Q&A: Tell me about your first gym experience

I need your help! I'm doing a story about how to choose a fitness center and what to do once you've joined. You can answer in the comments here or on Facebook. The story is aimed at people who are out of shape and/or are new to fitness. Now, fitness/the gym scene/running/etc. have always been a part of life for some of you — I have a question for you in a minute. But here are a few questions for those of you who discovered things later as an adult:

• What did you wish you knew when you joined a gym for the first time?
• Were there any instructions or answers that were difficult to get from staff?
• What classes, equipment, services, or other aspect was the most intimidating?
• After you joined, did you discover or experience something that made you wish you'd joined another gym instead?

Now for you fitness lifers (or anyone who's joined a gym):

• What are your top five factors in choosing a fitness center? For instance, four my must-haves are proximity, fairly low-cost dues, an indoor track and yoga on its group exercise schedule. If the place has a wet sauna, too, I'm there. What about for you?
• What gadgets or programs do you use to keep you on top of progress?
• What do you do to motivate yourself to get in the car and go to the gym?

I look forward to your insight! The story is due to run the second week of January as part of a health package in The Dallas Morning News.

'Born to Run' book signing and lecture in Dallas

Christopher McDougall, the man who put a spotlight on barefoot running and the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico earlier this year, will give a free lecture, answer questions and sign copies of his book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, at the Cooper Aerobics Center. Details:

When: Noon-2 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 10
Where: Cooper Clinic Auditorium, 12200 Preston Road, Dallas (Click here for a map)
More: This is free, but it's limited to the first 100 guests. Call 972-233-4832 ext. 4329 by Nov. 9 to reserve a spot.

Thanks to DMN editor Mike Merschel for the tip.

Barefoot running: Dallas Morning News story and interview outtakes

This blog sure has been all about the bare foot lately. Thanks to the commenters in my previous post who've read the story already. For those of you who haven't, here you go:

• Barefoot running offers new challenge

(My foot after my first barefoot run; later, with a blood blister. Ew!)

Next, some interview highlights from my awesome sources that didn't make it into the story:

Josh Stevenson, adventure racer from Christchurch, New Zealand

Q. What’s the worst barefooting injury or situation you've been in?
A. Stepping on dog poo would have to be the worst problem.

Q. What do your feet look like?
A. My feet are in the best shape they have ever been as you wear the dead skin off, and one of the important parts of bare foot running is looking after your feet ... using products like glycerol bp to stop the feet from cracking and using medicated methylated spirits for drying certain parts out as to harden them up as required.

Q. Why should non-barefoot runners give barefooting a try?
A. Once you have run without shoes you will find freedom and enjoy running. ... I now think that running is shoes is crazy and that it causes more damage than good. I am a strong believer that placing developing children’s feet in shoes is mad; I let my son wear bare feet all the time. ... By running barefoot or in a shoe like Vibram FiveFingers, you fix the problems that some runners have by strengthening your feet and ankles. You also learn how to run properly, more efficiently and with less impact on your body, where if you use orthotics and a different shoe to correct the problem, you are treating the symptom and not the problem.

On why he started barefoot running to begin with:

"Well, the short story is: It was coming up to the time when you need to start thinking about weather or not to enter the Coast to Coast ... I had done the race loads of time before and in every possible way, and felt [like,] why just do it for the sake of doing it.

"I had slipped back into living life too much in my comfort zone and was just cruising, entering races just for the sake of it and doing less training to make them harder and more challenging. So I spent a few weeks soul searching the whole thing and the answer hit me as I was going out for a run ... I thought to my self we are not designed to run with shoes, the people in some African countries don’t wear shoes and they run every were. So I thought to myself if they can do it so can I that was when I decided to challenge myself to do Coast to Coast barefoot."

On training for the 243-kilometer Speight's Coast to Coast:

"I did use Nike Frees as part of my transition from shoes to barefoot running, but they were not ideal. After I completed Coast to Coast, I was given a pair of Vibram FiveFingers to try and I swear by them now. I wish I had found them before the race."

On doing the race with completely bare feet:

"As I walked down to the start line I was thinking, I am mad? What the hell am I doing! ... As I climbed down to the beach to the start line I stubbed my toe for the first time. At this point I really started to question what the hell am I trying to do.

"The race was enjoyable — the run of the beach, the first bike ride, even the majority of the run, and it was pretty straightforward until I hit the downhill sections. The hardest part was the last 8K of the run leg and the start of Day 2, [the] run down to the river. These sections were very challenging, to say the least. After eight-odd hours covering rough terrain, the feet were starting to feel very tender and each step was a challenge.

"The one thing that kept going through my mind was my belief that if you start a race you should finish the race and I have never not finished a race. ... My coping mechanisms were simple: I have never not finished a race and I am not going to start now. And the other big one was I knew that my 3-year-old son was waiting for me at the end. This was a good motivator and a bad one because when things got hard and painful, I would picture myself running down the finish chute with my son. This would give me the focus to continue. However if I thought about it too much my eyes would well up and I could not see wear I was going. I only let myself stop once which was at the Goat pass check point which is situated at the highest point of the race, a little over halfway. I just made myself keep going. I thought, If I stop, it would be too hard to get going again."

How did his feet fare?

"My feet were not too bad; a small cut. Other than that, they were just a bit swollen and one broken toe, which I stubbed about three times during the race ... the day after, the feet and ankles were very swollen — now I know how pregnant woman feels with swollen feet. I was back out running five days later. They recovered well."

• Keep up with Josh on his blog, joshuastevenson.blogspot.com.

Read the story on Scribd

Josué Stephens of Austin, ultra runner and director of the Fuego y Agua Ultra in Nicaragua

On how he became a barefoot/minimalist runner:

"[In early 2007,] my dad sent me a link from the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon and I decided to train for the 2008 event.

"I started running in a pair of Nike 360 super padded shoes and then realized they were hurting my feet and hips. ... I had grown up in sandals and playing soccer barefoot, it only made sense that I also go running barefoot. That was the reawakening of my feet. A week later I was taking my shoes off and running around completely barefoot, my hips and feet felt great, and I was running faster and farther by the day.

"I began researching barefoot and minimalist running more and more and bought myself a pair of FiveFingers Classics. By early October 2007, I was running over 75 miles a week on trails, 90% of my running was barefoot or in minimal footwear. For much longer and rougher trails, I even started cutting down shoes to make them what I called "minimalist trail flats." I signed up for the 2007 Arkansas Traveller 100 miler. This was to be my first race ever, of any kind. I had not even done a 5K at this point and my furthest run was 30 miles. ... I was hooked on ultras after that."

Q. Do you ever get stares when you're running barefoot or minimalist?
A. Yes, yes and yes. But honestly, most of the time I get curious and eager questions. The only place I ever felt I got crazy stares was in Louisiana; they thought the barefoot runner tearing through their bike/walk paths in nothing but a pair of shorts was completely insane. I do not mind the staring.

On his time with the Tarahumari Indians as a child, then running alongside them as an adult:

"I was about 6 when we first traveled down into the Copper Canyons. I remember seeing the Raramuri [which is what the Indians call themselves] caves in the sides of the cliffs and wishing I could go visit them. ... My dad worked with the Mennonites on a ministry that reached out to Tarahumaras.

"I ran Copper Canyon 2008 in a pair of cut-down LaSportiva Crosslite shoes. Most of the Raramuri wore the traditional clothing and huaraches - the women wear long dresses, even when they are running long distances! I ran that entire race feeling like I was in a completely different world. It was a surreal experience to run this race with such an amazing group of people. The Raramuri possess such grace and are such a calm people.

"The Copper Canyon Ultramarathon has the potential to become one of the main forces in bringing awareness to the Raramuri and their plight. It will be extremely important, especially after Born to Run, to find a middle ground between commercializing and squelching the potential. I love what Caballo Blanco has done, and I will continue to be a solid supporter of his work. Caballo and some of us Club mas Loco runners have formed www.norawas.org, a nonprofit focused on assisting the Raramuri in maintaining their way of life."

• Keep up with Josué on this blog, www.josuecorre.com.

Hamlin Jones of Frisco, marathon coach at Luke's Locker in Plano

Q. What are the benefits of running barefoot/minimalist?
A. The benefits are feet, ankle, and lower leg ... calf and anterior tibialis [shin] strength. This type of running also keeps your feet under your body or core for quicker foot turnover.

Q. What do people say about you running this way?
A. People that do not run do not understand and never will. People that are casual runners think I'm crazy. Understandable. People I run with either a) are still learning about running and themselves, or b) are running next to me or cheering me on — and think I'm crazy too.

Q. What do you think of the book Born to Run?
A. I have not read Born to Run yet but many of my running friends have and will not stop talking about it on our runs. If anything it has made people more aware of barefoot running and I have seen more Vibrams out on the road lately.

Ted McDonald, aka "Barefoot Ted," ultra runner, barefoot enthusiast, public speaker, coach

Outtakes:

"Barefoot running is about reconnecting with the experience and listening to your own body."

"I was always under the assumption that whoever did these longer distance things were able to endure more pain, in the end, that's not the way it works at all."

"Heel-striking is only as old as the first padded shoe."

"It's way better to begin on hard surfaces. Just like a dancer on a stage doesn't rely on footwear."

Q. What did running barefoot do for you than running in shoes did not?
A. Confidence-building, a realization that you can do something barefoot and do it well. It's an elegant solution that works. All kinds of connections begin, which is what Born to Run spells out so eloquently. We have, in fact, inherited a capacity to do it. It's hubris [to think] that we can over-engineer something that we can already do so well.

• Keep up with Barefoot Ted on his blog at barefootted.com.

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Almost shoeless! My first Vibram FiveFingers

The nice folks at Vibram sent me a pair of FiveFinger Sprints the other day after hearing that I'm doing a story on barefoot running. I haven't tried them out yet (rain! work! laziness!), but when I do I promise to give it to you straight. How weird do they feel? How is running different in FiveFingers vs. my cushy Asics? Will I get used to the toes? Will passers-by point and laugh? Will my husband cross the street? We shall see.

My story on barefoot running will be in The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the GuideLive section. Stories on this latest wave of the barefoot fascination have been written this year, and this one isn't any more focused than that. It's a general overview for folks who are like, "Barefoot what? Why?" I'll post it here when it's ready.

Barefoot running

I've been following the barefoot running trend for a while, and I'm intrigued. Maybe it's because I've always been a shoes-off kind of girl to begin with, and because my toes can function like most people's fingers. I've always taken pleasure in tugging at the grass with them while sitting outside, or in raking the dirt with them, trying to decide if I think the granules feel rough or smooth. My bare feet have aided in my laziness, too. Dropped a pair of underwear while carrying an armload of clean laundry from the dryer to the bedroom? No problem, that's what toes are for.

But running — I'm not so sure. I've technically run barefoot before, by default because I needed to run and happen to not have shoes on at the moment. I admit, it feels pretty fantastic. A completely different sensation than never realizing there's this stuff called "ground" beneath the sole of those perfectly-engineered running shoes. My feet sort of register it like that delicious excitement a kid gets when she's left alone with a box of donuts, television or the cute next-door neighbor boy after being over-protected all the time. Freedom.

So I saw this Active.com story on Twitter today about running barefoot and became re-intrigued. My whole life, running shoes have been the norm if you want to, well, run. Which is why it's never dawned on me that running-shoes-for-running is a pretty recent phenomenon. I'd also never thought about the fact that the human foot has quite a few more years of structural engineering to help its owners run than do Nike or even (blasphemy!) Asics. Thing is, I'm not so sure that just because the human foot has been around a while, that means it's made for the kind of running we do today, which is pretty recent, too.


Like the kind where you run nonstop for no good reason. Enter Barefoot Ted, who does just what his name implies. Not just 5Ks, either — try marathons and ultras, be-footed in nothing but his bare tootsies and sometimes in the bizarro-looking Vibram FiveFinger footware for a bit of protection (which I see on the Katy Trail from time to time). Ted had major back pain until he switched to running barefoot, and now he's an evangelist about it.

Besides running nude-footed or with fancy FiveFingers, apparently you can also wear minimalist hurache sandals if you're worried about glass or hot pavement (shown in the vid above — what's up with the rooster and the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the background?). Which, I have to say, I would totally wear whenever.

Will I give barefoot-running a try? Hmmm. I'm doing good to train the "regular" way for the Rockledge Rumble. But who knows? I might just get a wild hair soon and accidentally-on-purpose forget my over-protecting shoes.

First run of 15K training = too hot for this mess

It was just two miles, but MAN was it hot! And it was only 9:30 a.m.! Texas, our Texas.
I ran a route close to home that includes the perimeter of the apartment complex. My gear: hand-held water bottle (thank the lord), Sansa Disk and pepper spray in case of crack heads or feral dogs. Time: 19:38.

As far as running logs go, I'm trying both RunnersWorld.com and MapMyRun.com. I think the latter will win out. I like the interface better. I'm totally giddy about being able to, well, map my runs with Google maps and find routes in the area that others have mapped, too. Fun!

Wanted: Free (good) running log

I've got a status update on Facebook asking for suggestions because I start my first official run of my 15K training tomorrow! I registered for Runner's World's training log, but I'm not entirely sure what I think of it.

My old soccer captain Kelly Spurlock has suggested MapMyRun.com. Any others?

Actually, today started the training-proper. It was a strengthen and stretch day, DIY-style: 3x20 crunches, 3x10 push-ups, 3x12 squats and some yoga-ish sprawling, reaching and splaying. Felt nice.

A fizzled 5K turns into a 15K trail decision

The hubbers and I decided to extend our 8-week 5K training program into 10 weeks, just to get us some extra practice at running the entire thing together and completing with a time we'd be happy with.

That 10 weeks turned into 12 weeks, which then turned into an argument about whether or not we had the $50 at the moment to sign up for a local 5K and call this program a day.

The frustration helped push me toward a goal I made last year, however: Before my next birthday (in November, this year), I will run my first trail race. So, I begin training, solo, for the 15K part of the 14th annual Rockledge Rumble here in Grapevine, Texas, put on by the North Texas Trail Runners.

After false starts with this very same race the past couple of years, I'm excited that I'm actually going to do it this time.

Two days until our one-year wedding anniversary, by the way ; )

A woodsy Caddo Lake run

Brian and I went camping at Caddo Lake State Park this weekend. We went on a 3/4-mile hike through East Texas piney woods (where face-met-leftover-spider-web a few too many times, eek) and managed a 15-minute run on the park's main road back to camp. It was beautiful. Sure, we're just in East Texas, but the varied terrain of Texas makes every road trip seem like traveling to another state.

The run included a couple of inclines, but not anything you'd consider butt-blasting. Except that it was, to our flat, North Texas heinies, which remain slightly sore to this day.

We ran our first non-stop three-miler together Sunday evening at Katy Trail. And we repeated, even better, last night. Just over an 11-minute mile, 34 minutes. We're technically finished with our Hal Higdon 5K training, but we're repeating the last week for another two weeks.

We're going to run that 5K like it ain't no thang. Now we just need to pick one.

Recent sights, sounds and happenings on the Katy Trail

Brian and I are on our second-to-last week of official 5K training. But we're tagging on a couple of more weeks to get down running the whole thing without stopping.

I think we're there, but Brian's adorable at scamming me into having us stop when he's perfectly spry enough to keep going. Like today, he started futzing with his new mp3 player I got him for his birthday (Metallica makes him run faster). At the perfect 1.5 mile mark, he stops and literally fumbles and bumbles and boobs with his player like he can't find the volume, and oh no, now it's locked — Christy, how do I get this unlocked? I thought I saw you adjusting it the other day — you don't remember how? Show me how.

I gave up trying to get us to keep going and realized what it was: a breather. He can fake-futz now ... but those tagged-on extra two weeks of training? A no-futz zone.

Recent sights: A fat, very domesticated cat sauntering onto the trail, plopping in the middle of it, and lying belly-up for rubz. From anybody. As if there weren't racing bicycles and roller blades whizzing by. I was like, Dumb cat. You obviously have no sense of self-preservation; go home. ... After I spent five minutes on the ground giving him rubz.

Recent/all-the-time-smells: I know nature means small animals die. And that nature lines the trail. I'm just saying ... the smell of dead birds or squirrels or whatever seem so much more horrid on the Katy than on any actual trail-trail (non-concrete) I've exhaled on. Grosssss.

Recent feels: Despite today's futzing episode, Brian and I did well on our 3-miler. Maybe what helped was that The Nothing was rolling in from the West, which dropped temperatures and gave us a little rain during the run. The fact it looked like it was about to open up a torrent on us put a spring in our step, too. I love running in the rain, even if we only got sprinkles at the time of the run.

Cool report: Brian saw an old TCA-mate of ours on Facebook say that she signed up her and her husband for a half-marathon. I teased him about the grin on his face and said that he's smiling because he knows that it doesn't sound as crazy as it did just a few weeks ago. Maybe it doesn't sound completely un-crazy, but less crazy. He did the "pshhh whatever" thing.

Later, he mentioned that maybe just maybe we could try to run from one end of the Katy to the other at some point. That's around 7 miles. Haaaaay! Bodes well for our runny future ; )