Mileage reporting 52nd (but not last!) week 2013

Larry

Barefooters
Sep 13, 2012
591
1,796
93
I'm spending a couple of days at my ancestral home of Ballarat, so today I tried a lap of Lake Wendouree, which is the track that everybody in Ballarat runs around. 6km barefoot on a mixture of asphalt, fine gravel, and the grassy bit at the edge of the track when my feet needed a rest from the gravel. Ran it a few seconds quicker than my shod time from last year, which was nice. Still a whole lot slower than what I used to do it in when I was young and fit though.

I got plenty of funny looks - Ballarat is a pretty conservative place, and I find that people are less likely to say hi to you when you run past down here. That said, I did meet one friendly fisherman at the start. I saw a pelican on the lake, and I can't recall ever seeing that when I lived here, so I asked him about that and he told me they have always been around and they are 'bastards'.

I also caught up to a guy who said "That's hardcore" and chatted for a bit before he got near his start/finish point and surged away from me.
 
I just came home from my attempt to run. As I wrote about last week I allow myself a run once a week. Not more. My feet needs to take it very slow I've experienced.. So the other days I just walk and that works fine.
I write attempt today because I did run, but I needed to walk more than I had hoped. They hurt a bit underneath. I do feel it's getting better during the week, but now today the run did not go better than last monday. So I guess it's status quo right now. I will rest more during the holidays. I won't be doing my daily walks all days and that's a good thing I guess.
 
Hi Larry,
I just did a Google virtual run of your hometown lake, a very nice looking run, one question though.... Where is the water. Don't tell me the ducks have drunk it all.

Neil
I think somebody spilled a crate of instant coffee in there and the ducks went nuts. :)

Seriously though, it dried up about five or ten years ago due to drought (and possibly drainage due to a new housing estate), but in the last few years they have managed to fill it up again and it is looking much nicer. It was always strange coming back here when the lake was dry - I used to paddle kayaks around it when I was younger.
 
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1 1/2hr muddy, wet trail run with both dogs. it was fun. first time on the trail for my mom's dog. kept him on leash most of the time and he did good. let him off and only had to grab him 3 times to keep him moving. worse part was bathing both of them.
 
About 4 miles this morning. Startled a fox who came cross the road at one point. Bright clear and cold, felt warm enough except for the 8x10s hill sprints and recoveries in between.
 
Sunday - 1 hour of xc skiing. The warmer weather has firmed the snow making it possible to skate with the skis. Much faster than trudging along in a track. In the evening I tried to run. Made it 1 K in the cold mud. When I warmed up it was not worth putting shoes on so I bagged it.

Monday - 6 + miles on pavement. Much better than mud. Moderate chip seal with lots of rough chips broken out by the snow plows. Still fun, love the lightness of being unshod.

Today - heading up to the in-laws for Christmas. I hope to sneak away for a run at high elevation. Strange, but I've noticed the road is warmer even with colder air temps. at the ski resort.

Checking out for a few days. Everyone have a great Christmas.
 
6 mile run at 10:00 am.,36 deg. with out wind chill, slight wind. Saw a large hawk on a structure and another souring up high in the sky.
 
Merry Christmas everyone!
Sunday: 6 mi run, icy icy icy, with some ice pellets from the trees hitting my head once in a while if the wind blew. BEAUTIFUL scenery though. Ice then snow on top of ice glistening from every branch.
a few weights, then about a 1hr swim w kids

Monday: 5 mi, a little slushy, but way better traction than lately. A few weights.

Tuesday: 5 mi on the country roads in fluffly partially packed 3-4" snow, 7F, brrrrrrrrr. Body, legs and feet were fine. Towards the end, it was hard to keep my face warm enough, as usual. Pretty snow.
~30 min swim before ice skating with kids. Goodness they were crabby about skating. It was about their 3rd time trying, and last time they were smiles, but not this time. Sigh. Guess some lessons are in order.
 
No running for me today (it is a some what scheduled day off).
I just wanted to log on and say I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!!
I also wanted to say thanks to all who post on this spot!!!
You guys give me inspiration to keep truckin through some of the tuff miles with your stories and experiences.
Thanks Again:playful::happy::joyful::D:):wacky:
 
I decided to take advantage of this cold but sunny and barely any wind to run a little of 4.5 miles. Went barefoot and got some good stimulation of the soles.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all, may your feet always feel quick, nimble and light.
 
hour "run".

reading Maffetone's BBETR again. seems just going even 3 beats over your hr will overtrain you. damn. if school stress wasn't bad enough i made it worse on purpose. time to start over again. i feel great now that i'm done. was feeling really blah the last few days. may have been carb flu.
 
4.92 miles in the Xeros after work today. Really nice run, where even though my legs weren't completely fresh, damn if I wasn't moving a lot faster than what it felt to me. Tossed in 6x30s strides and worked a bit harder on the final park loop and was almost dumbfounded that I had run it in a time of 43:56. It should have felt like a lot more work for me to break the 9 min/mile pace at a distance of nearly 5 miles. Guess it might be a sign of better fitness and faster legs and that maybe the hill sprints and running form drills are having some effect.

Just gotta keep consistent and I think 2014 could be a really good year for me as far as running and improvement.
 
Well felt pretty good today and think I'm beating this cold that I had over Christmas. Since the temp today was in the 50's I decided to do a short run after work to keep the legs and feet from rusting up tight. Did a lot of stretching before running and ran 2.65 miles. Was a descent run with only a few slightly rusty components. Planning on a run tomorrow as temps the next 2 days will be in the mid 50s.