Post Tenebras Lux

The glimmers cry in their squashed prison. They want to be set free, realised, achieve the purpose of their being.

Although captured they have a window, one beautiful vision.

The glimmers endure the days- merely surviving, sustaining themselves, venturing on- it is the night they look forward to as it is here where they can see the untouched still sky shining down on them. It is here they forget everything else.

The first of the two glimmers is complaining one day, “why can’t we be up there with the stars”, the second agrees but explains how they were put in their place for a reason.

The two went about their business- day after day, night after night.

Both shared adoration for the spectacle mother nature offered come nightfall.

Glimmer Two used the nights wonder to get through the days, however, Glimmer One began to be filled with hatred and jealousy. Why was he stuck here when he should be up there shining.

Time passed until Glimmer Two woke one day and to his dismay found that Glimmer One was lying there with his lights out.

Days went by, weeks, months, time was an unknown entity. Glimmer Two knew he couldn’t give in despite how tempting it became- doubt sat on his shoulder yet he never lost the vision that he must be there for a purpose. He never gave up hope.

Eternities later and Glimmer Two began to feel a sense that he wasn’t alone. A human was with him. Yes a Human!

The Human didn’t seem to recognise him, nor able to see or hear him. Nevertheless, Glimmer Two was grateful for the company and the days went on.

Weeks went by and this human began to build an object of sorts. Unfazed by the sudden movement and action of the person was making, Glimmer Two remained transfixed each night with the stars.

Progress went on and slowly but surely a shape came to the man’s creation. At first the Glimmer couldn’t distinguish what it was but after a while he realised what it was- the human was making a ladder!

It now made sense, the Glimmer had this period of waiting and refinement but now he would be set free and able to shine. Maybe this human wanted to shine too!

Upon completion of the ladder the two headed up. The window that once was a foreign beauty was burst open and with a cry the man screamed, “I’m FREEEEEEE! Time to cause some chaos!”, then he ran off into the distance.

Glimmer Two was shocked. In all this wonder why would you want to inflict such a thing on the world.

Nevertheless he thanked the stars for this occurrence, spent a moment of silence for Glimmer One, and then floated away.

Barefoot running: 8 months later

You may be wondering why in the world would anyone want to run barefoot and not gonna lie I wouldn't blame you. With new innovations from major brands like Nike, you'd assume I was going backwards in technology. Well after 8 months of adapting to this lifestyle here are the benefits I've found, some of the hardships, and overall why I'm not going back.

Like many of you, I started my journey off by reading the infamous book, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. Last year I digested that book, got obsessed by the idea that I could be the next barefoot Ted then got to youtube to continue the brainwashing by some hipsters running in the hills. The next step was to get to the internet and get my first pair of shoes (your boy Noah wasn't that brave to go in the deep end running like a hobbit on the streets of Manchester) so I bought a pair of minimalist shoes- the Primus Lites by VivoBarefoot (I still have them today and use them as my daily casual shoe, look very snazzy and good to dip your toe in the lifestyle).

Coming from Vans and Nike trainers the first few weeks hurt like heck. I was very much regretting my journey into this barefoot lifestyle, however, with a little trip to Reddit and shortly realised it was simply because I had no patience and was doing way too much too soon. So for any budding minimalist runner don't get frightened that the benefits aren't immediately apparent. Take your time and don't attempt a cheeky 10km out of the gate. Thank me later when you aren't injured.

So post my initial aches and pains and the knowledge that gradual building up of distance ingrained in me, I began to make some progress and felt some benefits. My feet immediately felt a lot stronger albeit developing some gnarly looking callouses (but shows that I'm doing something right I guess?). I also recognised my running form was changing. With big cushioned shoes you can often find yourself heel-striking due to the shape of the shoe. This is okay when you have a big pillow there but when you go minimalist/ barefoot everything is going to be in agony landing on your heel. So naturally, my form moved to a more forefoot strike. This helped me not only run quicker but exert less energy. Getting quicker times and finding longer runs are less draining. Additionally, I found that I never really needed to do any form of warming up and cooling down other than the occasional slow jog and I didn't get injured. When researching this, evidence-backed me up saying it was the bulky shoes that were causing injuries for runners more than anything. Other things I didn't expect also came up like enjoying the feeling of the different ground surfaces, feeling more primal and one with nature, having more fun, not having to squash my feet together in a tiny shoe, feeling really lightweight when running as well as more connected and natural to the human form. All together these added up to me not needing more classic running shoes and being very happy staying in the barefoot movement despite scepticism and judgement from some fellow runners.

So progressing on from then to now; where am I? Well, I've done more research into new brands, I'm following more runners and turning to somewhat of an evangelist for the whole movement of barefoot running. I'm also buying and trying out new shoes so for those interested in what I am wearing, my daily casual shoe is the VivoBarefoot Primus Lites (super minimalist, lightweight, aesthetically pleasing and go with most outfits), my training running shoe is the Vibram Fivefingers (look a little weird, closest thing to going fully barefoot, great for strengthening my feet), I cooldown with no shoes and for race day I wear Altra Escalante Racers (a zero drop wide toebox shoe which are great for a little cushion and getting PB's whilst not sacrificing on that form and barefoot style of running). I've additionally gotten faster gaining a PB for my 5km of 18:48 as well as now increasing the distance training for my first marathon, both of which I believe would've been harder (or at the very least more detrimental to my body) had I not begun this barefoot running journey.

So what's next? Continue running, continue researching and continue sharing my experience with running and my thoughts on shoes or a lack of them!

Strava

Exercising is hard right? It usually requires putting yourself under an immense amount of physical, emotional, or mental strain. So it’s no wonder that we have a certain amount of resistance to going on a run despite knowing it will have immense benefits for us. Breaking the barrier and making it more appealing for us to all do some exercise is no simple feat, but fitness tracking app Strava seems to have done it. Here are some thoughts, research, and personal experience I have on the topic matter.

Both Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath co-founders of Strava explained in the Rich Roll podcast that the number one reason why their app became the only one that mattered was because of the undeniable focus on emotional connection and community. "If it's not fun and entertaining, we've missed the mark because that's fundamentally what keeps us motivated" - Mark Gainey. I can testify to that rationale in the fact that when I don't want to run it is sometimes that social aspect, for good or for bad, that gives the extra push me to get up and get out.

In this social media age, likes are the currency we understand the most and upon reading the history of the fitness app it’s no coincidence to me that a prominent Instagram worker, James Quarles, became CEO of Strava. Curating the term 'kudos', you get a new sort of dopamine hit every time you upload something. Gone are the days you run for yourself. Maybe that's sad I don't know but I don't think we all have the capacity to always have the individual energy to want to do exercise. Strava is a social app more than anything and works well through curating inspiration from seeing challenges, your friends, and your personal times to push you on to be better.

But why does Strava work? Is it social media, is it a fitness tracker or is it its own beast? In a world saturated full of activity fads why would the formula be anything new. Reading Joe Lindsey's article on 'Why Strava is getting more social than ever, he shared insights on what he thought of the business' goals; "The goal is clear: in Strava's drive to own social fitness, it wants to be completely agnostic about what active means to its users". In other words, Strava isn't for the elite Olympians nor just for the hobbyists - it's for everyone! In addition to more features, social features, and an ever-growing list of sports it no longer can be classed as a simple running and cycling fitness tracker. It's this sleek styled, beautifully executed, motivational community sphere that draws people in whatever they are in their fitness journey.

However, not all is good for Strava. As a business model, it is somewhat confused about what it is. It's an app that offers the majority of its tracking features for free. The result of this was amazing growth, but that isn't a sustainable model. With this mix of free features and subscription elements the definition for what section of Strava is accessible for all and what is premium needs to be made without causing annoyance for the customer base. Looking into Strava Summit, the current premium package for Strava there has been a great number of changes occurring. Features previously free have been put behind this paywall leading to discontent. If a premium membership only gives you perks you used to have you need to change your business model. As someone who has used both the free and paid version of the app, I don't see a big enough distinction between the two to justify the £5.99 a month membership. For more info on the recent update to the Strava pay wall see DC Rainmaker's blog.

But not all is doom and gloom. In early February Strava reached 50 million athletes and 3 Billion Activity Uploads as quoted from their Strava Press blog. What this means is that the community is growing... and quickly at 1 million a month. So we can expect more features for not online free members but paid members too. The crux of any free app is how it can sustain itself by providing for all its customers; premium or not. Spotify is one of the best comparisons to how it didn't alienate either audience whilst still providing value for both.

June of 2021 brought about some big changes to the app, introducing various new social features, maps, and UI changes for both the free and paid version. The company obviously cares about the community and constantly aims to bring about updates, however, I personally don’t find the need at current and at the price point it is at. Who knows, maybe if I turn into a pro athlete I’ll invest, but until then I think I'm going to save my pennies and stick to the free version of Strava and enjoy the motivation it provides free of charge!