Sunday, March 18, 2012

Thunder and Lightning

Distance 49km [total: minimalist 269.6km: Barefoot 2386.5km] Week 11


Wednesday, 14-Mar, 4.2km

So, why the reason for such a short run, well, it was getting a little scary out there weather wise.
The day had started off hot and humid with the temp getting up to 34C then a storm started brewing out to the west and it came across the city during the afternoon, plenty of heavy rain.
By the time it came to go home the rain had stopped, it was still warm and there were dark clouds out to the west. I do like running in the rain when it is hot so I got home, changed into my running gear and headed to the coast. The wind had picked up by the time I parked the car and large splodges of rain were coming down. I still figured I could run a 10km before the bulk of the rain hit.
Out to see there were numerous lightning strikes hitting the water but I couldn't hear the thunder so thought it must be quite a few km away. At 1km away the dark clouds were getting closer as was the lightning. I got to just over 2km and the rain arrived and I could hear the thunder now, it was less than a km off the shore and I didn't want to be caught running barefoot in the rain with lightning strikes all around. Just because they are so unpredictable you can't think you are safe because the strikes are a distance away. I kept looking back over my shoulder as most of the strikes were behind me. As I neared my car there were flashes in front of me as well. Bizarrely there were people out swimming in the rough water, that must have been more dangerous than running as they would have been the highest point should some giant spark decide to seek the shortest path to earth.

Thursday, 15-Mar. 9.8km

The storm of yesterday has passed by the time I'm parking in the same spot as yesterday. My run is slightly shorter than the usual 10km as the council has decided for some bizarre reason to rip up the perfectly good paving along the road where I normally park and replace it with.... more of the same. It must be a new way the have of either wasting money or keeping people employed. Ok ok there is a slight difference, the pavement is wider my about 50cm. I could think of around 20 roads that could do with resurfacing before replacing a pavement would become a priority.
I ran from the sailing club at Grange to the Holiday park at West Beach then back. the feet felt fine until around 8km, as usual, then they start to complain and feel tender, will I ever have feet that can run a marathon without shoes? The form was good up until that same time when my feet get sensitive then I can feel the form slip as well.

Friday, 16-Mar. 12.5km

A good running day for my run home from work, 21C and sunny. My feet were over sensitive again especially on the rougher surfaces once I took the VFF's off after running through the city. I had to negotiate all the seed cases dropped by the trees which can get tiresome. The callus on my right toe is sensitive to any small thing I stand on and seems to hurt like crazy for ages. I need to get filing it away again. It all stems from my ankle injury back in September when I couldn't land properly or lift the big toe, I must have been landing too heavily on it and causes the callus to form.

Saturday, 17-Mar. 15.5km

A bit of a slow start today, I didn't feel brimming with enthusiasm when I started off and so took it nice and easy, my feet were still a bit sore from my runs in the week. The were ok on the sand but I felt them more on the rough road surface just before I get onto the grass behind the houses along the coast. I didn't do the longer 18.5km today but strangely enough I felt far better today than I did last week at the same point so maybe the mileage in my legs is starting to pay off. The next race on the calender is the Easter Bun Fun Ru.

Sunday, 18-Mar. 7km

I felt like I'm coming down with a bit of a cold last night, I was a bit clogged up. Earlier in the week I woke on a couple of mornings with a sore throat but they soon cleared up. I'm hoping it is only a mild cold. I didn't go for my usual early morning run but went around midday and did a couple of fast 2km jetty to jetty runs and some more relaxed running to the river. I was quite pleased with my fast paced runs where I recorded times of 9m 50s for one leg and 9m 57s coming back. I could have jumped a few places up if I could have maintained that speed during the race a couple of weeks ago. Weather was great for running 15C, light breeze and sunny. Plenty of people out at the beach but it's getting a bit chilly to go in the water to swim.

Neil

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