Seasonal Change Blues

Distance 42.2km [total: minimalist 285.6km: Barefoot 3788.8km] Week40

Monday, 8-Oct. 15km

I left work this afternoon with a thumping headache caused by work pressures. I didn't feel much like going for a run but talked myself into it. It was a pleasant spring evening and now that we are enjoying daylight saving it's getting dark at around 7.30pm.
I was trying to clear my head as I ran up the beach but work issue kept spinning around in my head, it took around 7km to flush it out of my brain. I ran to Semaphore jetty then back along the foreshore path. When I got onto the grass section behind the houses near the beach I found that the grass, while soft underfoot during the winter, has now started to dry out. The carpet of flowers I ran through 3 weeks ago has now gone, replaced by thousands of small spiky seed heads that stuck into the underside of me feet. While is wasn't painful it wasn't pleasant. I shall avoid the grass for a few months to see if it improves.
The weather is due to turn wintery from Wednesday.

Saturday, 13-Oct. 19km

A perfect Saturday morning, no winds blowing one way or another along the beach, the tide was out, the only thing in the equation that was off was me. I didn't feel much like running when I set off so I started slowly, I perked up a bit after 3km but my heart rate was a bit high for the amount of effort I felt I was putting in, I kept adjusting my pace to bring the heart rate back to below 136bpm. I ran to Largs jetty then back to Semaphore where I hit the bitumen. I missed out on the grass stretch this time due to the amount of spiky seeds and ran back along the beach. I was starting to feel hungry. I planned to run 25km but I was running out of energy, my feet felt a bit sore too. I got back to where I had parked my car and decided I'd had enough for the day. Am I getting soft, should I have pushed on or was I doing the right thing and listening to my body. I hope the latter.

Sunday, 14-Oct, 8.2km

Another great running day out there. A bit of a northerly breeze but not that strong. I need to get some more running T-Shirts as my current ones are looking decidedly tatty. I would have had them quite a few years now and they are calling out to be turned into dusters. I don't want to complete the look of looking like a running vagrant with no shoes and tatty ripped clothing. I think I'm suffering from some kind of seasonal changeover disorder, the running was going great while running in the cold and wet but now I'm back to running in warmer conditions and warm ground I feel a bit off. My feet are a bit crampy, I may need to start taking some magnesium supplement. Anyway back to the run, I kept a steady pace all the way around and did a time of 45m, a bit slower than usual. I did get a boost to my speed when a girl passed me just near the Boulevard bridge on the lake, I gave chase but she out ran me, I could have caught up but my feet were trying to slow me down,

Neil