Of Sheep and Shoes

I got to tag along to an "amateur" sheep shearing session this morning. I call it amateur as opposed to professional, because my friends P and J do it themselves rather than pay a professional for it. I was curious to see whether this could be an option for us as well.

Most of the sheep actually seemed to enjoy the shearing

To be honest, I am not sure that this makes financial sense to us just yet, given the cost for the shears. However, it was nice to see how calm the affair was, with even the most boisterous sheep easily being managed by two people. Our professional Mr B obviously does his sheep at a fraction of the time, flipping the sheep on their bottoms rather than having them stand, but it was good to see that it is possible for us to do it on our own, should we ever wish to.

Anyhow, I showed up at 8:30 in my sandals (not really wanting to acknowledge that autumn is upon us). Before getting in the car, I took them off and put on my old hiking boots. The main reason is that I want to avoid spreading possible disease between the farms (this is something that is mentioned again and again in "sheep forums": always, always change and clean your footwear!) and those hiking boots have never been used since I moved back to Sweden.

No, this piece of the foot puzzle does not fit with the other... Also, WHAT IS UP WITH THE HEELS?

Oh man, I had completely forgotten what it is like to wear this type of footwear! They are like casts on your feet, preventing your feet from moving AT ALL and apparently, that is the point... Even ballerinas are better than that. I cannot believe I spent a week hiking in the mountains with these. I wouldn't last a day in them now.

My Luna sandals having a well-deserved bath in the sink

Ice, Ice Baby

I've been obsessed with cold showers since I was 16. It all started because I had read somewhere that cellulite, the supposed bane of the female population, could be cured with cold showers. 

So at this (sad) point in my life, my teenage self decided she would end every warm shower with a cold one. Not that it worked against little dimples on my arse, but somehow it grew into an obsession that I couldn't live without. It felt so good!!

Fast forward to my late thirties and I started taking it to another level. I had (thankfully) abandoned the cellulite obsession long ago (the things us women are suckered into... but that's another rant altogether). Instead I was reading more and more about strengthening my immune system with cold showers. So I started ONLY showering cold. And got even more addicted to it. 

After a tip from my Norwegian partner in crime, Andreas "Paleoterapeuten" Døn, I have now found yet another reason to worship cold water - Wim Hof, the Iceman. Ey, ey, ey, now that is something to emulate... The guy is incredible, using his breath to manipulate his body to cope with extreme cold, but also using his mind to influence his immune and hormonal system to withstand stress and disease. I listened to this interview last night. 

With the help of his breathing exercises, I could hold my breath for a minute and a half without  blinking, but more importantly, I could make my body produce HEAT very quickly to counteract my rather cold bedroom. Interesting! And a bit sweaty. 

Wim also made a point of that we wear way too much clothing, which in turn reduces the amount of fat-burning "brown fat" in our bodies. I assume that I have quite a bit of brown fat from my incessant cold showers, as I heat up very quickly when working in cold weather, but I still insist on wearing a lot of layers (because mamma says so...). 

Hence, I decided to test out a few things today. I went for a run in my flimsiest barefoot shoes, sans socks, wearing leggings and two T-shirts. It was 5 degrees and rainy. Apart from my hands, the rest of my body stayed warm. 

Flesh-coloured tank top weather

Then I went for a dip, immersing myself up to my neck in the river for about ten seconds. Still not cold. Ran back. For good measure, I removed one of the T-shirts. Still not cold.

Interesting! Let's see if this new obsession has more benefits than just interesting anecdotes! I certainly felt extremely good afterwards and my body is still buzzing from it three hours later. 

Who needs a towel when the wind is blowing?

Born To Run Workshop

Last weekend I attended the aptly named 'Bulletproof Runner Workshop' organised by Born To Run, in Gothenburg. The course is designed to help improve your running technique, performance and injury prevention and is a stepping stone to Lee Saxby's legendary coaching course.

Those that have read the book Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall will know of the barefoot phenomenon. This influenced the popularity of minimalist running shoes, essentially stripping away your big fat-cushioned, inflexible jogging shoes to something which allows your 200,000 + nerve endings in your feet feel the ground again. I read the book and bought the minimalist shoes, but have always been conscious that I may need to improve and change my running technique to suit. This was the weekend!

Joseph and Gourgen were brilliant hosts and taught us loads over the two days. The first morning we ran through various drills to compare our technique against a 'Bulletproof Runner', these consisted of squatting, hoping, bouncing, uni-ped stances and running drills on a treadmill. These tested our ability of the 3 fundamental skills of Posture,  Rhythm and Relaxation which are all important to improve your running efficiency and reduce injury risk. These 3 skills were the catch-words of the weekend!

Watching yourself in slow-motion.

We were filmed both on the treadmill and outside, running at various speeds so that we could watch back at slow motion and discuss how we could improve our running techniques. It was fascinating to see how you move, break it down to the fundamentals and then rebuild a more efficient style. At the same time we were discussing the theory behind why the drills are so important to build strength through the elasticity and reactive ability of the neuromuscular system.

On day 2, we started early with a group recovery run. I am particularly bad at these and find it hard to go out for low-intensity runs and always end up pushing myself too hard. So, to prevent this happening Joseph gave us all a piece of tape and told us to stick it over our mouths! This essentially makes you solely breathe through your nose, which ensures you only run at a pace which suits your nasal inhalation. If you run too fast you will want to rip the tape off and gasp air in and out through your mouth….fail! The theory behind this is that your body requires a certain amount of CO2 to allow O2 to pass from your red blood cells to your muscle tissue, so by breathing through your nose limits the amount of CO2 you exhale thus allowing O2 to pass to your muscle tissue and aid with recovery. It worked a treat and although you look slightly odd with your mouth taped shut, it does make you concentrate about your breathing and running pace.

Tape makes for a quiet run!

All in all it was a great weekend and I learnt a lot about how to improve my running technique and the theory behind introducing some drills into my daily workouts to help build strength and prevent injury. After meeting so many interesting and inspirational runners during the weekend and in a moment of madness after the event, I signed up for the Hallands Ultra 50km race next June! That should be a good test of my running efficiency!

11th June 2016!

Visit the BTR website for more information on this course and Lee Saxby.

The Upside of Studying in the Sticks

My life consists of studying, eating, exercising and sleeping it seems. But I'm not complaining. Because in between, I sneak in this:

Pine cones hurt more than gravel, trust me on this one

And this:

Lingonberries to go with the moose I just wrestled to the ground

And this:

Glad no one saw me taking this pic

And some of this:

My face hurt from the cold after this particular swim

And this:

Not a tourist in sight

Showing Some Skin

I went for my first barefoot run of the year today. As the soles of my feet need a few weeks to get used to running without protection, I took it easy, running for 30 minutes in the park followed by an hourlong walk along the canal.   

Sidestepping daffodils and dog doo

I've been running and walking barefoot or in barefoot shoes (Vivo and Luna Sandals are my favourites) for close to 3 years now. As with a lot of things that I have changed over the years, it started with a problem. 

I've always been told that I have extremely high arches and that I should be wearing insoles. I caved in my late teens and got tailored insoles from my German podiatrist. He tutted and pointed out how my arches were already collapsing. Lucky me for finding him and his magic insole wand! 

The years went by and I would always choose flat, cushioned shoes over high heels, use ever more advanced insoles and buy top of the range running shoes (the models were always chosen based on my hideous pronation).

Despite my best intentions, a few years ago, my rather modest running habit starting giving me knee pains. At first, it took me a few days to recover. Then it took me a week. Then two weeks. Then a month. You get the picture. How could this be? I was doing everything right! 

So I found a physiotherapist to sort me out. She diagnosed severe ITB and started me on a program of foam rolling. Makes grown men cry. Trust me. She taped my legs and massaged and kneaded and I slowly started recovering. 

The next step was to do a gait analysis and then to create a new set of insoles. This is where my alarm bells went ding DONG and I started stalling. It seemed to me that doing more of the same would just be idiocy. At the same time, I had also come across the concept of barefoot running via Born To Run. Although I don't think we all should be running ultra marathons in leather sandals (way too much cardio, but that's a different story) there was something very alluring about the simple notion of chucking your shoes and healing foot, knee, hip and back issues. 

So I went for it. I threw out my expensive insoles. I bought new shoes. I started running tentatively both completely barefoot and in my new shoes (CAUTION: if you want to try this, start extremely slowly, your body will thank you). Slowly but surely, the last bit of my ITB disappeared. My arches strengthened and stopped aching from my hourlong walks. My toes stopped going numb from my weakened arches. My hips stopped clicking and getting "stuck". And my knees stopped hurting. 

Funny that. What if I had listened to my physio? The physio who prided herself in having started all her children on insoles as soon as they started walking? Who wondered how people in the olden days coped with ITB? It never struck her that maybe they didn't have it???

Ok, so going completely barefoot is perhaps a bit controversial. Even nuts. Especially in London. Camden is a bit gross, I admit. People look at you funny/ point at you/ laugh at you. So barefoot shoes are a pretty decent option. 

Although I don't mind being called crazy (thanks for the compliment!), shouldn't it be the other way around? Look at your own feet. The shoes you squeeze them into. Have you considered how they may be contributing to your foot, knee, shin, hip, lower back, shoulder pains? Aren't you the crazy one? ;-)

You've lost that squishy feeling, oh-oh that squishy feeling