July 2009

[Sweder]

My second forray in the webskins, a warm, sunny hillside jaunt of a shade over 5 kilomeres. Another positive outing at a reasonable (for me) pace.
I can feel different muscle groups responding to my altered gait, in particular my calves (calfs) which are grumbling at being called into extra service.

Uphill running is a pure pleasure. The inclined terrain encourages front-foot landing. Downhill is a horse of a different colour, the natural contact being heel-first. The jarring from a heavy heel strike in the KSOs goes straight through your body to reverberate around your jaw and rattle your teeth, so the positive, downhill lean - taught to me by Moyleman on our long, hilly Sunday runs - has to be accentuated to an alarming degree. At times I felt I was about to plunge head-long into the hard, dusty turf, but, happily, managed to remain upright, and to adjust yet again to a new running sensation.

More sessions planned for next week, including a full 5-miler Blackcap run. There's a lot to learn but, for now, I intend to keep going with the 'barefoot' experiment.
Sorry Stevio, the new skins are not quite ready for a Sunday run debut