15 Minutes of Fame (or Less)

Distance 52.2km [total: minimalist 285.6km: Barefoot 3534.4km] Week35

Monday, 27-Aug. 11km

A cloudy but calm day, I was holding out for a 20C day but we got only 18C. The local newspaper published a brief article on my barefoot running and of course an expert had to come out swinging and scream "fad' but then maybe shoes are the fad seeing as they have been around for a fraction of time that humans have been in existence.
I did a relaxed 11km, or tried to keep at a slower heart rate, it does creep up to the upper end of my aerobic range. I want to try to keep the the 10/90 rule 10% anaerobic and 90% aerobic. So that means if I'm running 50km per week I don't want to run more than 5km above the 137 BPM rate. If I can increase my aerobic base to 60km then 6km can be at race pace. To run a 10km at race pace I need to get up to 100km per week.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/australian-branch-of-the-international-barefoot-running-society-formed-in-adelaide/story-e6frea83-1226458443770

Thursday, 30-Aug. 11km

A battle against the 30km/h winds this afternoon. I'm hoping that this will be one of the last days of winter type weather. As I've mentioned in the past, now that I have altered my running form so my foot doesn't land miles in front of me, I no longer find it tiring running into a headwind, I just put a little more lean in and let gravity pull me forwards. I've not found the ground too cold in the last few months either, I'm wondering if I have acclimatised now and my feet don't feel the cold. I'm quite happy to walk around outside at night, putting my washing out and I can stand on the cold wet concrete and hardly notice it.
I've been looking through the local road runners website deciding on the first race for the year. I don't do the City-Bay as there are too many people in it but there is another race in November, The Glenelg Classic that I might have a go at. It follows the path along the shore from Glenelg to West Beach and back, a run I have done a few times. That would be my first fully priced run if I did that.

Saturday, 1-Sep. 22km

Yay, first day of Spring and a clear blue sky greets me as I head to the beach. There is a bit of a chilly north east breeze blowing but the wind is much reduced from Thursday. The tide was out as far as it was going to get today, I had plenty of sand to run on. I felt quite relaxed on the run up to Semaphore. I was a bit more tired on the way back or maybe I just thought I was. I think I should be running faster but I'm already going at a good pace and this is meant to be an endurance run not a speed run. I still haven't cracked the 2 hours so I'm not going to increase my distance until that happens. We have a 25C day next week before the temperature drops once again later in the week. Tomorrow is the monthly run for the Adelaide Barefoot group, but I'm only expecting one to turn up. I've not had much more recognition from runners since the article in the paper.

Sunday, 2-Sep. 8.2km

Well, a lone barefoot runners meet this month. I went to the gym at 9am as I had scheduled the run for 10.30am. I did some back exercises and some legs. As I run more than do weights my legs feel weak when it comes to the weights. I'm not lifting super heavy or anything but even what was my starting weight now feels heavy. I didn't want to do to much or my legs would seize up on the run. I think the barefoot running builds the calves and leaves the quads and hamstrings as they are not the main muscle to stabilise the foot.
After the gym I headed out to the car park by the lake to see if anyone would turn up, the time ticked past 10.30am and no one appeared so I set off. I didn't have my sports watch on so I took what I thought was an easy pace, I was in no rush. My feet got a bit tender on the last couple of km. We had our first warmer day of spring, the concrete was no longer cold I could feel the warmth on my soles, before too long I'll be worrying about burning my feet.

Neil