Will Run Riot

This is heel-striking, which is what most runners do. The modern...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:16:00 -0500

This is heel-striking, which is what most runners do. The modern running shoe is designed for this. You can see that there is a very high-impact blast that travels up my leg on heel impact.

The team was able to measure the force of these impacts as I ran, and you can see a very pronounced (only slightly less pronounced when I wore sneakers) impact that is rapid. This blip is equivalent to two times my body weight—it’s like someone taking a huge hammer and pounding me on the heel repeatedly.

When the study is completed, they’ll have a lot more conclusive data comparing heel/forefoot striking and shod/barefoot running. It seems clear for now, however, that a toe strike keeps you from generating those very high, very fast forces that your muscles and joints can’t absorb. Running barefoot, you tend to adjust away from this kind of impact because it hurts, but if you insist on wearing expensive, un-scientifically proven shoes, at least act like you’re not wearing them and land on your forefoot.

Spent this morning in Dan Lieberman’s lab as a guinea pig...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:05:00 -0500

Spent this morning in Dan Lieberman’s lab as a guinea pig in a study he and his team are doing on barefoot running. I have always wanted to run on a treadmill with electrodes all over me, so now I can check that off the bucket list.

Here is my barefoot stride (though wearing Vibram Five Fingers here), in all its glory. I’m striking the ground with my forefoot, which allows for the arch to compress, absorbing some shock. You can also see how the calves compress more fully and then unload (as compared to the next video where I’m heel-striking).

Apple picking in Little Compton. Bringing home a bag of...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:26:09 -0400

Apple picking in Little Compton. Bringing home a bag of Cortlands, Fujis and Macouns.

10 years. 185,000 miles. Been good to know you. Oh yeah,...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:18:50 -0400

10 years. 185,000 miles. Been good to know you.

Oh yeah, doesn’t hurt that Toyota’s giving me 150% of the value for it.

Final lobster roll of the season. Bob’s Seafood in Sebago...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:13:31 -0400

Final lobster roll of the season. Bob’s Seafood in Sebago ME.

Thanks to Allison for this excellent moment from Neil.

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:13:59 -0400

Thanks to Allison for this excellent moment from Neil.

Fairhaven unhappy with NStar subdivision plan | SouthCoastToday.com

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:14:05 -0400

Fairhaven unhappy with NStar subdivision plan | SouthCoastToday.com:

This article ran today in the local paper (don’t know who tipped them off!), resulting in NStar calling up the town to set up a meeting to negotiate further.

I just got back from the meeting, which was packed with neighbors opposing the development. The town voted down the preliminary proposal, so hopefully this won’t rear its head again.

A huge victory in what I’ve called Operation Phoenix.

On Bus Tours, Seeking a Better Way of Living - NYTimes.com

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:28:53 -0400

On Bus Tours, Seeking a Better Way of Living - NYTimes.com:

On the surface this sounds great. I often think about how good college kids have it, with so many interesting people who have time to hang out every day.

My fear would be waking up in a baby-boomer dystopia— slogging through meetings about community gardens with passive-aggressive Yankees.

I guess I’d rather just get to know my neighbors well enough that they can just drop by whenever.

Yesterday I heard NSTAR (local utility) was going to subdivide...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:31:24 -0400

My Nozbe

Fort Phoenix, Courtesy Ed Hebert

Yesterday I heard NSTAR (local utility) was going to subdivide the land adjacent to the Fort Phoenix Reservation (a beautiful park/beach nearby) and sell it to developers. The land is NSTAR’s to with what it wants, but a string of McMansions between our neighborhood and the beach would not be a welcome sight— especially when it would replace the woods I run barefoot through (oops— I had no idea it was private land).

After talking to neighbors down that way, I came up with a list of next actions and Operation Phoenix was born. Above is a shot of the project as I approached it using Nozbe , a GTD task-management program I’ve used for over a year now. One trick that helps me is to include the relevant phone # or email in the task list, so I have everything I need to complete the listed action.

The actions with the clock symbol next to them are “Waiting For” actions (ie “Waiting for Joe to reply to land use email”). I found this list especially valuable back when I had an actual job and I had to delegate tasks to people. A quick review of the Waiting For list would remind me who got assigned what when and what I still needed.

By approaching Operation Phoenix with a clear set of actions (separated by context) I was able to get a lot done today that will hopefully mean our little town will get to keep its trees.

A little charter school fire from Howard Fuller at the recent...

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:01:43 -0400

A little charter school fire from Howard Fuller at the recent National Charter School Conference. Courtesy of Flypaper.

Me and my good friend Tony at Camp Looking Glass in Mississippi...

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:41:00 -0400

Me and my good friend Tony at Camp Looking Glass in Mississippi last week. We’re on our way to an excellent costume party.

Tony is dressed as a cat and I am dressed as… the sun?

I am a camp guy. Here’s a good post on camp as an ideal community by Seth Godin, author of Tribes.

A reblog from my good friend Alex, who reminded Laura why she...

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:16:57 -0400

A reblog from my good friend Alex, who reminded Laura why she loves her job

alexbain:

Ostensibly, the reason I visited Fairhaven yesterday was to teach an origami class at Crafternoon in the Millicent Library (though my main motivation was to catch up with Will and Laura Gardner).

My trip to the library and the time I spent talking to Laura about library science, were really inspiring. A few thoughts:

The concept of a library has evolved quite a bit since my childhood. They have YouTube viewing parties, karaoke nights, game days, pajama reading events, and all sorts of other fun meet-ups. Laura works hard to show kids that the library is a safe, fun place, and they discover an interest in reading while they’re there. I haven’t checked a book out of a town library in over 20 years, and I can count on two hands the number of books I checked out in high school, college and grad school combined. I’ve been out of the game a while, so I guess it’s a good thing that libraries evolved.

Laura has gone way beyond her initial job description as town librarian. For example, she has a martian character named “Zoinks” that dresses up in all-green, and visits each of the local schools to entertain the students and promote the library. Many of these schools don’t have their own librarians, and this is their first exposure that resource. Seeing someone take an opportunity to make a difference and knock it out of the park makes you feel better about humanity in general. In my opinion, these investments in young people are particularly powerful, because Laura’s reaching them at a time when there choosing an identity, and the chance of them reaching their potential is so much greater if the think of the library as a favorite hangout spot.

The Millicent Library building is visually and functionally spectacular. It was originally built and donated to the town by Henry Huttleston Rogers, a VP at Standard Oil in 1893 (Rogers also created an endowment, so that the library’s budget wouldn’t be at the whim of the town). His 17-year old daughter, Millicent, died of heart failure a few years prior, and the project was begun in her honor. She’d loved to read, and mentioned once that she wished, Fairhaven, the town where they spent their vacations had a library. I can only imagine how crushing it must have been to lose a daughter in her teens, and how moved both the family and Millicent would have been if they could have known her memorial (with the help of a turbo-charged, young librarian) was instilling a love of reading 116 years later. I’m reminded of the time ,in a business school class, when the professor put on the chalkboard the names of the 100 wealthiest men in America in 1900, and asked us how many we recognized. The answer was “very few”, and the ones we could identify were only because we’d heard of their charities or foundations. The lesson was that, if “immortality” is your goal, no amount of success in business we’ll even extend your name 100 years into the future, but a well funded effort at social good just might give you a shot.

I volunteered with a “big brother” organization when I lived out in San Francisco, and this excursion down to Fairhaven has inspired me to reengage with that program as soon as I get back. I don’t think I could ever have a Laura Gardner-type impact, but it’s something to aspire to.

Lobster Lust part Deux: Turk’s Seafood in Mattapoisett In...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:04:12 -0400

Lobster Lust part Deux: Turk’s Seafood in Mattapoisett

In my continued search for Lobster Roll Nirvana, I ventured down Route 6 to Turk’s Seafood, a Southcoast favorite. Accompanied by Alex Bain, whose shellfish allergy unfortunately excludes him from such bottom-feeding, I came to Turk’s on the recommendation of ~~the only~~ Run Riot faithful reader Stef.

As the photo indicates, Turk’s is generous with the sweet meat (fellow adolescent minds guffaw here). The substantial roll pays homage to the traditional hot dog bun while offering more of a handle on what is a significant amount of former crustacean. Turk’s lobster roll is for the most part unadorned, save for some dried parsley sprinkled on top. Very little mayo or salad, a few chunks of celery.

Turk’s somewhat literal interpretation of our favorite summer staple as the advantage of being clean and lean. What it lacks, perhaps, is the cohesiveness and bun-soakiness of more traditional rolls. The experience of eating it was that of eating lobster which was incidentally sitting on a roll. Perhaps this is the purist’s roll, but I couldn’t help feeling a little magic was missing.

Price: $15 (market) + fries or chowder (quite tasty)

Overall Score: 4 out of 5 Tails— a hearty helping of chunky meat for the no-frills enthusiast.

Went for a 2.5 miler barefoot today. This was my third barefoot...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:23:06 -0400

Went for a 2.5 miler barefoot today. This was my third barefoot run in three weeks and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’ve been inspired after finishing Born To Run, an excellent book on the role of distance running in evolution and the “greatest race never seen,” between an eclectic group of ultra-marathoners and members of the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico.

Honestly, the hardest part of barefoot running is not being self-conscious when running barefoot in public. Once I’m warmed up, though, it is quite satisfying to scramble like a squirrel up the rocks on Fort Pheonix. Blue comes with me as well, so at least I’m not the only one without shoes.

The idea is that when you run without shoes, you tend to change your form, coming down more on the ball of your foot than on the heel. Because you have so many nerves on the bottom of your feet, they let you know if your stride is jarring or sloppy.

The first time I considered this was in Mississippi one lazy summer day, when I was hanging out with some friends on a porch in Indianola. Blue took off after a stray dog (named “Mama Dog,” as her litter provided many of that group of friends with puppies) and, without stopping to throw on shoes, I took off in pursuit after Blue. I ended up catching Blue a few blocks away. The way I ran in that particular moment was about as natural as my stride has ever been— faster cadence, pumping with my arms and compact, not over-extending— and I remember really enjoying running like that.

The most frequent question I’ve gotten about this is whether I end up with broken glass and twigs in my feet. So far I haven’t. Again, because I have so many nerves in my feet, I think it makes me a lot more mindful of where I’m stepping. My small runs so far have taken me over pavement, gravel, lawns (ahhh), sand and rock and my feet seem to be holding up OK. I’m hoping to up my barefoot mileage as I get used to it and my calves adjust (they’re still sore, as running without shoes means they stretch more).

Perhaps I will come to my senses in a week or two and go back to wearing the Asics full time.Until then, I will continue to Run Riot unshod.

Check out this site for more background on barefoot running, I’m not making this up!

The lobster roll. A staple of the New England summer. The soft...

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:00:13 -0400

The lobster roll. A staple of the New England summer. The soft bun, the crunch of the lettuce, the tang of fresh lemon and that sweet, sweet lobster— the briny bug that somehow captures July in its crustacean capsule.

I’m back. And I’m unemployed. That makes this my job.

My first assignment? To chart the waters of Massachusetts’ South Coast in search of the elusive catch of summer: the perfect lobster roll. I shall call it:

Lobster Lust
First Stop: Margaret’s of Fairhaven
Margaret’s is our go-to for dinner on nights we just want to walk a couple of blocks. While their lobster roll is technically termed “Lobster Salad Sandwich” on the specials menu, this guy ain’t fooled. Most notable about Margarets’ take on the LR is the Portugese sweet roll that it comes on. The bread does a good job of soaking up the lobstery goodness and adds a new dimension of sweetness to the overall experience. A little skimpy on the meat, which nonetheless is of good quality and not overly mayoed.

Price: $15

Overall Score: 4 out of 5 Tails — an unconventional take that doesn’t disappoint.

What the Duck.

Tue, 19 May 2009 12:27:30 -0400

What the Duck.:

This story quacked me up.

Imagine having a sense of smell that is 1,000 times stronger...

Mon, 04 May 2009 19:11:11 -0400

Imagine having a sense of smell that is 1,000 times stronger than a human’s. Sticking your snout out the window must be awesome.

"America is the country of the Future. It is a country of beginnings, of projects, of vast designs..."

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0400

“America is the country of the Future. It is a country of beginnings, of projects, of vast designs and expectations.”

- Emerson (quoted in Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat and Crowded.

"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool, or you go into the ocean."

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0400

“Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool, or you go into the ocean.”

- Christopher Reeve

Laura and I have a plot this year at the Fairhaven community...

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Laura and I have a plot this year at the Fairhaven community garden. We paid $10 and we get a raised bed, compost, mulch and use of tools etc. After a morning of shoveling, we mulched the paths around the plots and filled the beds with free town compost.

Gardening is more enjoyable as a team sport— I’ve already gotten a couple of good ideas from our neighbors, a few of whom are devotees of “square foot gardening.”

While we’re planning on putting up a rabbit fence around the garden, there was some discussion as to the best way to keep deer out. After the discussion I wished I had insisted on having one of the middle beds, which I imagine won’t get munched as much as the ones on the outside. Probably the most sensible solution to the deer problem would be to reintroduce wolves to the area.