Barefoot running?

There is an ultimate running trend about barefoot running that has arised my curiosity.

This theory, that was first addressed in a Nature magazine paper, is resumed in a magnificent Harvard's Skeletal Biology Lab review that you may find here.

This is based in a few assumptions:
- We land our foot on the heel because our overprotective cushioned shoes allow that.
- Our shoe's heel are too high and that fact predisposes to Achilles tendon injuries (that are so comon!).
- If we run barefoot we will start landing on the forefoot (landing on the heel is painful when you're barefoot) and our running will become more economic. Furthermore, we will prevent some lesions once there won't be a peak of impact on our knees, hips and spine.

I don't have any training in this area but I've always been curious about the way Kenyan's run. They appear to have springs under their soles... and that's the way forefoot running works - landing on the forefoot gives you back some of the impulse that you projected on the ground.

There is even a funny curiosity about it. The guys that try it for the first times usually feel some headaches in the end, due to the overflow of sensory information that comes from our nervous endings at the feet (that are usually numb inside the shoe).

So, wether it really works or not, I'm feeling really tempted to buy some Vibram's Five fingers to give it a try (30min run a week).


Here are some runners that were famous for running barefoot:
Abebe Bikila - former Olympic marathon world-record holder
Bruce Tulloh - former European 5k record-holder
Tegla Loroupe - former Olympic marathon world-record holder

Last weekend I went to another road race. This time, a 11.500m one. It was a tough one with a great amount of climbing and my performance wasn't good (I was tired and I was with the usual Spring polen asthma problem). However I was 2nd, after a 2h12 marathon portuguese guy.

5th SLB 10k race

Last weekend, I did another 10km (plus 200m) race. This time, to 33'06. I did almost all the race with Bruno Pais, one of the best portuguese triathletes. One of the most demanding kilometers was the 3rd, inside the parking of the stadium with sharp turns and short steep slopes.

I ended being really slow in the last km's (thinking I was fast) and the final time was worse than expected. The race was won by Ernest Kebenei, a kenyan, followed by Licinio Pimental, National Road Racing Champion.

I'm not in my best shape but I'll keep working on that in the next weeks. I hope that, in some months, I'll be able to do a race like this with times per km similar to the firsts of this race. We'll see...

Portuguese Sprint Champion

This weekend were the National Sprint and Middle Distance Championships in the north of the country (Vinhais).

The Sprint was fine. I was able to do a regular race and avoid mistakes. Splitsbrowser here (HE).


The middle was a disaster. I wasn't fast enough, I did mistakes in the area of so many controls. The worsts were 13, 16 and 23 (even with so many mistakes I lost the possibility of a not-so-bad result in the 23th... the map was a bit criticized by the athletes and that border green in the 23th area isn't real at all). Splitsbrowser here.

Rather than running I iddeally should now focus in the map technique and in the navigation routines in order to avoid silly navigation and get better results in Orienteering. In Lisbon it's impossible to do that (nor in an 1h driving range), so I'll have to keep my running routines and simply enjoy all the opportunities that I can get to train with a map in my hands...

Spanish National Champs+Clermont Ferrand

Last weekend I've participated in the Spanish National Champs in Moralzarzal, in the north of Madrid.
In 3 days there was a Long, Middle, Sprint and Relay events and the terrain and maps were great!
In the long and middle I didn't like my performance that much. I did some major mistakes and I've noticed that I have a great difficulty in running in stony and irregular terrains (mainly downhill!). I may be faster in flat and regular grounds but I can be pretty slow in the forest. It's difficult to jog in irregular grounds in Lisbon but I'm trying to find a way to improve this.
In the relay I was the 3rd element. I started some 15sec after Ionut. Gave my best to reach him to the 1st control but then did a stupid mistake in an area full of controls. The results of the whole competition may be found here.
Then I moved to Clermont Ferrand for one week and trained there. Unfortunately I hurt my knee in a night train in the 2nd day and did the rest of the trains of the week marching. I really enjoyed the area and the great maps! It was a pleasure to navigate there and I really have to come back!

11 training sessions in 2+1/2 days

Last weekend it was the National Team weekend's training camp Alter-do-Chão, lead by Bruno Nazario.

The routine was to run 30min at 7h30, map training at 10h30, map training at 15h, and map training at maximum speed in the night training sessions.

I'm not happy with my navigation right now. I keep doing some recurrent mistakes in the trains but I'm sure that with time they I'll be able to avoid them. (I'll post the great corridor train as soon as I get the trak)
Direction - Mistake at the beginning, as usual.

Night One man relay with mass start

Night one man relay with mass start nº2 (2 controls out of place and 1 huge mistake)

Double relay

Simplification - Mistakes at the beginning. Accidentaly turned off the GPS while jumping a fence.

A short sprint.


Hope that I'll be able to improve my technique in the next week at Clermont Ferrand.

Weekend's training camp

This time the weekend's club training camp was organized by COC in the POM 2010 area.
1 Multitechnique
A relay (forgot to turn the GPS on). It found difficult to distinguish the ups and downs in the area before the 2nd control.
A middle distance where I took, by mistake, the short course map (the course is different with some more controls). Anyway, huge mistake to 1st, and many hesitations.
A 2-man relay in Leiria city center.
I felt a bit tired after the Friday's long intervals but it ended being a productive weekend. My priority now should be to focus in my O'technique. I just keep doing too many (big) mistakes, too many hesitations and I feel that my navigation is not as secure as it should be.

15'28 at 5k national team trials

After not doing the trials due to sickness a few weeks ago, today I was given another chance. The National team leader and Norman came to the Lisbon's Universitary Stadium to give me a chance.

I ran the first 3k to the required time (15'45) and just gave it all in the last 2k, ending with 15'28. Felt well and didn't suffer what I was expecting.

After it I returned the favor to Jorge doing 40' fast minutes. Now I just want to ruun...


Thanks a lot to all these guys, REAL FRIENDS, that came to help me doing the time and to Rafaela who kindly took the camera with her. Without them I wouldn't have done it.

The guy in yellow cycled 90km in the morning, did all the 5k with me and ran 1h at a fast pace after... And that's why he's now one of the best portuguese athletes... A role model for me that I try to follow.

Ups and Downs...

There are times when you feel unbeatable. There are others when everything seems to go wrong (like now). After almost 2 months of half training I got sick for 2 weeks with some kind of virus.

I've missed the last weekend's 5k trials to national team due to sickness. Even if I passed at a flat 5k with 15'34 in a 10k race last December, I have many doubts that I'll be able to do the required 5k - 15'45 next Wednesday. (In the photos cutting the wind for the guys in the first 2000m).
Yesterday I've participated in the National Short Cross-Country Championships. Rui Silva (European 1500m champion) won the race with 12'37. I was 73rd in a disappointing race (2 years ago I was 10 places before). I did 14'19 in the 4500m race. But my University male team won the National University Championships! Full results here.(In the photo, Rui Silva leading the race)
Now it's time to work hard and try to compensate the lost time. And the next months I'll invest in more map training than ever... We'll see... (below is the map from the 1st part of the race of the 1st day of this weekend's great race organized near Lisbon by my club, CPOC)

Last news...

So, exams are over (only a small oral next Wednesday). I may safely say that in 5 years, this was the toughest exam season ever! I was studying hard for almost 2 months and keeping a basal training load, maintaining the main sessions of the week. It appears that it was too much and in the last days I had fever, sore throat and chills at night. Since yesterday I've been sleeping 12 hours a night plus a 3h30 (!) "siesta" yesterday. My throat still aches a lot and I hope it won't get my lungs. Next Saturday's National Team 5k trial (to a 15'45 limit) will be a total surprise for me.
I have a new sponsor to this season, EAFIT. They have been supporting me with their awesome products for the last months, but now it's official. I particularly like the wide range of products that they have separated in ecto/meso/endomorph athletes. If anyone is interested in having some of these products just tell me. To check the catalog, click here.
If you want to know why athletic doctors are better, click here. =)
And, at last, if you're a Winter Olympics fan, check the SO tiny differences that may separate glory from disgrace in the snow sports here.

POM 2010 - All the stars in Portugal

POM 2010 was the biggest orienteering event in Portugal after the WMOC 2008. All the big guys came to Portugal and for me it's a great opportunity to learn from them (not as much as I wanted...). If you want to know all the latest news and check the interviews with the best athletes click here.

Middle Distance, 7,1k, (165m), 30c, 36'16 - Started really slowly. The last time I had navigated with a map had been 1 month earlier and I was afraid of spoiling it all in the firsts controls. Big deviation to the 13th. And lots of time lost in "little" stops (in red). The "time comparison with Thierry" in the map below is an huge help to realize how much time I usually loose with "slowing downs" (and maybe physically too!). Long legs are my current weakness. I really have to work on them.

Long Distance, 15,1k, (320m), 29c, 86'37 - I have always some difficulties with 1:15000 (I don't train with this scale as often as I should). Once again started too slow. Once again the long legs! I have a tendency to turn off the brain while I'm running in long legs! Physically I felt great, no great tiredness (my Gel stayed in the pocket). A blister in my Achilles slowed me a bit from on the 16th.

Surgery II, Ortopaedics, Otorhinolaryngology and Urology are over. Still PediatricsII and Gynecology to finish this endless exam season. Now I just can only think in the great training sessions after exams (most of them are already planned).