Check this article: http://masterstrack.com/2010/10/16233/
Masters 55+ guy runs new Australian record for 3k in 9:14.27 Not too shabby.
I know that those who dislike fivefingers will not like them any better after reading this but thought I would pass it along anyway. At the very least a masters 55 guy running 3k at 4:58 mile pace is pretty cool.
Cheers,
Jim
bikilas are 6oz with no foam for energy return. asics piranhas are 4.8oz. id know what id rather wear.
congrats on the 55+ master, even though the article and comments are vibram endorsements.
congrats on the 55+ master, even though the article and comments are vibram endorsements. //
I’d say the old dude smashing such an old record is the real endorsement…I have to admit i’m very intrigued about these shoes, and will certainly get some soon. I was a big barefoot runner in my youth, running mostly on the beaches here in so cal. Now that I will soon age up to this guys group, and have recently expirenced more injuries in one year than I did in the previous lifetime, I will grasp at this straw and hope it does the trick. It appears from a lot of testemonials that it has worked for a lot of people. When I think back to when I came to tri from a swim background and just a few miles of sand running, I took to the increased mileage very quickly, without too many aches or pains. I did find that running on hard surfaces 3 days in a row would start a shin splint or some other tweek in my leg, but getting on dirt got rid of it right away. Pretty much stayed on dirt ever since then, except for races and when there is none. Been forced to run more hard surfaces lately, and perhaps once again it is trying to tell me something…
Anyway pretty fast time for an old dude, I can’t imagine running one sub 5 minute mile anymore, would be happy to run a 6!!!
foam for energy return
Is foam padding a good material for energy return? Better than the elastic structures in the foot? Foam seems more like a damping material to me.
I think they’re pretty tough to find. A few retailers around here have been sold of of the core sizes in popular styles.
Hi Monty, I think you were also a lot younger back then :-).
Here is something that has worked really well for me over the past 5 years in line with your philosophy of running on soft surface. I try to do all my intervals/speed running on grass soccer or football fields. Most standard soccer fields are 50m wide and 100m long so it makes a loop around 300m and with some rider turns, 5 laps basically gives me a mile…one loop and one straightaway is close enough to 400m…so between that, you basically have the softest track around. You could do some of your work on the soccer field in Vibrums or conventional racing flats.
I realize that there is a massive diff between me being 45 and you being 55, but I have to say, that going the “grass route” the health of my lower legs/feet is now better than when I was 32.
Dev