Mileage reporting 16th week 2014

Around 3.7 miles of running in the nature preserve after work today. A lot of fun, it felt great. Nice to see the buds on the trees starting to pop. Going up and down those hills is a great workout too. And there is something really delicious about having the feet feel it all.
 
Great 4 mile run at 4:45 am. 9 deg. f. dank 94% rh.
lots of rabbits.
 
Ok, let's see if I can remember:
Sunday: 5 mi, then a few weights
Monday: a few weights until I felt to sick to continue (fighting bronchitis)
Tuesday: about 45 min swim
Wednesday: maybe 2.5 am, then a 40 min swim at lunch. Go to dr, get medicine for the bronchitis
Thursday: gym workout, short swim
Friday: 2.5 mi am, lunch gym workout
 
Friday - 1 hour run at Tribble Mill park, mix of pavement and easy trails. 50F windy with a pleasant light
rain...kept to the woods mostly to stay out of the wind.


Today - Finished the week with a windy and rainy run at Ft Yargo state park...one lap around the lake on the inner loop trail...65
minutes. Slow aerobic pace with lots of slipping and sliding in the mud...fun run for sure.
 
6 mile group hike in the rain today.
Temps were in the mid to high 40s (°F) which is right at my limit for BF hiking in wet conditions. I was fine for most of the first mile until we had to wade through a long section where the trail was mostly submerged. At that point I opted to slip on my waterproof (SealSkinz) socks for the remainder of the hike.
 
Just come home from a 15.4km/9.5mi run along the Eastern Suburbs beaches. This is a quite hilly track, which is perfect to get your heart rate pumping. I really miss my HR monitor. I am considering getting a Garmin GPS with HR monitor (either FR620 or the new Fenix2). Both have an interesting feature that can measure the vertical oscillation, as well as the 'ground contact time'.

Since I start to do a bit more trail running, I think the Fenix2 is the best choice

I know, I am a bit of a data freak, and I've been collecting data over the past few years, and find it really interesting to see the evolution
 
1.27 miles on Monday, and 4.24 today, all barefooted. It really simplifies the "which shoes do I want to use today?" issue, and I don't have to go upstairs and dig for socks! But there's still no way I can trail run barefooted in my area! I'll still use shoes for that.

Speaking of trail running, and in response to Spiderweb62's post above, I've been thinking about getting a new GPS watch, too. I have a friend that got a Garmin 620, and I've also looked at the Fenix 2 (online, that is). For me, it's a toss-up between a Fenix 2 and a Suunto Ambit 2 R, which is a bit less money since it will work with the HR transmitter I already have. I haven't seen either of those in person yet. I'm drawn to those two because of the longer battery life. I'm doing my first ultra (albeit a SHORT one- 45k) in about 6 weeks. I have mid-life-crisis fantasies about possibly moving up to 50 miles next year, so the 620 (as well as the Garmin 110 I have been using for the past 2 years) just don't have the battery life I hope I will someday need. :)
 
f-attempted a maf test but it just didn't pan out. my ankle hurt too much and so did my back and hips. i plan on walking for a few weeks until i can get this sorted out. i'm hoping that my ankle is starting to heal since it's never hurt before. i've seen other bf'rs claim their old injuries reappear one right after another and then they heal. the easy walking should help with the muscle imbalances and help with some fitness. no weights either.

sat-exercised my googlefu. bought my daughter a car for her birthday and got a bigger emotional response than i expected. she cried hard and long. i teared up watching her. times like these that make parenting special.
 
Jen,
bird screamed, squirrels bark. people laughed.

Andy,
i just bought a garmin on ebay. 210 limited edition brand new $169us. a good deal compared to everyone else. the bright green and white will make it stand out. i understand their new touch screens aren't very runner friendly so i got the one with buttons.

Karen,
welcome back. of course you can post here.

i also used to run 5-6 days a week. my problems really showed up when i started digging my toe. it's been downhill since. i know i can do it again once i sort this out. those gait guys videos will help.
 
f-attempted a maf test but it just didn't pan out. my ankle hurt too much and so did my back and hips. i plan on walking for a few weeks until i can get this sorted out. i'm hoping that my ankle is starting to heal since it's never hurt before. i've seen other bf'rs claim their old injuries reappear one right after another and then they heal. the easy walking should help with the muscle imbalances and help with some fitness. no weights either.

sat-exercised my googlefu. bought my daughter a car for her birthday and got a bigger emotional response than i expected. she cried hard and long. i teared up watching her. times like these that make parenting special.


What about hiking? I don't think walking on flat surfaces is going to help your ankle at all and it will probably aggravate everything.
 
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I've hardly moved from my desk the last few weeks and finally got out this morning. A hot & humid 9km on mt coot-tha not far from here. Up, over, down the other side, back up and down again, in my Merrell trail gloves. At the top there's a section of the trail where the surface is fine gravel and a bit sandy. It looks like a good spot to try some actual barefoot trail work - next time.
The trail I followed today:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tv8ttsv09kymwl5/2014-04-20 18.18.21.png
Elevation: climb of 366m which is about 1200 feet.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vgi197c042atju4/2014-04-20 18.15.53.png
The future barefoot section:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/111zhzsall61rq0/2014-04-20 11.33.35.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ruwrucclvpoj1i/2014-04-20 11.34.07.jpg
 
Finished off the week on Saturday with a shod run in my fun run - 8km in just over 38 minutes, which I was happy enough with. The course has some nasty hills that get me every time, but I have taken a minute off my time each year for the last three years, so I'm happy to still be improving.

The funny outfit got a few stares and comments, and I copped a bit of a bagging from my running buddies asking why I was wearing shoes. Upon reflection, I could probably just manage this one barefoot, so next year I'll do it and see if the gravel slows me down enough to end the PB trend.

On the negative side, I had my arse handed to me again by the same grandma that towelled me up last year. She's actually a well known runner around these parts and she's always out training, so I knew what to expect when I spotted her 50m in front of me in the early stages. I nearly caught up to her, but I was defeated by an untied shoelace - another good reason to run barefoot! After stopping to tie the shoes, I was too far away to catch up, and had to content myself with watching her power up the hills from about 30m or so behind.

Today I was going to have a morning run, but I blew it off for Easter eggs and ate my weight in chocolate instead. I squeezed in an hour of surfing in the evening to get rid of a few of those calories, but I think I'll be needing a run tomorrow morning.
 
Excellent 10 mile run at 6:00 am. one of my favorite runs with lots of nice creek crossings.
Saw extra large hawk, rabbits, ducks and squirrels.
Heard 2 different roosters crowing.
64 deg. f. 75 % RH.
Looking at running the lone star 1/2 next Sunday in Arlington TX.
This was the last run of the week for me total miles 24.
Feet good
Legs good
 
4 mile bike ride with the kids today --
Which doesn't sound like much until you understand that my son is still learning to ride his first bike with gears and he's still about 1/2" too short for it. That means that I have to stop at every hill and get off my bike to help him get restarted because he didn't switch gears early enough. And I end up walking both bikes up the steeper hills. Not to mention this was all after having quite a few Easter mimosas, which I think earns me extra credit. :)

Anyway, that's a total of 24.25 hiking miles for the week (5 miles in water proof socks, the rest barefoot). It's good to be back.
 
Ended up resting last 3 days in a row. Saturday ended the week with a bang by slicing into the tip of a big toe when I barely touched the corner of a 2x4! Not particularly sharp, and I wasn't moving fast at all. I lost about 3 tablesppons of blood in a few minutes. It had bleed quite a bit before I realized it, then it was a bit of a walk in from the yard and I couldn't hold it while I walked. Man, what a week. Today, my hormones are making me dizzy. Hope I can run tomorrow....
 
5.6 km, 3.6 km of it barefoot, 2 km in my Xero sandals..temperature was 14 c, about 14 degrees warmer than last Thursday, so things are looking up! City still hasn't cleaned off the bike trails, so I got to experience the cool tiny, tiny gravel that just digs right into my tender feet! Lol
Barefoot still felt incredibly good after a long winter without any barefoot running!
 
Did a whole lotta running with my son today. He is a seriously good runner for being almost 4. I think the next time I do a 5k that also has a kids run I may sign him up for the kids fun run. He is not the fastest kid, in fact I think he seriously only has one speed, but he is a very steady runner. We raced each other for probably an hour tonight. It was a lot of fun and I hope I can pass on my love for running to him.