All-Terrain Run

The frequency of posts doesn't quite match the frequency of running lately, but closely enough to be really disturbing....
Mileage has been down (I've been getting out with the Kid quite frequently, but only for a couple of k's), so when I've had the chance, I've been enjoying testing the feet out on a wider variety of surfaces. I never thought I'd say it, but I am coming to enjoy the rougher stuff better - I'd even go so far as to seek it out a bit rather than the regularity of the old faithful river path run.

This's me, that couldn't tippytoe across a carpark 2 years ago. Ha!

The best thing is that, according to the (late) Caballo Blanco's mantra of "Smooth, Easy, Fast", it's getting fast again. Nice.

Today I dropped the Kid off and wandered through 10k on a range of surfaces. It took about an hours, since I stopped so much to take photos, but it was a real nice day out. The following panel is a montage of the key terrain changes during the 10k. It was predominantly flat, with only a slight lift on one of the deep-sand paths and a downhill on the tussocky grass.

Only the rough asphalt gives me trouble now - I still get a bit scared and lose form - leading to poor landings or a twist / toe-off, which hurts. The metal grids are included here as an experiment - I could only last a few steps on them. I don't reckon anybody could deal with them - the gaps are a little too wide and the top profile just a little sharp. Still, it's all out there to be travelled.
Happily, the gravel, small rocks and sticks all went by with no trouble. The lumpy grass and the deep sand, which used to be tough on my ankles is now a pleasant challenge. I'm still not sure that there's a half marathon in my soles, but for the general getting around, I reckon shoes might be history.

Unless it's real cold and wet................

On that, you'll have to keep watching.

change and a holiday

There's been a bunch going on these last weeks - the blog hasn't gotten a look in whatsoever - but now, with a moment to take stock and restart, I can fill in some highlights.

The Kid's TRYathlon was a fun day out. She had a good go, didn't stop, and finished with a smile. Confidence in the swim wasn't high, so she waited right till the end of the age-group pack, leading to some anxious moments amongst the support crew. Soon enough, though, those long legs were rolling around the bike course and the run.
 

She's "not sure" if she wants to do another, but is keen to run more with me and swim with friends or Rita - so I'll keep an eye out for more. Of course, I'm happy to keep it up, so today we went for a little barefoot run together - about 2.5k on the smooth paths - with me yet again impressed at the smooth style that seems so common to young kids.
Good to be out there doing something healthy and having to push a little.

With a little taste for racing, I jumped into a city 10k fun run as my barefoot "coming out" - the first time I've tried to "race" barefoot. I ran the first half with friend Mandy and came in somewhere around 50 minutes, with no discomfort and no rubs. This was a good test for keeping the technique under control in crowd conditions.

The big news just recently, though, has been the momentary return of Rita, en route to racing the next IM and starting a brand new job. We got through a string of runs together both in Perth and in Exmouth, which is about half-way up the Western Australian coast.

Now Perth is a remote place. Head north, however, and remoteness is in the extreme. Indian ocean on one side and a continent of desert on the other. Exmouth exists for two things - oil platforms off the coast, and tourists bobbing about looking at the reefs and the whale sharks that collect there. We took a whale shark tour and, amongst the berley I was throwing over the side of the boat, we had a good sighting.

A walk and a hike through the gorges, some snorkelling and general wandering around on the beaches made for a good trip, with the highlights exclusively amongst the time we spent alone.

Yardie Creek Gorge, and Rita, sheltering from a relentless sun.

Returning to Perth, we peeled off a volcano-hardened ride to Freo, some paddleboarding and a pretty solid 8km run - no doubt faster than my 10k race of a couple weeks previous - and still feeling good. The chap behind us was clearly not (Tee Hee...).

With Rita climbing back aboard a plane, I found myself at a loose end, so the Wednesday WAMC run beckoned. This was a social jaunt, till the last kilometer, where I wanted to give it a real good squeeze. The pace felt bloody wonderful, and the technique held even at 3:20/km. Perhaps, as the late Caballo Blanco suggested, "first smooth, then easy, then fast" is coming true. Yahoo!

Coming back to earth  with the first day back at work has been tough, with the realisation that the next few months' work will be truly hellish. Somewhere in here, I hope, will be my first barefoot half marathon and some solid plans for an amazing future.

Fairy steps

"Rogaining" - noun - the result of agreeing to go for a short walk with one's boyfriend and his parents, only to find 8 hours later that they carry headlamps and a second page of maps - being an intense scowl and complete inability to notice that others somewhat faster than one's indignant plod might want to overtake on a narrow path.
(Disclaimer: if, in fact, we read this situation wrong and that charming lady out on the Bibbulmun is tragically afflicted with a grotesquely angry facial disfigurement, then we apologize unreservedly.
Thanks for letting us past, stupid cow.

So, today we took the chance on a Bibbulmun front-end adventure IN FINGERS!

To set the scene, I ran 14km last night barefoot, and decided that it was admirable* to push through the distance, though the hotspots started appearing after kilometer 2. Sigh.
(*not so bright)

Back to the Hills!

We left the Kalamunda pub with high hopes of a triumphal return in daylight. The trails felt remarkably good in the fingers - not nearly as painful as I expected, and much, much more nimble than in shoes. Still, with ants as long as one's forearm waiting patiently beside the trail with napkins, it was best not to stop.
Alas, multiple encounters with the rogainers (including a group who appeared to have misplaced their dungeons and dragons 20-sided dice) and a minor loss of two our our party slowed us down a little.

In my defense, I didn't think that the espresso gel would make it THAT much fun that I got away. My sturdy compatriots, having lost sight of their tour guide in fading light on unfamiliar trails, carefully backtracked to check the trail markers, while the panicking tour guide raced first back to where I took off, then to the top of the trail, then back again, figuring there's no way that a short cut could've gotten them that far ahead.

The run thus ended as a stumbly walk back to the pub, illuminated by the comforting glow of mobile phones, but was nonetheless a solid workout. The feet feel a little beaten, but not in any way damaged. The technique is to keep the rapid fairy steps going, uphill and downhill, keeping a good blast in the pack pocket for the occasional open spaces.

I could be said that today's run ended badly. But fear not, dear reader, it could've been far, far worse, and indeed, it almost was. Remember way back in "It's like fishing", I mentioned an issue that afflicts me (and indeed every other runner)? Well, in the car on the way back home, one of my uninitiated compatriots fed me chocolate........

Luckily we survived that intake. Getting home, though, and removing the fingers, was an entirely different matter.

So it as been a good day.

Tomorrow is the Kid's first Triathlon - a huge day for doting dads. I'm immensely proud of her for having a go at something completely new. I suspect a blog post will document this one.

Tough

Ran tonight with new friends, plus the kid on the bike - real good fun. Good talks and easy dinner with beer afterward - this is what running is meant to be!

And the title? Well, tough relates to two observations from today, both from runs (I'm not going to get too explicit, here, you'll just have to stay with me and try to figure it out for yourself.)

First, a patch of thoughtful conversation this afternoon coincided with a particularly spiky stretch of road surface. Either I was sufficiently distracted ( and therefore usually a wimp), or my feet are acclimatizing to rougher barefoot surfaces, because rather than the "dance" that normally accompanies hurty bits, I cruised over it and it actually felt quite good.
I suspect most of the discomfort originates in the wet grey bit upstairs.....

Second, superfoods. Chia seeds, flax seeds, goji berries etc. plus raisins and other whole foods. Are they super because they are super-indigestible? They go in, but, if you look carefully ( and anyone over 50 should be, by the way), they seem to mostly make it through unscathed......

Sigh. I have mercifully refrained from illustrating tonight's entry.

Running on Mars

Note: For some reason, no matter how I rotate or un-rotate images, they like to appear on their side. 
Tilt Yer 'Ed. 
Today I returned to the Bibbulmun, thinking that the worst of summer may be behind us. Sure, it wasn't so hot (though I was out just before dusk), but the dryness was incredible.


The trails have weathered summer badly - many sections have turned to sand, and the remainder are strewn with sharp rocks no longer held together by the soil. In the afternoon sun, the open areas look like pictures from NASA.

expanses of red rock

normal trail condition - this ain't Fingers territory!

I ran the first section of the track (the hardest bit - stupid!) - 10km out to the powerlines and back. The trail beyond this point eases off dramatically to smoother rollers, but today, the sharp hills were death on legs.
I gave the race shoes a spin today, figuring that they were the most snug protection I have, but they still don't offer enough side protection - lots of scuffs and stumbles. I wonder if the numerous stubbed toes and near falls are a result of having a rubber sole under my foot for the first time in a while.


The trails were real tough I'm going to try it out with the fingers at some stage - I have to feel it. Te downhills are the issue - they are so steep, it is almost impossible to not land on the heels - even letting go and rolling the legs over at a pace to match the incline gets completely out of control. I expect the Fingers would be more grippy, though - many of today's slips were just losses of friction in all the twisting and turning on sandy rocks.

Regardless of the trail condition, this is the running I really enjoy - going Yippee on the flat smooth patches between the rocks and getting the quickstep going on the rough descents.
More mileage - need to get out beyond the wier again......

No stopping

Working in the city now, as well as my own shop, so things are hotting up.
The workshop in the city is 7pm from home, so a run each way picks up some good flat miles.

Today, it was so hot on the way home that I had to put on Fingers, and my feet now feel blistered burned all over. That, plus the novelty of carrying a backpack (eating so much is a curse sometimes) made for an awkward-feeling run - all hips and knees.

Thanks to a few late nights and a small but uncomfortable hole in my sole where I just pulled out a little shard of glass, I think I'll take the silver surfer tomorrow.

Smooth, Easy, Fast

The guy in THAT book (yeah, "Born to Run"), said the key to getting form right was to make it smooth, wait for it to get easy, then it'll become fast all by itself.

I wish I'd had a clock on today, because, it started slow and smooth, stayed easy, and clicked up into a really nice pace by the end. The "float" that I've talked about before came back and stayed. The sensation is very unusual - the sensations of running used to be all about contact and impact, now it's about my knees - that sharp, quick knee lift that gets the back foot up and starts the next swing - rather difficult to describe.

Today was a good run - for the first time in a while, I got a bit cold - there was a strong steady wind (it's Perth, after all) and a bit of light rain at my back on the way home. Not enough to make the Fingens wet, which is really uncomfortable and rubby, but enough to give them a little feeling of slipping on the road surface.

I wondered today why I got a few rather bemused looks on the paths (more than usual) - looking down, I did have a particularly short pair of running shorts and a shirt borrowed from Rita (sure I asked), so I may have looked like I'd been left too long in the wash. Getting home and fronting the mirror, though, told the real story - I hadn't shaved for a week, so I was looking like I was being overtaken by a patchy fungus for starters, and the rain and headwind had pushed my hair into a twin set of mohawks - wolverine style - which was not at all pleasant. Alas, the camera didn't come out for that sight.

New rule:  Wear a hat, shave, or run at night.

Back to the office afterward, enjoying my new sport of making jewellery using wood and stainless steel. The machine is whizzing away at a new 5-axis creation right now, which should be done in the next few days. I'd like to think this is an interesting diversion between massive contracts, rather than a potential means of generating survival income, but we'll worry about that next week, eh?

Jarrah and Stainless Steel, polished or beadblasted