- Total weekly miles
Pretty decent week this week after recovering from my cold last week. About 5 hours of running, roughly 28 miles.
- Number of running sessions
5 sessions, all runs of about one hour.
- Total weekly barefoot miles
9.5 miles barefoot. Again, just running the last couple of miles home at the end of my runs barefoot.
- Number of barefoot running sessions
2
- Running terrain
Mostly flat, on a mixture of pavement, dirt tracks and road.
- Ground surface of barefoot runs
Pavement and road.
- Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.
Lunas with leather laces for all my runs this week.
- Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)
Warm and dry.
- Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters
Fine. No problems.
- Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’
Someone I know who knows I run barefoot was asking me if I had tanned feet now after the good weather we’ve had over the last week or so!
- Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any
Nothing. There was loads of broken glass around in the last couple of days. Luckily I managed to avoid it all.
- Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.
I had a bit of a breakthrough run this week. I managed to run more than half a mile further in an hour than I’ve managed before, keeping my heart rate at 144bpm. It felt really good, really easy. I was able to run at a comfortable rhythm, nice and smooth, without the ‘plodding’ that sometimes happens when you have to keep your heart rate down. Hopefully that means that 9 weeks after training at my MAF pace I’m going to reap the rewards of a good aerobic base for the 2 races I’ve entered in September.
- Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.
None.
- Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.
This week, I’ve had both my best and my worst runs in a long time. My worst was really bad, I struggled to keep my heart rate down while moving at any kind of speed. My best was brilliant, I was able to run smoothly and quickly with a low heart rate. So I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth, don’t give up if you have a rubbish run, don’t beat yourself up about it. You could have a brilliant one just around the corner!
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