Wednesday, 2-Mar. 8km
Ran a nice gentle 8km along the beach. Nothing stressful that would slow me down on the Friday
Friday, 4-Mar. 4km
From the weather forecast I had read earlier in the week I was expecting strong southerly winds for the race but it actually turned out idyllic, just a gentle southerly breeze and around 25C.
I turned up at Henley at 6pm and registered then did a few warm ups, trying to make sure I could keep the adrenaline under control until I needed it.
Not many barefoot runners, only one other person I saw without shoes.
There was much more sand on the beach this year, it was high tide but there was still plenty of sand to run on, of course it was soft sand.
There was two metres of wet sand where the tide was retreating so I stuck to that as much as I could.
This was what I would call a lung burning experience, I think almost from the first 5 minutes my heart rate was above my usual training zone and my sports watch was beeping furiously.
My throat was dry as paper by the time I got to the jetty at Grange but I didn't stop for water as it would have only slowed me down, I could choke on for another couple of kilometres.
Almost thereWhat a relief to get to the end! I believe I managed to knock around 4 minutes off my time from last year, part of that may have been due to better conditions but some to better running technique.
Position wise I don't thing I will have improved on last year, I may have fallen back in the pack even. I shall wait for the results to appear in a few days to see the outcome.
Saturday, 5-Mar. 14.5km
On Saturday morning I did my usual beach run of 14.5km. What I found interesting was that I was just going to run in a slow steady manner and not attempt to better any times for the distance.
I didn't keep glancing down at my watch to see what my time was like at certain points, the only time I did check my watch was when I got to the midway point, and behold I had beat the times when I pressure myself to run faster. It took me 43:58m running one way and 43:22m back, pretty consistent.
Over the weekend I did a bit of hiking in the VFFs, not a huge distance but a lot of steep climbs and descents in the Adelaide Hills.
I'd not worn the VFFs for what seems like ages, must be well over 6 months and so I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable they felt. I had contemplated walking barefoot but the Aussie trails are not barefoot friendly, they are hot and full of jagged rocks, thorny plants. The VFFs give a great feeling of stability.
My calves felt a bit sore next day but that quickly went away.
Neil
Wow. Sand? That sounds hard! Sounds like you did a great job, though!
ReplyDeleteI'm quite used to the sand running these days. I must admit I don't like it when it is the really dry, well trodden sand, it is so tough on the tendons. But I guess it toughens them up. I checked out some of the photos after and saw about 4 people ran without shoes.
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