Wednesday, September 16, 2009

3 Days in a Row and Barefoot Running

I've had a good week of running so far. The temperature in the mornings has finally dropped making it very pleasant to run. This weekend John and I are making a 3 day weekend and taking the boat out. In order to make that happen and fit in my long required juggling my running schedule. For the first time since March, I ran three days in a row.

Monday I went to the track and ran 5x800's, each decreasing in time. That wasn't planned but I'm glad it worked out that way. After the 5, I took off my shoes and ran another 800 in just my socks. I read Born to Run and am intrigued by barefoot running and the touted benefits. Not ready to actually run truly barefoot, I compromised and wore my socks. At first it was uncomfortable and I seemed to hit hard, after about 300 meters I settled into a better stride and it was ok. I told Coach Dean about my barefoot running and he told me that he used to run barefoot, during the first wave of barefoot popularity back in the 70's.

Tuesday's run was 4 miles at goal pace. It ended up overall being faster than goal so I really need to work on hitting that goal pace every mile.

Today's run was 6.75 miles with the middle miles being a tempo run. I haven't checked my splits yet but I think I ran slower than last week. This could be due to a couple of reasons. First, I ran with John last week and usually run faster with him. He's a better runner and I have to push to keep up. Running by myself its just me and Garmin and I don't realize when my pace has slipped. Second, last weeks tempo was 3 miles, where today I was trying to increase the miles at tempo. And finally, it is my third day running in a row and that may be a factor.

Tomorrow is an off day so I can rest before my long run on Friday morning. Now off I go to get ready for work.

Happy Running!

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