Barefoot Running, Minimalist Shoes, Interbike 2012, Ant+ Alliance Symposium

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!!!

A new direction in shoes...
This week I took the "plunge" and ordered a pair of running shoes that are classified as "minimalist", which means that I will be trying to switch my running mechanics from traditional, heel-lifted,  running shoes, to something with a flat heel, minimal padding, but that also provide protection for the foot that going barefoot obviously won't accomplish (glass, rocks, etc.).  I chose a Brooks product because I have a pair of Brooks running shoes and like them, and because I found a nice article in Running Times  (http://runningtimes.com/Channel.aspx?CategoryID=355) that told me what I wanted to hear about the shoes.  I chose the Brooks PureConnect shoe ($90) and expect to see it arriving at my door in the next few days.



I must say I'm a little nervous about the switch because I have had some difficulty with pain in my arches in the past.

Why am I willing to give this a shot?  First of all - I have to admit that I have had a great season with my traditional running shoes this year.  My improvements this Summer season have been very statisfying for me.  So, it's not this season's performance that drives me to try minimalist shoes.  I have to go back to last Fall when I first started using my traditional running shoes.  I had spent the entire Summer of 2011 running in some basic cross-trainer shoes (wasn't sure yet that this running thing was for me).  Once I got hooked, there were some suggestions made that "you better get some decent shoes so you don't hurt yourself".  So I made the move.

Since switching to traditional running shoes, I have had a variety of aches and pains, injuries, and set backs that made me think that my running mechanics may be the cause.  The most severe of which was a terrible case of Runner's Knee (sometimes also referred to as Jumper's Knee) this last Spring when I got back on the open road with my training. 

What finally pushed me to try minimalist shoes was a discussion I had with a gentleman from Australia that visited our booth at Interbike 2012 in Las Vegas last week.  Dominic Bricomb, an Osteo, suggested that moving to a barefoot or minimalist motion would reduce the shock and impact affects of "heal striking" on my knees.  That was it, I was sold.

Then today I read the following post, and being an engineer, I really liked the technical explanation.  Take a look.  It comes from a blog that I hadn't heard of until this week - "The Science of Sport".   Here's there blog post on minimalist shoes: http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/03/running-shoes-part-iii.html.

 I will keep you posted as I attempt to transition slowly and safely to my new running mechanics.

I should also give "honorable mention" to my good friend Herbie for running a 5K with me this Summer in a cheap pair of flat canvas high top tennies to show me that minimalist doesn't always mean that we give in to the big shoe companies and their marketing campaigns.  I, of course, didn't pass that same test...


 Ant+ Alliance Symposium
Welcome back to Roger (my partner in www.moxymonitor.com ).  He just got back from Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, where he attended a great symposium on Ant+.  Lots of highlights are forthcoming, but according to Roger, the networking was great, and a keynote speech by Ray Maker (www.dcrainmaker.com ) was worth the trip.



If you don't know what Ant+ is - it's a wireless protocol used widely (and growing) by the fitness community to connect devices (like the Moxy Monitor of course) to the user interface (wristwatch display, GPS watch, bike computer, etc.).  We have been looking at a variety of options for Moxy, like BlueTooth, BlueTooth Low Energy, and of course Ant+.  No final decisions yet (stay tuned).


Thanks for reading my Blog!!!

Stu

Interbike 2012, 2012 Ant+ Alliance Symposium,

Hi Everyone!  Thanks for reading my blog.

Interbike 2012
Just wanted to review the goings-on from Interbike 2012, held this last week in Las Vegas, NV.  We had several planned meetings at the show - people who have been interested in using the device, seeing a demonstration, meeting us, etc.  No name dropping here, with one exception - we got a visit from Ray Maker (www.dcrainmaker.com ), a very influencial blogger on technology for athletes.  Check out his most recent posts from Interbike 2012.  He peddled the on our bike, used Moxy, and took one with him for his own testing.  Really looking forward to his blog on this topic.

All three of the owners of Moxy (Fortiori Design LLC) were on hand, myself, Roger Schmitz (Owner/Chief Engineer) and Larry Flessland (Electrical Engineer).  The booth was set up to give real demonstrations of the Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor.  There was an exercise bike, several Moxy sensors and wrist worn monitors, and computers available to graph and print each participant's SmO2 profile taken throughout their bike interval workout. 

A quick note on Interbike - located in the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas - my partner and I estimated some 5000ish bikes were in the building, not to mention a number of indoor exercise items, scooters, helmet cams, safety lights, helmets, clothing, street-worthy eliptical bikes, sunglasses, nutrition, GPS's, etc., etc., etc.....   But the most shocking/interesting/puzzling trend from the show????  Electric Bicycles!!!!  I don't quite understand why you'd want electric motor assist on a bicycle, but apparently it makes sense to some portion of the population. 

Our visitors had to make their way to the lower level to visit us, where the first time exhibitors were huddled-up waiting for someone to walk through their aisle and catch their attention.   In a way this was quite a positive thing for Moxy.  Our visitors had to go out of their way to find us.  Not one or two of them, but well over a dozen people interested in what Moxy is, and what it can do for them came to see us.  These were "quality" contacts interested in getting their hands on a Moxy prototype as soon as possible.  And they were from all over the world.

Larry, Stu, Roger at Interbike 2012 Booth

 

Overall - a great experience for the Moxy team.  This was our first show where we had Moxy out their for demonstrations - and we learned a lot from the experience. 



2012 Ant+ Alliance Symposium
Moxy will be represented at this meeting as well.  This is a "by invitation only" Ant+ technical symposium.  Ant+ is a wireless protocol being used in some of today's exercise devices.  It's really catching on and we need to have a keen understanding of where it's going and how adopting will possibly help with the adoption and use of our device, the Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor.

I would like to conclude with a special thanks to the Moxy team for pulling together everything that made the Interbike (and now the Ant+ Symposium as well) a success for Moxy.  You guys did a great job of pulling together everything it took - from a bike to business cards - that made this a success.  Roger Schmitz and Larry Flessland brought everything, set it up, tore it down, and hauled it all back home.  And we got some great support from our marketing team at Synecore (www.synecoretech.com ) with business cards, signage, logos, printouts, shirts, etc.  Nice Job Everyone!

That's it for now.  Thanks for reading my blog!!!

Stu

Bit by a Dog, Moxy Sensor Update, Tyler Stewart Quote, Interbike 2012

Hi Everyone!  Thanks for reading my blog!

Bit by a Dog
Yes, it is true.  Last week I had the amazing experience (poor choice of words) of getting my first dog bite as a runner.  It's a bit coincidental because I was just reading an article in Runner's World magazine about two brothers who were brutally attacked (October 2012, page 82).  The story starts out with a picture of a pit bull, and a pair of running shoes and socks covered in blood.  They are carrying the physical and psychologic scars of the attack years later.

My experience wasn't that bad, at least it didn't turn out with any piercing bites or scars.  But when a dog comes at you, circles around from the side or behind you, don't turn your back.  Trust me on that one.  Makes me think about getting some pepper spray...




Moxy Sensor Status
We are having great success with the Moxy sensor.  Even though its just a prototype, it's working very well.  The sensor is now wireless, and the data is displayed real-time onto a wrist watch type device. 

However, as is the nature of prototypes, there are some issues with sweat.  We've even put a temporary fix in place - the ziplock bag.  It continues to perform well, and is really catching on with our Developers group.  Check it out on the Forum page at www.moxymonitor.com .




Tyler Stewart Quote
Professional Triathlete Tyler Stewart recently posted on her blog the following quote, so I wanted to share it with all of you:

"People often ask me what drives me to keep racing. I compete as a way of keeping myself sharp. While I think a lot of people race to compete against others, I race more to compete against myself. Each race I do I learn something — whether it’s a weakness, a fear or a strength I didn’t know I had, what I learn in each race gives me a better understanding of who I am and helps me to become a better person off the race course."
You can read Tyler Stewart's blog at http://www.strengthperformance.com/profile/TylerStewart .


Interbike 2012
The entire MoxyMonitor Team - me, Roger and Larry - are heading to the Interbike 2012 show in Las Vegas this week.  Wish us luck as we go down to the desert to show off our Moxy Monitor.  We will be using an exercise bike, and will take readings on visitors to our booth.  The link to the conference is at www.interbike.com .

As always - Thanks for reading my Blog!!!

Stu

Interbike 2012, Moxy Treadmill Validation, Neural Adaptation

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!

Interbike 2012
We are preparing for a trip to Las Vegas where we are attending the 2012 Interbike Conference www.interbike.com .  There will be a stationary bike right in our booth so interested athletes and trainers can give the Moxy monitor a try.  They will be able to perform a brief exercise ride, then take a copy of their Moxy graph with them.  The show is next week, and I will be there participating with the Moxy team on Thursday and Friday, September 20 and 21. 


Treadmill Validation (informal)
Though it's not "officially" a validation study, there is something to be learned from Larry's work on a treadmill.  My experiences with Moxy so far have all been "athlete" paced, so the athlete becomes a variable in the output of the device - which is good, but for the purposes of validating the Moxy SmO2 data, we need some data that isolates the two.  Below is an exerpt from the Moxy Developer Forum at www.moxymonitor.com as posted by Larry, one of our engineers, and an avid runner.  Check out the graph!!!

Here are the results from some interval training I was doing on the treadmill. My normal running pace is a 10 minute mile (6mph). So I set the treadmill to 4mph for the resting and 7mph for the working interval. Each interval is 2 minutes long for a total of 30 minutes. The recovery interval starts at 30 minutes and is 2mph.

The sensor is placed on the upper thigh of the left leg over vastus lateralis muscle.
You can see the SmO2 drop to around 30 during each working interval and come back to around 50 for each resting interval. When starting with the resting interval at time 0.00 minutes you can see the SmO2 dropped lower (mid 30’s) than the other resting intervals. Maybe I wasn’t warmed up yet. The ending recovery then went above 70.

Neural Adaptation
I learned something very interesting this week.  A friend of mine, an avid recumbant bike rider, purchased a "street strider" www.streetstrider.com .  On his first outing (and this is a guy who does 20+ miles a day on his recumbant) he was totally spent, pooped out, with only 2 miles on the bike.  Within about 2 weeks, he's finding it is still a tough workout, but he's already able to get in 6 miles without stopping.  His question; how could I have improved that much in such a short time?  The answer: Neural Adaptation.  Simply put, your body adapts to the environment, the muscles learn how to coordinate the movements, and the effort decreases.  He's certainly getting into better shape, but that can't explain that much improvement.   One example I like is how the body changes the stride, while walking, to adapt to up hills, down hills, and flats.  We may not notice it, but we do adapt.


Thanks again for reading my blog.  Hope the information is helpful. 

Don't forget to say a prayer, pause for a moment, or simply remember all the brave souls and innocent victims who perished 11 years ago in NYC, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. 

Stu

LeAnn; Pairing Moxy and Pace Data; HIIT High Intensity Interval Training

Hello Everyone!  And thanks for reading my blog...

Shout-out to LeAnn!
First of all, a big thanks to one of my readers and good friend LeAnn.  She mentioned to me that this Blog has been something of an inspiration and a source of information for her as she continues on her journey of weight loss and fitness.  She is especially interested in the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) that I have written about, and is also being written about on the www.moxymonitor.com web site.  I am very proud of her achievement, and of her commitment to change how she lives her life and inspire us all to do the same.  Keep it up LeAnn!



Moxy Data Paired with GPS Pace Data
A nice graph (below) showing my first pairing of Moxy SmO2 Data (www.moxymonitor.com) and my running pace from my Motoactv (www.motoactv.com/).  Thanks to Roger (my business partner) for pulling the two sets of data together to make this work.


Things to note on the graph:
1) The "speed" data is in minutes per mile, so lower numbers represent a faster pace.
2) The Moxy SmO2 data is in percent oxygenation, and is related to the 2nd (right) vertical axis, and lower numbers are associated with greater effort (or "work") on my part. 
3) I took one water break at about 14 minutes, and one walking break at about 20 minutes.
4) The course was more "trail" than "road" - so for a good portion of the race I was in grass, dirt, mud, which all increase the amount of "work" I was doing to maintain speed.
6) Milestones: 14 minutes, water break; 20 minutes, walking break; 24 minutes, race is over, and I finally get into a true recover mode with SmO2 over 80% (AHHHH).

Observations:
The Moxy data represented in the early minutes of the race represents a pace that I have never taken before in a 5k race, and was quite challenging for me.  I was able to maintain a really fast pace for the first 2 minutes, then maintain a steady 7 minutes per mile for another 5-6 minutes.  At that point my Anaerobic energy had been pretty much spent, and I have to continue the race at 50% or higher and use aerobic metabolism the rest of the way.  The only exception is the last minute (just before the 24 minute mark) where I "kick" and give all I have left - again it's fairly obvious that I am pushed back into the anaerobic metabolism range (sub 50%).

A direct correlation between speed and SmO2 is evident, but remember also that I was changing elevation, so the "work" I was doing isn't always well represented by speed - in fact the Moxy SmO2 data better represents the "work" I was doing. Therefore, when speed decreases (line on graph goes up), and my SmO2 goes down (line on graph goes down), it is likely due to a hill climb. The opposite is also true when going down hills.

 

 

That's it for this blog post.  Thanks again to everyone who reads, likes, forwards, or replys to this blog.  Let's keep this conversation going!

Stu