-Good morning, Nadia! Good morning, CTC viewers! As you can see, today I decided to meet the new season in a different environment than usual. Not in our studio, but outdoors. And I do it for a reason, because this morning I meet with our capital’s most athletic man Dmitry Voloshin. In a month or so another Kishenevsky marathon will start, of which Dmitry is an organizer. And besides that a lot of sports news has been accumulated. And since we had a good rest after our TV vacation, it’s time to get back into shape. Dmitri, good morning!
-Hello!
-Your mornings start early? How early? According to many people, all athletes start their mornings with a workout, active movements, a cross-country run, a light jog.
-With a workout, yes. Usually the morning starts at about six o’clock. Half an hour of meditation. A light breakfast and a workout. A run or a swim.
-And then go to work?
-And then you have to rest after your workout. Gotta eat again. Gotta go for a swim. And then, around 11:00, we go to work.
-And then practice in the evening? -No.
-No. -I don’t really like to work out in the evening. One workout a day for an amateur is more than enough. And one day off a week.
-Why mornings? It’s easier to breathe in the morning, different attitude?
-First of all, your body’s just waking up. You need a boost of energy. In the morning when you train you are cheerful, happy, full of positive, hormones, serotonin, dopamine. And in the evening you are tired. And you don’t need those hormones before you go to bed. You go to bed and you can’t sleep. That’s for me. A lot of people work out in the evening–they’re good.
-You’re in front of us right now wearing an unusual T-shirt. It’s very similar in colors. It’s very similar in colors to the T-shirts we see on the Chisinau Marathon preparations. But here I see a new logo. Does this mean that the Chisinau marathon will go under a different aegis?
-Yes, it will be even more interesting, even more diverse. And this T-shirt means that we’ll have a lot of charity in this marathon. This sign means that we’ll attract people with disabilities to our marathon and we’ll create special conditions for them, so that the person who can’t run and move in a wheelchair, we’ll make a special start for them. We will help to get from home to the start. Make a lap of the kilometer and award them with medals. So that they feel part of the society. Because our town is very inappropriate for wheelchair users. Together with Serguei Afanasenko, we did a small tour specifically in wheelchairs, to check how wheelchair users can get around. I toured the center in a wheelchair. It’s really horrible. No ramps or credit cards are adapted – no money to withdraw. It’s not even possible to go to the bathroom. There are no wheelchair-accessible toilets.
And so we want to do a little celebration for them.
-Get the public’s attention.
-Yes. To see that these people are isolated from society completely. So we’re getting ready to do a little celebration for them.
-The marathon as a whole starts on September 30. We have a little more time. As far as I’m concerned, a month or so is a very short period in sports terms, all the more for the organizers of the Chisinau Marathon. And for the organizers, who are hardly just now starting to prepare for the 42 km distance. Surely it was done long ago. Nevertheless, this month and a bit, what exactly are you doing now, because you’re going to take part too? Is it more of an organization or are you still training?
-Who decided to run the Chisinau marathon after all, and now the first time I heard about it: “Man, it’s only a month! What can I do?” – you can easily prepare for the 10,000-meter…
-It’s only 10,000 meters.
– Yes, 10,000 meters. Anyone who is not involved in sports can prepare for that distance in a little over a month quite easily. And the five is out of the question.
-Check. Four years ago I took that step. Dima challenged me. I took it. I made it.
-A 5 km – it’s possible to prepare for 2-3 weeks. So we invite and wait for all comers. And as for training: I’m now keen on barrefooting, barefoot running. English term.
-By the way, you can pay attention. Today Dima is wearing the original shoes on purpose. The brand is “Dmitri Voloshin.”
-Yes. When I come home dirty with muddy heels, I lie on the bed, my wife says, “Come on, take off your shoes!” I say, “I can’t.”
-I thought you just decided to come in today, walk on the grass in the morning. So you decided to run your marathon.
-Another one.
-Another one of your own, I don’t know how many, barefoot for a full 42 kilometers?
-We’re at the arboretum now. And the story began here. In January I was running very fast here, I tripped and hit my knee on the curb. It went right in with the point. It was swollen, sore. I couldn’t run. The pain went away little by little, started running and the pain came back. I was running again. Again it came back. I went to the pole. Ran to the pole through the pain. Came back. I had constant pain in my knee. I decided not to run at all for a month. And then, since barefoot running is the healthiest, to try to run so my knee would go away.
And I’ve been running since early June, since early summer. And now two-something months later, my knee doesn’t hurt at all, I can’t feel it. It’s just gone. I don’t feel any discomfort.
-Do you run every day without shoes?
-Yes, I do now.
-We’ve had so many programs devoted to and discussed athletes, what shoes to choose, what clothes to wear…
– By the way, on the basis of barefoot running I had another charity project, which… When I started running barefoot, I realized that I had a lot of sneakers that I didn’t need anymore.
-So you decided to give away sneakers.
-12 pairs of sneakers. And I looked at them, and I said, “What do I do with them?
-What size are you?
-45-й.
-Size 45. Anyone who wants…
-There’s a link. You can go to the website, buy them. And what’s interesting is that the money will go to buy sneakers for underprivileged families, for children, so they can run. The sneakers are inexpensive. The little sneakers are 20 euros. I can buy 3-4 pairs for one pair of mine for my children. So I opened a store where they sell all my old junk: sneakers, T-shirts. And we will use the money raised to buy sports clothes for underprivileged children.
I encourage other athletes to join in. I’m sure many of them have it.
-A few more things about the marathon. There is still time for those who want to register. We still have more than a month. Are the distances still the same?
– Distances: 42, 21, 10, 5. And the fan experience is literally a couple of kilometers. The fancan’s free.
-Is the area the same? We’re running on the same course?
– Same track. Come September 30th in the center. Those who run the fanrun get a free T-shirt. And the other distances – a person gets a backpack, a T-shirt and a medal at the finish line. The medals will be awesome. There’s never been a medal like this before.
– There’s a new design again. Every year you make a new detail design.
– What motivation to get a new collection. And we’re going to have wheelchair users starting. And this year we’re planning to focus on foreigners. We will have a lot of people abroad, a lot of foreigners. There will be a Russian champion, who set a Comrades record, which so far no one has broken. Leonid Shvetsov will come. He and I will run barefoot for four hours. We’ll be pacemakers. Whoever wants to run a marathon in four hours, let him run with us, and we have to bring him.
He’s kind of an adept at minimalist running, natural running. And I’m his student. He coaches me. I say, “I want to run barefoot. He says, “Dimon, let’s go minimalist, some kind of just sole.” I said, “No, barefoot.” – “Let me run with you!” So he’s kind of moving it around, but he hasn’t run a marathon barefoot yet. He’s getting ready at his place. I’m training here. And we’ll run together at Chisinau.
-You talk so enticingly about barefoot running, I thought…
-Let’s go for a run, what are you standing around for.
-I ran at most on sand and grass, maybe barefoot. And that was when I was a kid. It took me a long time to pick out my running shoes. But this morning I decided…
-I memorized them and I’m waiting for them in our store to sell them.
-By the way, yes. Soon, I think, is on the way, because I myself noticed new sneakers. Also, by the way, I’ve seen you run in them. I’m gonna try to run another marathon in my life. But definitely not barefoot. I’m not falling for that.
-People think it’s very unhealthy. It’s dangerous for your joints, for your feet, to run barefoot on the pavement. I mean, it’s one of the healthiest ways to run, in general.
-That’s right, this couple goes to Dmitry Voloshin’s store. And that’s how we’re going to run right now, right, Dim?
-Let’s start with the grass, and then we’ll move on to the asphalt.
-All right, we’re running. You’re with us for now. We’ll come back later and tell you something else.
It’s a great feeling, to be honest.
As for running, when you first started running, did you have any problems? Did you get any blisters?
-Everything should be done gradually. That’s why I started to increase the volume starting from one kilometer. Newcomers who come to me say, “Dima, I run in sneakers. It seems to me that something is wrong. My heels hurt, my joints hurt.” I say, “To see if you’re running correctly or not, take off your running shoes and run 100 meters barefoot.
-Friends, the feeling, in general, is very unusual.
So by running barefoot you can find your mistakes that you miss when you run in sneakers?
-Yes. I recommend running barefoot to all runners. Run a couple of miles once a week to improve your technique. Then when you put on sneakers, you run perfectly.
All the muscular-ligament, joint transitions are designed to cushion you. When you run barefoot on the forefoot, there’s cushioning in the foot, the shin, the knee, the hip. And there’s no hard momentum going to the spine anymore.
You’ve run on asphalt, now try to run on grass.
-Oh!
– That’s the thrill!
-Yeah, that’s awesome! As far as changing the pavement, that’s great. When you’re running a little bit on the asphalt, your legs are tense, and then one time, again…
-You run on the grass. And so… And it’s…
– It’s so…
-Contrast, yeah. You run 10 or 15 meters on the pavement when you’re tired, and she freshens up her leg. And you’re back again. So a lot of the benefits of barefoot running you get. A lot of new sensations.
-You at least got me involved in a new kind of running. I never realized it was so interesting, enjoyable, unusual. I’m not exaggerating. It’s a really unusual experience. So if you’re just starting to run, maybe, as Dmitry said, once a week and you should do one of these sometimes…
-Just do an experiment. Just run a kilometer or two at your own pleasure. Take your time. Slowly.
– Well, if you are just starting to run, and you haven’t had a marathon yet, then September 30 is just the right occasion to try your strength. You can start with small, small distances. And then come to the most cherished goal for any runner – a 42 km marathon.
We had Dmitry Voloshin as our guest today.
-Running.
-Running with us was Dmitry Voloshin. We had a wonderful morning under the open sky. Thank you, Dima, for finding time in your busy schedule.
-I’m waiting for you, by the way, at the marathon. I hope you’ll run something with us.
-We’ll run the whole CTC team and we’ll join you.
-With a tank top. All right, thank you.
– Nadia, I give you the floor.
