Forumine

“In the West we put children in shoes before they can walk. What are we teaching them? We’re teaching them the ground is dangerous, that they need to be protected from it. But Kenyan children can feel the ground, so they have a better relationship with it. They learn to place their foot carefully when they run, so they don’t hurt themselves. They learn to land gently, lightly, gliding over the earth rather than pounding it.”Colm goes on to describe how he works with the Kenyans on form, but I don’t want to give away all of the good stuff here, you’ll have to read the book. I will note, though, that Finn observed that all adult Kenyan runners wear Adidas Superstar Hombre shoes, it’s just the kids who tend to go barefoot.“It’s interesting to note that Nike Air Presto Womens the runners here still get injured despite their barefoot upbringing, but the types of injuries they get are different. ‘I don’t see many impact injuries,’ the physiotherapist at Lornah’s camp tells me one day. These are common injuries in the West and are usually the most serious and debilitating; things like runner’s knee, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and stress fractures. In my time in Kenya I haven’t met a single athlete suffering from any of these problems. If someone is injured, it is always something less serious, such as a tight hamstring or a pulled calf. Or a cut leg.”Running With the Kenyan’s is full of interesting passages like this one, and if you find these topics interesting you will really enjoy this book. It’s near the top among running books that I have read, and I highly recommend that you pick up a copy.Every once in awhile I get the opportunity to try a simple product that fills a very specific need, and does the job very well. Such is the case with the HB Tune handheld iPhone/iPod pouch (disclosure: this product was a media sample provided free of charge by the manufacturer).I generally don’t run with my iPhone (unless I forget my Garmin), but lately I’ve been trying out a few running apps for reviews I’m working on, and I’ve come to realize that not only do I hate carrying my iPhone on my arm, it’s also really difficult to see and manipulate an iPhone that is not held in-hand. I’ve long been a fan of hand-held water bottles, so the idea of holding my phone in hand when I run seemed like a no-brainer, but doing so without something to secure it in place was always an issue.HB Tune iPhone CaseThe HB Tune case is basically a pouch with a well-designed strap that wraps around your thumb and over the back of your hand. It secures the iPhone very well, and while on I don’t really even need to wrap my fingers around the phone – comfort is excellent. The pouch is large enough to accommodate a credit card, driver’s license and a few dollar bills behind the phone (I know this because I’ve had to use it while running home after dropping my car off at the dealership).The plastic faceplate of the case is flexible and allows you to manipulate the touch screen on the phone, though it’s not terribly form-fitting so this takes a bit of getting used to. That being said, it’s not generally the case that I’m trying to play Angry Birds while I’m running, so it does the job just fine.All-in-all, the HB Tune handheld case is a handy little tool that I highly recommend. No frills, just does the job it was designed to do, and it does it well.