Sunday, May 25, 2014

Warm Week 2

Distance 35km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6288.9km] Week22

Monday, 19-May. 10km
More sunny weather, a warm day with cool nights are ideal. Perfect running weather as the summer winds have all but stopped. It's so good to get the bare feet on the ground after my poor feet being stuffed into shoes all day as I sit behind a computer in the office. A great run today, I felt light and bouncy on my feet. I watched the sun sinking into the sea then turning into an orange glow as I ran back towards Henley Beach. The darkness seems to come soon after. As I do my walking cool down back to the car it is dark and the streetlamps are on.

Wednesday, 21-May. 10km
A warm day of 26C today, very unusual for this time of year. My body has been readying itself for winter and here I am having to cope with warm summer like temperatures. I am back to having only the first 30 minutes of my run in sunlight, then it sinks below the horizon and the dusk creeps in. I like to run this course at this time of year as I get the most sunlight, other runs would leave me in the shade much earlier. I struggled a little when a runner threw down the gauntlet by passing me, I gave chase but as I was at the end of my run I was a little tired. I think I could have caught him but he turned off, probably to get away and have a breather without me passing him. He gave me my speed session for the run, it's easy to run at a steady pace, a change to high tempo when chasing is a good test.

Saturday, 24-May. 15km

The weather has just been fantastic, unusually fantastic, much warmer than one would normally expect for this time of year. I got down to the beach at 8.20am and could feel the warmth from the sun as if it were a summers day.
I set of at a slow light pace. The beach wasn't the best running surface today, it was soft and lots of shells washed up by the tide, the tide was advancing so if I came back this way it would be pushing me up the beach camber.
I decided to turn off and run the course I did a few weeks ago that took me around the sports fields in Semaphore Park then over the footbridge onto Delfin Island, a loop of there then over the footbridge on the other side.
While running on the footpath near the golf course I was almost floored by a stray golf ball that came out of nowhere, bounced around 2m in front of me then was almost in my face but I moved to the side just in time.
That would have made an interesting news story headline.  

Unconscious Barefoot Runner Found in Street, only clue, a dent in the forehead with the words Dunlop in mirrored text.

The rest of the run was uneventful except for a bit of a race with another runner I passed on the lake path. I think he nearly had a heart attack trying to catch me at the end.
A great run.

Sunday, 25-May

No run today as I had my first go at MovNat. It is going to be a learning curve just as it was with barefoot running. I thought my balance would be good but without technique it was awful. Even the basics like crawling were very tricky when you have to get the breathing correct. I'll shall have to practice some of these things over the next few weeks.

Neil

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Warm week

Distance 43.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6253.9km] Week21

Monday, 12-May. 10km

A bit of clock watching at work and as soon as it turned 4pm the computer was off and I was on my way to the car and home the out to see the sunset.
A perfect Autumn day 21C, calm and sunny and it looks like it is only going to get better as we move through the week.  

Wednesday, 14-May. 10km

After another sedentary day at work, glued to a chair, 4pm and I was free to fly like a bird out of a cage. The weather has been perfect, warm and sunny 24C, no breeze. When I think back over the summer there has been very few days like this, usually there is a strong sea breeze by the afternoon or else a northerly wind of change blowing. Now with the shorter days and cooler weather the breezes have eased. 
An excellent run today, everything felt good and in balance. I had a good fast pace, shaking off all the lethargy from a desk-bound day. I will sleep well tonight. 

Saturday, 17-May. 15.5km

The long beach run I didn't do last week went a bit better this time as I had plenty of flat sand to run on as the did was at it's low point. My calf was a bit achy this morning and I'm wondering if it is due to the ultrasound I have been using on it. It was hardly noticeable a few weeks ago then I started giving the tendon a few treatments and it seems to have caused it to be a bit sore, maybe the combination of running and the treatment is the problem. I'll stop using it and see how I feel.
When I got to the jetty at Semaphore there was a small protest on against BP drilling for oil off the coast, three mermaids in oil drums covered in oil to highlight the issue. I did get chatting to a bloke who had a model of a solar thermal power plant set up and we were asking the question, what is the problem with Australia, why are we going backwards when it comes to energy.
I then had to set off back to run the 7.5km back to Henley, I felt pretty tired by the time I got back, too much sun.

Sunday, 18-May. 8.2km

A nice sunny morning to head to the lake. Feeling a bit sleepy though and also still tired from yesterdays run. I felt a bit laboured today and stopped several times to have a bit of a catch my breath break. I didn't have the best of sleep last night, neighbourhood hoons revving engines in the early morning to keep me awake. The neighbour went out to threaten them with a bit of a thumping then they drove off, I was vaguely aware of this from a half asleep state. After the run I did some warm down moves on the grass, while doing this I got chatting to a fellow runner who said he had seen me on several occasions running without shoes and was interested. I gave him my history and it turned out that I ran with a group of runners back in the 1990's and he was part of that group but a bit later on. They are still running all these years later. I told him if he ever wanted to give barefoot running a try he should just contact me.

Neil
 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Darker evenings again

Distance 35.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6210.7km] Week20

Monday, 5-May. 10km

The back problems are easing off now after giving me a warning to watch the exercises I do at the gym. So, along with no squatting with weight, no heavy shoulder presses I have to add no ab twists with weights. Soon I shall be at the point where there is no point visiting the gym at all.
The run was good, the pavement was quite cold, not much warmth captured today. I have to stick to the roads as the tide is high and sand too soft to run on without taking an age to get anywhere

Wednesday, 7-May. 10km

The early morning rain had eased by midday and the roads and paths dried out fairly quickly. I did my usual 10km with the last 2km being a faster beach run. It was quite dark by the time I got back and the chill has started to descend over the beach as I had a cool down walk back to the car. Soon it will be too dark to run around the streets and river and I;ll have to stick to the well lit pathways. The pavement was cool but not cold. It will get colder in the next few months.

Saturday, 10-May. 15.2km

Funny how sometimes when you start a run you feel ok then get a few kilometres in then feel like giving up because it is all too hard. It is then when you need to disrupt a routine pattern that is driving you into a rut. My rut this time was a run that I would do between jetties on Saturday of around 14km.
Today I was running into a breeze, the sand was soft and torn up by vehicles, horses and people so was very uneven and hard to run on. I ran around 4km then just stopped to catch my breath, it was then I thought this is not feeling as I would have hoped, maybe I should just quit and run back. Luckily I decided to divert and run a different route, I wasn't sure where Just get off the beach the voice told me. I ran along the backs of the houses by the beach then turned into some backstreets of Semaphore Park passing the very busy sports day meetings going on. I thought of a route that took me over a footbridge and onto Delfin Island which was calm and tranquil, no wind and sand to contend with. I did a loop of the island then back along the lake and covered a distance of over 15km and enjoyed it. More variety is needed.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

IBRD 2014

Distance 20km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6175.2km] Week19

Monday, 28-Apr. 10km

An opportunity to get out on what I an certain will be the last of the warm days before the winter chill envelops Adelaide for the next few months. Today we got close to 30C for a short time. By the time I gout out of work and to the beach the temperature would have dropped to around 22C but it still felt good.
The warmth in the pavement feels pleasant under my feet as I do my out and back course from Grange to West Beach. My back has been sore for most of the day but the running seems to help it. I start slowly at first so not to have too much twisting motion in my low back but once I get the gently running rhythm going I can gradually increase my speed. Cold weather is heading in later in the week

Saturday, 3-May. 6km

What a contrast to earlier in the week. Since Monday the weather changed, the rain has come in and the cold wind from the south is blowing. Rain poured down on Wednesday and Friday and it eased off on the Saturday but the winds were blowing strongly from the south.
It was cold then it began to rain so I decided to cut the run a bit shorter and head back.
My back is feeling slightly better and I have not taken any pain tablets for 2 days.

Sunday, 4-May. 4km

#IBRD2014
The International Barefoot Running Day 2014 saw our small group gather at the Grange Jetty on the Sunday morning.
Earlier in the week I had the fears the run would be a washout similar to what we experienced around 4 years ago, May can be a fickle time of year when it comes to weather.
As it happened the run was sandwiched between two days of inclement weather. At the end of the week and up to Saturday it was cold, wet and windy. Sunday was calm and sunny then the rain returned for Monday, good fortune indeed.
Our small group of myself, Cathy, David and Michael was this year joined by Zac Cook who is a certified MovNat trainer.
Our run was a short 4km out along the pavement from Grange to Henley Beach then returning along the beach.
It felt good to be running in a small pack as we passed plenty of other runners coming the other way.
As we were all experienced at barefoot running there were no issues of correct technique as we silently padded along the path.
I am looking forward to taking part in Zac's MovNat training in the future as I believe it will be a good complement to barefoot running.

After the run it was time to head to the local cafe for some coffees and breakfast.
 
IBRD 2014 - Zac, Michael, David, Cathy

IBRD 2014 - Zac, Michael, David, Neil