Long before skateboarding’s LDP there was something Joe Henderson introduced to the distance running crowd: Long Slow Distance. Our core concepts are very similar. Go long, go strong, and go mellow.
This combined with running in minimalist footwear and barefoot has given me a whole new outlook on running. For the first time I finally find it — fun!
I’d never considered myself a runner in the past, at least not the disciplined, competitive sort. Running in typical “marshmallow” running shoes throughout high school and college, I would often go out and blast a few miles, then waddle around the next day feeling too sore too quickly, return to it sporadically, but ultimately lose interest.
Back in 2003 Derek Munson suggested I try some running since we were always doing this crazy long mileage on our skateboards, and that I’d probably be surprised with my endurance. Turns out he was right, but at that time it only strengthened my resolve that the reason I enjoyed covering these extreme distances was because I enjoyed skateboarding so much, convinced from bad experiences that running would just leave me injured and bored again as it had in the past.
Then in 2009, right after Barefoot Ted and I finished a long skateboard ride, he just skipped and skittered away on his two feet like a sandpiper. A couple months later, I watched his girlfriend Leah do exactly the same thing, like she was floating across the ground. WHOA! The seed was planted. I played around running short distances barefoot, in Vibrams, and in huaraches, always listening to the instant feedback my feet were telling the rest of my body.
A decade ago I’d never have thought skateboarding would bring me back to running — but the more distance events I skate, the more inspirational runners I meet. Guys like Jeff Vyain, Greg Feiss, Paul Kent and others I meet each new year who all have a running history in their pasts.
Now I’m running 5+ mile stretches with ease — and digging it. Thanks fellas!
-jp
“…it’s far better to be a slow runner than no runner.” -Joe Henderson, LSD
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