Leif Rustvold Covers the Distance - as Minimally as he can!

By Justin Owings on Sep 28, 2009 | In user stories | 1 comment »

Leif Rustvold finishing the Where's Waldo 100K in his Vibram Five Finger KSOs. Photo by Richard Bolt.

I first met Leif Rustvold via twitter. Leif takes a different approach to the 140 character limit on twitter—he tweets in haiku. For example, check Leif's tweet from mid-May:

#barefoot article / getting the #unshod word out / #vibramfivefingers // http://bit.ly/19FjZI #vff
— @dlrustvold

As evidenced by his poetry, Leif enjoys working within the constraints of a minimalist approach; for example, not only does that mean he runs a 100 mile ultramarathon in Vibram five fingers but he also enters the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson bike race on a unicycle.

It's Leif's passion for novel, minimalistic approaches to racing that have led him to start his own blog, specifically focused on this subject. It's called, Distance Minimally.

I asked Leif if he'd share with us what he would like to accomplish with his new blog, and here is what he had to say:

I find myself among small groups exploring two sports with one unique feature in common – going further while equipped with less than most other athletes. I run ultramarathons, any footrace longer than 26.2 miles, without traditional running shoes. This has usually been in Vibram Five Fingers, well known to readers of BirthdayShoes.com, but may also include other types of running sandals or simply bare feet. I also participate in distance cycling events, such as the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson, on a unicycle. By removing an element considered essential to most participants in these sports, but holding to the same standards as those with traditional gear, the challenges of the sport become quite different. The events are altered and added to enough that the sports are radically transformed. It is to these transformed sports that I dedicate my new blog DistanceMinimally.com.

Because participation in sports like these in this minimal fashion is currently rare, there are few resources available to those who are interested in them. We are often writing the book on these sports as we go. And so I've created DistanceMinimally.com as a site where I can gather and share these experiences of my own and those of others to shed light on the unique aspects of going the distance with less. I welcome input and experiences from others, whether minimalist runners, distance unicyclist, or some other minimalist endurance sport that few have yet imagined.

— Leif

I'm looking forward to reading more of what Leif has learned about covering long distances as minimally as possible! And if this sounds like the kinda thing that interests you, be sure to bookmark his site or add it to your preferred feed aggregator so you can keep track of what Leif is up to!

More about Leif (including his thoughts on the new KSO Treks) that you might be interested in:

Leif completed a sub-24 hour 100 mile ultra trail run this past weekend in his fivefinger Treks, which marks the second 100-mile testing the new fivefinger KSO Treks have received. Look for a full race report on Distance Minimally soon!

Leif gave an interview for Transcend Bodywork in which he talks about how he got into distance running and the role of barefooting and Vibram fivefingers.

Finally, here are Leif's initial testing thoughts of the fivefinger KSO Treks:

I did my ~10 mile run today wearing my new Treks. A wandering 2 hours on the network of trails in the Marquam Nature Park in Portland, Oregon. Full of hills, mud, rocks, lots of single track trail, and one stretch of large-rock strewn “road”. The VFF KSO Treks were pretty amazing. I could feel the trail under foot, but I didn’t have to worry about it every step. My feet could behave as feet, but with seemingly no threat of feeling the jabs of the rocks beneath them. I was actually a little concerned - I was able to tune out a little too much. I noticed my form slipping a bit, and was aware that the beefier sole would do nothing to prevent catching my toe on a log like I did on my last long trail run. I wish I had enough time to train in the Treks to have that reduced awareness catch up with me so I don’t have to learn the hard lesson on my long run next week. I’ll be reminding myself to stay focused, and won’t be listening to an audiobook as I was today.

I climbed up to the highest point in Portland. I never felt a lack of traction in my other VFFs but could tell I had greater traction in the Treks. I jumped on and over a log blocking the path, and my foot slipped a bit. That never happened in my other VFFs. It seems the Treks sacrifice a certain amount of the dynamic grip I’ve come to enjoy for the static grip of their increased tread. About 7 miles into my meandering run I reached the top of Council Crest, took in the view, and then bombed down the 3.2 miles of trail to my car. I haven’t been able to bomb down a trail like that since I wore traditional shoes. It was fun.

I fully expect that this will translate into improved performance on my race. There is a significant amount of energy that is available for running that was previously going into caution on every step. Part of me missed that awareness, and I am unsure if I’ll be trading out my Sprints and KSOs for Treks on all of my runs. But for next weekend’s 100 miler, it seems like a godsend.

Thank you, Leif!

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 710 articles and 258 comments.