First week of Winter

Distance 35.5km [total: minimalist 136.5km: Barefoot 1566.4km] Week 25


Tuesday, 21-Jun. 6km. 
I just had to squeeze a few kilometres in on the shortest day of the year. I couldn't go too far as I had to be out of the house early tonight to catch a movie so I was quite happy to turn around at the 3km point and head back.
I believe the winter solstice is supposed to be the official start of winter. I know I can cope with running long distance on cold surfaces now without any problem (when I say cold I mean around 10C which to a lot of the barefoot running community is actually reasonably warm). It had been raining earlier on but was reasonably dry by the beach, there was a good chill wind blowing up from the south.


Wednesday, 22-Jun.10km.
The full run this time. A clear sky and I managed to set off at around 4.40pm to make the most of the light before the sunset. The sun was just on the horizon as I made half way, another kilometre and it was gone. There was enough warmth in the brick and concrete on the outbound journey to make the run pleasant and easy. On the way back the temperature has dropped a couple of degrees and that that makes a difference, the numbness starts to get more of a grip so you have to rely on memory for correct form rather than feedback from the soles of the feet.

Saturday, 25-Jun. 14.5km.
I started late today as I wanted to get some shopping out of the way before the crowds built up. The weather was near perfect, clear blue sky, the breeze was a bit strong from the north, the one consolation being is that is would be behind me on the way back. Setting off at 11am meant the sand had warmed up as had the bitumen on the foreshore on the way back. I didn't have my timing watch on me but I think I set a good pace on the way out and on the way back until I hit the rough stony trail at the 3/4 point.
I find that when I hit that point, if I am too tired then my concentration is not good enough to run at a good pace without banging my heels on something. That was the case today, I was slightly out of sync with my feet so I took it nice and easy until I hit the beach again.
I did consider running an extra 4km towards the end but as the time was around 12.30pm, hunger was starting to build so I called it a day.
Since the shortest day we have gained 2 minutes extra day length yeehaw!

Sunday. 26-Jun. 5km
 I'd not done any shorter faster runs for a while so as I had done a gym workout in the morning and it was a nice sunny winter day it was time to hit the beach.
I forgot to take my sports watch so there would be no clock watching on this run. I jogged up to the jetty as a warm up then took off for the jetty 2km down the beach.
I felt like I was flying along and didn't feel like out of breath like I did a year or so ago, this is what running is all about. I'm sure I would have run under the 10 minutes for that. I was pretty breathless when I got to the other end.
I had a rest for a few minutes then set off back, easy at first but gradually winding it up until I was going at top pace by the half way mark. A great run. (Post Added)

I filled in another online survey during the week concerning barefoot running. It seems there must be quite a few studies going on at the moment to collect data on injury rates. Is it possible to change running form and reduce injuries: most definitely yes it is.

Neil