I've been thinking about warm ups, and what the optimum is.

It's clear that the first 500m is actually quite hard work!  At the moment, I'm very stiff, particularly in the calves and ankles (especially if I haven't rolled my feet on the spikey ball for a couple of days).

After 1km things have loosened up considerably.  At this point, I usually pause the run and do some dynamic stretching, particularly leg swings across the body.  There is a marked improvement in flexibility, and how comfortable the run is, after this.

But still at 2km, and even 2.5km, there's yet further loosening, and much more of a feeling of "floating" across the ground.  It feels like most of this is down to the calves being fully warmed up.

I think I've said in this blog before, but it's easy to see why the Kenyans take time to warm up, then pick up the pace after a few km.

Also

I've now got some Vivobarefoot Stealth shoes, which make the New Balance Minimus look and feel like padded monstrosities!!  I ran with the Vivo's in the woods tonight, and despite the near-slick soles, with a vertical foot landing beneath the body, there was very little slipping going on, even in the stick mud sections.

This weekend it really dawned on me that I will never be wearing the Asics Kayanos ever again.  All three pairs are up at the 700km mark, so near end of life anyway, but still...