Going barefoot

I bought my last pair of running shoes in May 2009. And I still use them. Granted, I have not been running a lot in the last six years but it has been close to six years nonetheless. So, I recently decided it was time to buy a new pair.

In the CrossFit gym I go to, we work out with no shoes on. I just wear my socks doing the workout indoors. We slip on our running shoes when we have to go do some exercise outside. But for the most part, our workouts are indoors, wearing our socks. It felt funny at first but I have grown accustomed to it. We also sometimes run laps inside, with no shoes. Our CrossFit coach showed us how to run properly with no shoes. Basically, land on the balls or the middle part of our feet, not the heel. We should not over-extend our legs so that we can land properly. It’s a different way from how I’ve been running all these years when wearing running shoes that again, it felt funny at first but I started to feel more comfortable with it over time.

At the suggestion of my CrossFit coach and Ed, I looked into the minimalist running shoes. These have “zero drop” from the heel to the balls of the feet, unlike the mainstream running shoes which have 10mm to 12mm lift from the balls of the feel to the heel. With zero drop, it is basically like running barefoot and this promotes a more natural running gait.

I found a small store on Main St that focuses on natural running (http://www.distancerunwear.com) and they carry a good selection of minimalist shoes. I tried on three pairs (Vivobarefoot, Inov-8, and New Balance) and I ultimately decided to buy the one that feels the most like being barefoot - the Vivobarefoot Stealth. I have used it only twice for our warm-up run before the CrossFit work-out so the jury is still out on whether I made the right choice or not. We’ll see…

Alaskan king crab dinner

Ed organized a dinner with me and three other friends recently at a Chinese restaurant in Richmond.  No special occasion.  Just five people enjoying amazingly delicious food and feasting on an Alaskan king crab and a duck.  The crab yielded three different dishes - the legs steamed with garlic, the leg knuckles stir fried with spicy sauce, and the meat in the body mixed with noodles.  The duck yielded two dishes - Peking duck and duck lettuce wrap.  There was too much food for five and we just ate and ate and ate.  The food was very tasty!  We all had a great time stuffing ourselves.  We definitely could have had two or three more people join us and we would still have had enough food for everyone.

We all knew it was going to be an expensive dinner but I don’t think any of us expected it to be as expensive as it turned out to be.  We were all a little shocked when the bill came.  The crab cost $418.00!  I don’t think I have ever had one dinner item cost that much before.  

To splurge once in a while is fine and we definitely had a wonderful time enjoying that crab.  I better start saving for next year’s Alaskan king crab dinner!

Some photos... (Thanks to Tina and Sean for the photos.)

King crab!