Running is so much more than just the very best way of helping to stay fit and healthy. For anyone who has run for more than 60 minutes knows, you feel at one with yourself and the world and that is a wonderful feeling. And for some people, such as the marathon monks, running is a spiritual experience. Now we have a book that takes this subject seriously – ‘Running and Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind’, a collection of 19 essays written by philosophers for runners, edited by Mike Austin. The book takes on some of the big questions runners think about in a way that entertains, educates, and inspires.
Monthly Archive for February, 2008
No matter how flexible it is, any training programme will come under pressure from the practicalities of life. Only elite athletes get to eat, sleep and train. So it is highly likely that between now and the marathon in April you will have a weekend away with friends, or a short holiday booked. Taking a short holiday during the programme is no bad thing, but it doesn’t have to mean that you stop running whilst you are way. I was very lucky to spend Christmas and New Year on holiday in South Africa and though running was not in the forefront of my mind I did take my trainers and kit with me. The only rule was that if I did run it had to be off the watch and take no account of pace. As part of the holiday my girlfriend and I stayed at a place called Fraai Uitzitch in the Robertson Wine Valley and very beautiful it was too. One afternoon we thought we would explore the area on foot and set off on a rambling run. We trotted down a gravel track and spotted along the roadside a group of Springbok. Nothing peculiar in that, but then a sprightly youngster broke away and started running alongside us, even doing the ‘pronking’ they are so famous for – when they spring in the air and straighten their legs. The three of us ran together for about 5 minutes and it was a wonderful moment, and certainly beats the experience of running in south London that we do every weekend. We must have run for 10 miles that day, far more than we intended and dinner certainly tasted fantastic when we got back.
That experience really brought home for me one of the main reasons I run; to explore the wide open spaces. The body gets easily bored with running the same old routes, so next time you are planning a weekend away then don’t forget to take you running gear. Even if you go out for just 30 minutes it will be something new and you never know what wild animals you might bump in to!
If you are running a spring marathon the chances are that as your mileage starts to increase over the coming few weeks, you might feel a few more aches, pains and niggles than you have had up to now. This is the body’s way of telling us that the training is working. The extra stress of the longer runs results in more fatigue and is all part of the running experiencem, but with adequate rest and recovery your body comes back stronger. Our wonderful ability to adapt quickly and effectively to our surroundings is the way human beings have become such a successful species.
The longer distances you run the more you learn about how your body works. Knowing more about how your body reacts ensures you understand the difference between an ache, niggle and something that may turn out to be a genuine injury. Obviously it is common sense to try and head off these problems and prevent an ache or pain becoming more serious, so if London or Paris is your target this spring, now is a good time in your preparation to consider:
How is your diet and fluid intake?
Are you getting enough sleep?
Do you need new trainers and maybe some new running gear? Its amazing how nice a new pair of socks can feel!
Maybe its time to book that sports massage you’ve been promising yourself
Taking a day off from your programme and go and see a friend, or take in a film – its very easy to forget you need to maintain a social life
Making the effort to carry out running repairs now will be time well spent and help keep you on track.
Now most of us are very unlikely to challenge the world’s best marathon runners in the next year or two. OK, maybe never. Their running exploits might seem a million miles away from us lesser mortals. They are like us, just flesh and blood, only more finely tuned! And equally, your training regime will never be quite as punishing or demanding as that required to challenge at the very highest level, let alone compete with the best male and female marathon runners in the business. But training a little bit like marathon winners such as Paula Radcliffe, Haile Gabrselassie or Mara Yamauchi may not be as silly as it sounds. What unite these great athletes are their dedication and commitment. They set clear, achievable goals, and use patience, planning, and progression as their guides. We can use these important principles for your own training and reap the rewards on race day
So we might never be elite, but we can have elite style thinking, and that means gaining insights and taking tips from those who are working at the edge of what is possible and working them into our programmes.
Athlete’s websites gives us a peak into their strange and bizarre world of eating, training, sleeping, eating, training – you get the picture. One of the better websites is that of Mara Yamauchi, one of Britain’s best female marathon runners and recent winner in the Osaka marathon.
The spring season of half-marathons is getting under way. Between now and the end of March major half-marathons will be taking place in the UK every weekend, with many on the same day, as runners build up to the big city marathons in April, including London and Paris. Running a half-marathon in your build up has a number of benefits. Not only is it a chance to assess how much progress you have made and if your training is on track to hit your marathon target time, but it also gives you valuable experience in running with a large amount of other runners. Another benefit is the opportunity to try out or develop a pre-race routine, such as how you might deal with toilets (always queue early) and leaving your baggage (don’t leave it to the last minute).
It is best to approach a half-marathon as a race in itself rather than as just another slightly quicker long run as part of your general marathon training programme. That means easing up a few days before the race as a mini taper and maybe an extra day’s rest immediately afterwards.
For those of you that haven’t made plans for a half-marathon find a race here and get signed up.
Depending on your running style and the exact type of shoe you use your running shoes should last you between 350-500 miles or 12 months. But before you decide to either throw them in the bin, or take a trip to a shoe recycling centre, it might be worth considering if other runners could get some extra mileage from them. The Shoe4Africa scheme was started back in 1995 and has been very successful in helping budding young African athletes with footwear and equipment. It now supports training camps and scholarships, while continuing its core programme of collecting and distributing donated shoes. It has also produced some fantastic success stories, such as Francis Robert Naali who received donated shoes as a youngster and went on to become World Half-Marathon champion in 2005.
A very well organised race (apart from a slightly chaotic start) and a pretty flat course means there is definite PB potential in this half-marathon. The route is closed to traffic and uses country lanes and footpaths – all on tarmac – which means plenty of room and hassle-free racing, helped by the fact that there were only 2000 runners.
This year’s race was run in absolutely beautiful conditions: clear blue skies and spring-like temperatures. The race is in its 24 year and on this year’s evidence you can see why it continues to be successful, and a good choice for those training for the London Marathon in April.
That’s my view, but see what other runners think.
I have written before about how your imagination is a powerful ally for your running, about how positive thoughts can help you when the going gets a bit tough in training or in races. Well I recently came across this quote from Lorraine Moller – a former Olympian and marathon winner – which reminds me of how we can use our imagination in other ways, it allows your mind to run away with itself:
“Throw away your ten-function chronometer, heart-rate monitor with the computer printout, training log, orthotics, high-tech underwear, pace charts and laboratory rat-tested, air-injected, gel-lined, motion-controlled, top-of-the-line, fashion footwear. Run with only your imagination. It is your rich companion guiding you into realms further and faster and more daring than you ever dreamed. Follow it through exotic lands in far-off galaxies in times past and future. Run with the lithe strides of a Kalahari Bushmen in the hunt for dinner, or in the thundering midst of a stampede of elephants. When thirsty run towards the oasis in Death Valley at midday. Sometimes giant strides with giant feet that cover whole countries can be very economical. And when the ground is boggy, launch off each foot to pluck a star from the heavens and carry the lightness of them in your pockets. Uphill, attach a few helium balloons to your vest so that your feet skim the ground, leaving no footprints. Downhills are free energy, so take off the brakes and spread your wings for take-off. In stiff competition cast a line to the person in front and gently reel yourself in so that they never notice. Then, as you slip past, become as invisible as a colourless rainbow and as silent as lightening that outran its thunder. And when you cross the finish line, always throw your arms in the air in total ecstasy. After all, this is your running and your life. Come on, your have to admit that there is nothing like that feeling, knowing you are the master of your running destiny. No limits, just you and as far as your mind can stretch.”
Compared to other sports, running is not necessarily best served in the arts. You have the occasional books, and the odd film, but they are rare. Even rarer is to hear good representation of running on the radio. So when an excellent play based on running comes along it is a good idea to tell as many people as possible.
Sophie Woolley’s hugely successful one woman show called ‘When to Run’ is being broadcast on Radio 4 in the afternoon play slot on Thursday 21 February at 2.15pm. Unlike the stage show, she plays just one of the characters in the radio play, with three actresses in the other roles. You can find out more about When to Run at .
I saw the stage show last year at the Royal Festival Hall and it was excellent.
Recommended.
The cumulative effect of a structured training programme has the habit of creeping up on you. One day you might feel like a world beater, the next you are struggling for motivation and finding it difficult to complete sessions as well as you had been. The tendency to over train is a very real one for most runners and is understandably something to avoid. Programmes should be guides to your running and should not be followed slavishly. If you need an extra rest day take one. If you feel like running off the watch and ignoring pace then do so. Another way of helping to avoid the tendency to over train is to keep a little bit in the tank at the end of each session. It is said to be one of the key training principles of Kenyan runners; to not be exhausted at the end of a session, but to save something for the next day. That way you finish strongly and confidently. So if at the end of a speedwork session on the track or running hills you feel that you could manage one more repetition, then that is your signal to stop.
In the long run, 5% too little is far better than 5% too much.