Almost Spring

Distance 42.7km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 4866.2km] Week32

Monday, 5-Aug. 10.5km

A windy but warm evening for a run. I wore just shorts and t-shirt rather than my normal two t-shirts, long sleeved top, skins and shorts. The wind was blowing from the north so it was behind me on the way out and in my face on the way back. A change is on the way and we are back to cold wet weather tomorrow. There were plenty of rain clouds around during the run but I avoided the spots where the rain was coming down.
The feet kept nice and warm on the run as the sun had warmed the pavements up slightly during the day.

Thursday, 8-Aug. 11km

After a cold start the day turned out pleasant and warm and it was an ideal evening for a run after work. I even had to take my running top off and just run in a t-shirt as I was getting a bit warm. I got a bit of ankle cramp on the way back but ran it off and by the end it was fine. I practiced the nose breathing again but occasionaly I have to resort to taking in larger amounts of air through my mouth. I saw one of the first of the spring catepillars on the path the other day, a sign that Spring is not far away. The photo below is one I took after my run and is the Grange Hotel at dusk.

Grange Hotel, dusk, August 8th 2013

Saturday, 10-Aug. 13km

I was greeted with sunshine peeping under the blinds this morning indicating that it has the possiblity of being a nice morning outside. I was up and about a little late after having a night out hosted by the company I work for, to celebrate 15 years in the job. Wow has time flown by. I got to the beach just after 10am, the tide was at the low point so I had a large expanse of flat sand to run on. There was a bit of a breeze blowing from the north that felt a bit chilly but the sun offered some warmth when it came out from being some of the light clouds. On the way back I came off the beach and ran along the grass behind the houses, with the winter rain the grasses had started to grow and the spiky seeds that cover this area in late summer have now all germinated and are no longer a problem. On the way back I upped the pace as I had the breeze at my back and it just felt good to be running harder. I took my top off to cool down while running and had the experience of feeling small drops of rain that must have been blown from some real distance away as the slky above was blue and cloudless, the only cloud I could see was on my left. It just felt like thousands of small electric shocks. A very enjoyable run

Sunday, 11-Aug. 8.2km

After a gym session in the morning and a heavy upper leg workout I went to the lake to run it off. The legs felt a bit wobbly at first due to the leg extensions I had done earlier but they sorted themselves out by half way. I will probably be sore in a couple of days. The northerly breeze blew down the length of the lake today as I ran up the western edge then as I slowly moved around on the return half it just died down and I could feel the sun again. I ran untimed today but I felt like I was running  a bit fast without the restraining influence of my heart monitor. I can feel spring in the air.
In the evening I got to speak about barefoot running at a local community radio station and spent and hour answering questions from the presenters Julie and  Jackie.  A great first experience of talking on live radio. I have John Middleton to thank for arranging that so, thanks John!

Neil