Barefoot Summertime!

Greetings Barefooters,

Nice pink and orange sunrises lately!

I hope you are enjoying the summertime as much as I am.  I love the warmer temps and being able to go for long runs with the only thing holding you back is how the body feels and how much time you can afford to spend.  Most (all) of my runs are done pre-dawn with the headlamp, even on the weekends, in order to get the coolest time of the day.  The days are some of the longest of the year right now and I'm usually turning off the headlamp around 6am and doing the second half of my run in the early daylight.  I have a newly created 10.3 mile loop down Hinkle road south across Hwy 38 and into the new subdivisions.  This 10 miler is the staple of my pre-dawn runs and has allowed me to rack up some big miles as of late.  That being said, I am still way down on my running totals from the previous few years...but I still have half a year to catch up!

I got to run in two new locations this month.  Linda and I went to "Dome School" in North Branch MN to learn some techniques for working on our geodesic dome house.  This was very eye opening and we learned a lot.  It also allowed for some early morning runs in and around North Branch which is a very nice quiet little community just north of Minneapolis. 

Additionally, the following week, on my way back from a MI business trip I stayed in Marshall MI and got in a 10-miler that morning as well.  As soon as I got back to the hotel it started to pour so I was glad to be carrying my Iphone, both for the MapMyRun output as well as the Accuweather Radar!!

While I am ramping up the miles for the summer, I'm also learning to "listen to the body" and only do what feels right.  Some days it feels like I could go forever and other days I don't feel like getting out of the driveway!  I've found that big miles Mon, Tues, and Wed.  lead to a "backing off" on Thurs which is what I did this week only running a 4 miler yesterday and then 1 mile this morning after 3 ten milers back-to-back-to-back earlier in the week.  The short 1 miler this morning was due more to rain than how I felt but I let the weather kind of dictate my runs as well.  With respect to both the body and the weather -- I just take what the Good LORD will give me each and every day, without forcing it, and that works out pretty well. 


No real marathon goals until later in the year so it's a good time to just take it easy and enjoy the barefoot summertime!  Happy 4th of July all!


God Bless,


Barefoot Dan
June Mileage = 206 miles