new sensations

After several discussions with IW regarding the explosion of minimalist and racing flat -style shoes in the US, I've been looking for a way to get more speed out of my barefoot work. I convinced the Kid to go for a run ride this evening, and it quickly became a bit of a blast. Keeping the midfoot contact going, I was able to bring the speed right up. The 8km came in at 4:20km, but there were plenty of stops and slow-downs in there which would have dropped the average quite a bit. Whether the fitness would've been in place to blast right through the session, I don't know - it'll be fun to try this again as a time trial in a week or so.

 A little sore in the lower legs afterward, but nothing that feels likely to last beyond a good night's sleep.
I would like to think that baseline fitness is now reaching a point where I can get some benefit from sharpening. I intend to begin adding more specialised speedwork sessions in the coming weeks - likely 1km reps to get the legspeed up and to also rebuild my sense of pace (I used to be able to pick, almost to the second, the pace of any run in progress).

Helmet, anyone?

We wandered through the city for a while today, after checking in at the Buddha's birthday festival. We discovered a dodgy little gamers' shop in a basement, with a stormtrooper's helmet I could barely resist. At $250, I wasn't even game to move it around to get a better photo......

Some small wins at work right now are providing a sense that the general pressure of life may soon start to ease with a little income. Not there yet, but boy, wouldn't it be nice to think that 6 years' work could begin to pay off.