Long Time No Post Update

I dislike leaving blog posting for over a month but I have spent the last month writing a lot for Living Barefoot and quite a bit of coaching for Living Barefoot Coaching. On to the details...

I've been trying to catch up on writing shoe reviews for Living Barefoot. With the increased popularity of minimalist shoes, Al and I found ourselves somewhat swamped (but in a totally good way) with shoe reviews this summer and fall. In the last month, I've written four reviews (which will all be going online in the next couple of weeks) and I still have four to go. Then another three shoes are currently in the mail for fall reviews. It's been a bit of a hectic writing schedule. I love that there is so much choice in the minimalist shoe market now. What a change from two years ago!

Living Barefoot Coaching is picking up as well. I've spent the last four Fridays coaching at Dynastream Innovations Inc. in Cochrane with Natural Running Lunch & Learn sessions. They've been so much fun and I've learned a lot. I really do believe that 'You teach what you want to learn' and with every client I coach or every presentation I give, I'm learning something, too. The people at Dynastream have all been great sports and I hope to continue coaching some of the wonderful people I met there.

In other coaching news, I've started 'running' form check-in runs with past clients. We start with a couple warm-up exercises and then head out on my favourite nearby trail, through the Cochrane Ranche. We focus on form on the way out and usually run to the 180 BPM cadence beeping out of the metronome. On the way back, we just have fun and enjoy the scenery.

Here are a couple pics of yesterday's group run:

Warming up

Heading out on the trail

In other coaching news, I'll be attending the 5 Peaks Central Alberta Mountain Equipment Co-op Night on November 6 from 6-8 PM. I'm hoping to have a lovely poster presentation (which is this weekend's assignment to get finished) and have more of a Q&A type of set-up then a formal talk. So if you're in the Calgary area and want to see what Living Barefoot Coaching is about in addition to learning something about the biomechanics of running, come on down to MEC November 6.

On to some catch-up blog posting...

VIVOBAREFOOT Training Clinic Site has Launched

The VIVOBAREFOOT Training Clinic site has launched and is THE location to learn how to 'Master the Skill of Barefoot Running'.


The site includes a link to Lee Saxby's ebook Proprioception: Making Sense of Barefoot Running, which explains why proprioception is so important for human locomotion, how to run barefoot correctly, and exercises to improve the skills of running.

The site also includes a vast Resources section with a huge library of Training Videos to help you with your exercise technique and a Research section for those who want to learn the science behind barefoot running.

And my personal favourite section: the Find a Coach page that can direct you to the nearest VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach, which includes yours truly.

There's also a section where you can book a course to Become a VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach yourself and details on how the course and certification works.

Check out the new site to start your journey to mastering the skill of barefoot running!

Living Barefoot Coaching Clinics Coming Up in Alberta

Calling all Alberta Barefoot/Minimalist Runners!

I have a couple of Living Barefoot Coaching Introduction to Natural Running Clinics coming up this week in Calgary and Edmonton:

MEC in Calgary on August 23, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Fast Trax Run & Ski Shop in Edmonton on August 27, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Check out the Living Barefoot Coaching site for the details and to register!

Email me at: coaching[at]livingbarefoot.info for promo codes for significant savings from the regular-priced registration fees!

Living Barefoot Coaching Clinic in Las Vegas

Earlier this week, I held my first ever international Living Barefoot Coaching Clinic in Las Vegas, USA. The staff at REI Las Vegas-Boca Park were fantastic: so friendly and helpful. The clinic was a small group of four VERY enthusiastic individuals. Audience participation is always welcome and these guys were incredible with their willingness to try the exercises. They asked great, well-thought out questions. I've even heard back from two of the attendees with additional comments and questions.

This clinic exemplified for me the saying, "You teach what you want to learn." I hope I never stop learning new things about people, delivery, myself, and most importantly how to run naturally.

Thanks Las Vegas!

Living Barefoot Coaching coming to Las Vegas

What better way to travel is there than mixing business with pleasure? I'm going to Las Vegas in a few weeks for a friend's wedding and thought it would be great if I could present a clinic while I'm there. And now it's going to happen!

Living Barefoot Coaching (yours truly) will be presenting an Introduction to Natural Running clinic at REI Las Vegas-Boca Park on August 1, 2011 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM. For more information (or to register), check out http://www.livingbarefoot.info/coaching/.

I can't wait!

**Update** The clinic has been added to the REI calendar. You can check out the REI page at: http://www.rei.com/event/28422/session/35035.

My First Living Barefoot Coaching Clinic

Yesterday, I hosted my first ever Living Barefoot Coaching clinic. It was an Introduction to Natural Running clinic and was held at Trailblazers in Cochrane, Alberta. The format was a two-hour lecture on the biomechanics and skills of running, motor skill milestones for natural running, and exercises to improve the skills of running. I worked on the slides for about a week before I was happy with the presentation. I provided demonstrations of most of the exercises (and I do all of them almost daily) as well as videos of my current running form (it's not perfect but it's a good starting point).

I think the clinic went well. My audience seemed enthusiastic at the end about what they'd learned. I was a little nervous at first; it was my first presentation to an audience in six years. I videoed the clinic so that I can work on its delivery for future presentations. I also made a little movie (my first movie ever) of the introduction to the clinic. I'm a little nervous about sharing it but here it is anyway:

My First Coaching Review

My friend Julie was gracious and generous to accept being my second case study 'client', and my second coaching experience ever, on my road to becoming a VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach. I actually called her from Manhattan before I left to tell her about the course and to ask if she'd be one of my case studies. She was excited (to say the least). :)

She was so easy to coach. She listened intently to my presentation and practically predicted where I was going next with it. She easily took to the exercises I gave her and incorporated the 'feeling' of them into her running.

Julie wrote a review of the coaching session on her blog and you can check it out at: http://runningwithdoggies.blogspot.com/2011/05/run-skills.html.

Thanks Julie for being such a great sport, an enthusiastic athlete, one of my guinea pigs, and for the kind review. :)

VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach

I am officially a VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach! I just got the email from Lee Saxby, the VB Coaching Program Director (and genius coach extraordinaire).

Let the coaching officially begin...

For details, check out the Living Barefoot Coaching website. I've added One-on-One Natural Running Coaching Sessions and a Natural Running in a Day clinic to the list of clinics I now offer.

Tales from New York City

My trip to New York was utterly amazing in every way. I learned so much about biomechanics, coaching and people in general that I will undoubtedly be processing for quite some time. In short, it was truly life-changing for me.

I arrived at Newark on Saturday after an uneventful flight (other than a lovely conversation with a local Calgarian and a plane-shifting wind close to landing), followed by an easy and direct shuttle ride to the Chelsea International Hostel (which I highly recommend for low-budget travellers). It was late when I arrived so I hung out at the Hostel to prepare for the following day of sight-seeing. (I ended up moving to the Gershwin Hotel on Thursday night, which was totally awesome and would recommend to any New York tourist no matter the budget as they have a wide range of rooms available.)

On Sunday, Angie Bee Hotz (super mom and barefoot runner), Sabra Ellingson (Operations Director for VIVOBAREFOOT), and I walked all over Manhattan soaking in the sights. We met at the Chelsea Piers Sports Centre, where the VB Coaching Program was going to take place, and then walked and rode the subway around Manhattan checking out Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, Battery Park, and ended the tour with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We managed to squeeze in quite a number of sights in a short time. It was so much fun hanging out with Angie and Sabra! We ended the day with a late supper at the Brooklyn Public House and I headed back to Chelsea to get some rest and recharge for the beginning of the VB Coaching Program course.

Me and Angie Bee at the American Museum of Natural History

I don't want to go into detail about the course, it would take me a week. It was outstanding! I feel incredibly honoured to have participated and been given the opportunity to learn from Lee Saxby and meet the wonderful people who also participated in the course with me. Congratulations need to be given to Lee for the incredible success of the event. Not only does he possess a profound depth of knowledge in human movement but also the skill to share that knowledge clearly and effectively to his students with a wide range of backgrounds. Thanks must be given also to Michelle Hinsvark, the VB U.S. In House Marketing Executive; she was completely invaluable to the running (haha) of the course.

Basically, we were taught the biomechanics of human locomotion, how to diagnose inefficient and/or injurious running form, and how to coach correct form using video analysis and drills. I am excited to apply what I learned to not only improve my own form but that of any runner interested in becoming a more efficient and potentially uninjured runner.

The basics are already available to anyone who wants to learn. I highly recommend Lee Saxby's ebook Proprioception - Making Sense of Barefoot Running. It outlines the concepts and exercises important in the evolution of a not only a barefoot runner but anyone who wants to develop their sense of proprioception, the most important sense that humans have in developing good biomechanics.

Me and Angie Bee after the course

Me and (genius coach extraordinaire) Lee Saxby

Miscellaneous Updates

I prefer to write one blog post per subject but my 'Barefoot Adventures' have taken over my life recently, in a totally awesome and creative way. So here are some updates as to what's going on in my world:

I wrote my first Book Review for Living Barefoot. Al and I decided to venture into writing book reviews and I thought the first one should be for Born to Run. It's definitely a different writing style and process than writing shoe reviews. In fact, Al was so surprised with it he initially doubted that I wrote it. :) Here's the link: http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2011/04/book-review-born-to-run-by-christopher-mcdougall/.

My WOODWAY Treadmill Review was posted. I had so much fun at Stenia Health and talking with the owner, Kelsey Andries, that I had to write more about the WOODWAY treadmills. There was a bunch of material that I'd taken out of the Barefoot Running Treadmill Review that I felt still needed to be shared so I wrote the WOODWAY Treadmill Review for this material. If you're looking for a treadmill to run barefoot on, these were undoubtedly the best of the 20 treadmills I tried. Here's the link: http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2011/04/review-woodway-treadmills/.

This past May 1 was International Barefoot Running Day! As I had run the day before (in my Evos), I celebrated by going for a barefoot walk with my family. I'm working up to barefoot running outside (after many barefoot runs indoors this winter) so decided to start this year's barefoot running program with some barefoot walking (as suggested in the Complete Idiot's Guide to Barefoot Running). I have a long way to go before I'm ready to run barefoot on concrete, my tender feet have some sole strengthening to do. But spring is here and the weather is warming up so I can look forward to many more barefoot walks, progressing to barefoot runs, in the coming months.

Living Barefoot Coaching has taken off! I have two clinics booked already and plan on looking for many more venues when I return from the VIVOBAREFOOT Coaching Program in New York. This is super exciting for me and I can't wait to share the joys of Natural Running with experienced runners and those looking to start or get back into running.

Stay tuned for stories from New York City! Off to pack...

Announcing Living Barefoot Coaching

I am super excited to announce the creation of Living Barefoot Coaching. It's taken a couple of weeks of intensive work but the Coaching website is now online with descriptions of the two types of clinics I am going to offer (to start with), a Coaching Calendar, and an online Registration for clinics. I even have an Introduction to Natural Running clinic already booked for the end of May! (Thank you Richelle and Tri It Multisport!)

I was thinking earlier this winter that I'd like to start teaching people how to run barefoot or with a natural stride but I didn't know where to start. Then I found out about the VIVOBAREFOOT Coaching Program and I got my answer. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to learn how to coach from "the world's best barefoot running coach" Lee Saxby. Now I can share my passion for barefoot/minimalist running to groups of people who are interested in learning how. I can't wait for May!