Slack week

Distance 36.5km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5282.6km] Week43

Monday, 21-Oct. 10.5km

A good fast run, felt good. Running into the wind in the southerly direction and had it behind me on the way back. The council workers still haven't finished the last bit of paving at Henley beach, it's like they completed 95% then just forgot. I have to keep dodging onto the road rather than run along the gravel on this short section. Hopefully it will be finished in the next few weeks.

Friday, 25-Oct. 11km

After my gym session yesterday and my sets of lunges my legs have residual stiffness and despite a good speed, I was a bit slower on the return section and the feet felt a bit sensitve on the brick pavement. No people to pace me on todays run and I think I may have struggled anyway. 

Saturday, 26-Oct. 15km

A perfect Saturday morning, blue sky and a very light breeze that was hardly noticeable. There were plenty of people out on the beach and lots of exciteable dogs looking for something to chase and I made a tempting target.
I ran mainly on the beach today with around 2.5km on the bitumen. I'm missing out on the grassy section now as it has dried out and is just a bed of spikey seeds that embed in my feet. They are more of an irritation than painful as they don't fall out when I lift my foot so eventually I get a buildup of the things and they make it hard to run. I ran back along the beach but felt a little tired towards the end. I enjoyed soaking the legs in the cool sea water after finishing.
I didn't run on sunday, a little internal voice told me to have a rest day. I have entered the Henley 10km run scheduled for November 17th 

 

Summer weather kicking in

Distance 33.5km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5246.1km] Week42

Monday, 14-Oct-13. 10.5km

Good run, feeling much easier now, I think the faster running is helping out now. 

 

Thursday, 17-Oct-13.  10.5km

A good quick run today, helped by the girl who acted as a bit of a pacer. This time I was the one behind and playing catch up and it was a tough effort. I first passed her when she was running the opposite way to me, I had just started my return run towards Grange and she was heading to West Beach. I can say where her turn around point was but it must have been close to where I turn around as she had overtaken me after less than a kilometre. I kept a fairly steady distance of around 20m and couldn't close the gap. At the point where the road leaves the beach where they are relaying the footpath, I ran along the road and she headed to the beach. I assumed I would never catch up now. But surprisingly when the road rejoined the beach I found she was only around 10m in front. I could then accelerate and catch up. We ran the last 100m pretty evenly. I had a brief chat at the end and thanked her for helping lift my pace.

 

Friday, 18-Oct-13. 12.5km

Ah, a day of holiday and the freedom to run when I would normally be working away and shortening my llife by sitting for long periods of time.
My legs or rather calves were stiff today after some of my faster runs during the week so it was going to be an easy run today. It was a sunny day with blue sky from end to end. I had an appointment later in the afternnon so I didn't want to run too far, and tire myself out. I ran towards Glenelg and made the decision to turn back when I got to the small boat launch breakwater. The was a good decision as the northerly wind really picked up and I was running into blowing sand. I just kept my head down and kept up a stedy pace. It eased off as I returned to my start point.
No weekend running as I had guests and decided I could afford to had a bit of an easy weekend.

4 Seasons in one week

Distance 51.9km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5212.6km] Week41

Monday, 7-Oct. 16.4km

Now this is more like it, the Labour Day holiday and the sun is out and throngs of people are walking along the beach and enjoying the mild spring day.
For a change, I ran to Glenelg today, a distance of 8.2km. The northerly breeze pushed me from behind as I sped along the beach. I had to exit the beach at one point as the tide was still lapping at the rocks despite the tide being low. There was quite a bit of erosion of the dunes close to the West Beach surf club, steep sand cliffs rose up from the flat beach. It wouldn't take much to undermine that stretch and see the path above collapse unless they take some action and add a rocky breakwater at the bottom. I got back onto the beach and ran the rest of the way to Glenelg. I ran part the way back along the road before finishing off the last 2km back on the beach to sooth my slightly sore feet.

Wednesday, 9-Oct. 4km

A short fast beach run to see what my time was like on the 2km stretch between the jetties. Not too bad considering the sand was soft and there were lots of broken shells in big patches along the run. I covered the distance in 9:40m.

Thursday, 10-Oct. 10.5km

I had a pacer tonight on my run. As I was just setting off ater having a 60s rest at the far end of my run I noticed a girl running around 30m behind in the same direction. It was only around another kilometer and she was a couple of metres behind and that was with me doing a faster than normal pace, my pulse was up at 143. The only times I causght a glimpse of my tail was if I was going around a sharp corner. She didn't have the power to overtake and leave me behind until she made her move as the path moved away from the beach. I was actually quite surprised as thought she was gone back the all of a sudden she appeared alongside then moved in front. I wasn't going to let her get away that easily so I started to tag along just a few metres behind. Finally when we got back to the concrete where I had my car parked I sped up and thanked her for pacing me and making me up the running effort. She said she was amazed how I could run that speed without shoes. That always makes me feel good.

Saturday, 12-Oct. 15km

The tide was just on it's way out from hit's high point for the day so the sand was very soft, well trodden and uneven and pretty hard work. I found a thin strip of wet sand to run along, this made it much easier. After around 4km I saw another runner up ahead and I wondered if I was catching up or not, after another km I was getting closer and by 6km I'd caught and passed him as I carried on to Semaphore jetty.
On the way back I met up with the same guy, he passed me initially as I was taking my t-shirt off for the run back on the beach. There was now much more flat wet sand to run on. I' thought I'd catch him easily and pass him fairly soon but he put up a very good fight and we ran neck and neck for the next 5km. My pulse was up near 150 so I was putting in a much higher than aerobic effort. As we neared Grange jetty I knew it was going to be case of who was going to make a break for it first and would they be able to keep the effort up. At around 150m I just put the effort in and pushed my heart rate up to 160. I was running at full out sprint, my lungs were bursting and I knwe I couldn't keep it up for long. I outran him at the end and when he arrived at the jetty I shook hands with him and thanked him for a great run. He had was I guessed to be a scandanavian accent, could have been German. We had a chat for a few minutes then headed off on our separate ways.

Sunday, 13-Oct. 6km

Met up with David and Cathy today for a barefoot run at a different venue, further up the River Torrens Linear Park. I was woken at 7am by the heavy rain outside. At one point I rand David with the thought of calling it off. I got Cathy's answering service so I decided I better go. The meet was over the other side of the city. It was only David and myself that went on the run, Michael called it off because of the rain. As it turned out the was a good run. The rain had stopped and some sun came out and warmed the ground, it was much warmer than running in rain during mid winter. The Torrens Park was a beautiful spot to run, it has been upgraded with lots of trees and a large lake area for water conservation. After the run we headed for a coffee at a cafe at the bottom of Gorge Road where we chatted for around an hour before heading off.

Neil

Light week

Distance 23.5km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5160.7km] Week40

Thursday, 3-Oct 11km

Some pent up energy was released on todays run. The weather had been pretty awful during the week, Monday wasn't too bad, it was warm but the rain started in the late afternoon. It stayed wet and windy for the next few days.
I gave myself a rest to allow my feet to recover from running last week and I did feel better for it. I had also been a bit stressed today as I was thinking about spending a large sum of money to buy a small (everything is Australia is very expensive, land especially) block of land and that must have been releasing stress hormones into my system causing me to get a headache so by finishing time at work I felt awful. As soon as my feet touched the ground on the run, normality started to return and I felt calmer. I ran a good time of 61m for the distance which included a bit of a walk from the beach. I felt I was running strongly today. I still got passed by some young guy flying past. I didn't bother chasing down.

Saturday, 5-Oct 12.5km

As I set off towards the beach it looked like a perfect running day, cool with a light breeze but bright and sunny. When I parked up at the beach the wind was much stronger, blowing from the north. I set off and within one kilometre I was running into strong winds, 30km/h with gusting 48km/h along the beach. It sapped my energy and I decided I would cut the run short and not run to the next jetty at Semaphore but turn back when I hit the Esplanade at Semaphore. The wind strength started to ebb as I reached the half way point. I came off the beach and onto the bitumen/concrete path, following the miniature railway. It felt much better not having the wind blowing at me. I ran on the drying out grass behind the houses by the beach. They are losing their winter softness as they dry out, soon the hard seeds will be sticking in my feet again and I will have to abandon the route. Halfway back I move once more onto the beach and a beautiful expanse of flat wet sand. The wind has now moderated to a light breeze behind me as I flew along at a fast pace. The weather front that passed through has gone and left fantastic spring weather behind.
We move into Australian Summer time at midnight tonight, losing an hour in return for lighter evenings. It's like a mini jet lag. I abandoned my sunday run as I couldn't get out of bed.

Neil

Getting warmer again

Distance 53.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5137.2km] Week39

 23, 25, 27 Sep. 10km x 3

My working week had the 3 runs of 10km. Two of the outings were good with the middle one very average. I think spending 8 hours sitting at a computer during the day sometimes buggers up my running. I just couldn't get into gear, my lungs felt restricted but my heart rate was still on the low side at around 130, it felt like it should have been a lot more the way I was trying to get enough air.

Saturday, 28th Sep. 15km

A nice morning, bright but cool, good for a run. The tide was incoming as I ran up to Semaphore and I was running out of beach. I noticed the dunes near the Semaphore jetty have some fresh erosion, probably due to the high winds we had on Wednesday night. It won't be long before the sea breaks through the dunes and pushes water into the low lying area behind. Several of the paths that lead to the beach had drops of 1-2 metres when the sand has been washed away. I took a different route back, running along MIlitary Road then along the lake at West Lakes. My feet were feeling a bit sore from some of the rough roads by the end and I was feeling tired. I thought by now my feet could cope with running long distance on rough surfaces but I still have to take care.

Sunday, 29th Sep. 8.2km

Last run of the week and it was my lake loop. A warm northerly wind blew in my face on the way up and as I slowly angled away it dropped and ended up behind me. The feet were a bit sore today so I might give them a rest next week. I should run for enjoyment rather then just get the distance up for the week, that only leads to injuries.
The cool days seem fewer now, maybe one of two per week, soon, in mid summer these will be the days I will be wishing for to keep my feet off the baking ground.

Neil

More Wet Weather

Distance 41.7km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5084.0km] Week38

 

Monday 16-Sep.10km

Having to rewrite this entry a second time due to a blogger glitch wiping it out is very annoying but there's not much I can do.
Winter came back to visit for a day and as I headed to the beach there were threatening dark clouds being pushed towards the beach by the strong westerly wind. When I parked up at the beach and scanned up and down the beach I could see that it looked like I would be lucky if I got through the run without getting caught in the rain at some point. That point came around 2km after I set off, just south of Henley the wind picked up and the rain started. I seemed to be the only one out as I looked down the long concrete path by the beach. The rain was blowing horizontally and stinging my face and legs, strangely though my feet were warm as there must have been some residual warmth in the concrete and that was warming the pools of rainwater. The rain stopped by the halfway point and just left the wind blowing. The wind gradually dried me out as I ran back so that by the time I got back I was almost dry, may hair was a bit awry by that point though.

Friday, 20-Sep. 11km

After a week of cold rainy weather this appears to be the best day of the week, light wind and a clear sky. It would have been a great run except that I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom for most of the way around which made it a bit uncomfortable. It also got a bit chilly as the the sun edged towards the western horizon. I was running a bit late as I left work later and didn't set off until just after 5pm. Sunset is at around 6.12pm at the moment. I got a bit of a twinge in my right calf that I will keep an eye on.

Saturday, 21-Sep. 12.5km

This was supposed to be the start of the good weather, I checked the forecast on my phone and noticed that they had rain due at around 10.30am but a day of 24C, surely not. The sky looked blue as I emerged from the house but far out west was a line of black cloud.
I decided to run without having breakfast today as it would push me too late to get out. If I ran at a lower heatrate I should be ok, just burning fat rather than carbs.
It took me a while to get the engine revved up, the feet and ankles felt stiff so I just chugged along confident that I would start to feel better once I'd warmed up. It seemed to work. By the time I reached the breakwater at Semaphore I decided that I would turn back as I was feeling hungry and the black clouds had moved much closer and were only a couple of km away. I had the breeze behind me now which I was thankful for as the hunger was getting to me. About 1km from the end the the weather front hit, first with a strong wind then, just as I arrived back at my car the rain came down, superb timing. It rained for around half an hour then started to clear. Who knows, it may even get to the 24C forecast today.

Sunday, 22-Sep. 8.2km

Is this the start of spring? Perfect running day, sunny, not too hot, not too cold, light breeze, just right. After a 75 minute gym workout I got to the lake at 10.30am and did an un-monitored 8.2km around the lake. The legs started to feel a bit heavy on the last kilometre from the weighted lunges I'd done earlier. I still have not managed to get much speed training in. I used to be able to run the kilometre stretch towards the end in around 4 minutes but I have slowed right down and would be lucky to cover the distance in 5 minutes. Maybe I shouldn't worry, I guess at 50 I don't need to be racing people half my age.

Neil

4 Years of Barefoot Running

Distance 44km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5042.3km] Week37

Monday, 9-Sep. 10.5km

A breezy afternoon for my run. Behind me on the way out then directly in my face on the way back. I was out a bit later this afternoon and the sun had just set by the time I got back to my car. Run went well except for slight soreness around the ankle area which maybe is a symptom of increasing my distances ready for some races sin the Spring and Summer. It is now 4 years since I decided I needed to change the way I ran, to change from a heel striking landing to a neutral landing pattern. There is still much controversy on whether benefits outweigh the negatives. The shin soreness that dogged be for 25 years of running have now gone, that is a fact. The cause undoubtedly was the force applied to the Tibial bone when three times my body weight was being braked by my legs on each step. Whether it was the running shoes that caused the running style or just bad technique on my part it is hard to say. I would have to try to run in my new style in my old shoes to see if they force me back into the bad style or if my knowledge can stop it.

Wednesday, 11-Sep. 8km

For a bit of a change of scene this afternoon I went for a run along the river from Fulham Gardens to Henley. It's been a while since I have done this run. The only drawback is that at this time of year the sun is low in the sky and right in my eyes which means I can't see what is on the ground in front of me. I ran along the north bank of the river towards the sea, the path is rough in places but nothing I can't handle. The last road bridge where I can cross onto the other side is Seaview Road. Running back along the south bank was a different story, for some strange reason, the trees along this side had covered the path with hard seed cases. These were 5mm round seeds that were a nightmare to run on. Add to this swarms of gnats that ended up in my eyes (I hadn't worn my sunglasses) blinding me and causing me to step on more of those pesky seeds. In the end I decided to cross back onto the other side. Rather than run back the same way I took a diversion along some of the side streets and then lost my bearings as the sun was almost down and I couldn't back to the river as the roads lead me in other directions. There I was, running through an area of huge expensive houses, in bare feet and a ripped t-shirt, I'm surprised they didn't call the police to investigate. Maybe I'll stick to my beachside run again.

Friday, 13-Sep. 10.5km

Ah back to my familiar course. The tide was out so I ran the first third on the flat sand before coming back onto the cement path. I was passed by a runner a short time after getting back onto the path, the notion occurred to me that I should give chase but my legs were a bit stiff from the gym session on Thursday so I watched him gradually increase the distance in front of me. I tried some Fartlek (fast/slow) running to see if I could catch him in a fast burst then slow off as I neared. I put in several good bursts but I didn't do much to narrow the gap. I continued the fast slow pace changes on the way back until my legs got too achy. I did a timed distance along the beach from jetty to jetty to see how much I have slowed over the winter season. I recorded around 10:14 which is around 45 seconds down, not too bad seeing as I have done virtually no speed training in around a year.

Saturday, 14-Sep. 15km

A beautiful Saturday for a run. I put in another longer run at a steady pace. There was a northerly breeze that would be behind me on the return leg. I had given my ankles a soak in cold water yesterday and that had made a difference to the stiffness in my lower legs . I felt quite good all the way up to Semaphore jetty. I began to tire on the way back, a combination of the gym session on Thursday and the run yesterday began to take it's toll. I slowed down in the last few kilometres. I had a wade through the water for the last 500m to cool the muscles down.
The City Bay run is on tomorrow, 12km from Adelaide city centre to Glenelg on the seafront, the biggest run on the states calendar. I may go down and take some photos if I can get up in time.

Neil