Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stiff week

Distance 19.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5405.5km] Week48

Thursday, 21-Nov. 11km

I must have run a bit harder than I thought in Sunday's race as my calves were stiff during the week. It was probably the second half of the race where I was reeling people in bit by bit. The first half was relatively relaxed as I warmed up.
So I rested for the earlier part of the week, no point going out there with fragile legs. WhenI get down to the beach on Thursday the familiar wind is blowing from the south. The temperatures are down at around 20C due to the southerly. The beach was maily empty except for the parasailors riding the waves with their wings pulling them high above the waves at times.
Felt a little tired today after being seated all day at work. I prefer calm windless days where I can regulate my running speed without having it push me back. Again I did the last 2km on the beach, running fast with the tailwind. I soaked my calves for a while under the jetty before the strong winds forced me off the beach. I almost got cramp in my calf or so it seemed after giving them a cooling dip, I managed to ward it off but it did feel a bit scary, like something was about to go "ping".

Sunday,  24-Nov. 8.2km

No running on Saurday as I went to the wedding of David and Cathy, two of the runners from the barefoot running group, and no, they didn't get married barefoot.
I had a couple of glasses of wine and it really knocks me out these days. I think maybe going alcohol free might be good after all.
My lake run was shared with the triathletes today. I parked my car well out of the way as there were lots of traffic restrictions around the place. I didn't time myself or keep a watch on the heart rate. The tendon on my right leg is still irritating me. I'm not sure what strategy to try and ease it off.
I must have run fairly hard as my T-shirt was soaked in sweat by the time I got around. I didn't manage to overtake any of the triathletes in our shourt coming together along the lakefront.

Neil


Sunday, November 17, 2013

Henley Classic 10km

Distance 103.7km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5386.3km] Week47

Monday, 28-Oct. 11km

Very windy today. Even when I looked out of the window while at work the trees could be seen thrashing around, by the beach the wind would be much stronger.
I got to the beach at around 5pm and the wind was gusting at 50km/h as I ran along the sand. There was no point racing so I just kept up a steady pace, head down to stop the sand blowing into my eyes. I came off the beach after 2km and ranalong the concrete path, I could get more traction that way. I don't find running against the wind as exhausting as when I wore shoes.
On the way back the wind pushed me forwards and I have to stop myself landing too hard and wearing my feet down. I diverted back to the beach for the last couple of km and was running at full wind assisted speed by the time I got to the jetty.

Thursday, 31-Oct. 10.5km

Although the wind was nowhere near as strong as Monday it was still blowing at 30km/h and I felt much more breathless today at the beginning, probably because I'd spent all day in fromt of a computer at work with a very low heart rateand hardly moving. When I suddenly start doing some physical exhertion the body doesn't want to cooperate. Evenutually I got back to normal, breathing more regular and heartrate at a steady 135. The run back was smooth and felt good.

Friday, 1-Nov. 10.5km 

End of the working week run always feels good as I'm free from being tied to the desk for 8 hours. A good run, nothing out of the ordinary to report.

Saturday, 2-Nov. 6km

Well, the barefoot runners meet today consisted of just David and myself, all the others have disappeared one by one. It seems that the patience required to learn a new skill is lacking in todays society. People are quite happy clomping around in their oversized running shoes and I don't think any amount of information that says some chronic running injuries can be explained by the bulky shoes will change peoples minds.

Monday, 4-Nov. 10.5km

This always feels like the longest day after the weekend. I'm up and getting ready for work at 5.30am so by the time I finish work and my run just over 12 hours later I usually feel tired and only stay up for another 3 hours.

Thursday, 7-Nov. 11km 

The feet were a bit sore at the end of the run today as I ran a bit harder than usual as the afternoon weather was back into the windy format again with a strong south blow that pushes me too fast on the way back.To save my feet I went down onto the beach for the last 2km. Even there the beach was covered in small shells washed up by the strong tides and now covered in a thin layer of sand blown by the wind. I had to keep a good watch to make sure I didn't land on a sharp shell edge.

Sunday, 10-Nov. 8.2km

My lake run came before the gym today. It's getting lighter in mornings and the warmer days are creeping up so I can now get a run around the lake done at 8am then head off to the gym at 9.00am. I got caught up in the local triathlon on my route, only for a small section on the east side. I break into their race and see if I can take on some of the tired participants who have already endured the swim and cycle leg

Monday 11-Nov. 11km

This turned out to be my only run during the week as I had a few after work things I had to sort out and I lost the enthusiasm once I did arrive home. Today was a good run. No pacers this time so I had to keep my own tempo up. I need to start getting some shorter, faster runs into the mix.

Saturday, 16-Nov. 15km

A nice flat wet sandy beach, perfect for a saturday run. I've not been on a longer distance for a while so today seemed perfect. I really should have conserved my energy for tomorrows race. My tendon in the right leg was a bit tender by the end, I think caused by some calf tightness and running on the sand. Even my feet felt a bit sensitive too. There was a light cool breeze blowing from the south, a little too cool to take my top off and grab a bit of sun. I really need to upgrade my running t-shirts as the ones I currently have are starting to look a bit raggedy. The t-shirt I had on today has a large hole just under the arm and the material is all hanging down. The neck is all stretched and wavy, it's about time it got turned into a duster. 

Sunday, 17-Nov. 10km

A perfect morning for a run, clear sunny sky and not a breeze. I had a few drinks last night and I could feel the tight feeling in my head. I skipped breakfast in favour of a carbo drink.
Today was the day of the Henley Classic 10km. I had no idea how many people would be running today so I set off early to get a decent car park spot. The race was due to kick off at 7.45am so I got there at around 7.10am. There were already quite a few people there and a good size queue to collect race numbers. As I got in line the queue expanded considerably to about 3 times what it was earlier.
It was interesting to do some people watching before the race to see the routines before the race. There was much stretching, lots of running up and down at fast paces, some strange marching movements. I chose just to stay calm and breath, no stretching or warm ups. I warm up by starting near the back then gradually moving through the groups of runners. I was a bit worried about a bit of tendon soreness but this wasn't an issue today.
The race started slightly late due to processing the people collecting numbers.
The numbers had a RF loop inside and your time triggers when you cross under the electric field. I started my stopwatch just before this point.
I knew the course well so knew all the spots that I had to take more care on. I felt light and bouncy as I started off and I gradually started to pick people off as I warmed up. The early part of the race is on smooth flat concrete then bitumen then the rough part which is weathered brick paving with lots of sharp projections.
The course was an out and back so I was interested to see where the front runners were going to meet me as they were on the return journey.
The front runner passed me just over 1km from the turnaround point meaning that they were at least 2km in front as I was at 4km.
I didn't stop for any drinks as it was cool enough not to need water and I didn't want to disrupt my rhythm. I wanted to try and run the last half faster than the first. I probabaly did this but I didn't hit the lap button on my watch. My heart rate was ticking along at 145bpm as opposed to around 135 bpm on the first half.
I didn't really push too hard in this run but my time was around 53m (unofficial). I'll post the results when they come through.
Each runner got a healthy gift bag at the end consisting of a banana, orange, breakfast drink, muesli bar. I really enjoyed the race and will look at doing it again next year.

Henley Square before the race


Crossing the finish line
 From the results I placed 282 out of 650 with a time of 52:40

Neil