3 Years of Barefoot Running

Distance xxkm [total: minimalist 285.6km: Barefoot 3534.4km] Week36

Monday, 3-Sep. 13km

For a change, I had a beach run this evening, I was feeling tired after the first day of the working week so a relaxed run would be a good way of getting a few kilometres in and not exhausting myself further. The tide was almost at the high point for the day so I had soft sand to run on and lots of shells. I started the run lacking enthusiasm but by the end I felt much better. For most of the run my heart rate would have been under 130 bpm so it was good aerobic base building.
There was a fantastic sunset on the way back and as I got back to my car I sat for a while looking out to sea as the orange glow slowly faded. The first bout of warm weather has brought droves of runners out, many probably shaping up for the City-Bay run in a couple of weeks.

Friday, 7-Sep. 10km

After a week of wintery weather that put a stop to my running I managed to get out on the Friday. It was still cold and there was a strong westerly wind whipping up the sea into a frothy frenzy. I ran along the beach tonight, from Grange Sailing club to Grange jetty then back down the beach to the river then back up, into the strengthening wind, to the West Lakes inlet pipe before turning back to the car. What a relief to get out of the icy wind and into the warmth of my car. So, just because we are in September doesn't mean spring is here to stay.

Saturday, 8-Sep. 16km

Again, I hoped the cold windy weather would have blown itself out and be replaced by calm sunny weather. As I was getting ready to go out it looked bright and didn't feel cold outside. I tossed up about just wearing shorts and T-shirt rather than leggings and long sleeved top, I went for the latter in the end using the logic that it is better to be warm and take something off than cold with nothing to put on.
I'm glad I did. I got to the beach at 9am and there was the westerly wind again, foamy surf, it felt cold. In the first few kilometres the sun sneaked out and I thought the suncream might be worthwhile after all. After another couple of kilometres I noticed the low black clouds out to the west, it was raining out at sea and it was heading my way. I thought I might be able to out run it but it came in fast, the air chilled and the rain started to fall, blowing sideways with the wind. I got a good soaking but missed the bulk of it which was a bit further north. I reached Semaphore jetty then ran back along the wet footpath, my feet were slapping a bit too much, they were cold and numb. I headed back to the beach after a couple of km. After another 3km I felt sapped of energy. I hap intended to run 22km today but there are certain days when you just have to throw in the towel. I got to my parked car after running 16km feeling exhausted, I didn't have another 7km in me today.

Sunday, 9-Sep. 8.2km

I believe it would have been about this date 3 years ago that I first took up my quest of changing my running style and running without shoes. I have covered quite a distance since then. My running is mostly free from injuries now except for the odd tight calf or some minor thing. So despite the Professor of Sports Science at Uni SA saying that barefoot running will cause injuries, I think the onus is on him to prove that shoes stop runners getting injured. Of course he can't do that because the data shows that runners in shoes (myself being one) get injured at a much greater frequency than is acknowledged
Todays run was done in spring sunshine nice and relaxed. The ground felt perfect under foot not cold and not too hot. Now that I can get more ground feedback from the feet without them being too cold I will look to get more speed in my running. First objective is to get the distance to 60km per week.

Neil