Describe Your Running Today, Part II

tpcb,

certainly sounds like a win/win bike deal.

Last night involved a group ride with the Flambeau Free Wheelers. 15 riders from 18 to 65 yo present. Tempo was 21MPH for the lead pack. I hung on until about 16 miles and then washed out on back to back climbs.(Cramps) Finshed avg'19.4 mph. The thrill of 35mph in tight group going down grade was not lost on me.

Quads are tired from the bike ride , left heel ,so-so from the miles run. To quote Paul Simon"Why am I soft in the middle, when the rest of my life is so hard".??

Not much running to report. I did roll through 2 short barefoot gallops early in week and have mucked about a couple of times on the bike.

Winter racing done and dusted so I chose (read forced myself) into a recovery week.

Our sunburnt country is a land of drought and flooding rains. Yesterday was the latter. My little creek came up over it's banks to say hi. Tomorrow I hope to get to the lake for a kyak it will be interesting to see how full it now is.

Bushman, curious thing with me is the barefoot running seems to have shaken a couple of persistant niggles. I have been doing it on very soggy golf courses or racetracks so the going is very forgiving. However I always run in minimal shoes, the big heavy ones always cause my unusually shaped feet many problems.

mopak, Bushman,

as you know i do almost all my mileage VFF or barefoot.

And i tend to agree with mopak that it has resolved a lot of niggles. However, as lately i have been working a lot and intensely, and vacation was not really a vacation in terms of recovery.

So i will say that i have not been recovering as easily, hence have eased off running a little, and added some swimming where i am less likely to be tempted by the thrill of accelerating.

Minimalist and vff running requires focus, which in fact maybe a good way to "empty your mind" but i can honestly see how sometimes, some people want to run but not think about running...i mean, that's one reason why running is also a form of escape and nothign to do with sports, athleticism, competition...

If you are just too fatigued it may not be wise to go minimalist, in fact it is probably a better idea to take an extra day off and be active in some other way.

And there really are lots and lots of ways to be active. This last weekend there was a 2-day sports fair downtown Milan and, amongst other things, it was great to reminisce about lightweight tryouts and erg away on a concept 2 in the shadow of the city's Duomo cathedral...

-176 days to The MOARG The Mother Of All Running Gatherings in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in 2011.

Thanks for the reflections mopak and tpcb. Local feedback from long time ,fellow runners, is still encouraging. i.e. don't give up on the running. Coupled with your perspectives I'll give things more time and thought before totally throwing in the towel.

Monday; 25 miles at a good clip on rolling hills, smooth pavement. Avg. 16mph for the Bride and me, not bad.

Tues. rest

Weds. 2.5 miles running. 52F and blustery. 27 mins.

mopak, a friend of the Bride was in Australia recently. She skied the "Kangaroo Hoppet".

AM

30 mins easy in Trenno Park. Very wet from last night's intense hail storm so ran on the asphalt path. Usually go on the grass. There was this wonderful waist-high mist reminding that fall is well on its way.

Yesterday

Travel day, bushed beyond belief.

A good buddy of mine is heavily involved in the K- loppett. I will be up in that part of the world in 2 months time, snow will mostly be gone by then. Currently the valleys below Falls Creek are suffering major flooding.

Keep up your fitness because I'm sure you'll find yourway back to healthy running.

Tuesday. I stopped on my way to work and ran a testing 67mins inc 2 major hill climbs.

Yesterday. Drove across to visit the bride, she's on secondment in Maryborough 100kms from home. Stopped for a quick 25min paddle at an old historic reservoir. Once in M'borough I headed out into the bush on the bike for an hour.

Today. Made it a long slow trip home. Stopped at the Cairn Curran Reservoir for a solid 45 mins of paddling. Drove a bit further to the outskirts of historic Maldon. I rode a bit over an hour around Mt Tarrengower looking for a nice back trail to the top. All the trails I tried became either too steep or too boggy. Still had loads of exhausting fun. I then drove up the road to Tarrengower's summit and ran down some trails for 20 mins then hammered up the tourist drive to the top in 11 mins and of course dashed up the stairs of the lookout tower, like many such towers in this region it is an old mining poppet.

A very enjoyable day.

Rode out and back on a 6 mile segment of the Pine Line at dusk. The pungent aroma of Balsam and rich earthy fall smells triggered some kind of endorphin rush. I swear I haven't felt that good in decades. The way my legs WANTED to push brought back memories from my 20's and 30's. Phenomenal. This flame must be held safe and nurtured.

lunchtime

1 hr swim, with lots of easy butterfly laps, breaking in and out of the stroke to avoid disturbing other swimmers. felt awesome.

Heading to Notturna di Milano meeting tonite. Hoping to see some LeMaitre, Webb, Kiprop abd Semenya action.

Notturna di Milano, last night, really enjoyable quick meet:

LeMaitre, slow but dignified, should learn to smile a little more.

Webb, on the upsswing, amicable

Kiprop, what happened: last, holding his right quad.

Semenya, could have gone way faster, probablysaving for a big event. Cusma screwed by the rabbit but that first 400 in 57 could have meant a big PR for her. shame.

Howe, phenomenal, the guy should just sprint, 20:30 with relative ease and lots of adrenaline.

Will do something today, heading back to rome.

Got on the treadmill after 3 days off due to intensifying shin splints. Increased speed to 4mph. Yelped in pain and stepped off. This might take 3 weeks. :(

40' yesterday.....40' today.....day off tomorrow.....have taken things down a notch since the end of summer training....work load has increased, so running decreases.....hoping the weight does not increase too......

Thurs. 3.25 miles run. Colonel, the Border Collie led the way.

Friday. The bike was pushed around plenty by a stiff SE wind.

1;55 to cover 30 miles.

today

barefoot strides at Caracalla track on the grass.

Joined a bunch of runners who were paying a tribute to Bikila's marathon this day 50 years ago, and ran the last 1k of the historic course to the Arch of Constantine barefoot. All ages, all sizes, very homemade and low key.

today

Just went for a 50mins fartlek in Villa Pamphili park. Ideal temp and sunshine. Flet a little heavy but otherwise ok.

-170 days to The MOARG The Mother Of All Running Gatherings in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in 2011.

Sat. Thirty min. ride on the Fox River Trail.

Sunday. Bike rally in Door Co. Rode the 100 with my Bro-in-law 15.8 MPH avg. Roughly 6 hours in the saddle. Clear skies and low 70F temps made for a good day on the roads.

50' on Sunday.....days off today and tomorrow (no time!)....hoping to get out Wed. and Fri.....

AM. 4.5 mile recovery jog. Glutes and Hammies reporting in.

Heel is surprisingly( thankfully) quiet.

Yesterday

1 hour swim

Tuesday PM

9k run in Trenno park. For the first time ran in a herd of a local running group. Sorta reminded me of Villa Pamphili lunchtime sessions, everybody joking about, darting all over the place as other groups approach in the opposite direction...

-166 days to The MOARG The Mother Of All Running Gatherings in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in 2011.

35'-ish w/o the gps.....sent the gang off, quick change for me, then did what I had time for.....had to be back for the team's strength work.....working the stopwatch today, so hoping to get back at it tomorrow....and maybe a long(ish) run this weekend.....