More kilometres

Distance 69.7km [total: minimalist 285.6km: Barefoot 3858.5km] Week41

Monday, 15-Oct. 11.5km.

A warm day of 26C at its high but cooler as I start my run. A calm day, no winds blowing which is good. I parked north of the Grange Hotel to extend the run by a small amount. I'm getting some calf stiffness from my gym exercises on Sunday. I did some calf drops on my right leg and now I'm starting to pay for it. It will probably get worse tomorrow.
It's hard trying to balance running with weight training of the legs. It seems to be a choice of strength or stamina but not both. Since doing much more running my leg strength has decreased, especially the hamstrings. If I then do some leg strengthening it stuffs up my running for around 4 days, even when I'm not lifting heavy weight.
I could feel it in my legs, I loose a bit of the coordinated muscle communication that barefoot running relies on. This can lead to imbalances and injuries if I'm not careful, the things I was trying to avoid by strengthening the legs in the first place. I felt more tired on the return journey.

Tuesday, 16-Oct. 13.5km

A day off work due to sickness. I was feeling better by the afternoon, enough to have a go at running. I had a beach run towards Semaphore. It wasn't a good run. I felt tired, my legs were sore and I still suffered from the slight unsynchronised muscle contractions. On the return journey, the gentle breeze turned into a strong wind, my heavy legs gave up around 3km from the end so I walked. It seemed to be a very long 3 km after running for 10km, the distance goes by so slowly. Hopefully my next outing will be a bit better.

Thursday, 18-Oct. 11.5km

Ah much better! this is more like it. The legs have regained their strength and the foot sensitivity seems to have settled down. It was a warm afternoon when I set off, 27C I believe. Once again I parked the car out of the way of the congestion at Grange and added a bit more distance to the run. I could feel the heat this time and it pushed my heart rate up to above 140bpm. The ground was comfortable to run on, its not got to blistering point yet.
I ran the last 2km on the beach and had some competition from a another guy running barefoot. He overtook me a few 100m past Henley jetty, I managed to stick behind him I the reeled him in around 200m from Grange jetty. Then he let loose with a burst of speed and I couldn't catch him, a classic ploy to demoralise the opposition. Despite the loss it was a good training run.

Saturday, 20-Oct. 25km

First stop of the day was at the hairdressers to get the winter/spring growth cut off, it probably wont do much to improve my speed but it feels much cooler. Would I managed to get a decent long run in today without collapsing from fatigue, hunger or physical collapse, apparently so. The weather was perfect at around 20C, just a slight northerly breeze at the beach but lots of blue sky with a few Altocumulus floccus clouds, ah how wonderful the internet is for describing each and every situation. I started off slow until I warmed up then kept a fairly even pace from Grange Sailing Club up to Largs Jetty then back to Semaphore where I have a 5 minute recovery then head onto the bitumen for a few kilometres. I kept off the grass again this week as it is full of dry seeds that harpoon the underside of my feet. I felt quite good for most of the way, just in the last km was I feeling a bit too tired to carry on so I walked in the water to cool off. So, I completed a 25km and feel pretty good now, a few hours later.

Sunday, 21-Oct. 8.2km

Earlier in the week I had the impression that today was going to be cold and wet, but now that it is here it is far from that. It's bright and sunny but a bit breezy. I headed off for a loop of the lake feeling pretty good, no aches or tiredness from my 25km yesterday. Running along the west side of the lake I spotted some dog walkers up ahead, the dogs they were walking were Bull Terriers, I'm always little wary in case one takes a liking of my leg, mistaking it for a tasty bone. I did my usual throat clearing cough to alert them I was coming up behind them. It was then I realised it was my cousin Abigail and her boyfriend Lee. I stopped for a brief chat before setting off at a good pace. It was a good run, the legs and feet felt great. Maybe a record week for distance.

Neil