Month: May 2026

Categories
Random Thoughts videos

Barefoot Grass Ramble – Snell v Walker

A barefoot ramble through a grassy park, and my thoughts on grass as a running surface.

Sure, ‘touch grass’, but best not to race or train on, especially barefoot.

Hard uniform surfaces like concrete, smooth asphalt, or tracks work better cos they offer something to bounce off.

And they can’t hide barefoot enemies like broken glass, sharp sticks, thorns etc.

I also compare Peter Snell’s running records to John Walker’s.

In 1962, Snell ran an 800m world record of 1m44.3s on Grass. A few days earlier he ran a world record 3m54.4s mile, also on Grass. Snell’s 800m New Zealand record stood for 62 years.

In 1975, Walker ran 3m49.4s over a mile, on a synthetic ‘high performance’ all-weather track.

Is Walker’s mile mark superior to Snell’s? Let me know in the comments.

https://urbanlegend.co.nz/projects

Categories
Random Thoughts

Barefoot & Foraging Free

I rescued a stray orange & transported some Macadamia nuts in this morning’s barefoot exercise.

This year hasn’t been a great season for nuts, but they can still be found. If you know where to look.

Weather-wise, Whangarei is back to its usual form – either it HAS rained, or it’s gonna rain shortly.

I get a bit of a soaking today – all part of the fun… for now.

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Random Thoughts videos

Barefoot Bursts Among Autumn Leaves

Barefoot bursts spread out over a morning walk is my default ‘training’ these days.

A cool autumn morning, hence the red toes, but I put in 8 short bursts ( sub 6m00s / km pace ) of about 30 strides a time.

Of those 8, only two breached my MAF* ceiling heartrate of ~ 124 bpm.

Best two were top paces of 5:19/km & 5:16/km at peak HR of 107 both times.

*MAF = Maximum Aerobic Function.

See my health / fitness dashboard demo linked at https://urbanlegend.co.nz/projects/

Categories
Parkrun videos

Parkrun Barefoot – Socks Ditched on Grass

This new Whangarei Parkrun starts on grass, so I warmed up in socks, and ran barefoot.

A bit nasty on the short grass stretch in the cold, but the rest of the 5km course is on concrete, so no problemo barefoot.

I started super conservative, nose-breathing through to 1.5 km, but managed to get in around 29m15s.

Warmup was cut a little short by general confusion, so a slow start’s best for injury prevention.

Overall, a really nice course along the stream, and without the challenging rough cobblestones of the other Whangarei Parkrun.

Categories
Random Thoughts videos

Wet Track = No Socks

It’s cold enough, but wet footpaths and socks don’t play well together.

So barefoot and purple toes it is through this morning’s exercise walk.

Views from Old Onerahi looking over town to the Western Hills.