Goodbye brother

Distance 44.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5676.7km] Week01

Saturday, 4-Jan. 6km

Monthly get together of the small band of barefoot runners for the College Park river run. Good to see Michael back after a bit of break.
The weather was cool after a wet and windy night but by the time I got to the meeting point everywhere was quite dry and the sun was warm once it cleared the fleeting clouds.
Three of us ran around the river course that weaves around the zoo, numberous sports fields and the river. Lots of people out running, playing soccer and a variety of other sports.
We still get plenty of curious looks as we run by without shoes. Any changes will take many years to filter through into the general consciousness.
Three of us ran the 6km at a leisurely pace while Cathy ran a shorter course to acclimatise her soles to the bare ground.
After the run we retired to the local deli for a coffee and chat before heading off.

Sunday, 5-Jan. 8.2km.

My usual loop done in a good time in great conditions, sunny and a light breeze from the west that was cut down by the houses along the lakeside. The only time I could feel the wind was on the other side of the lake but it was refreshing to be cooled off. After the run it was off to the gym for a workout and that is my exercise for the day.

Tuesday, 7-Jan 7km

On Monday night I got the phone call I was dreading, my father called from the UK to tell me that my younger brother had passed away at only 47 years old from lung cancer.
He had been diagnosed a year earlier and I believed that he had a fighting chance with the new drugs that are becoming available but I now think they are more of a pipe dream than a serious challenge to the disease. My brother and I were separated by thousands of kilometres of distance but we chatted regularly on all kinds of subjects. I will not be able to do this any more and I have a heavy heart when I think about this.
I tried to lift my mood by going for a light run but I seemed to ache all over and my running was laboured. By the end it may have helped me but only a little.

Saturday, 11-Jan. 15km

Feeling better today, the sadness can come in waves, triggered by a memory, sorting out photos, or writing the log. I decided to run some more distance and found my legs were a little stiff at the end which surprised me
but I still recovered pretty quickly. It lifted my spirits a bit, this should last for a while.

Sunday, 12-Jan. 8.2km

Out for an early run around the laske at 8am today, it is getting hotter today and later in the week it is due to be horrendously hot and not just for 1 day but for around 5 days, I am not looking forward to that. But now it was perfect, around 20C, calm, the lake is still and I pad quietly along the edge, passing occasional runners comning the other way. I have been having problems with my heart rate monitor recently, it doesn't seem to pick up my heart rate. I think something in the strap must be worn out, I shall have to check what options for spares are around.

Neil