DO NOT SWIM

Been a good week of running.

Sunday- a walk and some easy, short barefoot runnin on grass to recover from yesterdays Long run
Monday- MEDIUM 30mins in blue Puma Salohs@ park with a few hard surges and hard .25 mile
Tues-EASY 45mins. in blue Puma Salohs @park
Weds-HARD 40 mins. red Puma Salohs @ park easy running for warm .25 mile 3/4 effort, 14x100 sprints at 7/8 effort. Easy running home for cool. Stretching afterward.
Thurs-EASY 40 mins. red Puma saloh @ the park
I let fly on the streets at the end of the run and some old lady's dog wanted to rumble and started chasing me...I said bring it on! I dusted that damn poodle!
I went surfing at Sunset and had the most amazing rides I have maybe ever had!
Fri-EASY 30mins. red Puma saloh @ park. I felt like puking and everything hurt...I got sick from the ocean water last night. Before I got in there was a warning sign metioning bacteria in the water DO NOT SWIM ..I paid no mind. and I paid for it. Oh well.
Sat-LONG RUN 2hrs. BAREFEET Santa Monica moutains in Old Topanga..I ran the Backbone trail. 1hr up and 1 hr down..the descent was slower than the ascent! This was the toughest run I have ever done. Rocky, incredibly steep, thorny and beautiful. I started to question my sanity during the descent. My bruised heel from landing on a rock like 3 weeks ago was feeling great so I opted for barefoot today and it was doing great until I ran through a leafy part of the trail and underneath the leaves a freakn rock which happend to hit right where I bruised the heel before! Even though I barely weight the heel it does come down to the ground, sometimes not, depending on, pace, if I am going up a steep hill etc... It didnt really bother me after a minute or 2..I stepped on a thorn which was fun, then a section where the trail was covered with what looked like crushed wantons with jagged spurs on them. I was starting to emit caveman type grunts often. I started to pray for it to end. I made it. But this trail is just too technical for barefoot..I haven't even seen any other runners on this thing. Next week I gotta run on flat ground with no rocks! I have now run 4 successive long runs in the mountian in barefeet or minimal flats. I am moving to easier ground next Sat.! On the way home I jumped in the Ocean to float and cool off..then proceeded to eat lots of tacos.

I will post some pics of the terrain.

Mountain Goat

It was a good week of running.

Monday- 60 minutes MEDIUM barefoot running on trails and streets..and then went surfing and the Surf was UP!

Tuesday-30 mins EASY in Puma salohs on trails..my bruise on my heel from my first mountain run was a little sore..I think the barefoot running on the concrete aggravated it.

Weds- 35 minutes TEMPO run in DS trainers on trails and the Surfing @Sunset

Thurs-35 mins. EASY Saucony fastswitch.. dont like these old sponges..gonna retire them. Although the cushioning was nice for my heel bruise.

Fri- 30 mins. EASY in Puma Salohs n park trails..felt good but right ham. tendon was tad angry from the previous days in foam boats.

Saturday- 100 minutes LONG RUN on technical mountain trail in blue Puma Salohs..I tried yet another mountain trail hoping it would be a little easier...wrong! It was the steepest and most technical yet. It was packed full of sharp and big rocks, ruts, ditches and extremely steep grade inclines. I am getting really strong at up hills! The down hill sections I still need some work on not braking when going down, I don't know if that is possible actually.

Surf is up man and so is Mountain running

Had a great week...I surfed like 5 times...getting my sea legs back! Man my arms and pecs were crying the first couple days.

Did some easy running throughout the week..and ended the week with a Long run up through the Santa Monica mountains again. I ran the Backbone trail today and It was beautiful! More shade than the other route I ran last week. It is such a complete work out..I climbed, I jumped over things, I got a great cardio workout...I got a strength workout and hills like this actually double as speedworkouts! I ran in my Puma Salohs which are minimalist shoes. I ran for 105 minutes. I honed my down hill running technique..this week I wasn't like a runaway train on the descent! Happy times! I love running long again.

Im a new mountain trail convert!

Been running like a wild banshee! I haven't taken a day off in I dont know how long and I feel great. Mostly all barefoot running, when not barefoot I like to run in my Puma Saloh flats.

I did the most amazing 2hr long run I have ever experienced today! I ran in the Santa Monica mountains starting in old Topanga on the roads and then up the trails. It was like running up a wall for an hour and then flying back down in 30 mins and running around old topanga. I mostly ran in barefeet! I ran with a back pack filled with frozen water bottles and bananas and my puma flats for areas that were too hot or plain old too gnarly for the bare soles. I really bonded with the earth today. Loved it.

ran on the beach yesterday after Surfing which was a hoot...the track for speed workouts the day before and then alot of road running in the days preceding

Happy times..