Minimalist running: Wind assisted

Distance 30.5km [total: minimalist 132km: Barefoot 983.9km] Week 8

Monday, 14-Feb. 4km
Back at the beach at 5pm, the south wind is still here and it is quite strong around 24km/hr (from BOM). The headwind slowed me down considerably on the outbound part of the run and I recorded 11:43m, wow very slow. On the way back I did it in 10:02m a big improvement but still not under the 10m mark.

Thursday, 17-Feb. 8km
It was a pleasant warm day while I was at work.
During the lunch break I head out to the south parklands and lie under the shade of a big old gum tree for 30 minutes of relaxation, a semi snooze before the afternoon session in front of the computer screen.
By the time I'd finished work it was beginning to cloud over and the wind picked up. By the time I got to the beach at around 5.15pm there was a 30km/hr wind whipping up from the south.
I ran along the road to the river then onto the beach. The para-sailors were out in full force by the estuary, the strong winds were giving them good rides and roughing up the sea.
My hamstrings were a bit tired from the deadlift workout yesterday at the gym, but no where near the extent of stiffness that experienced the first time I did them around 3 weeks ago.
I entered the Beach Bash race, paid my $7 for the privilege of thrashing myself for 20 minutes in a couple of weeks. I think this time there will be plenty of sand to run on as the high tides don't seem to be reaching the seawall this time, probably due to the sand replenishment program.

Saturday, 19-Feb. 14.5km
Well, the rain was so heavy yesterday they cancelled the opening parade at the Adelaide Fringe. I usually go down to that each year as there is a great atmosphere, thousands of people, the weird and the wonderful come out to play for the next 3 weeks.
The Garden of Unearthly Delights would have been very damp where on most occasions in the past it has been turned into a dust bowl by the hot summer sun.

The bulk of the rain had stopped by morning. I woke up later than usual and rushed some breakfast down but I knew by the time I got out for a run it would only be 30 minutes from eating. Not a good combination.
I put on the Skins compression gear today for my run just in case the sand was cold, the theory being, keep the legs warm and the feet will follow.
As it turned out the sand was warm enough. It was raining by the time I got to the beach, not heavy but drizzle.
I can't say it was my best run ever, I felt kind of slow, maybe it was the breakfast, maybe it was the compression gear. One thing I was aware of was that the tightness of the compression gear around my ankles was making my tendon sore because it was kind of bunched up.
When I reached the halfway point I stopped and pulled them higher so they were more around the calf rather than the ankle, that felt much better.
I would say though that although they look cool I would prefer to run in just shorts. I don't know if I believe in all this Stops muscle vibration that is supposed to make you sore. Maybe you only get muscle vibration if you pound your heels into the ground, maybe barefoot runners don't get this. I'll enquire on the BRS forum.

Sunday, 20-Feb. 4km
Today was my attempt at a bit of a faster run.
The problem I always find is that it takes me around a km to get the breathing steady and not feel like your about to have a heart attack.
Once again I was running into the wind on the way south (24km/h) and managed a time of 10:48 on fresh sand.
One the way back I knocked almost exactly a minute off and did 9:49 so I guess if you averaged that it would mean a time of around 10:25, slower that I was hoping for.
a few photos from around the beach area that I like to run at.
The first are the old heritage houses on the beach, the only ones like it in South Australia as far as I am aware.