Born to be Barefoot | From Science to Life

Today we had the privilege of speaking with Paul Thompson, who is a podiatrist of over 10 years and the owner of the Barefoot movement, which is exactly as it sounds: being barefoot as much as possible and moving while barefoot. We discuss the difference between using insoles and other options like lifting shoes, and Paul explains why some of these options are better than others. For a big portion of Paul’s life, he has pushed wearing orthotics, but now he says all orthotics do is act as a brace, so there’s a much better way. Are lifting shoes a good option? 7:08Gait assessment 19:27Trying to fix the problem 24:51How Paul feels about orthotics 32:563 top foot exercises Paul recommends 36:34Dealing with bunions and crowded feet 45:00“Toe Yoga, just trying to get a connection between the intrinsic muscles in your feet, so in your toes, to articulate. So big toe up in the air, little toe down with your foot flat on the ground, so you’re trying to push your little toes on the ground with your big toe up, and then hold that for a second, and then switch to the big toe pushing into the ground and little toes up.” 37:16

Today we have a fantastic gentleman from San Antonio, Texas, Hernan Rozemberg. He’s 45 years old and can run a marathon in 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 16 seconds, which is really great, especially given the fact that he started running a bit later in life. Hernan realized he was good at running when he was younger, but didn’t decide to pursue the sport of running until he was in his late twenties, which is when he really got the running bug. He tells us about his flat feet and how he has been able to improve that issue using shoe insoles and the benefits he has experienced. Starting late in life as a runner 1:36How Hernan went about training at first 5:12Running is an outlet and way of life 8:45Born to Run Story 15:07Being flat footed and when the insoles really started helping 19:29Hernan’s recovery model 29:08Age range of people he coaches 39:11Traveling 45:29It’s never too late to start! 51:09“[Recovery] can be anything from fully taking a rest day, like no activity at all, or a cross training day. So not running, but doing some other activity to keep your heart rate going and the legs warm. It could be anything like cycling, it could be swimming, it could be hiking or walking, anything like that. In general I would keep it like a light to moderate effort, depending on the training that you’re doing.” 29:08-29:41

We have a fantastic gentleman with us today by the name of Zach Bitter, who is a phenomenal ultra runner. He’s a world record holder, he represented the US in ultra running, and is a national champion. An ultramarathon is any footrace longer than the typical 26 miles (42 kilometers) and Zach tells us all about how he got into these long distance races and how his journey to becoming a national champion has gone. How to get into running and about ultramarathons 1:13What he loved about running 4:56Variety in training 11:27Zach’s learning process 16:26Using wearable tech 19:44Simple training Zach recommends 25:54Perceived effort 29:26Zach’s family 34:09How you can develop longevity 41:21Injuries and foot support 46:14Connect with Zach 58:59“I wouldn’t do my short intervals right away in that plan, I would be doing a lot of foundational development early, and then as I get closer to competition time is when I start doing those short interval events because those are gonna be much closer to the rate stay intensity. Kind of the same mindset with the hundred mile, but hundred miling, for me specifically, I’m very rarely going to cross my aerobic threshold on race day for something like that, so the intensity just tends to be kind of lopsided and that kind of puts it in a position where if you’re gonna really prepare for what you’re gonna do on race day, you need to be doing a lot of that when you’re, say, 6-8 weeks out.” 19:03zachbitter.com@zachbitter

We have a lovely guest by the name of Sharny Kieser from Australia. She has an amazing history of helping people regain health and fitness, particularly ladies after childbirth looking at pelvic floor problems, looking at stomach problems, and she’s set the world alight with all the things she’s doing. Sharny talks about the various feelings and insecurities that women get after childbirth or from just being a woman, and then what kind of thinking a woman should use to change her mindset and be in a much healthier mental place, viewing their body as beautiful no matter what state it’s in or what it’s gone through. Sharny’s amazing program 1:14Coming out the other side thinner and healthier than ever 8:425 minute special of her program 19:16Getting comfortable with self massage 24:575 minute fitness section for a busy mom 32:52Traveling and taking a scale 41:31Recovering after a baby and helping your kids be comfortable with their body shape 50:46Helping your children be giving and caring, and creating your best life 60:10Feeling beautiful 65:33Get in touch 71:13“I really want other women to not hide themselves because of what their body’s gone through. Remember, you’re a girl, and then you become a woman, and a woman is beautiful. They’re more experienced with life, they’ve lived life. My husband always says to me ‘Your body tells a story, and that story is wonderful.’” 9:45@sharnyandjuliussharnyandjulius.comwww.sharnyandjulius.fit

We’re delighted to have on Brian Wood who is a holder of the military cross for various acts of gallantry in the Iraq conflict and who decided on his return to the UK that he wanted to raise money for military veterans who have struggled with life after the forces. Brian’s way of helping with this is to run a lot and regularly, and to run a lot of marathons. This year he has completed 35 marathons in 35 days. We discuss his diet, his training regimen, the people who supported him, and his routine of running and preparation he has followed to get to where he is now. Why he’s running these marathons 1:29The first prep wasn’t that great 6:05Two different start locations and giving back 16:11Eating and diet 22:33Fasting now that running is less 33:19Resilience in the army and working hard 36:25Get a hold of or follow Brian 40:45Did the insoles help? 51:55“I just had to focus and knuckle down, put my music on, and just yeah I rolled out the miles. That’s what it was, I never ever looked at that 35 days…but I took each day as it came and each mile as it came and I didn’t ever look at the sort of challenge as a whole. I just looked at each day, and then took it from there.” 13:44@brianwoodmcbrianwoodmc.co.uk

We have the pleasure of talking to Jeff Browning today. Jeff grew up around sports in a very sports driven family, always doing stuff outside and just naturally came to love all kinds of sports, such as football, rock climbing, mountain biking, and many others. He always ran on the side and has come to really love running, doing a lot of trail running and triathlons now. Jeff is at a point now where he will do 100 mile runs, which has taken a whole lot of training, but he is now at the point where he is able to handle a lot of abuse from this kind of exercise. What got Jeff into running 2:17Jeff’s training 11:45Different diets 20:40Predators and close encounters with animals 33:06Strength training 42:55Get in contact with Jeff 72:20“The backpacking trips we had taken would be like 20, 30 mile loops where you’re doing 7-8 miles a day with a giant pack on, and it sucks. You have blisters and you’re sore, and all of the sudden you could put like a couple pounds of water and a few gels in your pack and run that whole loop in a day. So that’s what really attracted me to the sport in the first place is that background in endurance that I already had, kind of putting all those different disciplines together into one sport.” 10:46@gobroncobillygobroncobilly.com

We are delighted to have Richard Pady on the podcast today, who has got the most astonishing background in endurance sports. He’s got a background in skiing, cross country running, and then a very, very high level international, professional tri-athlete. He then moved on to iron mans, ultras, duathlons, and just about anything you can think of that involves a lot of running, swimming, and cycling. Join us today to hear Richard’s story of how he got into endurance athletics and the great things he has learned and experienced. What got Richard into endurance athletics 1:53Sports becoming higher end 7:23Kinesiology 13:05A snapshot of his training level 18:55Injuries 21:35Moving toward coaching 24:29The mental journey after the accident 27:10The children’s cancer charity 31:55Where he’s at now 34:31What has attributed to his success and long life in sport 44:24Some advice 49:00“I had a close friend who was a high level athlete, tell me before my first iron man. He said ‘Enjoy the naiveness of this moment.’ It was literally as I was walking to the start line, and he said ‘You will never feel this naive in an iron man ever again. From this moment forward, you will know exactly how much pain you will be going through.’ And it was so true. You see it in a lot of everyday athletes that they do better in their first one than necessarily in their second one because they put expectations on the second one.” 6:03

Our latest guest today is a gentleman by the name of Tony Green, who coaches in Australia and we discuss how he got into running, his experience as a runner, his advocacy for minimal shoes, and what advice he has for the minimal shoe and how it has affected him and his coaching. He had a lot of issues with getting injured from running, such as a stress fracture, or shin and back alignment problems, so he decided to change his shoes, which he suspected were a culprit to these difficulties. How Tony got into running and his journey 1:54What he got out of running 6:08The type of injuries he was getting and changing shoes 11:15How his training has changed as he has gotten older 23:51Rest 29:55Heart rate 33:58Helping your kids and not wearing shoes 39:27Some of his biggest accomplishments 42:38“What’s an easy run for you?” “Just a pace that I could hold a conversation with someone if I’m running with them. So easy pace, that’s when I’m gonna listen to a podcast if I’m by myself, and probably just 40 minutes to an hour, conversational pace and not too hectic at all.” 30:31

Our guest on this episode is named Rae Reynolds and largely we’re talking about people achieving all sorts of things in endurance athletics, adventuring, and all sorts of different sports and activities. Of course for every one of those people that achieve something in their sport or activity, there’s somebody in the background who’s helping them achieve that, whether it’s a coach or a doctor, or in Rae’s case, massage and shockwave therapy, and other esoteric therapies. Rae puts everybody back into balance and gets people back to normal when life and sports are just throwing them off in the various ways that life and sports do. What she does 1:14Her average working day 8:16Energy work 14:00Ancient therapies and connecting with yourself 22:53Listen to your own breath and meditate 29:57“One of the simplest things that you can do is listen to your own breath. If you can’t get outside, and that’s part of what meditating is is connecting to your own breath. So when you’re walking, when you’re doing whatever, if you can’t get outside because some people I’m sure are in places that they cannot, listen to your own breath. If it’s labored, if it’s shallow, breathe deeper.” 29:58raereynolds.ca

In this episode Stuart interviews his co-host Katie Tsuyuki, an Olympic snowboarder for Canada, because they hadn’t met before they did this podcast and she has a great background and story, so they decided to get an insight into what it takes to become an olympian. We wanted to find out how she got there, what she did, the dedication it took, what sacrifices she had to make, what the training schedule looked like, and just a picture of what it was like being in that Olympic village. Katie’s Olympic journey 1:28Going to the Olympics and doing well 11:22Becoming good enough at snowboarding as a kid 15:39Her family and sports 21:58Things are still competitive 31:32How things went in Quebec 36:01Being at the top of the half pipe and doing well 43:20Doing the tricks, but not quite high enough 51:31The silver lining 55:19“I was in tears, my mom was in tears, my parents were over the moon and same with everyone. I had so much support from Canada and my support staff. Like I said it seems like it’s an individual sport, but you have all of these amazing people with years of experience behind you.” 47:02