Barefoot Running

So now I am completely intrigued by the barefoot movement- particularly barefoot running after spotting the Vibram Fivefinger shoes yesterday. By the way, I am seriously going to try a pair- they are too much to resist.

photo credit 802

Anyway, back to barefoot running. Barefoot running is based off the idea that we all basically ran around and did things barefoot before we started wearing shoes. When you do run barefoot, you tend to put more force on the balls of the feet versus the heel. Since the heel is often a major cause of foot pain (plantar fasciitis good read here) this seems to somewhat work logically.

Does it work for real? I am still pretty skeptic, but ready to listen to the arguments. I think with my bad knee I would never go for the full run with some Fivefingers on, but I'd tempt fate with a hike or two.

What about you? Are you a yay or nay on the barefoot movement?

Read my initial thoughts and giggles about the Vibram Fivefinger here.

Still Soaking

It's been raining off and on for several days here in the Northeast. We're still soaking a bit, but it hasn't stopped me from getting out and biking. Not quite the rain power we constantly had last summer. It's more spot showers with breaks of sun. I can take that any day.

from last years bike tour

Women's Wilderness Institute

I stumbled across the Women's Wilderness Institute off of someone's twitter feed and thought I would share. The Institute features multi-day outdoor trips for younger girls and women. Some of the most intriguing? How about the Fruita Singletrack Sampler? Or maybe the Backcountry Fly Fishing? I've always had fly fishing on my bucket list.

What I really like about the Institute are the trips for girls. I think getting outdoors and learning new skills in completely unfamiliar situations is such a great skill. As a kid myself, I attended boy scout adventure camps and learned backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, and mountain biking. I remember my summer trips to be loads of fun filled with laughter and aching legs. What could be better?

Beauty and the Bike

Beauty and the Bike is a wonderful campaign to improve conditions for cyclists in England. The campaign started off to uncover why British girls stop cycling and low and behold- they determined it was the biking infrastructure- or lack thereof.

I certainly live in part of the US that has a very poor infrastructure for cycling. We live off of several main roads which makes for excellent work commutes for some, but very bad cycling for the rest. I've found myself cycling less and less because the roads are so dangerous and the last thing I wanted to do was pack my bike into my car to go for a bike ride.

Anyway, Beauty and the Bike has a wonderful site here and here and a great video documenting the cycling dilemmas for young cyclists in England. I love the parts where the young girl's eyes light up as they say - "it's the independence- it's the freedom."

Because those are the same reasons that I ride.

Vibram Fivefingers

Have you seen the new barefoot running wear called Vibram Fivefingers? Now I feel like I tend to be pretty up on the trends and willing to try new things, but I can't really decide if I should laugh or try the Fivefingers on.

So yes, you are looking at a shoe that separates all the toes- alas the fivefingers part. And it is basically an invisible shoe- not a whole lot of padding, cushioning, or support. Not the shoe for weak ankles it looks like.

But are you as intrigued as I am? I feel like I need to go to a store and try them on. Not sure they would ever go hiking or running with me, but you could probably convince me to do some swimming and cliff jumping with them. For the main product page for Vibram Fivefingers check here, recommended uses check here, and a video here.

Finding the Right Triathlon

I've been contemplating entering a triathlon for years, but haven't quite found the right one. Often I'll hear about a triathlon the weekend before the actual event and I'll either not be in good enough shape for the run or for the swim portions. I've seen quite the hype about Iron Girl Triathlons, which looks like a lot of fun, but sell out quickly and are in very few locations.

Also, for me- the right triathlon needs to be more mountain. Mountain bike, trail running, type of a thing. This year I think it is going to be the Tully Lake Triathlon in Northern Massachusetts. The event features a 5 mile canoe or kayak paddle (score 1!), 7.5 mile mountain bike ride (score 2!), and 4.5 mile trailish run (score 3!). Looks like my kind of event.

If you know of any other similar events in the Northeast please let me know.

Camping Recipes

Over the next several weeks we are packing up and moving to a new part of the state. Since it is sort of crunch time, I am going to be recapping some of my past posts with a sprinkle of a new post here and there. Hope you don't mind!

Here is a recap of my camping recipes:

Chicken and Gravy Recipe



Fruit Cobbler on a Jetboil



Campfire Pizza I



Campfire Pizza II



Orange Campfire Cakes

Notes from the Weekend

A few hints of Spring in the air.

Outdoor Sites for Parents and Kids

Recently I've been coming across some great sites for outdoor parents and children. Thought I would pass them along:

• Discover the Forest an ad campaign brought to you by the FSDA (Forest Service) for children that includes fun ideas of things to do outside (a neat downloadable booklet here) and other great tips.
• The Outdoor Parent is a great little blog I stumbled across last week. Interesting, original articles about getting out with your children, tips, links, and even a great page for children here.
• Also, REI has a page for children which I've mentioned before. The page includes a downloadable "passport" to adventure which is essentially a nature/outdoor journal for kids. Super fun.