Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Cool again

Distance 41km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5867.2km] Week08

Monday, 17-Feb.10km

The cool running weather is a bit of a relief after all the heat of the last few weeks, the one drawback is of course the wind which is always blowing at this time of day. The calmest time to run is in the early morning around sunrise, by the time it gets to 11pm the wind is usually strengthening and by afternoon it will be a strong bluster. It wasn't too bad today breezy but not a battle against the elements. Shortly we will be in autumn once more and the weather will be cooling down and nights drawing in and I will have 5 months of cold feet.

Wednesday, 19-Feb. 10km

Here I am again battling against the strong south wind that is keeping the after work runners off the road, I seem to be on my own today. Maybe I should have gone to the gym rather than tackle the 40kmh wind, it is quite exhausting. Even when they wind is behind me on the way back it is not that rewarding as it pushes me too much and disrupts my stride. By the time I got back I had sand in my eyes and in my mouth and it was a relief to get into the shelter of the car. I got my run out of the way for the day.

Saturday, 22-Feb. 12.5km

My body seemed a bit creaky and slow to start today so I had to just relax and take baby steps until it began to want to run a little faster. Not the easiest of runs today, it was more a labour than an enjoyment. The ankle is still a nuisance, it has been getting better but it must be a case of two steps forward and one step back, it can be hardly noticed one day then reappear the next. I didn't run from jetty to jetty today but turned around as I reached the start of the Espanade at Semaphore then ran back along the road and grassy area behind the houses along the beach

Sunday, 23-Feb. 8.2km

A perfect running day this morning, just a light breeze and below 20C as I got to my usual start point at the car park at the south end of the lake. Lots of activity on today, a triathlon on the east side of the lake and where I am now there are a six Dragon Boats about to begin racing against each other down the length of the lake.
I padded along quietly watching all the events unfolding, a few Sunday morning runners came around in the opposite direction looking a bit more pained and laboured. I had a bit of a race with some of the triathletes when my path crossed onto their course, that gave me a bit of incentive to speed up and catch a few of them. A good run today.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

The Heat and the Rain

Distance 45.9km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5826.2km] Week07

Monday, 10-Feb. 7km

A warm day in the mid 30's, it was slightly cooler by the beach but too hot to run along the road so I stuck to running on the sand. I had a game of chase with a friend of mine who was running a shorter distance, I gave them a start of 3km which really was a bit too much to make up the distance over a 7km run. My handicap run didn't work and my friend was back at base with 10 minutes to spare. This certainly gave my lungs a good work out though as I treid in vain to catch up

Wednesday, 12-Feb. 8.2km

A scorcher of a day at 43C, luckily I was able to enjoy the air conditioning at work for most of the day. When I got back to my small flat it was around 32C inside, not a good night for sleeping. I called around to my uncles to collect my mail and decided to go for a run at the same time. I set off for a run around the lake just after sunset in a temperature of 38C. The ground was warm but not blisteringly hot, the concrete was good to run on, the brick on the eastern side of the lake was the hottest. After just 3km my throat was parched. I didn't carry any water with me as it was only a short run. I kept chugging along in a good rhythm without overheating. When I got back I drank around 6 glasses of water to replenish that fluid lost.

Thursday, 13-Feb. 10km

The promised rain came in early today, I wasn't expecting it until the late afternoon or early evening. It had been a hot uncomfortable night with a temp that hadn't dropped below 30C outside. We have now broken the long standing record of days above 40C that was set in 1897 of 11 days. This has been one hot summer. I went on a late evening run, setting off at 7.30pm. The rain had stopped but it was still warm, I ran along the foreshore from Grange to West Beach. The path was damp and felt good underfoot, the humidity was high so it sapped my energy, I'm so used to running in hot low humidit, the change takes some getting used to. I ran the last 2km along the almost dark beach, only coming across one or two stragglers who had not left the beach yet.

Saturday, 15-Feb. 12.5km

Felt flat as a pancake today, was it the heat of earlier in the week or the now cooler humid air left over after a day and a half of rain. Still can't shake the tendon stiffness, it gets no worse and it gets no better it is just there and makes my running less enjoyable. I set off from Grange on my run to Semaphore, my longest run for a while. The wind was behind me on the way up and in my face on the way back. It was pretty draining. I was glad to get it over with today. I had to will myself to run those last few kilometres into the wind. The humidity was around 65% today.

Sunday, 16-Feb. 8.2km

A cool morning with a strong southerly breeze. I felt tired this morning and got up at the last minute and headed down to the lake. It took me a while to get the running engine going but it did fire up after a kilometre and it ended up a half decent run. I couldn't see any more 40C days forecast for the week so that is good. All the temperatures are in the mid 20's.
All in all I did a decent weeks running, more distance than I thought.

Neil

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Heatwave

Distance 12.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5780.3km] Week06

Wednesday, 5-Feb-14. 5km

We are heading into a week of horribly hot temperatures with some more 40C+ days. I have not know a summer of such heat in all the time I have been over here.
People always ask about injuries to the foot while running without shoes and I give them the story of getting glass in my toe, not while running but while walking around the house.
I now have another injury to add to the list of ones picked up while indoors. While moving around the breakfast bar I my little toes did not clear the edge as I moved my foot resulting in a lot of pain. Through the next few days my little toe swelled up, then turned black and purple. The toe stubbing incident happened on monday. I decided to go out on a test run on Wednesday, a slightly cooler day of 34C.
I ran on the beach on the soft sand and my toe felt ok, I didn't have any weight on it and only did a short distance. It looked swollen at the end of the run but not much pain.

Sunday, 9-Feb-14. 8.2km

At last the wind has switched around to the south west and cooler air is blowing off the sea, replacing the heat of yesterday where where it got to 41C yet again. It took a long time for me to get to sleep last night with the heat and the neighbours making a noise.
I got out for my run at 9.00am and it was wonderful to be running in a cool breeze of a mere 20C. I have missed more runs due to the heat than I miss in winter due to the cold or wet conditions. My toe feels better, the black purple colour has gone but it still looks a bit larger than the toe on the other foot.

Neil

Monday, February 3, 2014

Summer slowdown

Distance 52.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5768.1km] Week05

Monday, 13-Jan. 10km

The first of the hot days is upon us, forecast to be 40C but actually reaching 42C. This is going to be one unpleasant week. I went for an early morning run although not that early by the time I got out of the house. I got to the beach at 8.30am and found it was quite pleasant, around 18C and calm.There were lots of people out walking and doing exercise before the bulk of the heat arrived in a few hours.
The concrete still felt nice and cool on the soles of the feet and the sun is shaded by the big beachside houses as I run towards West Beach. By the time I am on my return journey the sun will be higher in the sky and I will be feeling a little more drained. The run went well, nice and relaxed.

Monday, 20-Jan. 7km

A beach run today as the ground was a little warm to run on the pavement. Plenty of shelly beach to negotiate today. At one time I would leap up in the air if I stood on sharp shells but now I can just run straight over them.

Wednesday, 22-Jan. 12km

A nice evening run, setting off at 7pm after a light tea. People were out in droves in the warm evening air, walking off their dinners and watching the sun moving slowly to the western horizon. I was feeling good this evening so extended my distance by running along the holiday park just behind the sand dunes. The longer shadows were falling across the path cooling it off from the heat of the day. It's a nice time to run but it means that you have to eat dinner late into the evening which I don't really like. As I have found out, eating before is not a good option.
By the time I got back to the car the sun had dropped below the horizon and left a beautiful sunset it its wake.

Sunday, 26-Jan. 8.2km

Australia Day, they day when everyone gets together for a barbeque and a beer to celebrate being in a decent country and to feel lucky we are not in one of hte many around the world that is being torn apart by war and intolerance.
I had a late night so my lake run was a bit later today and it was to be a warm day of around 34C so already it was in the low 20's as I parked the car. A strong warm northerly breeze was blowing and the flags that had been set up by the barbeque area were fully unfurled.

Monday, 27-Jan 10.5km

Public holiday due to Australia Day falling on a Sunday. I got out for a run early as it would be too warm later on to run on the roads. I put in a good run to the holiday park at West Beach, finishing off with a run through the soft sand from Henley to Grange which was a slow hard slog and really gives the calves a fantastic workout. I still haven't shifted the tendon soreness in my right leg so I need to study some of the rehabilitation exercises to sort it out.

Sunday, 2-Feb. 6.5km

Monthly get together of the Barefoot Running group finds us at the car park at the south end of West Lakes lake. It is 9:00am and already the temperature is around 32C and rising. I moved the start time 30 minutes earlier due to the extreme heat we were due to experience today.
3 of use set off around the lake just after 9am, the concrete path was pleasant to run on, warm but not hot. I had intended to lead the group around the longer course but I was a bit worried that they may not make it. It turned out to be the right decision as they started to feel the effects of the heat in the last kilometre. I felt fine, the heat doesn't seem to trouble me too much except of course when it comes to sleeping at night. The final temperature for the day was 44.8C, a record February temperature. We seem to be breaking quite a few recorss these days.


Neil