The Race is Here!

Antonie’s bib is 22057.  Mine is 10012.   I’ll have my cell on me, free free to call or text: 202.494.2567.   #MCMBare

Cheers!

BAREFOOT TUXEDO MARATHON: For Amit Gupta and Swab a Cheek, Save a Life

The 2011 video is up and live!

*CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE FUNDRAISER*
**PLEASE JOIN THE BONE MARROW REGISTRY**

I’m running the Marine Corps Marathon completely barefoot again.   But this time, I’ll also be wearing a tuxedo!   And cool enough, New York Times bestselling author Christopher McDougall, the infamous Barefoot Ken Bob, NYC Caveman John Durant, MovNat founder Erwan LeCorre and others have joined in the effort.

The goal is twofold:  To help find a bone marrow match for Amit Gupta, and to raise $5,000 for Swab a Cheek, Save a Life (SACSAL).

Amit a successful entrepreneur (and exactly my age) with an inspiring attitude that was diagnosed three weeks ago with leukemia.  He needs a bone marrow transplant, but he doesn’t have a match in the registry.   He needs his match to join by November 29.   There’s a big nationwide campaign right now to find his match.

SACSAL specializes in saving people’s lives that have cancer, and was started by a Maryland woman whose life was saved by a bone marrow transplant from a total stranger. SACSAL will be hosting a bone marrow drive all day at the finish line of the MCM race in Amit’s honor.

Would you please help us?   Here’s what you can do:

1. Join the bone marrow registry.  All it takes is a simple cheek swab.
2. Donate to my Swab a Cheek fundraiser.  The goal is $5,000. 
3. Share this video with others.   Post on facebook, email, etc.

Thanks so much!!

Cheers,
Bob

@DCBarefootRun

Play

Playing outside one day after work:

Cheers to Mark M. for shooting/editing the video and picture.   He’s awesome.  (Cross posted at The Primal Challenge.)

We’re Off to the 2nd Annual NYC Barefoot Run

Tomorrow morning Antonie and I are getting up early to hop on a bus headed to New York City.  We’re off to the 2nd Annual NYC Barefoot Run:

We attended the first event last year and had a blast.  Hundreds of like-minded folks, workshops, lectures and an awesome Sunday morning on Governors Island.  Here’s a great video of the run:

This year promises to be even better.  The line up includes such celebrities as Chris McDougall, author of the bestseller Born to Run; Erwan LeCorre, the founder of MovNat; Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman; Barefoot Ted, John Durant and more.

Cool enough, last year at the event is where I got several of the top barefooters to do cameos in my 2010 DC Barefoot Run cancer fundraiser video:

The 2011 video will be up soon!  Are you heading up to New York for the race?   Or, have you done any barefooting?   I promise you, it’s fun!   And healthy too.

Cheers!
Bob
@DCBarefootRun 

How NOT to Run Barefoot

The other day I posted at The Primal Challenge about a foolish mistake I made while running barefoot.   I figure it’d make sense to cross-post here in its entirety:

McNamara and I went out for a six-mile run today over lunch.  The weather was beautiful and sunny.   (This was a simpler time, before the fabled DC Quake of 2011.)  I’ve been completely barefoot for well over a year now — and I have to be for the next year since I’m participating in the University of Delaware barefoot running study.

About five miles in we came across a driveway that had just been repaired with asphalt and tar.   There were no cones up or tape preventing us from running across the driveway.  And, to be honest, we were so engrossed in conversation that we didn’t pay much attention.

Unfortunately for me, the tar was still quite hot and, as we ran across it, big chunks of asphalt and tar stuck to my feet.   I got the asphalt off soon after, but some of the tar stayed on.   It wasn’t too painful, but I’ll be honest, it was less than ideal.  And even after much scrubbing in the shower, the evidence of my foolishness is plain to see:

The moral of the story is twofold:   When you’re running barefoot, pay close attention to where you’re about to step!   And second, after all the hundreds of miles I’ve logged sans shoes, I’ve never been injured.   Sure, I’ve done dumb stuff (like run across hot tar), but I’ve never been sidelined — and my feet feel better than ever.  Back in the ol’ thick-soled shoes days, I’d hurt my knees on occasion and once blew out my IT band.   Running barefoot makes you strong.   Just pay attention!

The One Month Primal Challenge

For Uncle Steve…and whoever else is interested.   Just July.  Just one month.   Why not give it a shot!   (Check out the website here.)

1. Spend time outside every day.  Shoot for at least 15 minutes, more if you want. Try to stay in the sun.  Avoid burning of course. Be leisurely:  No working or stressful stuff.  Phone and gadgets turned off.  Just strolling, sitting or laying around.  Maybe a fun game.  By yourself or with buddies.   Ideally barefoot.   Think about how much fun it was to play outside in the grass barefoot as a kid.  It’s just as fun as an adult.

2. Watch one sunrise and one sunset.   At least one each sometime in July.   Ideally, from a point where you can see the sun pass over and under the horizon.

3. Get lots of sleep.   Shoot for 50+ hours a week.   Try to go to bed early enough that you don’t need an alarm clock to wake up.  No glowing rectangles during the hour before bed.  That’s TV, alarm clock, computer, phone & anything else made by Steve Jobs.  Consider a warm bath.  No lights in bedroom.

4. Check out Mark’s Daily Apple.  It’s one of the most popular and highly-rated health sites on the Internet.  Read about The Unconquerable Dave.  Sign up for Mark’s free weekly e-newsletter and review the Start Here page.  Consider bookmarking the Definitive Guide, the Primal Blueprint 101, and the home page.  For extra credit, check out this post by Tim Ferriss.

5. Get your basic measurements.   Weigh yourself on July 1.  Write down your weight and post it somewhere you will see every day, like your frig or a bathroom mirror.   Next to it, post your dream weight.  Ideally, find out your Body Fat % too.  If you’ve had blood drawn lately from the doctor, you should be able to get these five basic numbers from your results:  Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, C-Reactive Protein, Cholesterol, Triglycerides.   All five of these are in your basic blood panel.   If you haven’t had blood drawn recently, go sometime in July and ask for a basic check up PLUS test for Testosterone.  Ideally, get your eight measurements and record them in a place that you won’t lose them.   (Weight, Body Fat %, Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, C-Reactive Protein, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Testosterone)

6. Follow the 80-20 rule.   Don’t be too strict on yourself.  Don’t over-analyze.  Take breaks and break rules.   Try to follow the guidelines about 80 percent of the time.    This includes eating.   Shoot for 80 percent Primal.   This is easier than Paleo and still super healthy and fun.  Mark’s Daily Apple has all the resources you need and everything is clearly explained.

7. Be a part of our team.   Scott, John, the Old Man and me regularly email each other about food and exercise.   Sometimes we take pictures of our meals, or maybe some place we’ve hiked around outside.   Join us.  Or start your own group. If you accept the July challenge, we can add you to our emails, and join the conversation.   Send occasional pics of the meal you ate or the place you hiked around. Call one of us once a week to chat.  Let us know what you’re thinking and feeling.  And how you’re kicking butt.

That’s it!

Accept the challenge and when you succeed, we’ll send you a framed Certificate of Awesomeness, with your name on it, mailed right to your house, absolutely free.

Lecture Slides from FEE’s Freedom University

I’ve had a few people ask for my lectures slides from the FEE conference.   I converted them to PDFs and added hyperlinks where appropriate.    This way they take up much less space and are compatible.

So if you’d like to see or download them, please feel free!  Simply click on these hyperlinks:

• Protectionism
• How to Advance Liberty: Winning in the Court of Public Opinion
• Effective Communication of Liberty

If I had more time in the protectionism lecture, I would have talked a bit more about the negative effects that protectionism has on consumers.  One illustration that hits home for me is the Washington DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides a life-line for poor inner city kids by allowing them to escape failing public schools.

Working at IJ, I got involved in the OSP program.  I worked with parents and students for several years, and have come to know many of them personally.   What happened to them is heart breaking.

I wrote about it in a piece called The Education Debacle of the Decade.   Keep in mind that the parents and children are the consumers, the private schools are the competitors, and the teachers unions are the politically protected insiders.

Reason TV did an excellent job humanizing OSP in this video.

You should know that this story has a happy ending.  A few months ago, the U.S. Speaker of the House used his political clout to insert a five-year reauthorization of OSP into a large bill and miraculously brought it back to life.  More on that here.

Regarding communications techniques, now you can watch Leonard Read give his famous How to Advance Liberty lecture on YouTube.  When I worked at FEE, I watched this talk over and over.  I dreamed that one day I would give an updated version of it.

That’s why I stole the title.

Importantly, Read’s ideas on advancing liberty followed in a long libertarian tradition that went back through Frank Chodorov and Albert Jay Nock, all the way to Henry George.

Henry George – who was in many ways a radical and highly influential libertarian – has unfortunately been largely lost to history.

I would highly, highly recommend that you read the conclusion to Henry George’s 1883 work, Social Problems.   If you’re familiar with Hayek’s Intellectuals and Socialism, consider comparing and contrasting them.

Thankfully, the conclusion to Social Problems is online here.  It’s short, beautifully written and inspiring.  In particular, check out the paragraphs numbered 6-10.

Needless to say, I’m in George’s camp.

For those of you that are interested in learning more about the Institute for Justice, please consider becoming a fan of our facebook page.   And if you’d like to learn more about our cases and our particular approach to communications, I recommend subscribing to our newsletter.  You can sign up for free here.  If you just want the e-newsletter, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page and enter your email.

You can hear SOCOs and see PHD in action by subscribing to the IJ YouTube page. We’ve got a great design team and the videos really are top notch.

If you’d like to get in touch with me for any reason, please don’t hesitate.  I’m on facebook here and I post on behalf of IJ at BigGovernment.com.  My email is bobewing@gmail.com and cell is 202.494.2567.

Last point:  Feedback would be most appreciated.   Please feel free to offer suggestions or comments on how I can improve the talks.

Thanks!

JOIN US: The Barefoot 5k at Beautiful Bluemont Park

There’s a barefoot 5k run coming up!

The location is perfect:  The beautiful Bluemont Park, just outside Ballston in Arlington, Va.  It goes along the paved W&OD path and is being put on by a great group called the Marathon Charity Cooperation, which uses health and fitness to improve the lives of disadvantaged kids.  Everyone is welcome to participate and there’s a bunch of prizes to be won.

• WHO: Barefoot runners, Vibram Five Fingers runners, baby-stroller runners, anyone else who’d like to do it
• WHAT: Barefoot 5k with up to 250 participants
• WHEN: Sunday, 21 NOV 2010, 9am
• WHERE: The beautiful Bluemont Park in Arlington Virginia
• WHY: To have fun and raise some money for disadvantaged kids
• COST: It’s $30 to enter and your money goes to a good cause

To register and for more information, check out the race website here.

WANT TO BE IN A BAREFOOT VIDEO? My buddies and I are putting together another barefoot video.  We’ll be shooting some b-roll at this race.  I’m hoping to get permission to film the actual run, otherwise we’ll get people together to shoot footage afterwards.  We’d love to have you involved.  The video probably be released in February, in conjunction with a big barefoot event coinciding with the DC National Marathon in March.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.  Thanks!

WTOP-FM Covers DCBarefootRun.com

WTOP-FM had me on the air this weekend.  It’s the biggest radio station in DC, with a million listeners a week.  

Here’s the web version:

Running for a cause: bare foot style

November 1, 2010 – 5:38pm
Debra Feinstein, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Running a marathon is hard enough. But how about running those 26.2 miles in bare feet?

The Race is Here

The race is this Sunday!  My bib number is 14663.  Antonie is 20105.  You can track us on the MCM results page.   Plus, I’ll be running with my iPhone MCM Tracking app.  Feel free to follow us!  And thanks so much for all your support.