Sunday, March 28, 2010

Wet Sunday

Distance 11km [total: minimalist 56.5km: Barefoot 293.5km]


I believe I am getting to 'feel' the correct way of running more now but it still requires concentration.
If my mind wanders then I find I am not getting that correct feeling of pulling the leg from the ground.
It helps if you can hold a vision in your head of doing the static change of support drill and just get that feeling of shifting the body weight from one leg to the other while you are moving forward.
I ran 7km along the beach on the Saturday and even though I was tempted to get in races with others running along the beach, I resisted to concentrate more on the keeping a compact, efficient form.

After a late night I got myself out of bed to go on my social beach run at Henley at 8am.
I had my breakfast an hour before as I can't run without eating early in the day.
As I was driving to the beach it began to rain, it was not cold though so I didn't cancel my training.
It got to 8am and nobody showed up, it seems like I must be made of sterner stuff, the other have decided to be fair weather runners.
I felt a little stiff this morning but once I ran through some warm up drills I was fine.
I took the run nice and easy and once again just concentrated on keeping the compact, efficient movements and visualising the load shifting from leg to leg.
After the run I waded in the water to stop any stiffness build-up in the lower legs.

The barefoot miles are starting to accumulate now.
Maybe I should have a celebration when I get to the 1000km mark.

Neil

Friday, March 26, 2010

Friday long run

Distance 12.5km [total: minimalist 56.5km: Barefoot 282.5km]

First week back at work after my holiday and it is time to do the longer run from work to home, the 12.5km distance.
Thankfully the temperature dropped from the high of 32C down to a more reasonable 28C.
The run went really well. I keep concentrating on pulling the leg from the ground and being as relaxed as I can when it comes to the landing.
It seems to lower the stress on the tendons when there is no 'push off' which is what you would expect.
Sitting here now, typing this I don't feel any fatigue from the run which must indicate that I am maybe becoming more efficient.
I will need to get the camera out again to check on the technique. I was not happy with shots last time, it looked like my landing was too far in front of my body.
I really need a video camera to be able to study the landing to get a true picture.

The results for the beach race I did before the holiday are out and I came 18th out of a field of 108,
I thought my time could have been better so next year I shall have to aim at a lower time. Hopefully by them my Pose technique will be that bit better.

Neil

Monday, March 22, 2010

Back from New Zealand

Distance 5km [total: minimalist 44km: Barefoot 282.5km]

After a two week holiday break in New Zealand it is time to get back to some training again.
I did a little practice while away which consisted of a run around Blue Lake at Rotorua, a distance of 5km. It was a bit of a spontaneous effort and I wasn't dressed for the occasion but it was a good run through the thickly vegetated lake edge.



I did start off barefoot but as I was unsure how long it was going to take I put my thin rock shoes on.
All the way I concentrated on lifting the legs with hamstrings as far as I could tell.

The only other bit of running I managed to squeeze in was some training around a running track at Inglewood, a small town close to New Plymouth.
The lady at the motel where I was staying the night picked up a key for me to use the facility, very thoughtful of her.



In the photo you can see Mount Taranaki in the background.
I found that the tartan track is quite abrasive and as I was training with no shoes on at first I noticed it was filing my feet away and they started to get a bit sore.
I did manage about 5 laps and some 100m shorter runs while practicing the Pose drills.
That was the extent of the running practice while away.

Neil

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Henley Beach Bash 2010

Distance 4km [total: minimalist 44km: Barefoot 277.5km]

A beautiful evening for a run along the beach, 25C and a gentle breeze from the south west, there was only one problem and that was it was high tide and there was not much beach around.
The race was on the Friday at 6.30pm, the registration & refreshments table was set up in Henley Square and people slowly started to turn up from around 6pm.
I think in the end there were over 100 people that turned out to run the 4km from jetty to jetty and back.

I noted that, considering it was advertised as a 'beach' bash 95% of the people wore their running shoes.
I am sure it is harder to run in soft well trodden sand while wearing running shoes than it is to run in bare feet.
I also noted that at two points along the course that the tide had come in right up to the rock walls and was about thigh deep, that would lead to a lot of wet soggy running shoes.
As this was my first run in a paid for race in over 10 years I thought I'd start at the back. I was more interested to see if I could keep up my pose form rather than attempt to race off.
The race started promptly at 6.30pm and there was a burst as people jostled for position and to get on the thin area of semi firm sand where the waves were washing over the soft sand.
I ran in the soft sand for about 1km before moving over as the race stretched out.
On the outbound leg I was able to just about run through the knee deep water but by the time I got back to the same spot 10 minutes later it was nearly waist deep and the waves quite strong.
It was a good run, I don't know my exact finishing time as I left before the winners were announced but it was somewhere around 23.5 minutes. I think the soft sand and water obstacles would have lead to slower times than the previous year where I read that the tide was right out.
I think I managed to retain a semblance of correct form and it was a very enjoyable way to spend the early part of Friday evening.

Neil