Sonofabeach

Another long run in the barefeet! This one was tough..it was a mix of surfaces from sand( the toughest) to pavement (easiest), it was hot, I had to run in whatever shade was avail and on the white lines on the roads as it was in the middle of the day in Cali.The paws did just fine!I ran into what turned out to be some kind of mine field of burr/thorns! I fell down to get them off my feet and then they all stuck me in the butt! argh! It was a Good week of running in spite of me aggravating my ole bursitis in ye ole heel. I decided that I needed to start doing heavy squats again on the previous Sunday. This turned out to be a poor idea. I had Retro Calcaneal bursitis about 6 or so months ago that was quite annoying,which I blamed on running but the coincidence is, when I stopped going o the gym it went away, and upon returning to the gym it came back. My Squat form must blow. Anyways, this week my Folks came in to town and met Amy's family so my running schedule was thrown off but it was a nice visit. It looked something like this.

Sunday-Gym
Tues- 60 minutes Easy @Park in Puma Salohs
Weds-60 minutes Easy @Park in Puma Salohs
Thursday- 40 minutes Easy @ Park in Puma Salohs
Friday-125minute Long Run Barefoot on the trails in Griffith Park area
Saturday- 30 minutes Easy Barefoot on streets

more Pics from my 2hr barefoot run in mountains!

Pics from my 2hr barefoot run in mountains!

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..