Wednesday WOOT! Factor!!

Good MORNING Kittens!! Happy Wednesday! How is everyone?? Sorry I missed y'all yesterday- I was simply buried all day long. You know. ;-)

Today's Wednesday WOOT! Factor is my friend Casey Ferrier from Twitter. We'd been tweeting for a while and when the subject of running "barefoot" or in running shoes came up, he had a definite good story and opinion to share about his experience. I asked him if he'd share with us and of course he was down with it. Read on and check out his blog. He pretty much rocks. ;-)

When did you first start working out and why? I started running my senior year of college. One of my buddies ask 5 of us guys if we wanted to training to run a 10K with him in the spring. So I thought what the heck, I've never been a runner let's give it a shot. Now I can't imagine not being a runner.

Are you at your “Happy Place” right now – meaning more of a maintenance mode, or are you still in a weight loss mode? I wouldn't say that I'm trying to loose weight, but I'm focused on my ultimate goal of running a full marathon.        

What does your current workout “routine” look like now? I like to lift weights a couple of times a week as well as run 2-3 times a week.

What do you do for cardio? How often? All my cardio is running. I run 2-3 times a week.

Do you workout at home or the gym? I work out at the gym.

What do you say to those that haven’t gotten fit and complain that they don’t because they “can’t get motivated”? "You need to find exercise that works for you. Running may not be your thing, but kick boxing or weight lifting might be. Try a few things and see what you like best."

What about any/all of the excuses like “No time”, “No money”, “no gym”, “no support” "There's never a perfect time; there's never a perfect scenario. Life will always throw something in your way to disrupt you. You just need to get started."

What does your “diet” look like i.e. how you eat, what is your Philosophy? Make sure you have lots of fresh colors on your plate.

What changes have you made over the past several years in your diet and/or workout approach and why? I've been cooking more at home and buying more fresh vegetables and fruit at the local farmers market. I'm avoiding canned and pre-packaged frozen foods.

What is your food weakness? Oreos and Peanut M&M's

What is your favorite healthy breakfast? Whole wheat toast and egg whites

When did you start blogging and why? I can't remember when I started for sure, but I knew wanted to create a name for myself. I'm still trying to find my niche, but I'm starting to see more of my focus trend toward running and a "diet" for runners.

How has blogging enhanced your fitness efforts?  It gives me an accountability team. If I'm not running I have a group of people to get on my case.

What is your Twitter/FB/Email?

⁃          @caseyferrier

⁃          www.caseyferrier.com

-          running@caseyferrier.com

What haven’t you done (fitness wise) that you’d like to try? Cross fit looks like a lot of hard work, but it also looks like it's a lot of fun. Quick workouts and lots of different activities to keep your muscles guessing.

What motivates you to keep at it? My inner passion for running keeps me going. When I don't run I feel like a part of me is missing.

Are you a morning workout person or evening or lunchtime? I like to hit the gym to lift weights during lunch, and then run after work.

What is YOUR biggest excuse that you find yourself battling in not wanting to workout a certain day?  I hate getting back into casual office clothes after a hard work out.

Do you weigh yourself or measure yourself?  I weigh myself periodically.

Tell us your running story:  

My journey started the summer of May 2009 my wife bought me a new pair of Mizuno running shoes. We went to the local mom and pop running store, and I was fitted for a "proper" pair of running shoes for my feet. I spent over an hour with the very helpful owner of the store. He check my size, my pronation, my stride and narrowed down a couple of stability running shoes that would be "best for me." He told me to take it easy and break the new shoes in slowly. At the time I dropped back to about 1 mile a couple times a week.

After I broke the new shoes in, I started back to my 5-6 miles a 3-4 times a week. About a month into it I started to get sharp pain in the bottom of my feet, and it continued to get worse. I started to twist one of my ankles at least once a week for about a month. Then the pain was so bad I had to hang up my running shoes; I was devastated. It felt like someone was running a railroad spike into the bottom of my foot. 

That summer I did a lot of research about what was happening. I saw a vlog post by Tim Ferris author of the 4 hour work week. He talked about his lower back pain that put him in crazy pain for a several years and then he found these shoes called Vibram FiveFingers. He talked about how they help you with your posture because they are more natural fitting, and get you 'back to the basics'. So that started my thinking if they help your back pain the it should help me because my knees and hips KILL me the morning after my runs. I wondered if I was doing damage than good. . . I knew something wrong.

I stumbled on two blogs www.birthdayshoes.com and www.inbetweenmytoes.com the summer/fall of 2009, and I also read the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. Those three resources have changed my view point on running and what the human body is capable of accomplishing.

 I bought my first pair of Vibram Fivefingers that fall . . . I've been in love ever since!! In June/July of 2009 I wondered if I would ever be able to enjoy running again without excruciating pain. Almost a year later and I'm running consistently. Zero pain in my feet, and I don't have the pain in my knees like I used to have before. Only the usual muscle soreness from working out and pushing myself. 

I completed my first half-marathon in my Vibram Fivfingers in June 2010!!

I ran a 5K this past weekend and I crushed my previous personal best I ran a 21:54!! I placed  first in my age group and 5 overall. I ended up running the race in my Nike race flats, because my Vibrams are being repaired, but they are still a minimalist running shoe. (They have less than an inch of rubber between my foot and the ground.)

 I'm not saying that barefoot/minimalist running is for everyone, but I want people to be educated about the topic. In the 70's running injuries sky rocketed, and this is because of the "traditional running shoe." These past few weeks leading up to the 5K I've been trying out complete barefoot running, and it's quite different. I will definitely be doing more true barefoot running, and I'll never go back to a 'traditional running' shoe.