chop and change between running styles as they wish. The technical drills outlined below can be very strenuous and may be harmful if attempted, for instance, at the wrong point in an injured runner’s rehabilitation phase. Therapists should adopt these drills with proper caution.

How to do it: pose drills
If you are embarking on a serious transition to pose, you should practise the drills (building up the level of difficulty) once or twice daily, three sets of 10 to 15 reps per drill. Drills should be practised for at least a week before attempting to run in pose, and should be performed before a run.

All drills should be performed barefoot for added awareness of the movements, on a forgiving surface such as grass or a running track. The drills fall into three sections:
Basic drills to reinforce the pose position, the use of the hamstring in pulling the foot from the ground and the feeling of falling forward under the effect of gravity (drills 1-7);
Intermediate drills to reinforce these feelings (drills 8 and 9);
Advanced drills to aid speed, balance, strength and reflexiveness none shown here).

Drill 1 (Fig 4):

Pose stance

This to be practised as a static pose, held for up to 30 seconds. It requires good postural control; no support is allowed. The idea is to challenge the mechanoreceptors in the joints and soft tissues to provide feedback to the brain regarding joint position and muscle tone.
It is the basic position to hold and to practise balance
The use of a mirror is recommended
Shoulder, hip and ankle should always be vertically aligned
Point of contact with the ground is always the midfoot
Hip is always held over the support point, which is the midfoot
Drill 2: Change of support without moving
Shift centre of gravity sideways from one leg to the other, maintaining support on the midfoot
You must feel the weight shift from one leg to the other before pulling up
It is important to feel the weight shift and then the acceleration of this movement by the pulling-up of the hamstring
Pull the ankle up vertically under the hip using the hamstring only, not hip flexors or quadriceps
Allow the leg to drop to the ground – do not drive it down
Mental focus is on the pulling-up action, not the leg drop

Drill 3 (Fig 5): Pony
This practises changing support using minimum effort and minimal range of movement
Simultaneously lift the ankle of the support leg while allowing your body weight to shift to the other leg
Use only the hamstring
Keep in mind your support point on the midfoot (toes will also be in contact).

Drill 4 (Fig 6): Forward change of support

This puts the pony into action; practise slowly at first
Lean slightly forward and simultaneously pull the ankle up under the hip using the hamstring and allow the non-support leg to drop to the ground under the force of gravity
Make sure the weight transfer is effortless and that the foot is allowed to fall
Drill 5 (Fig 7): Foot tapping
Single-leg drill, 10-15 taps per set
This emphasises the vertical leg action and use of hamstrings rather than driving the knees up and forward using your hip flexors and quads
It prevents your foot from being too far out in front of the body, which would cause you to land on your heel and create a braking action
Aim for rapid firing of the hamstring, lifting the foot from the ground as soon as it touches down
You must feel the muscles fire and then relax. Avoid a forceful pull all the way up. If you are doing it correctly the lower leg will decelerate after the initial firing and accelerate as gravity returns it to the ground
Drill 6 (Fig 8): Hopping

This movement progresses the tapping drill. The momentum for the hopping support leg should come from the hamstring action on the non-hopping leg. Take care: this is an advanced movement which will place unhealthy stress on structures such as the Achilles/calf muscles if not performed correctly.
Start by pulling up the nonhopping leg with your hamstring and use the reaction force of the ground to aid this recoil effect
Do not push with the calf but just lift the ankle with the hamstring and make sure the ankle is relaxed between hops
Drill 7: Front lunge
Single-leg drill which increases the range of movement of the hopping drill
This truly forces you to isolate the hamstring muscles
Practise initially on the spot until you are stable enough to allow forward movement
Keep weight on front leg; the back leg drags behind
Pull ankle vertically up under the hip, using the hamstring
Keep contact time with the ground as short as possible
Allow rear leg to follow loosely
Remember to land on the ball of your foot
Forward movement is created not by pushing off but by leaning forward from the hips. You drag the rear leg behind you for balance

Drill 8 (Fig 9): Switch
Both ankles are being picked up
This time you are picking the rear leg up as well with the hamstring
Transfer weight from one leg to the other as you alternate support
Keep contact time with the ground to a minimum, only as necessary to change support
Keep heels off the ground and land on the balls of your feet
Always think of the pose stance: good vertical alignment of shoulder, hip and foot
Drill 9: Running lunge
This is pose running, but with a deliberate emphasis on the speed of the hamstring pull-up
The aim is to teach the working leg to react as quickly as possible, minimising support time on the ground
The runner pulls the heel up vertically from the ground but allows it to fall easily to the ground
Case study: shin pain on return to training

A recreational runner came to me with bilateral medial shin pain. He was training to raise his fitness levels in order to be accepted into the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. He used to do a lot of distance running, including half marathons, but in the past three years work commitments had forced him to cut right down. Recently he had resumed his runs, at three times a week for 40 minutes, on a flat grassy surface, and had found he was developing shin pain.

Does this sound familiar? We all have patients who are attempting activities which they have been able to do in the past, in the belief that they are as strong and balanced as they used to be. This runner had rigid orthotics which he wore in every pair of shoes and had typical muscular tightness and weakness around the pelvis, restricted hip flexor length and reduced gluteal stability control when challenged on one leg. He had little balance control in single-leg stance, even without any extra challenge from added knee or ankle movement.

My client had already had some treatment, which concentrated on stretching and lengthening soft tissue around the shin and ankle, and improving proximal pelvic control. This had reduced but not banished his symptoms. We decided he should try running pose style. I set the runner a series of drills to increase his awareness of picking his foot up from the ground by using the hamstring, and not pounding the foot into the ground. We also worked on postural control, to improve the vertical alignment of his pelvis, shoulders and foot as he was running.

He responded to the idea that he should try to minimise the time he was spending in the support phase, by thinking of pulling his foot from the ground and letting gravity provide the impetus for forward movement. I asked him to perform the drills at home, using a mirror for feedback, for one week before returning to running.

The patient responded well to this concept and was able to build up to his previous distance, incorporating his improved technique, within three weeks. He had perfected the technique within a month, but subsequently had to keep on fine-tuning it with drills. His shin pain disappeared completely. Was it the proprioceptive drills that helped him or the feeling of not pounding the ground?

Further reading

Pose Method of Running by Nicholas Romanov (2002), PoseTech Press ISBN: 0-9725537-6-2

‘Reduced Eccentric Loading of the Knee with the Pose Running Method’, Arendse, Regan E.(1 ); Noakes, Timothy D.(1 ); Azevedo, Liane B.(1 ); Romanov, Nicholas (1 ); Schwellnus, Martin P.(1 ); Fletcher, Graham(2) in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: Volume 36(2) February 2004 pp 272-277.

1. MRC/UCT Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

2. University College of the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada.

The DNA of antioxidants

2008-04-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hardly a week goes by without news of antioxidants' health-promoting benefits. Experts believe these nutritional substances may help prevent heart disease, fight certain cancers, ward off dementia, and even slow certain aging processes.

There are thousands of antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, meats, poultry, and fish. Even foods once not known for being especially healthful, such as chocolate, coffee, and red wine, are now recognized as potent delivery systems for beneficial antioxidants.

However, the growing number of antioxidants being discovered (so far, there are more than 4,000 known flavonoids, and that's only one class of antioxidant) and the continual discoveries of new antioxidant food sources cloud understanding of these substances.

"Most people know that calcium is good for bone health, for example, but they don't know specifically what antioxidants do or how these chemicals benefit human health," says Milton Stokes, R.D,. a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

Read on as we simplify the latest science to answer those questions for you.

Antioxidants 101

We need oxygen to live. It travels from the lungs to every corner of the body, helping cells metabolize food into energy. But oxygen has a downside. Normally, the molecules in our cells have a full set of electrons, which keep them stable (think of them as a fortress surrounding a castle). But when these molecules come into contact with oxygen (i.e., they are "oxidized") they lose an electron, converting to an unstable type of molecule known as a free radical.

"Free radicals, if left unchecked, assault whatever cell constituents are nearby, including proteins, fats, and DNA," says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton. "Once those molecules are attacked, their structure and function are changed and they don't work as well."

Ingeniously, Mother Nature created an instant free-radical fix. Antioxidants disable free radicals by donating electrons to replace those lost during oxidation. Some antioxidants can be manufactured by your body; others must be obtained from food. Dietary antioxidants fall into two groups. The first is made up of certain familiar vitamins and minerals, like vitamins C and E, selenium, and zinc, that have antioxidant capabilities. The second consists of the thousands of organic compounds found in plant foods that have functions like giving grapes their purple skins or cabbages their slightly sulfurous odor. They have names like anthocyanidins, catechins, lutein, quercetin, and resveratrol.

Preventing oxidation may have earned antioxidants their name, but we now know these substances do more than disable free radicals. Antioxidants also help reduce inflammation, keep arteries flexible, and preserve the genetic material every cell contains to prevent mutation. Each antioxidant also offers unique perks. For example, flavonoids in berries may help improve artery health, while lutein in spinach may help prevent macular degeneration.

Sorting out food sources

To measure a food's antioxidant content, scientists test it in a lab, where they usually measure equal quantities of each food they test. However, that amount may not be close to the serving size we usually eat. Realizing this, many-but not all-researchers convert their findings to common portion sizes before publishing the results of their work. That's one reason why Monday's health news may place blueberries on top of the antioxidant heap, while Thursday's may claim broccoli contains the highest levels of the compounds. Cooking Light: USDA's rankings of food antioxidant content

Also, several kinds of tests are used to measure a food's antioxidant power, another reason for the multiplicity of findings. The most popular test is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). ORAC measures an antioxidant's ability to protect against the most common free radical in human plasma, the peroxyl radical.

ORAC is a helpful starting point to guide consumers to foods that are rich in antioxidants as part of a diet that contains many different antioxidant-rich foods, especially since new antioxidants are being discovered all the time. But most nutrition researchers view antioxidant-counting surveys critically. How a food behaves in a test tube is one thing; how it behaves in our bodies is another.

"We don't know as much about what happens during digestion, absorption, and metabolism," says Ronald L. Prior, Ph.D., a research chemist with the USDA's Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center. "Some of these compounds may be absorbed well and others not as well." Anthocyanidin-rich blueberries are a good example. They may be antioxidant powerhouses in a test tube, but we don't absorb their antioxidants well and their effectiveness in our bodies is short lived. To gain the full benefit, you'd likely need to eat more of them than foods with a lower ORAC score that contain more readily absorbable antioxidants, such as kiwifruit or grapes.

What's more, antioxidant levels vary among different samples of the same food. For example, all apples don't have the same amount of quercetin and all lettuces don't provide the same dose of lutein. "The variability has to do with the climate, the nutrients in the soil, and storage conditions," Vinson says.

Eating for optimal nutrition

When it comes to dietary antioxidants, variety and timing are the key points.

Experts agree-while there's no formal recommendation for the amount of antioxidants we need-the best way to obtain them is from a varied diet. The reason? Antioxidants work synergistically and may provide a greater benefit together than they do individually. Consider a recent European Journal of Clinical Nutrition study that found the total antioxidants in a person's diet had a more substantial impact on plasma beta-carotene levels than the amount of beta-carotene in a person's diet. Researchers surmise other antioxidants pitch in to "spare" beta-carotene so it can work harder when it's needed. The same is true for other antioxidant vitamins. By consuming antioxidant-rich foods, you end up protecting or recycling compounds like vitamins C and E, increasing their levels so they're more available to function.

Unlike many other nutrients, you can't store antioxidants, so you have to keep replenishing the supply. "The important thing is getting antioxidants throughout the day and keeping levels high because they go down very quickly," Vinson says. Even small amounts can provide significant benefits. When German researchers recently looked at the impact of small amounts of polyphenols in dark chocolate on blood pressure, they found that just 0.2 ounces of dark chocolate shaved three systolic points and two diastolic points off hypertensive subjects' blood pressure.

As for supplements? Experts aren't as enthusiastic. Supplements are not substitutes for a healthy diet. "People tend to focus on a single nutrient because that's what research may be highlighting," says Jeffery Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University. "But the benefits of eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can't be overemphasized. You need to have diversity in your diet, and there is no pill that provides it all."

The unknowns about antioxidants provide another reason to focus on food sources. "Because the science of nutrition is still evolving, we have to accept that everything there is to know isn't known," Stokes says. "Until then, just eat healthful whole foods." Cooking Light: Nine nutritional authorities share their perfect foods

The ABCs of antioxidants

Although scientists speculate that many antioxidants are as yet undiscovered, others are increasingly well known. Below are antioxidants you may have read about; they're categorized by family of associated compounds and listed with some of their most common food sources. Cooking Light: Why different colored foods are important

Carotenoids

Beta-carotene: Orange/yellow fruits and vegetables (carrots, cantaloupe); dark leafy greens (spinach, kale)

Lycopene: Red-fleshed fruits and vegetables (watermelon, tomato)

Lutein/Zeaxanthin: Romaine lettuce, dark leafy greens, citrus fruits, corn, egg yolks

Flavonoids

Anthocyanidins: Berries, grapes, wine

Catechins: Tea, cocoa

Flavonols: Tea, cocoa, coffee, berries, grapes, apples, wine

Flavonones: Citrus fruits

Isoflavones/Phytoestrogens (daidzein, equol, enterolactone, genistein): Soybeans, whole wheat, flaxseed

Quercetin: Apples, tea, capers, citrus fruits

Organosulfurs: Cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower

Selenium: Brazil nuts, red meat, tuna

Sulfides: Onions, garlic, leeks, chives

Vitamin C: Citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, kiwifruit

Vitamin E (tocopherols): Wheat germ, mono-unsaturated oils (sunflower oil, safflower oil), tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), peanuts

The question that needs to be asked: Is it realistic to think one can eat all these sources of nutrients from their normal food forms every day?

I don't know about you, but I have tried the above list and found being that food focused required way more time grocery shopping, food prepping and exercising off the excess calories from eathing that much than I would want as a lifestyle! I personally like to eat as little as possible to fuel myself at top levels of performance mentally, physically and emotionally and that usually means easy to digest simple protiens, salads, small portions of slow to go into the blood stream carbs and my supplements in the morning with a continuous supply of pure water throughout the day.

This is exactly why I incorporated GBG's Liquid Multi-vitamin and MA Plus into my diet.

The objective is to get the nutrients in ratios and formulas my body can use and move on with the rest of my day!

You can explore that option and get your own supply factory direct at wholesale prices at: if you need help email, call or text me via the number or email option on my GBG site.

Is There Really a Better Way to Fuel Your Body and Provision Your Life?

2008-03-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

How do we go about taking care of this "Space Suit" God gave us to walk out his will for our lives? How do we align ourselves for the best possible use of our time on the Earth? Has God inspired a better way to be provisioned than a traditional 9-5 or more job?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "You cannot serve (bow before) God and mammon." God, not money, must be our master. If we tithe, give to the poor, and do not let money rule us, wealth can certainly become our servant, and thus a blessing to us and others. But if we allow finances to rule us, mammon can easily become a false god adding stress and greed to our existence. Yet, remember: Jesus did not say we couldn't have money; He said we couldn't serve money. The voice of mammon must be subdued if the Lord alone is to be our Master.

In todays times developing a good financial-support system that allows the Lord to provision us and to not live as "slaves to our jobs" or to debt is important.

I work as an Internet Dept. Manager for a local Honda Dealer.

I get a small salary that's a little bigger than my family of 5's grocery bill. The rest of what I earn is mostly bonuses for the number of Internet Dept customers that report back to Corporate Honda that they felt perfectly served during the Internet and in person stage of buying their Honda at wholesale prices.

If any one customer reports they were not completely happy with any part of the process that little mark can cause up to 2/3's of my income to not be paid out for the month! One of the strange things about how Honda grades our performance is that on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest score a 4 or less rating is an unhappy customer to Honda and our dealership. (When I was in high school 80% was still a B. A - "B" was not a bad thing....

Obviously one can't expect every customer to be completely happy with everything. I've had some tell me they don't give anyone an "A" or top score. Anything can be improved! I've seen plenty that actually insist that the process has to be more difficult and told me I made it too easy!

Well, all that outlined was just to state some of the land mines of everyday life that can get being provisioned adequately. I'm sure many of you have some form of land mines or limitations put on provision also.

With the economy in the tank I see it as even more important that we all begin to "think outside the box" for how will we align ourselves with a dependable cash flow when mainstream means are becoming unpredictable?

God put upon my heart long ago that a good financial-support system should not rob us of our time with family, serving our community or the maintenance of our health.

I've looked at many things I could do from home and asked the Lord to give me his take on what would serve his plan for my life...

I've been a believer in supplements for all my adult life after learning back in the 70's that most foods are not grown in their ideal conditions to make them truly full of nutrients and free of poisons that can effect the function of cells and systems in bad ways over time.

I've consumed 20-30 different brands of pill based supplements over my 30 yrs of experimenting.

I found that none of them gave me the balanced support I was looking for that would allow nutrition (Like an ideal financial support system) to become a back ground event instead of a requiring me to be "food focused".

Well God does listen and does answer prayers...

When I least expected it he introduced me to a comprehensively simple package that takes care of all the large and small vitamins, minerals and other elements the body needs to sustain and adapt and the company that supplys it offers a very eloquent opportunity for provision as a "back ground event"

It doesn't get anymore blatant than a company who's initials are: GBG (I later found out that it's owners are servants of the Lord Jesus and seek him in all their key decision making.)

I invite you to explore GBG's products and if you choose to give them a go you can by past paying retail on our site by choosing the wholesale option with no strings attached! They do offer a 60 day money back guarantee on their products and in doing so you get a free website that you can refer others to if you choose to share your new good fortune. All they ask is that opt for an automatic shipment equaling at least 1 product per month to qualify for wholesale status. (The liquid multivitamin at $20.00 is a months supply for 1 person and would take care of that request.)

Over time the new customers you refer (If you choose to refer anyone... That's not mandatory even if you have a website) who refer others in turn can equal growing checks to you monthly that eliminate your product cost and can go on to grow quite large, even replacing a traditional job. (Note: 5 person referals that set up an autoship = your liquid multivitamins are now free! I don't know about you but for referring a hand full of people who find they love the effects of these supplements and choose to consume them monthly your supply is now free! What a wonderful way to provide!) Let those folks do the same and over time with the grace of the Lord your job income will be replaced.

The first link on the top of the list on the right. Look at the 2 supplements offered and the financial support system built into their distribution system.

Then ask the Lord if this is what he's been leading you to. Ask him if this is one the "Streams of Living Water" and "Manna from Heaven" he promised for your life.

All I ask of you is that you consider bareing your soles to the Lord!

Running On Empty... Powered By the Lord

2008-03-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

The Lord is teaching me more and more each day how intimately involved in every detail of my life.

Whether it's the quality of my sleep, the balance of my center of gravity while running, sitting, walking what have you. Even the very thoughts that pop into my head sometimes.

Last Sunday Papa put it on my heart to begin fasting.... For a split second I was concerned about how I could fast knowing I do run 10 miles per day back and forth to work... barefoot mind you...

Well, it's day 3 and 30 miles later and I actually feel really good! I've dropped about 6 lbs. and but my commute time seems to be staying in the 50 min in and 1 hr home range. Bruised my feet a bit on some rocks yesterday going in so I wore my Vibram's home and in and back today tomorrow they'll be ready for barefooting again. Thought my recovery and tissue repair would go down but they havent.

My sustainance is composed of a 1 oz shot of GBG Liquid Multivitamin and Mineral, pure bottled and filtered water all day, 1 glass of tomatoe juice, about ever 2-3 hrs I have a teaspoon of a mixture of MA-Plus and store bought protien powder. Today I added a small amount of Gatorade powder to the mix for a bit more electrolytes. Temps in the 70+ range lately.

The amazing thing to me right now is that I've tried fasting by my own choice over the past year or 2 and it's night and day difference when God tells one too vs self. I've had zero interest in table food of any kind even though it's been offered to me all day at work and I come home my lovely wifes amazing art work fresh off the stove. (For the kids)

I don't know how long he will have me fasting but I'm actually enjoying not having to fix breakfast or lunch and my running gate is becoming even smoother.

Lord thank you for coaching my steps.... You keep pickin em up and I'll keep puttin em down....

I will run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free." - Psalm 119:32 strong>

26.2 Mile Class Room: LA Marathon

2008-03-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Recap of the LA Marathon adventure....

Drove down to LA Convention Center the day before to pick up my race number, a sensor to attach to my non-existant shoes (made an elastic ban out of an old cycling jersey sleeve and velocro to attach it above my ankle.) Drove the coarse from Start to Finish and notices quiet a few rough spots but didnt get out of the car to let my bare feet evaluate what I was rolling over. Not the wisest thing I did.... Coarse changes directions often which is good. No long boreing stretches. Goes through a lot of different neighborhoods, barios, business districts, upscale and down scale. Strange how driving 26.2 miles seems long but running it doesnt? (I know that doesnt make sense to those who have not run that distance before, but even with the amount of time and effort it takes to run a marathon it just seems to give you something good that car driving can't)

Race Day:

The day started out by my waking up at 3 AM ready to have my morning quiet time with the Lord and eventually getting showered, shaved and my stuff gathered for the commute to LA.

Woke my lovely wife and kids in time enough to have breakfast and go over their support roles for the day... Meeting me at various mile markers along the way.

We all loaded up and took all of an hour or so to get to Universal Studios near the Start Line for my drop off. Arrived about an hour or so before Start time. There was already thousands and thousands of people in the streets and massive lines for the hundreds a out houses they had a couple blocks back from the Start area. There were UPS trucks to haul folks stuff to the Finish area for free. I passed all this to head on over to as close to the front of the "Second Corral" which is where I was to report too for Starting.

I had made contact a day or so earlier with a fella out of Huntington Beach called Barefoot Bob. Bob seems to just about run a marathon a month if there is any around the area being put on and of coarse... Barefoot.

He was to meet up with me near the Start Line. (Told me to look for a "Bennie Hat with a Propeller on it!") I got up to about 40-60 people deep from the front of the Second Corral and looked for him. Tried texting where I was but I think the crowds of runners where to dense for him to get up to me before the start.

We were packed in like sardines shoulder to shoulder and someone bumping into my camel back hydration pack from behind. Never been amongst so many people who were committed to doing something that required so many to dig so deep into life itself! The atmosphere was buzzing with energy.

They set off the Wheel Chair racers first... Then a few minute later the Pro Women... then about 19 min later the Pro Men... a few later us.

We were so packed in that it took a few minutes for my row to even begin walking forwards. I quickly realized that the road under my bare feet was covered with dropped water bottles, socks, arm warmers, and blankets folks had used to keep warm and hydrated while waiting. Looked like someone had dumped the Good Will bin in the street.

Eventually I crossed the Start line and we were off.... within about 100 ft beyond that... running... Like a herd of gazelles let loose or water behind dam busting free there was bodys flailing nad flying everywhere.

The challenge initially was to find gaps between people to move forward at a pace I was comfortable with. I forgot about my feet completeley for several miles as the road climbed then descended towards North Hollywood.

Barefoot Bob and a couple other Barefooter's caught up with me around mile around Mile 8 I think and ran with me until about mile 12.

It was somewhere between 8 and 12 that I noticed a prickly sensation developing in the bottoms of my feet. I thought perhaps they were warming up after standing around on the cool pavement before the start. By about mile 11 I began to notice a heat sensation under both in the balls of the feet and big toes. So I knew something was changeing but not sure what yet. By Mile 12 I noticed a squishy sensation under the ball of my right foot... thought maybe something was stuck to my foot...

Just passed Mile 12 one of the barefoot guys dropped off for a Gatorade or Water station and I pulled off to evaluate what was going on with my feet. They seemed to be getting hot and squishy.

I spotted a blister bulge on my right big toe so it was a no brainer to unstrapped my Vibram Five Fingers (See link on the side bar)and knew there wasn't enough skin left to go this speed for another 14.2 miles. My feet felt hotter than I could ever remember them feeling before but I was in the moment and just slipped on the Vibrams and motored onwards....

Over the next few miles I became acutely aware that my foot temperature continued to increase to the point where they felt as if they had been sliced open with razors, dowsed with alcohol and set on fire! I could feel more and more squishiness as the miles clicked off and my speed slowed wwwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyy down to an almost pedestrian pace. I took cups of water from the aid stations and dowsed my feet, ran through a few firemans hose sprays and fire hydrant sprays to keep the inferno managable.

As I told the kids before I started when they asked if I was going to barefoot it the whole way I told them.... You might have to foam the runways when I come in for a landing at the finish as I might be leaving a trail of red if it gets to rough but I ain't quittin! :o)

Well, let's say those words came to mind a few times along the way but having come from all the pain I've endured in my decades of bicycle racing and marathoning back in the 70's I knew I wouldnt quit. Matter of fact I found myself breaking out of my tunnel vision and began to notice all the variety of people around me and how many of them that were now passing me that I had passed early on!

I was passed my 12 yr old kids, married couples holding hands and pushing baby in jog strollers, Elvis - twice!, Maryln Monroe, Mother Theresa! I swear I slowed to grab a couple orange slices from a lady passing them out at about mile 19 and someone tht looked like someones great grand mother came shuffling by me! I couldn't think of anything by praise to God for putting me in the middle of this parade of souls that had do little respect for the grave!

It was inspiring.... I then realized the Lord had put in what most would describe as a bad situation only to get me to notice his majesty amoungst the people he brought along for that days journey. I felt so blessed and priveliged.

Back to the marathon...

Since my speed had evaporated the remaining miles went by ever slower and I found myseld noticing more and more off the souls that pushed on at the back of the field despite everything in them saying "Stop" I was so impressed. I started sharing words of encouragement and hope as I came upone each one that seemed to in more trouble than my poor feet...

By mile 24 my legs decided that my feet had probable lost their entire soles anyway so they upped the tempo a bit even though it felt like running on molten lava! The crowds were filled with souls singing and holding signs words of encouragement to everyone that came by. Never aw that at the 1000's of bike races I've been in....

I thought I loved running over this past year a lot. I am smitten.... I love running with others... The more the merrier!

Any how the Finish Line eventually appeared. Thoughts like... "I don't think I'm going to take my Vibrams off until I get home came to mind.... I was concerned that when I did the whole sole of my feet were going to stay in the shoes and I'd be looking at red raw meat and be unable to walk to the car or get out of it once I got home."

Well I crossed the line at 6:19:03 (not the under 3 hours I'd invisioned) but a whole lot richer for the experience! Someone hung a metal over my neck for having finished and I began walking onwards through the tunnel of people wondering what I was going to feel next since I'd powered down my engine that wouldn't quit. Wondered where my family was.... Then I got a Text... "We see you!" and my spirit rose up once again looking for them.... amidst thousands and thousands of kindred spirits.... I walked about another block or two and waited near a blasting rock and roll band while they worked their way through the crowds to find me while I stretched and felt out my body to see if it was only my feet that were damaged.

Amazingly the burning in my feet began to subside even while I was waiting for Barb and the kids to find me!

I drank some water and soaked up the presence of the Lord there with us all... Absoluelty amazing moments....

They found me! Hugs! Yeahhhhh!

Forgot to mention Barb and the kids tried to meet me at various mile markers (about every 5 miles or so) but we never caught glimpses of each other! There was just so many people lining the road on both sides I could not slow down enough to focus and sort out what I was looking at in the masses to make out if they were amongst them anywhere.

We had come upon the movie 300 nearing it's end just before bedtime the night before and Barb mentioned in retrospect that 2 parts of the movie stuck in her mind....

One was "Come home with your shield or upon it!" and the the other was that the women and kids in the days of old did not get to see their warrior husband - father until after he had completed his battle!

And it was important for me to know they would be there after all was said and done :o)

We made our way to the car and Barb drove us home. I munched the couple of egg sandwiches I made that morning and sipped a bit of water. I fully expected my legs to sieze up from sitting in car for the drive home but they didn't. I expected my feet to hurt even more when I got out of the car and they actually felt better. I expected the climb up the stairs to our bedroom and the shower to be painful but it wasn't... I sat in my up stairs office chair and gathered my courage to remove my Vibrams to unvail the carnage only to find a thumb sized blister on my right big toe, a 2 inch across blood blister on that same foots outer heal. (See picture) and what was hand soft skin over the rest of the bottoms of my feet now thick and leather like from being cooked several layers deep I guess! I was blown away! I couldn't believe my eyes! No skin flaps falling off! I was expecting second to third degree burns that would require 2+ weeks to heal!

I drank an extra 2 oz of my GBG Liquid Multivitamins and made a Silk Soy Milk shape with MA Plus and a bit of extra protien powder and off to the showers.

Stretched a bit more and Barb asked me if I wanted to go to church in an hour... I felt pretty dog gone good! Christian made me some large zip locks of ice cubes and water to rest the soles of my feet on and off we went. Barefoot and all :o)

Kept my feet on the ice throughout the service and enjoyed the worship, chatting with all those who prayed over me the night before at our pre marathon carbo party and came home to lanch the now almost exploding blisters.

Kids got a kick out the fountains that erupted and to my surprise by the next morning 40% of the tenderness was gone! Resting heart rate was at 46 BPM only up 4 over normal waking rate.

I discovered I had some tightness in the right front of where my thigh and hip meet which I've come to realize is probably the last residiul tight spot from my appendectomy from when I was about 12- or 13. So I've got some work to do to open up the tissues in that area. (Hint Hint: Tucker Sharp my Body Tune Up Pro: See link on the right: Hellerwork!)

I had Barb take me into work on Monday and I worked a full shift.... walked kind of slow but ok... Tuesday: Waking heart rate back to 42 BPM so I ran the 10 miles round trip to work work and back no problem with Vibrams (I washed them of coarse! Well, Barb did :o)

We went out to our Small Group Bible Study and Worship gathtering in Moreno Valley after work and got home about 11 PM I think....

Slept like a brick last night and as normal woke up at 5 AM ready for another day.

No gas in the tank this morning so had Barb drive me into work and bring me home. Feeling hungry for another run already though... Think I'm ready to bare foot it again!

Let's see.... A whopping 3 days have gone by since my feet caught on fire (oh forgot to mention I know now what the tingling sensation was at about mile 12... GLASS! I picked a total of 6 shards of glass out of both feet! That's what set off the initial "Fire Alarm" and escalated it over the miles! I didnt realize they were in my feet until I began lightly massaging my feet and would hit spots that reminded me of getting Fiber Glass in my hands years ago. They were all beer bottle glass (brown) and tweezers and a needle fished them out fine.

As I reflect on all this I see the hand print of the Lord all over this experience!

The wonderful friends in the Lord I have the prayed for me in this journey!

The fact that my work paid for it when I couldnt afford it. My parent company being the primary sponsor of the whole event. My wife and children being there and not being able to see me once they dropped me off until I finished despite them having Navigation and being able to easily zero in on each mile marker and get to them.

Having a "Foot Blow Out" only to become aware of all the souls the Lord was running with that day and the work he was doing in their lives along with mine! The pain I had to become larger than through his grace and encouragement.

The magical healing of my feet in record time! By the Way.... Back in my Bicycle Road Racing Days I was in some really nasty crashes where I slid sideways on my side throught corners at over 40 mph and burned off all the skin from ankles to shoulders only to find that 3 days later the scabs fell off and I was back to pink skin and riding again pain free! No human can heal like that alone! That's all God! Gods Grace! He's been with me all along! I feel so blessed.

Thank you Lord Jesus :o) Thank you for loving on me when I didn't know that you were there for and with me in person.

Despite all the drama and gore I've portraited here upon this page. I want all who read this to get it that the pain is temporary.... The Victory.... Last forever.... Bring Jesus into whatever it is he puts into your heart to bring glory to his kingdom.

Remember him in everything you do... In every thought you ponder... He is power, the beauty, the glory behind all things.

Gods Kid,

Erskien

PS: There is a "Comments" icon below if you have words of wisdom, comedy, prayer or just want want acknowledge that I am not normal nor what society calls sane :o)

PSS: The Lord has put it upon my heart and SOLE(S) that there is not only more 26.2's ahead but 50's and 100's... Barefoot of coarse.... Walk and Run in Christ... All things are possible...

Jesus as my Barefoot Running Coach

2008-02-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Howdy, Everyone :o)

Somedays I wish you could be inside my body to feel how good it feels to become more functional and balanced in my legs, hips and torso.

I came to running from having ridden over 750,000 miles on bicycles in my life time. Imagine a Cydesdale horse that has had way to much weight on its back from to young an age and its spine was so sagged that mid back looked like a U! That was me! Then take its hips and them to the right and forwards on the right then twist its shoulders to the left. That was me!

I wondered for decades why I was so prone to bike crashes with injuries almost always on the right side of my body. Why the right side of my body developed all kinds of joint, ligament and muscle pain when I attempted running any kind of distance.

I attributed a lot of this bio-mechanical mess to the numerous crashes I endured in my early years of bicycle racing when I had more speed than skill at keeping my rig up right through fast corners in races.

Way back in late 70's after a very memorable case of "Road Rash" as we use to call the skin burn you got from sliding sideways on your flesh on pavement I attempted to take a break from riding by rediscovered the joy of running and found myself quickly up to runs of 12-20 miles a day.

With no awareness of how my body had changed due to it's dealing with the trauma of the crashes I found it easy to ramp up to 12-18 mile runs within my first month. Within 3 months I started running formal Marathons. It only took a couple in the span of 2 months to find out I was damaging my right knee to the point that had to abandon running and return to the bike just so I could maintain my cardio and respiratory fitness. A feeling I have never wanted to live without.

The doctors told me my running days were over. That the cartilage in my right knee was so hammered I would be looking at a complete knee replacement in the near future.

I never believed that... I always believed there was a non-surgical solution. I instinctively knew there was a larger lesson being taught here....

I traveled the country back and forth looking for clues. I sought out all the top authorities on joints, ligaments, muscle rebalancing, stretching, nutrition, mental reprogramming, you name it....

One day decades later, after I had accepted Christ as my Savior I asked him to guide me in healing my body and restoring my health.

I had a haunting feeling that if I did not seek his counsel on this something bad was going to happen to me on the bike. I'd knew I'd been shielded by Gods grace over all those miles I'd ridden but the Lord had other plans for me and wanted me to move on.

Low and Behold... In a matter of a few weeks after I began to earnestly ask him for guidance he lead me to bare foot running of all things.

I was stunned and yet amazed as I read of how others had come from where I was and listened to the Lords promptings to shed their shoes and relearn how to walk and run the way only he could teach us. All the testimonies I read told of miraculous healings of bum knees, hips, backs, and feet! Just the opposite of what our logical minds would think!

Here I am today bare foot surfing the concrete and asphalt jungle of the Inland Empire as they call this region.

Listening to him whisper into my heart with every step I take, with regenerated knees, a pillow like foot strike, comfortably cruising across the land while burning fat mostly and feeling a breeze that I've come to know as one of the Lords kisses of approval on my life.

Always when I arrive home after having spent such precious time with my coach Jesus... I feel so blessed and at peace.....He is the source of all healing, help, hope and happiness.

Thank you Lord!

Thank you for the gift of healing this broken spirit and unraveling this body that was in bondage.

Thank you for being present in the moments of my life and all those you would have me touch in your name. Thank you for patiently waiting for me to give up my cause for yours.

Your all has ever made a difference anyway!

Lord it's only you who can "Set the Captives Free!"

John 10:10

Sedentary Lifestyles Associated With Accelerated Aging Process

2008-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2008) — Individuals who are physically active during their leisure time appear to be biologically younger than those with sedentary lifestyles, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Regular exercisers have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity and osteoporosis, according to background information in the article. "A sedentary lifestyle increases the propensity to aging-related disease and premature death," the authors write. "Inactivity may diminish life expectancy not only by predisposing to aging-related diseases but also because it may influence the aging process itself."

Lynn F. Cherkas, Ph.D., of King's College London, and colleagues studied 2,401 white twins, administering questionnaires on physical activity level, smoking habits and socioeconomic status. The participants also provided a blood sample from which DNA was extracted. The researchers examined the length of telomeres--repeated sequences at the end of chromosomes--in the twins' white blood cells (leukocytes). Leukocyte telomeres progressively shorten over time and may serve as a marker of biological age.

Telomere length decreased with age, with an average loss of 21 nucleotides (structural units) per year. Men and women who were less physically active in their leisure time had shorter leukocyte telomeres than those who were more active. "Such a relationship between leukocyte telomere length and physical activity level remained significant after adjustment for body mass index, smoking, socioeconomic status and physical activity at work," the authors write. "The mean difference in leukocyte telomere length between the most active [who performed an average of 199 minutes of physical activity per week] and least active [16 minutes of physical activity per week] subjects was 200 nucleotides, which means that the most active subjects had telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals up to 10 years younger, on average." A sub-analysis comparing pairs in which twins had different levels of physical activity showed similar results.

Oxidative stress--damage caused to cells by exposure to oxygen--and inflammation are likely mechanisms by which sedentary lifestyles shorten telomeres, the authors suggest. In addition, perceived stress levels have been linked to telomere length. Physical activity may reduce psychological stress, thus mitigating its effect on telomeres and the aging process.

"The U.S. guidelines recommend that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least five days a week can have significant health benefits," the authors write. "Our results underscore the vital importance of these guidelines. They show that adults who partake in regular physical activity are biologically younger than sedentary individuals. This conclusion provides a powerful message that could be used by clinicians to promote the potential anti-aging effect of regular exercise."

Journal reference: Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[2]:154-158.

This study was supported in part by a grant from the Welcome Trust, grants from the National Institutes of Health and a grant from The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Editorial: More Research Needed to Verify Exercise-Aging Link

Additional work needs to be done to show a direct relationship between aging and physical activity, writes Jack M. Guralnik, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Md., in an accompanying editorial.

"Persons who exercise are different from sedentary persons in many ways, and although certain variables were adjusted for in this analysis, many additional factors could be responsible for the biological differences between active and sedentary persons, a situation referred to by epidemiologists as residual confounding," Dr. Guralnik writes. "Nevertheless, this article serves as one of many pieces of evidence that telomere length might be targeted in studying aging outcomes."

Editorial reference: Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[2]:131-132.

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.

Building a Healthy Clean Cardiovascular System for Life

2007-12-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

At 50 yrs of age and as I look at the video the Cardiologist made of my heart and her comments about how clean the inside and outside of my heart is of any fatty build up despite my geneology pointing towards generations dieing from heart disease I feel prompted to share some of my secrets.

How to lower your heart disease risk as well as your cholesterol using a comprehensive dietary and lifestyle approach.

The first step in preventing heart disease is to eat a healthy diet . Increase your consumption of whole foods rich in phytonutrients, plant molecules that give your body the nutrients it needs.

1. To avoid the blood sugar imbalances that increase your risk for heart disease, eat protein with every meal, even at breakfast. This will help you to avoid sudden increases in your blood sugar.

2. Use lean animal protein like fish and vegetable protein such as nuts, beans and tofu and always seek the purest water with as little added chemicals as possible.

3. Combine protein, fat, and carbohydrates in every meal. Never eat carbohydrates alone.

4. For the same reasons, avoid white flour and sugar

5. Eat high fiber foods, ideally at least 50 grams per day. Beans, whole grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit all contain beneficial fiber.

6. Avoid all processed junk food, including sodas, juices, and diet drinks, which impact sugar and lipid metabolism.

7. Increase omega-3 fatty acids by eating cold- water wild salmon, sardines, herring, flaxseeds, and even seaweed.

8. Reduce saturated fat and use more grass-fed or organic beef or animal products, which contain less saturated fat.

9. Eliminate all hydrogenated fat, which is found in margarine, shortening, and processed oils, as well as many baked goods and processed foods.

10. Instead use healthy oils, such as olive (especially extra virgin olive oil), cold pressed sesame, and other nut oils.

11. Avoid or reduce alcohol, which can increase triglycerides and fat in the liver and create blood sugar imbalances.

12. Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Graze -- don't gorge -- by eating every three to four hours to keep your insulin and blood sugar normal.

13. Try not to eat three hours before bed.

14. Have a good protein breakfast every day. You can start with a protein shake or may use eggs. Some suppliers offer omega-3 eggs, which are ideal.

15. Include flaxseeds by using two to four tablespoons of ground flaxseeds every day in your food. This can lower cholesterol by 18 percent. Flax is tasty in shakes or sprinkled on salads or whole grain cereal.

16. Drink green tea, which can help lower cholesterol.

17. Use soy foods such as soymilk, edamame, soy nuts, tempeh, and tofu, which can help lower cholesterol by 10 percent.

18. Eat colorful fruits and vegetables a day, which contain disease fighting vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and anti- inflammatory molecules. ==> Supplements

Supplements are important. Along with a healthy diet and exercise program, they can dramatically affect your risk of cardiovascular disease. Combining these together can have the greatest impact on your cholesterol.

Lifestyle and Exercise I encourage 30 to 45 minutes of Running at least 4-5 times a week.

I also encourage strength training to build muscle and reduce body fat composition.

Exercise is a necessity, not a luxury, in preventing almost all chronic disease, from heart disease to cancer, from dementia to diabetes, from osteoporosis to osteoarthritis.

You cannot age successfully with out it. It is how we are designed. ==> Stress Reduction

Stress alone can cause a heart attack. It is often the trigger that leads to the cascade of events that causes that final, fatal heart attack. But all along the way, it contributes to heart disease by creating inflammation, raising your cholesterol and blood sugar, causing high blood pressure and even making your blood more likely to clot.

And remember God in the midst of all things. What you can't handle... Give it up to him!

So many stressors are tied into other people or party's expectations of us that we can't fit and don't desire to fit into.

Like job stress, income production, so much time dedicated to income production that there is no time or energy left for excercise or other forms of spiritual worship.

Barefoot Running

2007-12-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hello,

My name is Erskien Lenier.

Here you can learn more about my adventure with God, Barefoot Running, Semi Barefoot Running, the Biomechanics of Running, Fueling to Run Long Distances, Hydration, Stress Management, Music for Running, and find ways to meet other runners near you.

Over time I will cover many other topics that can be part of living a healthy life that truly honors the gift of fitness we can give ourselves.

My mission is simply this... To help everyone who feels in their hearts that would love to run without painin their feet, knees, ankles, hips, back, or other body part.

They want it to feel effortless, like they can go all day long and all night if so inspired.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

I want this site to trigger perspectives that inspire and uplift, encourage and help deepen ones sense of awe at how wonderfully designed the space suit we live in is.

Feel free to explore the links on this site to discover more of the road map for your journey inwards.

Our sharing the journey is what makes it all worth while....

God Speed, (After all he sets the tempo!)

Erskien Lenier

John 10:10

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (NIV)

My life as a Prayer to Jesus