Stormy Week

Distance 45.2km [total: minimalist 285.6km: Barefoot 3430km] Week33

Monday, 13-Aug. 11km

Well, the apparent sore hip area was not what I at first thought. It wasn't a leg problem but the indicator of a back problem, the good old sciatic nerve! I must have put some pressure on the discs when doing either shoulder presses or leg presses at the gym. I actually came up with the idea that is was my back while asleep dreaming. My subconscious must have been sifting all the information and drawn this conclusion which it them passed on to my conscious mind so I could do something about it. Now I know what it is I know how to treat it. I went for a run of 11km and took it nice and easy the entire way around, my heart rate only getting above 130 bpm towards the end of the run, all the rest of the time it was around 127bpm. I almost didn't feel like going for a run an hour before I set out. The idea of an easy run was a great solution rather than just not running, I felt much better at the end. There wasn't much sun about so it got dark quickly while I was running back along the beach.
The forecast for the week is for cold, blustery and wet weather for the end of the week. Wednesday or Thursday will be my only weekday opportunities to run, Friday I'm out for a free posh meal care of my employer.

Saturday, 18-Aug. 22km

After a week of cold stormy winter weather that stopped my running in the latter part of the week, Saturday morning comes, the wind drops and the sun shines, wonderful.
I got to the beach at 9.30am and ran north to Semaphore. The sun shone and while it felt good I started to worry about getting too much sun if I was running for 2 hours. It felt warm as I ran so I ended up taking my long sleeved top off, it got put on again once I changed direction on the run back, there was a cool breeze and with the sweat on my t-shirt I could feel the warmth being sucked out of me. No a bad run all in all considering I had a late night and several glasses of wine. I did consider extending my run by a couple of km but I felt a bit tired at the end and thought I'd been out for long enough.
I was contacted in the week by a reporter from the local Adelaide paper who was interested in doing a story on barefoot running. I'm due to meet up with a photographer tomorrow. I'm not sure how they are going to construct the story, I did send an email with some information on as I don't think they will be sending anyone out to do a real question and answer session. I just hope it is not the usual cut and paste compilation of dangers of barefoot running.

Sunday, 19-Aug. 8.2km + 4km

After a dull start the sun began to break out at 10am. This warmed the concrete up for my feet. The early run was a run in two halves. The first half I didn't feel smooth, I could hear my foot slapping the ground louder than they should have been, a callus on my left foot was a bit tender. As I run clockwise around the lake I'm running on a slight incline with the left leg higher up than the right, this is what put pressure on the callus. I think yesterdays long run had also take a bit of spring out of my legs. I began to get my rhythm back by the halfway point, and I put in a good sprint at the end with a time of 5m53s.
In the afternoon I had a photo shoot appointment with a photographer from the local Adelaide paper for a story they were doing on barefoot running. It was a nice sunny afternoon so I wore my shorts and IBRD T-shirt. The shoot consisted of me doing some sprints along the concrete, so slow motion type runs and some stationary where I sat on the ground with my feet crossed in front of me. Unlike Naomi Campbell, I didn't get paid!
After the photos, as the weather was nice I went for a second run along the beach, a 4km Fartlek session, 2 minutes fast, 2 minutes slow. That was a short but tough session. The speed will come in useful during the summer races.

Neil