that is going to make the smoke turn into a spark,
feed the spark until it becomes a ember,
take the ember and feed it until it becomes a flame,
fan the flame so it becomes inferno.
I have the Buffalo Runner's Half Marathon on July 31st, and I am really looking forward to that, but that run is more about the experience, the re-connection with nature and your lost spirit, but it is not the challenge that I am seeking. There is also the 50km Manitoba Trail Ultra in Spruce Woods on August 20th, but I am preparing for the expected cancellation of this event due to the Spring Flood that never seems to end. Needless to say, I need to find something to get me modivated to run the big miles, get my mojo going again. As I continue to look, I have made it out a few times this week, its funny once I get out and start running everything falls into place. Everything is right with the world again, I am out there running because I love to run no pressures nor stress just the feel of the road, sidewalk, trail, etc under my out stretched toes.
So until I find that modivation factor again, I will be forcing myself out the door and to quote a shoe manufacturer (oh the horror!!), 'Just Do It!'
Here was the week that was:
Tuesday July 5th, 2011
Barefoot: 5.25 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 5.25 miles
Lunch run from the office, just a mildly warm day at 29 degrees Celcius before the humidity factor kicks in (honestly don't know the true temperature but felt like 40 degrees plus). Had to cut the run a little short, because of the heat, the asphalt paths and roads were scorching when you had to stand in place longer than a couple of seconds. Got some real interesting looks as I was hopping around from foot to foot in place while waiting for lights, etc. All in a days work for a barefoot runner I suppose. Also had to do a sprint through some broken glass again at one intersection, which got some more wide mouth open type looks from a cyclist and walker who was beside me at the time. Glass really is no issue, as long as you don't stop and grind your foot into it. As long as you brush the bottom of your feet off once your through, your golden. Overall a good run, if it was about 10 degrees cooler, I would of tried for about 10 miles that day.
Thursday July 7, 2011
Barefoot: 12.71 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 12.71 miles
This was an interesting run in the evening, I decided I was going to run from my house to City Park Runners to meet up with my Thursday night run partners, complete that run, than run over to Nicole's Taekwondo class to meet her when she was done. Great plan except for one small detail, it was stinking hot and my contacts decided to malfuntion about a mile in (ok maybe two small details). Once again the temperature was quite warm and the humidity was quite high, I believe this caused my contacts to either dryout or just fog up. I'm not sure which, all I do know is that I couldn't see anything in front of me except a big mass of blur. I could see enough to keep me out of trouble, but seeing what was in front of me on the ground, no chance. This was quite the experience as I had to make sure my form was really good and my step really light, so if I did step on a rock or something, it would not affect me to badly. Now all things considered, I did really well, because I only stepped on 2 or 3 stones that I really noticed enough to do a one-two hop (it's kind of like doing a skip in the middle of a full out run, quite funny to see, I'm sure).
After a fun and eventful 5.65 mile run to City Park from the house, I found out I had missed the group run start by about 10 mins. Knowing I would never catch them, I decided to head over to the park and run 5km or so around the park (actually turned into 4.25 miles). I was quite happy with my time as I was making my way around (if I put my garmin right to my face I actually could read it), and by the time I reached the formal gardens I almost caught up to the Eric and the gang who left before me (of course they were running a 10 km loop). All and all a good run to that point.
I followed up those legs of the run with the run to Nicole's taekwondo class to finish it off, by this time I could barely see anything, so I was glad to just sit my butt down on the bench and watch a mass of blurs kick and punch at each other (took me about 10 minutes to figure out which one was my wife, ssshhh don't tell her).
No harm done from my lack of vision, just a couple of blisters on my toes from overstretching and trying to hard to step lightly, I believe, anyway they were gone by Friday morning.
Saturday July 9, 2011
Barefoot: 14.01 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 14.01 miles
Saturday morning City Park Runners long run with Elaine. Elaine is currently training for the Twin Cities Marathon in September, and I have volunteered to be her pace and training partner on all her long runs. This week's run was 14 miles, so we had a plan to run to the Forks, over to Tache and back across the Norwood Bridge to the Forks prior to heading back to the store. This should of worked out to 14 miles or so at least we hoped.
Anyway, as we took off the temperature was just about perfect, there was a overcast sky and the route was errieily quiet. It was almost like it was a very early Sunday, as there was very little traffic on the roads (both vehicle and runner's alike), it was a little odd. As we went along the humidity started to increase but we were managing fairly well, keeping a 10 min/mile pace throughout. We made some stops at the Miss and the Forks to ensure we stayed hydrated, as this is very important in the heat on long runs. As we made our way to the foot bridge and across, I did a quick calculation on what we needed to make the 14 and what I expected we had left, we would get to the store just shy. So as we got close to the store, I looked at Elaine (this one is for you Mike) and said, "Just past the store to the Lights". Elaine looked at me, like she was going to crack me across the back of the head, I had to start laughing. Anyway, in case you were wondering what this was about, Elaine told me about the week 's before run where Mike (from See Mike Run), goaded Elaine into running past the store to the lights to make the 12.5 mile mark. Anyway I thought it was funny at the time. It was a great run, and this will be one of my modivation factors to help Elaine run the best run that she can in the Twin Cities.
Here is the milage for the week:
Total Mileage for the Week:
Barefoot: 31.97 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 31.97 miles
and the year to date:
Year to Date
Barefoot: 332.86 miles
Vibrams: 71.26 miles
Total: 404.12 miles
One item that is worth mentioning as well, although it has nothing to do with my 1,000 mile challenge is that Nicole ran the Grand Beach Sun Run on Sunday July 10 and she absolutely killed it. Not only did she have a personal best, she had a sub 1 hour run at 59:44, and to top it off she medalled. Nicole finished in 3rd place for her age group, which is absolutely awesome. I am so proud of her and knew she could run faster than she had last year once she put the camera away at the race.
Have a great week and may the sun tan the tops of your bare feet during your runs.
On, On
Bob
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