July 2009

[Sweder]

So long July ... and good riddance!
Little running, weird illness (a plague of mouth ulcers and some possibly-related digestional anomalies I'm having investigated) and today a washed-out opening day to the 3rd Ashes test Already muttering darkly under my own personal thunderheads my mood was not enhanced this lunchtime by local rain and a rash of school's-out rugrats running riot in the high street.
Bah! Humbug!

On a brighter note I took my new foot gloves out for a spin - the third such outing - on my regular run to Blackcap. What a joy! Free, barefoot running with little or no mishap and at a reasonable pace. High thick cloud wafting across from the west on what turned out to be a pretty stiff head-on breeze for the outward, uphill slog. No matter; I bounced along, finally free of Sunday's lactic acid grasp, Planet Rock feeding me classic ZZ Top, ACDC and Led Zep to keep my spirits up.

I continue to warm to this 'missing link' footwear. The liberation they offer outweighs the occasional wince-hop when I land on a hidden stone or lurking Ninja tree-root. Even after a few sorties I can feel my running style changing. Very early days but I'm getting positive vibes from knees, ankles and feet. More research required, though at this stage I think I'll restrict the range to five miles max. I plan to up the outings to two or three per week in early August whilst reverting to Mizunos on the Sunday runs; more reports to follow.

7.5 kilometres, 45 mins.