Barefoot through the goose c**p

No, it's not Spring or anything, but I did manage to do my 3x12-minutes pace workout barefoot round the perimeter of the soccer fields.

There was bright sunshine and the pitches had drained well, so the only hazard were thousands of nearly-frozen goose droppings. (There is a 300-hundred strong flock that roosts there like disgruntled spectators who have invaded the pitch and refuse to leave. Come to think of it, they make the same amount of noise and mess.)

Running barefoot always perks me up. I know all the good intellectual reasons for doing it, like improving running economy, strengthening feet and ankles and so on, but really it just FEELS great. And it always gives me an emotional boost as I feel connected with a long tradition of distance runners, from Percy's boys on, who also ran barefoot as often as possible.

In the middle of my cool-down the temperature plummeted and I started shivering with cold. Apparently, the fresh snow-chaos that hit the surrounding area somehow avoided the Boulder-Denver "corridor", but we got frozen instead. I didn't warm up until halfway through my evening meal. In fact I was so cold and glucose-deprived my wife and the server had to talk to me like I was a four-year-old before I could wrap my brain round ordering.

I am SO glad I am not going to the Pole.

PS: I am still not running as fast as I think I 'should' be: see sub-5 minute mile progress reports here: http://www.yourrunning.com/forum-progress_reports