Before I deployed to Afghanistan, I wasn’t much of a sunglasses wearer.  Being in the Army didn’t help that.  I guess they figured that people were just trying to be cool, and UV protection wasn’t really necessary.  However, a couple of deployments to the desert, and the fact that sand can cause “Snow Blindness” can occur when there’s no snow, and the Army eventually changed it’s tune.  We were issued Wiley X sunglasses, but I wasn’t a complete fan of the foam that seals around your eye.  Nice concept, but your eyelids would literally sweat. I jumped onto the Oakley bandwagon.  Specifically, the M-Frame, which were issued to us at some point.

After the deployment, I returned to Vicenza, and didn’t wear sunglasses for the first couple of days.  After a lot of squinting, I started wearing them again.  I had no idea how I survived most of my life without wearing sunglasses during the day.  Had the sun always been this bright?

Not just a tool for staring at women without them noticing,the UV protection is always a nice thing to have.  Also, they seem to “tone down” the world.  I can observe more, because I can actually open my eyes.  I don’t stop looking at things because of glare.  The only downsides are that LCD screens can’t be read at certain angles (more so for older ones), and when I look at glass, I can see how it is tempered.

Personally, I recommend going for a good pair of polarized lenses.  They remove a lot of the glare that you encounter, and if you wear a good pair, you’ll understand the difference.  Also, for my line of work, the Oakleys are impact rated, so I can wear them to shoot.  I also like to get the darkest lenses i can (usually iridium polarized) because there really isn’t any need to squint.

I personally wear the Oakley Flak Jacket sunglasses.  I like the interchangeable dual lenses, and the fact that it rides close to the head, unlike the M-frame and Half Jacket designs.

Here’s a list of stupid things that happened to me today.

1. Mopped the apartment, backing myself into my bedroom.  Realized that I left the kitchen light on.
2. Didn’t have a tomato to make chicken nachos.  Had to go to the store, but didn’t want to seem sill by buying just ONE tomato.  Also purchased garlic.
3. Brushed my teeth before I went out.  When I spit, everything was red.  I couldn’t remember eating anything red, and wondered if I was bleeding.  Remembered I drank a Cherries & Cream soda.
4. Cleaned EVERYWHERE except the area around my desk.  The desk I spend much of my home time at.
5. Pondered testing whether a dose of glutamine and ZMA (Zinc, Magnesium, and Vitamin B6) would be a good hangover preventative.  It worked before (take before bed), but I feel like pushing the limits and testing it against red wine.
6. Sat here typing this list instead of heading out to the comedy show.  Also realized that I was about to head to the wrong place.

I’ve been helping some friends of mine with their physical training as they look to enter the military.  Specifically, I’ve been helping them with their running.  At some point, one of the guys, Joe, was having trouble.  At first I thought that it was because he was new to running, and was not psychologically accustomed to some of the feedback that your body gives you while you run.  Specifically, the feedback that makes you want to quit very quickly.

However, he brought up the issue of pain, and I asked him where it hurt.  He said in the shins, and that it started from the first step.  Now, I’m going to not go really deep into the mechanics of running.  However, I would recommend the book Born to Run, if you want to read about some of it.  One thing that modern sneaker design has made people do is extend their stride, causing their heel to hit the ground first.  This is why we have such thick soles on our shoes.  

The problem is that you are not supposed to run like that.  The issue is twofold.  First, the only shock absorption comes from your shoes, and that’s not that great to begin with.  Therefor, the shock travels up your heel, to your knees and hips, damaging them over time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auntctXMS5Q).  The second reason is that, in order to strike with your heel, you have to pull your toes up (called dorsiflexion).  This causes overuse of the muscles, leading to shin splints.

Seeing this (and since we were at a track), I told the two guys with me that they should run a lap barefoot, explaining to the guy the reason for his pain.  I run in the Vibram Fivefingers, but took them off to join in the barefoot delight.  At first I tried to explain how their foot should hit.  However, I remembered that, if you take away the shock absorption, the body will naturally set your foot up to run properly.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM) All I had to tell them was not to hit their heels into the ground first.

Here’s some more info on the mechanics of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE

The guys took to it instantly.  And loved it.  Like REALLY loved it.  To the point where we actually ran faster barefoot than we did with shoes.  Their paces dropped and at one point, we sustained a 6:40 mile pace for a quarter mile.  After a couple of laps, we walked on the grass a bit, which is okay at the park we were at, but is really nice to do at the Central Park Great Lawn.

Now, I mentioned the Fivefingers, which is a great shoe to run in.  The guys were running in your standard running shoes.  While talking to them, I brought up shoe weight, which are mostly due to the amount of padding in the heel.  Here’s an example.  Years ago, when I started looking at my shoe weight, I started running in the Ecco RXP.  When you go to buy a shoe, and look at the listed weight, understand that the weight given is for ONE SHOE, and for a size 9.  The Ecco RXP was 10 oz each, so 1lb. 4oz total.  Most running shoes are in the 13-15 oz per shoe range (again, for a size 9).  Joe’s Asics were listed at 13 oz per.  That’s more than a pound and a half on his feet.

The Vibram’s are 11.4 oz TOTAL, and as far as minimalist shoes go, are the cheapest, at about $85 a pair.  Mine have lasted me for a year, with no signs of breaking down any time soon.  The Nike Free is the next cheapest (although the sole is thick for a minimalist shoe), while the rest are around double the price of the Fivefingers.

If you correct your running style  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrOgDCZ4GUo), you won’t need the thick heels on regular shoes, and can choose sneakers with a lighter weight.  However, there are issues that standard shoes do cause, such as plantar fasciitis, as well as structural deformity.  I actually do have the line from the big toe, through the ball of the foot, to the heel, but probably because I don’t wear really tight shoes, and I’ve always walked around the house barefoot.

My old classmate Juan converted to them when I suggested them as a fix to his plantar fasciitis, instead of all the other methods that he had tried which had failed (I know he mentioned ice, and cortisone shots).  At last check, he’s been running pain free for months, and has to be running at least enough that it justified him buying a Garmin GPS running watch.