24k run...well almost 24k

got up this morning at 5:45, had some oatmeal and OJ for breakfast and headed out the door for what would be my longest run since May.  the weather was cloudy and somewhat humid when i started, by the time i finished 2 hrs and 41 minutes later, most of the cloud had burnt off and it was beginning to get hot.  worked on keeping my stride short, my cadence high, my head up and shoulders back.  i tend to droop my head when i run, causing the back of my neck and right shoulder to burn after 10k or so.   since this was my LSD (long slow distance) run, i was aiming to keep my heart rate in the 70-80% of maximum.  in other words, i was running slow. 

this was the first time i tried mixing my Clif energy gels with water.  i mixed one gel with 500ml of water and shook the bottle up well.  i think next time i'll try twice as many gels with the water to get more bang for the buck.  i tend to not drink all that much when i run so i likely wasn't getting enough of the gel to help much so doubling them up would help.  with my sweet tooth, they would taste better that way as well.

all in all, i feel pretty good about my run, physically and mentally.  i'm a little sore but nothing out of the ordinary and i'm looking forward to running 26k in two weeks time.   Tuesday evening, intervals!

almost forgot, this was not a barefoot or VFF run.  i had my Saucony Progrid Ride 3's on for this one.  not ready for the big time yet. :-)

another barefoot walk/run

tonight i decided to keep it short since my left calf was still sore from the weekend stairclimbing event at Jacob's Ladder in Victoria Park.  i went for a 1.2 k walk and only 300 m run, barefoot on pavement.  no blisters or any other funny business with the feet, which is good.  during my walk i found a some ripe blackberries.  i picked a handful with the intentions of bringing them home to make a smoothie out of tomorrow morning...they didn't make it.  lol  i did some calculations at work today and if i were to get back on to my schedule for the Valley Harvest Marathon, i'd have to run 21k on sunday.  i may give it a go and just see what happens.  i would do 3 x 5k loops and 1 x 6k loop so if i would have opportunities to stop without being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. lol 

13k run

I decided to go out for a run with no particular distance or direction in mind.  i wound up going for a 13k run around First Lake and other areas here in Sackville. it was my first "long" run since the first week of June and i found it tough.  it was also my first run in a normal pair of sneakers (Saucony Progrid Ride 2) in a couple of weeks.  first of all, my running almost fell back into the old heelstrike problems right away.  also, running in sneakers like those feel way to spongy now compared to VFF's.  its like trying to play the piano with oven mitts on. lol  the hip pain started coming back around the 10k point.  i also found it very hot outside as well.  seeing as most of my training for the bluenose was from Feb-May, i never did a long run in weather that was 20+ C outside.  i was thinking to myself "wow if the temp at the Bluenose marathon would have been this warm, i doubt if i would have made it".  in conclusion, i think i'll continue to work on my technique in VFF's and barefoot but stick with short distances until i can stop with the heelstrikes and hip pain.

First Barefoot Run

ok, so i did it.  i went out and ran just over 2k in my bare feet.  last week i ran about 9k in VFF's so this week i decided to "kick it up a notch."  the majority of the run was on a concrete sidewalk with the remainder on a paved street.  i have a small blister on the 2nd toe on my left foot.  i'm not sure if that was caused by not lifting off properly or running on wet pavement.  if i run any more this week it'll either be in my VFF's or sneakers.

ok, so its not a bad blister, i kept the run short just in case something like this happened.