Monday, December 3, 2007

San Diego Union Tribune


Nov 16, 2007

Finally, good story about me!!! oh, and good pic of me!
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071116/news_1s16fitness.html

This is totally cool article.
the only problem was the details about my study.
the data was mis-interpretted.

Runner's World "footlose"

http://footloose.runnersworld.com/2007/08/

Aug 2007

Runner's world wrote just a little bit about my study.
They only talked about negative result.
Why? I realized that they are highly dependent on running shoe
company, of course they don't really want to put positive part.
business busines....

KPBS Radio "these days"

Feb 7, 2007

http://www.kpbs.org/radio/these_days?id=7294

My first time being on a radio show...
I was sooooo nervous that I couldn't even remember what I said during the show.
There was no rehearsal...
now I listened to it, it is so embarassing...
I had a chance to talk about my study but I ruined it. bummer!

My Thesis "Potential Benefits of Barefoot Running" Completed

May 2007, I finally completed my thesis on a barefoot running study and
graduated. It took me 2 years just for the research....

Here is the abstract of my thesis
Research and marketing for athletic shoes has focused on cushioning the heel and stabilizing the foot with the intention of achieving injury-free running. Despite countless improvements and innovation of ergonomically correct footwear by major athletic corporations, sports medicine practitioners have been encountering many running related injuries. Therefore, the current study was examined to describe the effects of barefoot running combined with a converted landing technique, which is absorbing ground reaction force (GRF) through forefoot landing. In this study, 10 experienced runners aged between 23 and 45 completed 7 weeks of barefoot running training. GRF, VO2, and step length were measured before and after the experimental period. Paired Sampled tests (α=0.05) were utilized to analyze and compare the difference between the pre-test and the post-test to determine if those values change with increased barefoot running activity. The current study delineated that 7 weeks of barefoot running combined with a forefoot landing technique significantly reduced the peak GRF, which could possibly contribute to the knowledge of what causes running-related injuries. However, the training made the participants significantly more inefficient by increasing the energy expenditure determined by VO2. Step length was unchanged after the experimental period.

Covered the front page of Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB116718675522360186-lMyQjAxMDE2NjI3ODEyODg2Wj.html

Dec 27, 2007, my story went on the front page of wall street journal.
The story was very different from what I expected.
I don't know how the story can be changed like this but I guess they just write
what's good for them.
The writer, Joe Perriera was a really nice guy. I had several long conversations with him.
He is also a runner and he started running barefoot as well.
I am sure he was trying to write positive aspects but the editors probably
inhibited him from writing them.

I really wish they talked about my barefoot running study....

After this article, I got a lot of negative comments about this article
because apparently I gave wrong impressions about running barefoot.
but hey, it was not my fault!