Mileage reporting 8th week 2014

Thursday - ended up a rest day, just as well.

Friday - ran 4.5 barefoot around my pond loop. It was 45°F, but damp with an icy wind. Funny part, when going by a couple of small boys with their dad fishing from a bridge on the path. One little boy started yelling at his dad, "That woman is running!!" Then, started to take out after me. His dad called him back. They were there to fish, after all, but I'm thinking I have inspired the little guy. :D

Saturday - Haven't run 2 days in a row in a long time, but I really wanted to get in 3 days of running this week. Ended up helping our daughter moving for a chunk of the day, which meant heavy lifting (for me, okay!) and stair repeats, so I wasn't too surprised or disappointed when my run was on the slow side. It still felt good to get out there. Hubby went along and took off his shoes for a short distance. He was running circles around me up until then, but couldn't handle very much of the rough asphalt, so he was even more impressed that I just kept running through it. hee hee oh, 6.2 miles S2G.
 
Feet were a bit tender after yesterday's run in VFFs (I've been shod lately in the snow, have to adjust back to minimal shoes) so went for a ride today in the park, about 45min at tempo pace. Great weather (a bit too good...park was congested). Legs feel more tired after the ride than they have been after recent runs.

Posted a short POV video:
https://plus.google.com/app/basic/s...8qv&sview=25&cid=5&soc-app=115&soc-platform=1
 
15km long run to finish off the week. Mostly beach, with a little stretch of about 2km over the Barwon Heads bridge and along a concrete path to break things up. I tried to run slow again, but for some reason my effortless pace was a bit quicker than last week and despite this I didn't run myself into the ground. The only difference is that I ran at midday after having a little bit to eat for breakfast instead of first thing in the morning because the tide was high in the morning. Usually I would expect to struggle after food, especially in the midday sun, but today it worked out well.

The highlight of the run was when I was running across a bridge, a little girl of about 5 and her mother were walking towards me. The little one was barefoot, and as I got near them I heard her say "Look Mum!", and then as I got closer she stuck her foot up in the air and pointed to it, saying "You're not wearing any feet, just like me!". I laughed and said "It's great, isn't it?" and then smiled at her Mum, who was trying not to laugh.
 
Finally got in my first totally barefoot runs for 2014. Yippee! :) Was a bit afraid of the consequences since my last barefoot run was sometime last fall as I have been running in my VFF's since then. I was sure that on my first barefoot run I would get about 2 to 3 miles in before having blisters that would probably start on my toes as my feet have lost all the conditioning on the soles and palms of both feet. I planned on extra time needed to limp walk back to my car.

My first run was on Friday which was a windy 55 degrees but sunny. I decided to play it safe and drive to the bike trails where the surface is smooth as I figured on shooting for 6 miles but knew with the loss of conditioning the 3 miles would probably be the max I could go. Upon my start it took about 3/4 of a mile before I felt that my form felt smooth with improved efficiency. After reaching the second mile I made a mental check of both feet for any soreness but could not detect any so I continued.

At 4 miles still no soreness but I decided to stop and inspect each foot for any wear marks, etc., but found none. I was totally amazed that my form was well enough after running in VFF's for several months that a 6 mile run just might be possible to complete. Around mile 5 my legs began feeling tired which I expected as lately I have not done as many 6 mile runs as I had been hoping for yet I continued on. I made it 6.25 miles with no blisters at all. Can't believe it! Will have to work on sole conditioning though to get them back into the condition they were last fall but looks like I'm off to a good start.

Yesterday I also ran 6 miles BF with temp of 40 degrees and windy again. Once again the only problem was some fairly sore calf muscles near the end of the run with my feet still feeling fine.
 
Most excellent 14 mile run at 5:45 am 55 deg. f.. Saw lots of ducks, a hawk, wood pecker, heard 2 other wood peckers. Very cool creek crossings. very cool moon at the start.
This was the last run of the week for me.
Total miles 29.
Feet Good!
Legs Good!
 
sat-nearly hour on bf. stopped a lot for the dogs and to loosen my calves. didn't think i would make it far since my feet are still sore. feeling it a little now but may hit the trails with the dogs today.
 
s-1 1/2 hr trail run in shoes. older dog stopped so i let him off leash and just ran back and forth to him until he made it down the trail. at 30lbs i didn't want to carry him so letting him off leash worked. he just stopped. i'm glad he made it out fine.
 
35 minute run. Ya, I cracked. I decided since my body has reverted to "back in the day" imbalances, I will revert to "back in the day" running regimen. And that includes daily short runs of a 2-3 miles for a long while. I am seeing a chiropractor. I do not find them effective for maintenance reasons (you should learn techniques to maintain your own alignment) -BUT in urgent situations -which I consider mine, I am super confident they will whip me into shape in 4 appointments, or so. Even better, this doctor is the prodigy of my late ND -who, as far as I was concerned was magical. Hence, his nickname, Dr. Magic. She trained/mentored under him for 15 years and is both and ND and DC. She actually did an adjustment and an injection (natural solutions to induce the healing response) for my sacrum/coccyx right before "Prepare to Die" 23 miles, running/walking, in the woods with Mike, John, Janson, Katherine, and Chris. If it wasn't for that adjustment I would have died. My vertebrae realigned at mile 9, making the rest of the trip even better. TRIP - lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: happysongbird