I was recently accused of being an Altramaniac by one of the sales folks at a local running store. When I look at my collection of Altra Zero Drop shoes, it is kind of hard to argue. I do own at least one pair of every model of Altra Zero Drop footwear currently available (I'm trying to get this blog post out the door before the Altra Superior lightweight trail shoe hits the shelves). Just call me "the man with many left shoes"...


Pictured (from left to right): Lone Peak, Provision, Samson, Adam, Instinct 1.5, Instinct black, Instinct original

In case you hadn't heard, Altra is a young shoe company that makes Zero Drop footwear. Zero Drop means there is no difference between the height of the shoe sole at the heel and the height of the shoe sole under the forefoot. This is also known as having a low (or no) ramp angle since the footbed lies flat rather than sloping downward towards the front of the shoe.

The true Altramaniacs make silly videos and show their love of Zero Drop footwear by dressing up in costume.

While I am not (yet) an extreme Altra nut like these two guys:



I am definitely a fan of Altra Zero Drop footwear.

I was going through some old photos tonight and found this picture of a poor dead mermaid that we saw washed up on the rocks in Puerto Rico. The photo was taken near the Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan.



Here is a cropped / zoomed version of the picture:

A few weeks ago my family was out of town. I took the opportunity to run... a lot... and managed to hit my first 50+ mile week. It helped that I could take naps when needed and was able to go to bed early.

Here is a screenshot of my dailymile weekly mileage with the 50+ mile peak:



Following this high mileage week I had some "hint" pains in a lot of places, such as along the shin bone, in my foot, and around the knees. This was in addition to sore muscles. I listed to my body, backed off, and did not develop any injuries. Now I'm into high intensity training (hills and intervals on the track) and back into the 20-40 mile per week range.

I think that rest and recovery is likely a limiting factor for me so with a full-time job and busy family life you won't be seeing any more of these crazy mileage weeks for a while. However, I'm feeling very fit now and I am excited about the upcoming fall racing season.

I recently participated in a barefoot running study at the University of Florida Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation.  As of the time I started writing this blog post, the study is still seeking participants (http://www.ortho.ufl.edu/research/studies/barefoot-running).

The stated purpose of the study is to compare how many calories are used and how much force is produced when the feet make contact with the ground while barefoot compared to wearing cushioned shoes.  Eligible test subjects are trained runners who have a mid-forefoot run pattern (where the middle foot or ball of the foot touches the ground first compared to the heels landing first) and meet the following criteria:

- Men and women 18-60 years old.

- A verified running foot striking style of mid-forefoot strike

- Run on average at least 20 miles/week.

- Able to run for at least 20 minutes at one session.

- Free of any ofthopedic limitation (e.g. acute injury to the lower limb, hip or back).

- Must have, and run in, cushioned running shoes at least once per week.  

 When I first heard of the study a while ago I didn't think I met the criteria (I either wasn't hitting the mileage or I was doing all of my runs in minimalist shoes). More recently I have been doing bigger mileage and running in my Altra Instincts at least once per week and I felt like I would be a really good fit for the study. 

The lure for participants is that they receive a copy of much of the collected data and the high speed video footage from the Biomechanics and Motion Analysis Laboratory / UF Sports Performance Center.

Here is a picture of me wearing the metabolic gear, motion tracking dots, and with my Altra Instincts all taped up to cover the reflective surfaces:

The red light in the background is one of the many cameras used for motion capture.  More on that in a moment...

This is what it looks like when there is an interesting technical issue on a system administrator's computer screen. The sixth SysAdmin is me (taking the picture).

We just set up an ANTWORKS ant farm. It's pretty cool. The gel inside was developed by NASA to send ants into space. Take heed of the warning about Army Ants:



"Note: DO NOT attempt to collect Army Ants in your ANTWORKS container. Should you see several hundred thousand very focused ants moving in your direction, we advise quickly leaving the area."