The life cycle of clubs

There comes a time for many, perhaps most clubs, where an enthusiast takes over. It's usually someone who identifies very strongly with the groups that they're a member of - a strong group identifier, in social psychology terms.

In some respects they can be a boon. The status of the club is closely tied up with their own self image, and they have a really strong motivation to improve things. They will put in massive amounts of effort to improve facilities, attract new members, and raise the profile and public image of the club.

Which is great, if that's what you want. It's certainly what they want, it's important to them.

They do tend to be rather thick skinned though, and they won't understand that not everyone feels the same level of involvement they do. They often take it as a personal affront if not everyone turns up to their organised club events, and they can get quite resentful and bullying in their attempts to get people involved. They also feel strongly that they are putting a lot of work in, so everyone else should too. They tend to overlook the fact that they are inventing this work for themselves (and everyone else), in order to 'improve' things (in their eyes).

For those of us who prefer things a little more low key, and don't see it as important that everyone around has heard of our club, they're a pain in the arse, however well meaning they may be.

Vivobarefoot Primus SG - durability update

12 months on, and the first pair are still wearable. I couldn't tell you exactly how far they've covered, but I think >500km.

The uppers are starting to develop some holes, and the studs have lost 3/4 of their depth, but they still grip the mud pretty well. I'm currently using them as my primary running shoes, and have just bought a new pair (while they have them in stock in my giant clown shoe size).

I didn't run in them through the summer (hence they've lasted this long). I like to run in shoes without socks in summer, and one go at that was enough. I love my SGs, but wearing them without socks is like going at your feet with a mini grinder.

Once the rain and mud arrived in earnest though, these came out of the cupboard. I'll be wearing them until about March/April.

Target panic and cognitive psychology - research project idea

Bit of an advert really. As noted elsewhere, my MSc was in psychological research, particularly cognitive modelling, and I've been an archer for many years.

I have some ideas for how computer models of cognition could provide an insight into the nature and treatment of target panic. I don't have the time to follow it up - I'm happy to collaborate or just hand the whole topic over with an explanation, if any sports psychologist or student of sports psychology with an interest in the topic wants it. The conventional 'neuroscience' explanation seems highly dubious to me.

I can be contacted via linkedin if you're interested in picking this up.

Plantar Fasciitis - the saga continues

It's still there, but I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. I should bloody hope so after nearly 2 years. Well, 18 months of PF and another 6 months of other tendon problems.

I still hold that the cause of all this was allowing my feet to move freely after thirty years of being crammed into ill fitting shoes, and I have to admit that I haven't taken the conventional approach to treatment. Normal advice is 'immobilise your foot, stop running, wear orthotics', whereas I have continued running (to much reduced distances) and continued wearing barefoot shoes.

It's feeling a lot better, and has improved dramatically in the last two months. What has made the difference is a) stretching my hamstrings, and b) doing more, shorter runs. I'm now typically doing sub 20km once a week, a parkrun on saturday and maybe another 10-15km somewhere else in the week.

Most important seems to be the stretching. I couldn't get even slightly close to touching my toes, and it is that rather than my calves that restricts my full squat and makes my calves ache. Stretching hamstrings several times daily has hugely improved this, and my PF symptoms have reduced along with it.

I've also taken to standing with the balls of my feet on a foam half roller for prolonged periods - 10 to 20 minutes at a time (while eating breakfast and playing with the cat). That has helped enormously. Stretching seems to be the key, but not just the standard calf stretches.

PF has become more or less normal for me. I'm really looking forward to it going away.

Vivobarefoot Primus SG - update

I ran through most of the winter in the SGs, and they were just the job. Towards the end of Feb, we had a warm spell, and I experimented with running without socks. The result was...bad. In 15km I got blisters that took weeks to heal.

The problem is twofold, the point at which the inner side of the upper creases pokes into the top/side of my foot just behind the ball (on both feet), and the ankle curves back from the heel too sharply, cutting into the skin where the achilles tendon goes.

VB passed the feedback on to their designers & very kindly refunded me shipping on some orders as a goodwill gesture (I like this about VB - they're responsive, and they make gestures like that to keep their customers happy). I hope they will tweak the design a little - I'd really like to be able to do ultra distances in the SGs.

Durability - after maybe 400km there's a little hole in the mesh on top of one of them, and there's a little noticeable wear in the soles. Way better than the Trail Freaks.