New Balance Minimus

I love the premise behind Five Fingers, but I really do not like the look of them. Maybe I am too conservative, but I could not get past how they look. I bought a pair and just could not wear them out in public. I also did not really like how they they felt on my feet. I think it was the toes being split apart. But for whatever reason, I just could not, would not buy into them for my personal use.

I  believe that barefoot or as minimal a shoe as possible is the way to go. I have been training barefoot or in Chucks at our studio and also for the last 5 years, but have run my Amazing Athletes classes in Nike Free. I really feel that I am stronger, move better and more stable in less shoe, but have had to have some protection for my feet. due to the impact that they receive on a daily basis. In teaching my Amazing Athletes classes I am bouncing and running with kids for hours on a variety of surfaces. I could be on carpet, tile, concrete, wood and rubber flooring at anytime for up to 6 hours a day. Because of this I need something that allows me to have some protection for my feet, but still allow me to have more natural movement. I was waking up every morning with severe foot pain from what I thought was all of the impact.

Prior to joining the minimilist mob, I wore New Balance's trail running shoes. I found that they were a great shoe for the variety of things that I was doing. At the time i felt that they were good shoes for gym, hanging out at home and anything else I was doing. I was not into shoe collecting at that time. I wanted one pair that would do it all. New Balance seemed to be the best choice at the time.

Fast Forward a couple of years and untold Chucks and Frees later, and I am in need of something different. Nike has a habit of ending shoe styles every 18 months and the shoes that I wanted would no longer be available. It also seemed that shoes that started out as minimalist would gradually ended up being over padded and over engineered...

I heard that New Balance was coming out with a new shoe designed to be palatable to the barefoot running mob. I will say this now, I hate running, but like to be barefoot. I figured that I would give the new shoe a try. There is a New Balance Store in Rockwall and I stopped by one day to look at the Minimus. I liked how they felt from the get go decided to go ahead and buy a pair. They retail for about $100.00 which was cheaper then the Nike Free that I ordered online.

They are light and comfortable. I really like the fact that they are about the lightest shoe that I have ever worn. I was surprised at how heavy the other shoes that I wear are in comparison to them. I was initially wooried that they might be to light, but that was not found to be the case.

They are durable. I have worn them now for two months. there are days where I will have them on for up to 16 hours. I have worn them for up to 36 classes a week of my kids classes. Those classes call for hopping, skipping, jumping, running, starts and stops and lateral movements. They have held up beautifully. The only wear is on the sole, which being Vibram is pretty tough.

The shoes have also been  awesome while doing all of those activities. I have had no pain in my feet while training kids classes in the shoes. I feel that they have had great stability, including lateral stability. It could be because they allow my feet to move natyrally and not be incased in a "protective piece of over enginneered padding." I really cannot say how happy I have been with the shoes. It is one thing to train in a shoe for a couple of hours, it is another to put them through the pace that I have. I had a fairly new pair of Nike that would wear occassionally to see if there was a difference and found that there was one for me. My feet would start to kill me after about 30 minutes. I would then develop pain up the chain from there. The next day after wearing the Nike, my feet would kill me after waking up. That is not a problem that I had with the Minimus.

I also trained at the studio in the Minimus. I have found that the Minimus  is a small amount of lift that intially through me off on kettlebell swings and snatches.Itis not much of a lift, just enough that I noticed it, but still found that I was rooted and able to perform correct techniques in all lifts. I still prefer to train at the studio barefoot, but that is just habit.

I would definitely recommend New balance Minimus as a great shoe to try out for training. If you are into a minimalist shoes, I feel that it is the way to go. I plan on wearing them for my Tough Mudder training and the actual event in October. I actually plan on running as part of my training for this one, especially since I have a shoe that I love.

Running 10 Miles without any training runs

Running 10 Miles Without Any Training Runs?

I recently had the great idea of signing up for the Tough Mudder. It looked like lots of fun, lots of obstacles to climb on, crawl under and swing from. I had completed a Warrior Dash without any running to prepare for it. I felt that that the Tough Mudder was the next test to take, if only testing my lack of sense if nothing else. One problem I faced was that the TOUGH Mudder was 10 miles long, whereas the Warrior Dash was 3.5 miles. I completed the Warrior Dash within a reasonable time, so figured what the heck; I can do bigger with just a little more effort. I want to point out that I have never run 10 miles in my life, and I really hate running. I would rather go shopping for furniture with my wife and kids, then run around the block. So here was a quandary that I had to solve… How can I do this without actually running beforehand?

I decided that the solution would be kettlebells. Why kettlebells? I have been using them since 2005 and have been an RKC since 2005, so it was the hammer for my nail. It really did not take a lot to drive me to this point. After seeing the results of VO2 Max, the RKC Snatch Test and the transformation that the swing has made in people, I felt that it was a no brainer. I fully believed that I would be able to train for the run without actually running.

There are so many different training thoughts and programs with the kettlebell and within the RKC. The funny thing is that they all boil down to two exercises…swings and Get Ups. I decided that it would be a great testament to Pavel, Hard Style and the RKC if I could actually pull off a 10 mile run without any running beforehand.

I signed up for the Tough Mudder on November 27th giving me 62 days to prepare for the run. I looked at several different ways to make it work. I had looked at VO2 Max, Secret Service Snatch Test and some swing programs and it came down to a variation of the program minimum. The Program Minimum is awesome in its simplicity and ease of use. I also liked the facts that while it is not injury proof, swings are pretty safe to do for lots of reps and sets. I also felt that the general template of time under load was exactly what I would need. While great for most people, I did not feel that the PM’s time of 12 minutes of swings and 5 minutes of GU were going to be sufficient for 10 miles of running. The organizers advised that the course would take at least 2:30 minutes to complete so I needed a lot more swing time. I decided that I would also need to use heavier kettlebells and maybe even double kettlebells to be able to develop the strength and stamina to last the distance.

I began the program swinging double 32’s for 30sec on/30 Sec off for 15 minutes. The next day was 15 Minutes of Get Ups, but not straight from prone to standing. Instead, I worked each piece of the Get Up for at least two reps. I was able to make it to the Windmill position in the 15 minute time frame. It was my goal to add 5 minutes a week to Swings and Get Ups. The plan was to hit 45 minutes of each exercise. I trained 4 days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

I reevaluated the program after the first 4 weeks, three actually as I had a 7 day break due to the flu, and looked at where I was and where I still needed to be. I was up to 35 minutes of double swings with the 32’s and 30 minutes of Get Ups with a single 32kg. I felt really good, but decided that I needed to really push even harder. I still had not run at all and I was at 4 weeks out, so I was a little worried. I felt that I was pretty close, but not quite sure where I stood. I was not going to do any training runs, since the goal was not to run before the race. In looking at the obstacles, distance and what people were saying about the race, I decided to increase my swing weights to the 40kgs. . I felt that it would add some needed strength and power that would be needed on some of the obstacles. It was a big jump and at the time was actually heavier than my body weight at the time. After making the weight jump, I realized that it would also help with mental toughness; because swinging two heavy kettlebells is hard! The first day of the double 40’s lasted about 20 minutes. I only lasted that long because I refused to quit.


At the same time I made the decision to increase the weight, RKCTL Dustin Rippetoe came up with the 10,000 Swings in 21 Days Challenge. I talked to him about it and decided that it fit within my training program/thought process. I still had not run at all to prepare for the race and wanted to make sure that I had good strength and endurance. We decided that more swings would fit the bill. In looking at the numbers, it would take 500 swings a day to reach the 10,000 in 21 days. I knew that I wanted to keep the heavy double swings in the mix and wanted to get as many swings in the 21 Days as possible. I knew from the outset that doubles at the weight I wanted to hit would probably keep me from 10,000 in 21 days, but I had 25 days of training left in my programming. I decided to try and get all of the swings in, but would not sweat it if I didn’t.

The modifications had me swinging almost every day for up to 45 minutes a session. I knew I could not keep up the heavy doubles for 21 days so I decided to have a medium, light and play weight during the week. The play weight was whatever I felt like messing with on that day for lots of reps. My training week was typically: heavy double swings on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and either two hand swings with the Beast or double 32 swings on the other days. The “play” day was exactly that, no real plan of action. Some days it was running the bells, other days it was swings with the 24kgs’s. One thing I did find from practicing every day was that my swings got better, a lot better. Like Dan John says, “If it is worth doing, do it every day.” I ended up with 8200 swings on the 21st day and 10,000 by the 24th.

How did it work out for me? I completed the run in 2:45. It was a hard race, but the running was actually the easy part. I did not realize how much swimming we would have to do and the massive amounts of swings dropped my body fat to under 8% and I added 10lbs to my bodyweight. It made it hard to float and the cold water really sucked the heat out of me. It was interesting in that I read the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris RKCII the week of the race and found it interesting that his section on running a marathon advocated interval training. It made me realize that I was on the right path with this training program.

What would I do differently? I would continue with the swings, but keep the Get Ups in there to improve core and rotational strength. I had no issues with the posterior chain after the race. My frontal core however, was pretty sore for a few days afterward. I think that if I had kept the Get Ups in the mix, I would not have hurt so badly. It stemmed from climbing, monkey bars and helping boost others over obstacles. The grind power derived from the Get Ups would have helped in all of those activities.


The training program:

Month 1

Monday/Thursday

FMS Correctives

Double Swings started out 15 min a session and increased to 35 min a session over the month

Relax Into Stretch

Tuesday/Friday

FMS Correctives

Get Ups 15 min a session increased to 30 min a session over the month

Relax into Stretch



Month 2

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

FMS Correctives

2 Handed or double swings 300-500

Indian Clubs as active recovery between each set

Relax Into Stretch

Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday

FMS Correctives

Heavy Double swings 200-500

Indian Clubs as active recovery between each set

Pull ups and Pistols for 3-4 sets of 3-5.

Relax Into Stretch