Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

High 50s, low 60s, light fog clearing to bright sun.  Easy run, w/ 1.4 in VFFs and .96 barefoot at end of run. 

I got the last 20 minutes of fog this morning, but it was worth missing out to sleep late. 

As I came home and switched into my Vibram Five Fingers, I wondered if I had lost all the foot toughening I had gained earlier in the month (or was it July?).  But when I decided to run the last mile barefoot I found it was just as easy as it had been (and when I stepped on a rock, just as hard).  So perhaps I can do a bit more barefooting before summer ends. The VFFs are great, except that my little toes don't like the pockets.  I'm not sure they ever will. True barefoot running can't be beat.

Mon - Sun mileage total: 60.19

58F, clear skies.  Objective - easy & slow. 

I got a late start and felt rather stiff and slow today, so I actually had to run the last couple of miles on my dreadmill.  Mitigation: watching a bit of Race for the Soul.  That's a great movie; I highly recommend it.  I don't believe I'll ever be an ultra runner because of my fear of being alone on trails, but I get a lot out of seeing other runners take on the challenge.  So many barriers we face are just in our minds.

On Old Shoes....   I noticed this morning that I have accumulated an unusually large pile of old running shoes.  I was retiring my old Triax 12's and as I opened the cupboard where such shoes live, it struck me that the thing is actually overflowing. 

What on earth am I keeping them for?  I do think there is a good chance of a coming depression, with hyperinflation, but in such a scenario, would I need so many old running shoes?  Would I trade them for produce on the black market?  ("...and these babies have only 450 miles on them, so how 'bout you throw in an extra tomato?") 

I used to send old shoes to Tanzania through an organization called "Shoe4Africa," but my current view of heavy running shoes now makes that an act of international hostility. 

And why oh why is it so hard to just pitch them into the donation box?  I know the Nike store near me takes shoes and grinds them up to recycle the material, but there is something very horror-flick about that.... Just grind them up? Like they have no feelings?!? 

(internet face slap) Okay, I'm going to go put at least 2/3 of these into my donation sack. The truck is coming today and I swear I am not going to look back; liberation, here I come.

High 50s F, patchy light fog becoming heavy towards end of solo run.  Objective: 1st run = solo w/ VO2 & leg strength (hill repeats), 2nd run = barefoot w/ SnoFlake.

Hill repeats: warmed ~3.5 miles, then went to 15% grade hill and ran 6 x 1 min hard, 2 min recovery.  Garmin data:  All reps covered .11 mile in 8:56, 8:42, 9:07, 9:05, 9:27, 9:15. Cool down: a few more miles, easy.

I'm not sure what to make of my effort today.  I really struggled with the hill repeats and did not perform them as well as I did 2 weeks ago. Maybe I had fresher legs then, or maybe I'm having an "off" day, I don't know. It doesn't really matter; I did my best and I am sure I will get the same benefit. 

After the first 3 reps, I realized that I was not recovering completely, even though I walked almost the entire 2 minutes, panting all the way, so I added another 30 seconds to recovery after reps 3-5.  My understanding of VO2 recoveries (from my Daniels dvd) is that they should be complete.  Even with the extended recovery, I had more and more trouble keeping up my pace at the ends of each rep, falling apart the last 15 seconds or so.  Usually it's just the lungs that give out, but today it was the legs too. 

Fall is on the way.  Same workout as two weeks ago, same time and place -- but 2 weeks ago it was completely light out (though the sun wasn't up yet) and today it was completely dark!  The days will now get shorter very quickly.  Like a car that seems to creep along when far away and then goes whipping past you on a highway, the autumnal equinox this month will bring a sudden and dramatic shift in daylight to these northern latitudes. Thank goodness for headlamps.

I love fall more than any other season and the first of September is always welcome. But to get fog too... great day! And I had a very enjoyable barefoot run w/ SnoFlake as well.  We kept it short, since she is understandably tired from gymnastics last night.

54F, mostly clear and some patchy light fog.  Easy run, 8.13 solo & 2.3 w/ daughter. 15 min. core & upper body.

Beautiful morning.  My legs feel a bit tired, but I had a fine time.  Scheduled day off tomorrow.  Finally got back to my strength work today.  :)

54F, partly cloudy w/ full moon and pink sunrise, 1 brief shower.  Objective: tempo run. Five miles at tempo, target pace 8:30.  Splits: 8:41, 8:35, 8:46, 8:48, 9:03 (last mile was mostly uphill).  20 min. strength work.

I think I have to just accept that I'm not 100% this week. I feel fine, but I'm just moving slower. 

My first mile was going pretty well until the last 2 blocks, when I came within 2 feet of being hit by a car, the driver of which evidently does not believe in stop signs. So I lost 10-15 seconds there by stopping, putting the fear of --- into the driver, and getting back into my pace.    Mile 5, as noted, was mostly uphill, as I realized I was cutting it short getting home and had to leave my almost-flat, .8 mile loop to head back.

Mid 50s, raining.  Easy run, club run. 

My legs feel dead today.  I'm planning to run 2 medium long runs (today & tomorrow) instead of one longer one + one short,  just to let my body recover a bit more.  The tempo run yesterday is still with me.  :/  Hopefully I can get a bit more sleep tonight. That would help a lot.

The rain did not bother me a bit, I'm happy to report.  The only trouble is that it's still too warm for the jacket I wanted to wear.  I had to choose between being warm and mostly dry or possible being cold (knowing I was to get soaked).  For such a slow run, as I knew it would be, I chose the jacket.   I saw at our club meeting that Sean's sister has a very soft looking BAA Boston Marathon jacket - very good looking.  covet covet covet ...