A nolhtaud and My weekend at Two Rivers Treads

A nolhtaud (nahl todd) is a backwards Duathlon. I'm such a smarty! ha!  Two Rivers Treads has a running clinic each Saturday morning in Shepherdstown. Since I need to be really, really careful with my footstrike right now, I consider myself a 'new runner.'

I'm trying erase all the bad muscle memory and replace it with good muscle memory. I tend to run high on my fore foot which is bad. Bad for my calves, achilles, plantar plate and toes.

I live near the C&O Canal tow path, and Shepherdstown is on the tow path as well so I thought it would be a great idea to bike there, do the clinic, and bike home - bike, run, bike - a reverse Du!

I started really early because I wasn't sure how long it would take me. I arrived in time to change my shoes and wash my legs which is good because I must have ridden through some horse poo. Stinky, stinky!

Tom led the clinic and it was really good. He talked about many of the basics Dr Mark covers during the injury prevention clinics. He told us he wouldn't critique us, but I asked him to please tell me if I was up on toes at all. After some barefoot running drills we headed over to the Bavarian Inn where he showed us how to run uphill. The road to the Inn is definitely UPHILL!

Then we ran over the bridge into Maryland and then went back to the store. All told we went about 2 miles. I am so out of shape! Thankfully it's a beginner clinic so we were all close to the same pace and they didn't leave me in the dust! I have to say it was really nice to run with people again.

 We finished up, and I hopped on my bike and headed back hoping to beat the wrath of Irene.  I was tooling along, totally zoned out and suddenly there was a huge tree across the path and some people standing around wondering how long it had been there. 

I thought I must have gone past where I parked so I had to confirm where I was. Turns out that I had not gone past my car so the tree fell some time between 6:45 and 10:30ish. So scary! It's a huge tree and a lot of people are on the path during that time on the weekends. Thankfully no one was hurt and we were able to tromp down the branches on one side so folks could get through.

In the end I biked 16, ran 2 and biked 16 again. It was really fun, and I plan to do it again this weekend!

Earlier in the week, I got an email from TR Treads saying they were GIVING AWAY -as in for free - kids VivoBarefoot shoes on Sunday afternoon.  You didn't have to tell me twice; I was there!

They gave away about 150 pairs of shoes. So cool!   After measuring the kids, they had shoes to fit Ella and Shane. Hank's boats were just too big.

I was completely thrilled and very grateful. Vivobarefoot shoes are top notch and will survive anything these two can throw at them.  We'll be passing these shoes on to their kids I'm sure!

I don't know if the folks in Shepherdstown know just how blessed they are to have a store like Two Rivers Treads. I know that I'm very glad we live close enough to go there often!

Here's Dr Mark's video of it (I'm about 22 seconds into it, white tank, blue and white skirt. Thankfully you can't see the sweat running down my legs. I swear it wasn't pee.)

Still avoiding my chores and buying...

We started Saturday by going to Home Depot for a little kid craft adventure and we could have gone straight home and cleaned the basement, but I am avoiding that like a little kid saving the brussel sprouts for when momma isn't looking.

Instead we drove to scenic Shepherdstown. The kids were in a very silly mood and after making them sit in a store for an hour with me, Bill and I let them run around the block while I took pictures so they could blow off some energy.

I asked Bill to put them on the wall, but the bull horns are their own doing. Very silly kids.

In the doorway of a really pretty stone church. I took a bazillion photos of them at this spot but none showed the kids *and* the church quite the way I hoped.

Bill stopped in a coffee shop to buy some chickory coffee so the kids and I hung out and took more pictures. Ella suddenly became a little kid fashion model and was lounging this way and that and telling Hank how to pose. It was really cute to watch. So here's one of their 'serious' poses.

Oh! I forgot to mention the store we went to...Two Rivers Treads. You know, that groovy shoe store that does free gait analysis, specializes in minimal running shoes, and is owned by Mark Cucuzella who organized the injury prevention panel I attended in January.

I walked in the door really expecting to buy Newtons and be done with it, but I saw the new New Balance Minimus on Runblogger and wanted to give them a try as well.

True Confession - I am THE MOST indecisive shopper on the planet...especially with something like running shoes. It's not like I can just buy another pair if I don't love the ones I get so I want to try one every possible pair in the store. Painful.

First up, Lady Isaacs. Loved them, they felt great.

Next was the New Balance Minumus. Did not love them. I wanted to, but the strap/gusset thingy that goes across the top of the foot felt like it bunched right where my toes bend. And there is not a notch in the back at the achilles, instead it goes up and it bumped my achilles when I ran. Back in the box.

All set to walk out with the Newtons when I spy the Vivobarefoot Evos. All the cool minimal kids rave about Evos (and you can get over 1,000 miles out of one pair, talk about getting your money's worth!) so I tried them on. They had the same 'bunchy' feeling across my toes when I ran, but they otherwise felt really good. So good in fact that I tried on a pair of....

Neos. Yum! I went for a little spin down the street in them and they felt really good.  Then the fun began (unless your name is Bill, Hank, Shane or Ella, or the poor salesman). Which one do I choose??

Talk about a tough decision. The Newtons have about a 5mm drop from heel to midsole. The Neos 0mm. I'll have to gradually transition into either shoe so I decided to get the Neo. It's not a pretty shoe and looks a little weird, but I think over the long run it will be the better choice for me.

I went for a .5 mile run in them when we got home and then a 5.6 mile bike ride -slow, fun ride with the fam. They were comfy and didn't rub my foot in any way.

The only thing I'm a little worried about is how breathable they are. The inside was a little damp when I got home from the bike ride  - didn't sweat on the ride and the temp was around 45-50 so I dunno. I'll wear them around the house and do some more reading before I really commit to them.

In the meantime, I'm pretty stoked about taking tangible steps to improve my gait and transition to more minimal running so I can further transition to MORE RUNNING!