Race day nears

Distance 4km [total: minimalist 44km: Barefoot 273.5km]

Sunday morning and I'm at the beach at 8am with my small group of beach runners.
It was a blowy start to the day, a change had come in overnight to drop the temperature down so it was only around 18C.

Its always a tough decision about whether to just run to keep up with the group or concentrate on getting the running style right.
I decided getting it right is better so I curbed the competitive edge and ran at my own pace.
What made it a little harder was the fact that the sand had not had time to warm up at this time of the morning and so the underside of my feet became numb after a kilometre.
Gee how do those barefoot runners on Youtube run on ice and in snow, must be a lot tougher than me.
On the way back from the jetty turn around point I found it was better to run in the water as the water was warmer than the sand so I got a bit of feeling back.

When I got back I waded into the water to get the calves and ankles submerged to squeeze out the lactic acid. This is a great recovery aid.

After that I put in some more drill practice.
My jumping is getting better. About 3 weeks ago I would still get pain in my lower back when jumping, it now seems to have almost disappeared.
At Henley square there are some stone steps about 30cm in height each, jumping up these is great for the calves.
It is a great confidence booster as you realise you do have the springiness in your legs to be able to cope with landing on hard surfaces. It is now more of a case of how far can I jump and how high.

How long ago was it when I used to get ankle pain running barefoot, must have been before Christmas, it's almost a distant memory. I am just amazed by how quickly the body adapts when you give it the freedom.
I just wonder what the podiatrist would think now if he saw I didn't need the orthotics or even the shoes these days.

Neil