Consistency

Distance 13km [total: minimalist 124km: Barefoot 510.5km]

Well since the last posting I have had several runs that have gone quite well, no calf complaints at all.
Over last weekend I ran 7km on the Saturday, it was a beach run on firm sand with the tide at it's low point for the day.
The morning was cold and the sand was chilly as well so on the return journey I switched to run on the concrete pavement which was slightly warmer, it also gave the opportunity to see how fast I can adapt to different surfaces under foot.

I think now that my new running form is getting more and more engrained in my brain, maybe not permanent yet but give it one more year and the transition will be full.

Thursday Run:
A chilly evening with a very cold wind blowing from the south. I had intended to run about 7km again today but with the combination of the wind and the soft well trodden sand it wasn't very inspirational so I decided to save myself for a time when the weather was a bit better.
This time I covered about 4km and again came off the beach near the Henley Hotel to run back along the road.
I had plenty of company on the way back, lots of runners out this evening. I didn't offer up any competition as at the moment the shod runners take longer strides and will always try to assert their dominance on the 'weird' bloke with no shoes.
I just concentrated on keeping my landing light and springy.
It's always easy to tell if you are landing correctly as you should get no pain from the soles, no blisters or rubbing.
I remember only 9 months ago I was battling with blisters and sore feet because I didn't know how to land correctly. Your feet have to teach you.

Friday: I've not done any drills for a while so I should still put a session in once every week or two to ensure I'm still keeping the correct form. That is what I did tonight on the rugby field near home. I did drills for 30 minutes with short runs in between.
I sent of for some of the Skins compression tights to see if they are as good as they purport to be.
I bought them from a UK website as buying them in Australia is prohibitively expensive, I bought them and got then shipped over for half of the price I would have paid locally.
I use the long tights for recover to keep my calves compressed. I don't think I would like to wear the during my daytime runs as I prefer to have the sun on my legs.

Only a week or so from now and I pass the first anniversary of my change in running direction.

Neil