Back injury

Distance 19.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6155.2km] Week18

21-Apr. 4km

Easter Monday and I'm still moving around like a person beyond his years. It seems worse after a nights sleep because the discs fill with fluid and apply more pressure to the nerve causing pain. Once I'm upright and moving around it is better. 
I managed to get out for a short run along the beach, staying on the soft surface so not to put any more pressure on it. I felt ok once I started running, I could have run further but I limited my run to the 4km just to see if my back sent me a message later on telling me I'm being stupid by exercising too soon after an injury.

25-Apr. 7km

I ran out of pain tablets early in the week so have been going without them. The back is still sore, always worse in the morning but improves through the day. Friday was ANZAC day, a public holiday. The weather is beautiful and so I had to head to the beach for a run and chance it. It takes a few minutes for me to get comfortable as I start to run, I start with small steps then as I begin to relax I can start to run at a more normal pace. I ran down the beach with the wind behind me then came up onto the concrete footpath to run back. There is no jarring with barefoot running, just soft gentle landing so there were no shock waves going up and down my spine. I felt quite good after the run. 

27-Apr. 8.2km

A cold morning, only around 10C early on, slightly warmer by the time I got to the lake for my circuit. A northerly wind was blowing but there was no warmth in it like there would be in Summer. The concrete was cold. I've been taking 2 pain tablets over a 24 hour period and they are doing a great job. I can bend down, lean over without pain. The run went well. Not much warmth on the ground to warm my feet.
Next Sunday it is International Barefoot Running Day.

Neil

Back to cool running

Distance 94.4km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6136.0km] Week16

Monday, 31-Mar. 10km 

Usual out an back run this evening. Too long ago to remember any details

Wednesday, 2-Apr. 10km 

Usual out an back run this evening. Too long ago to remember any details

Saturday, 5-Apr. 6km

The barefoot runners get together, held on the Saturday this time rather than the Sunday to fit in with some of the others who have other appointments on the Sunday.
It had been a cool night but now the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning for a run. Henley Beach was buzzing with runners, people having breakfasts and early morning coffees and walking along the jetty soaking up the sunshine.
I was chatting to an one of the trainers that used to work at the gym for a while then I spotted David and Cathy waiting by the jetty. I wandered over as we waited for Michael who appeared a few minutes later.
We set off at an easy pace along the Esplanade, weaving our way through the many walkers. It was a pace that allowed talking without being too laboured. The ground was cool but not cold. We ran 3km until we reached the Caravan Park at West Lakes the after a short stop, made our way onto the beach to run back. The tide was coming in so we ran through the breaking waves, didn't pass any shod runners along the way.
After the run it was time for coffee and breakfast at one of the many local cafes in the square. A very enjoyable run.

Sunday, 6-Apr. 8.2km

My pre-gym lake loop and another warm sunny morning. The lake activities are winding down now, the triathlons are over for the season as are the Dragon Boat races. There were plenty of rowers out practicing down near the club house. I didn't pass many other runners today. We went off daylight saving this morning which meant an extra hour of sleep and the run was an hour later than I would have run. My heart rate monitor is working again. I gave the belt a thorough wash and it seems ok again.

Monday, 7-Apr. 12.4km

A warm day of 26C which I couldn't miss the opportunity to get out and get the bare feet on the ground. Warm pavements are going to get rarer by the end of the month. I have to get off my backside and try to drum up some interest in the International Barefoot run which takes place on May 4th. I shall send a flyer off to one of the local radio stations to see if they will publicize it and also to the local road runners club.
As for tonight, as the weather was fantastic and there was a spectacular sunset brewing I ran a few extra kilometres past the my usual turn around spot at the caravan park and this time ran up to the boat ramp. The extra few kilometres tired me out a bit by the time I got to the end. It is quite a long day for me after getting up at 5.45am. The sun was just about setting as I finished my run, it was then I wished I had brought my camera.

Wednesday, 9-Apr. 10km

Rain is here for the rest of the week although today it was only light. It is meant to get heavier later in the week. That is why I ran today rather than tomorrow, I checked the forecast and saw that tomorrow the wind would be stronger and from the south which wouldn't be a good run. This run was a good steady run, keeping my heart rate around 136 bpm for most of the way then running a beach stretch at a rate of around 145bpm. The far horizon had some very black looking clouds, these must be the rain clouds that are going to bring the overnight rain. For now though it was calm and a good running day. 

Sunday, 13-Apr. 8.2km

Good relaxed run, a bit slower that usual as I stopped for a breather in a couple of spots. The weather was good, dry and sunny. The rowing club was the area of activity today on the lake, tents set up all along the side for the families of the participants. I had to dodge swinging oars and boats crossing my path before I got back to the quiet of the back roads. The model boat group were out as usual in the sheltered norther area of the lake as I padded past quietly. I must be a familiar sight now to the walkers around the lake who all say hello now, they know I am actually normal and not some baby eating weirdo. I did a gym session after the run, more deadlifts (35kg) only light for the hamstrings.
Monday, 14-Apr. 11km

Wednesday 16-Apr. 10km

A nice sunny day throughout but the temperature starts to drop by the time I get out for my run. I came out on the Wednesday as the forecast was for strong winds tomorrow so I would be better in the gym rather than out on the road. Today it was wonderfully calm. I stayed on the hard surfaces today as they tide was too high to run along the beach. There was a fantastic sunset as I completed my run. At least I won't have to negotiate the uneven brick path in the dark along the foreshore this winter now that they have opened the new wide cement path. It will be a breeze running along here in the dark.  

Friday, 18-Apr. 11km

Easter Bun Fun Run 2014
I had not run this race for a couple of years and I was unsure whether it was on this year as the details had not been posted and I wasn't going to drive 22km to the start and find I was on my own. 
As it happened, fellow BFR David sent me an email the night before which just by chance I read on my mobile before going to bed that night, it was on.My lower back has been a bit sensitive after a gym session, I think I have strained a muscle by doing weighted twists. Press on regardless.
I got up at 6.30am popped a pain killer and had some breakfast. I set off at 7.15am and it was a bit of a repeat of the first time I ran this race, I had only got 1km down the road before the rain started, by the time I was half way there the rain was coming down in buckets along with a blowing wind.
It did cross my mind to turn back but I pressed on.
It had eased off by the time I got to the school which was the start point of the run.
After parking the car and making my way into the hundreds of runners limbering up before the run, I felt distinctly under dressed with just a t-shirt and shorts. Others had equipped themselves with everything the running shops can sell. I met up with David and Cathy and we listened to the pre race information on where the run would take us.
It was a casual start, no starting pistols, just get on to the road and start to run.
I let David and Cathy run at their own pace and I got going, splashing down the wet streets until we make it to the river path. 
The course is very undulating despite being called the River Flats run and I was finding the uphills quite taxing. Too much time running on the flat. I took care not to run on the white path markings as I have found out from previous experience they are like banana skins when wet.
The run has several peel off points at 5km 7km and 8km. On the north side of the river the path is nice smooth concrete, when I crossed to the other side on the return leg it is rough bitumen with lots of seeds from the overhead trees. In the final kilometre they make you climb up from the river which is just enough to finish you off.
For most of the run I was on my own, once you have made it past the slower groups you hit that point where you are running at a similar pace to those in front so you can't catch them and the ones behind can't catch you. I did on 2 occasions get a fresh runner go past me at a pace I couldn't respond to.
The total distance is 11km as I remember and I did a time of 57m 13s.
The volunteers had toasted hot cross buns, fruit and drinks ready at the end, a big thank you to them for their hard work. I met up with David and Kathy again and we stayed until the raffle was over. A great start to the Easter weekend.

Sunday, 20-Apr. 8.2km

My back is still giving me twinges from a disc I believe, I must have irritated it while doing the ab twists in the gym. I have now run out of pain tablets too so I will let it tell me how bad it is. I am hoping it is minor. I still went out for a gentle run around the lake and it was ok. I'm sure if I still ran in shoes and in my heels striking fashion my back would not have taken too kindly to it. The gentle landing of barefoot running doesn't make it any worse, even on concrete.

Neil

 

Autumn

Distance 35.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6041.6km] Week13

Wednesday, 26-Mar. 12km

I ran the river beach loop for a change tonight mainly because I start and finish the run from home rather than drive anywhere in the car. I'm trying to save petrol as I missed the bottom of the discount cycle and the price shot up to it's high point when I didn't expect it. It will take another 2 weeks to cycle back down again.
The run takes me along the back streets before crossing the busy Grange Road the down side streets towards the linear park. I kept up a good pace on stiff calves, left over from the gym on Sunday. The river path is rough in places with cracked stony bitumen but I handled it without a problem and before I knew it I was by the beach and running up the smooth concrete.
Some black clouds were gathering in front of me but didn't offer up any rain. I did my last turn into Grange road again and headed for home. covering the distance in just over an hour.

Saturday, 29-Mar. 15km

Another slow start to the run that speeded up after a few kilometres. I feel like I have been running under a bit of a cloud since my brother passed away a few months ago. My spirits have been down and although the running lifts them by the time I have finished it is just hard starting out, I don't feel like I have a spring in my step like I had a year ago. The weather was fantastic, that calm sunny Autumnal time of year when the savage sun has been tamed by the earth tilting away as we swing into the cooler months.

Sunday, 30-Mar. 8.2km

Lots of activity around the lake today, triathlons, rowers runners. A warm 30C day today and tomorrow we are going into the 30's peaking at around 35C sometime in the week. Quite warm for April. The weather was calm today, no wind but that doesn't stop the older folks who have their model sailing boats set up ready to go out on the lake. The weather sock says that unless they have a motor they may become becalmed. I padded past silently before heading onto the triathlon course, not many runners were coming through so I looked to see if I could pick any off for the short distance that our routes converged. A good run today.

Neil

Passed the 6000km

Distance 46.5km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 6006.4km] Week12

Monday, 17-Mar. 10km

The day started off with heavy rain as I was driving to work and it rained off and on throughout the day. I would have to decide if I ran tonight based on the if it was raining by the time I got home. As it turned out, the rain stopped when I was at home but it began to rain again as I drove towards the beach. It did stop by the time I started running. I was left with quite a lot of surface water which made it very hazardous when the surface changed to smooth paving, several time I felt my feel slide from under me and I had to shorten my stride to stay upright, I was aqua planing. I wouldn't have wanted to have slipped backwards and bashed my head on the floor, that would be both painful and embarrassing. On the way back I diverted off the dangerous surfaces and ran on the road for some sections and onto the grass on others. Even the concrete could be slippery if there was enough water on the surface. It was a great run this evening and my t-shirt was was heavy with sweat by the time I got back.

 

Wednesday, 19-Mar. 13.3km

As we only have a few weeks before the end of Australian Summer Time and the sun will be setting an hour earlier I need to make the best of the good weather as it will soon be winter and I'll be running in the dark.
A perfect Autumn day, 25C and light winds but of course the sea breeze was a bit stronger when I got to the beach. I parked by the Grange Cafe and ran to the small boat launch ramp at the end of Barcoo Road, turned around and ran back with the wind behind me. I did 2km on the beach, the tide was high and running in the soft wet sand was a bit slow but not everything is a race.

Saturday, 22-Mar. 15km

The cool overnight temperatures meant the sand was cool but not cold enough to numb the underneath of my feet as I did the jetty to jetty run today. High tide was only a couple of hours ago and there wasn't much flat sand to run on and the remaining sand had been well trodden by the horses that are trained along the beach in the early morning. You have to be careful not to put your foot into the holes left by the horses hooves as it really gives the tendons in the ankle a bit of a jerk. I ran back along the road and grassy areas behind the houses, only managing to collect a few sharp seed cases in my soles this time. A good run.

Sunday, 23-Mar. 8.2km

A cool day with a breeze from the south which would be more apparent if I were running on the beach but the lake offers some shelter. The last of the activities were taking place this week, some more Dragon Boat racing and a triathlon. I missed most of the runners in the tri as I turned up later than usual and they must have finished the final run leg by then. A good run and I have also broke the 6000km barrier.

Easy week

Distance 17.5km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5959.9km] Week11

Thursday, 13-Mar. 9km

The wind is back as I run down to West Beach, not too strong but blowy enough. The run was good on the way down but I must have pushed it a bit hard on the way down trying to keep up with a guy who passed me around halfway down, a fruitless effort on  my part and all I managed to do was make my ankle sore. It started to ache on the way back so I did a bit of a stint on the sand but that was very soft and the tide was high and it only made it worse so I resorted to walking the last 1.5km.

Sunday, 16-Mar. 5km + 3.5km

First taste of a bit of wintery weather overnight, rain and wind as I went off to sleep. In the morning it was cool and breezy as I drove across the city to meet up with David and Cathy for a run along the river course. It began raining quite heavily in the car as I drove to the meeting spot but then, the sun shines on the barefoot runners and it was all fine again. The ground felt cold with the wet surfaces but the feet soon warmed up. We had a good run, David is getting faster these days I noticed. We had a variety of surfaces to run on, the bitumen, paving and soft green grass of the parklands, that was the best. Runners with shoes on just don't know what they are missing, running barefoot through soft wet green grass is fantasticly soothing.
After the run we headed to the deli for a coffee.
As I prepared dinner later that day my only onion I had disintegrated a long time ago. I could drive to the shops before they close in 30 minutes but why should I do that when I have a good pair of feet to take me there. I put the shorts on again and did a barefoot run there and back for my onion and saved the planet a bit of petrol usage.

Neil

Autumn Again

Distance 36.2km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5942.4km] Week10

Monday, 3-Mar. 4km

Well, after the good runs of last week this time I'm finding it hard work. The nice still weather that we enjoyed over the weekend is still here but it's all down to a timing issue. In the morning there is little wind, by late afternoon there is a strong sea breeze of around 30kmh. The combination of running in soft sand and fighting against the wind made my legs feel heavy and slow. By the time I had run from jetty to jetty I decided I'd had enough. I came off the beach and ran back along the road.

Thursday, 6-Mar. 9km

Much better run today although still facing the same issue of the 40kmh strong southerly wind blowing in my face for 4.5km the having it behind me on the way home. I stuck to the road all the way this time and put in a good effort which was shown by the sweat soaked t-shirt by the time I got back to the start. I have not been timing myself recently because my Heart Rate monitor has not been working. I think there is a problem with the pickup belt. I should give it a thorough clean to see if I can get it working again. Looks like I will miss the Beach Bash this year, I'm not trained properly to enter it so I'll see if there are any other races coming up before the end of the season.

Saturday, 8-Mar. 15km

Here I am again out and running before breakfast to beat the heat and the UV. I find it a real pain to put sunscreen on each time I go out so the only way to beat it is to get out before the UV levels get too high. I set off at 8am and got back around 9.45am. Having not eaten for around 13 hours means my energy levels are pretty low as I head back from my long run. The tide was also up so I had to run along the edge of the waterline to find some firm sand. I'm finding it harder to get up in the mornings as we move into Autumn and the darker mornings mean I wake up later, that si one reason I have been running before breakfast.

Sunday , 9-Mar. 8.2km

Even in the Autumn we can still get the hot days as this long weekend it proving, a couple of days of 35C before dropping back into the mid 20's again by the middle of the week. The dragon boats were racing again when I got to the lake, I did a few drills before setting off on my run today. I had emailed Michael to see if he wanted a run today but it probably got to him too late as he didn't show up. The humidity was higher today so within a few kilometres my t-shirt was pretty wet and I ended up just taking it off when I was half way around the course. It was a good run today and I just had enough energy at the end to push myself down to the gym for an hour of weights.

Neil

Best time of year

Distance 39km [total: minimalist 329.1km: Barefoot 5906.2km] Week09

Tuesday, 25-Feb. 17km

After not feeling too good in the morning and calling in sick I managed to eat some breakfast at around 9am. I felt a better, the stomach not as rebellious. I went out to get some sun and had a jog along the beach that turned into a run much longer than I thought it would. The conditions were perfect, the tide was out, the temperarture was around 20C, sunny with some light cloud. I ran from Grange jetty to the Glenelg marina then back, I still felt quite good at the end, I did stop when I got back to the jetty but it did cross my mind to keep on running towards Semaphore but I reigned that thought in. A very enjoyable run.

Saturday, 1-Mar. 15km

It was cool overnight and sunny during the morning which lead to good running conditions. The tide had passed it's high point a few hours ago and was slowly on it's way out leaving some clean fresh sand to run on and check the footprints to see if they were even. I started the run before having any breakfast so I started slowly giving myself plenty of time to warm up. The beach has quite a camber when the tide is high and it's hard to find some firm flat sand to run on. I ran back along the foreshore from Semaphore jetty then onto the sparse grass behind the houses by the beach. It was a good run and I don't seem to get the problems of running without food like I did years ago.

Sunday, 2-Mar. 7km

Its that time of the month again when I get together with the shrinking band of barefoot runners for our monthly run. The venue this time was Henley Beach, meeting at the jetty at 9am. I got there early and did some short sprint drills to warm up. Cathy and Michael came on the run today, Cathy doing here own shorter course as she has only recently started running completely barefoot. Michael and myself ran to the West Beach caravan park at a good pace then back along the beach. The weather was just fantastic, the best is can be, mostly still with a very gentle breeze. These are the sorts of runs I want to commit to memory for my old age when I can't run any more, I can remember how wonderful it was. One thing I do know is that barefoot running has saved my joints and will probably enable me to run for a very long time yet. I was so lucky to read the BTR book and take up the challenge of rebuilding my running style despite people telling me it wasn't possible. What I have learnt is that the more people say it can't be done the more it should act as encouragement.

Neil