Name; John Trelfa

Y.O.B; 1962

Number of marathons completed; 6

first ever marathon time; 3 hours 7 minutes 59 seconds

Best ever marathon time; 2 hours 40 minutes 24 seconds

John Trelfa is a member of Scarborough Athletic Club. He has kindly offered to give a diary of his training which will include types of training and mileage involved, his motivation, highs and lows, diet etc

Contents

Introduction Part 1

Part 2 week ending 28/02/10

Part 3 week ending 07/03/10

Part 4 week ending 14/03/10

Part 5 week ending 21/03/10

Part 6 The East Hull 20

Part 7 week ending 4/4/10

Part 8 tapering

Part 9 London marathon part 1

Part 10 London Marathon

Part 11 Post Marathon Blues

Part 12 Track and field Whitley Bay

Part 13 the Beverly 10K

Part 14 Zen Running

Part 15 Black toe nail

Part 16 Edinburgh Marathon

Part 17 Back to Full Training

Part 9 the Marathon pt 1(the last week to the start line)

Monday Out with the club great fun but wanted
to rip and couldn’t. Can feel the taper tension humming away in the background,
but no sign of the Grinch yet

Tuesday Took the day off work to break the
week up a bit. 6 mile recovery run with a few 100 meter strides outside deans
garden centre (just to remind myself what a bit of speed feels like) if you see
strange yellow markings on the cycle track here it’s my doing .

Wednesday Morning session in gym warm up then
2 miles at marathon pace then warm down (a sort of dress rehearsal for Sunday) Evening
circuit/core training

Thursday Club run. This week if I pick the
pace up a little I worry the I am going to tire myself out and if I go slow I
feel like I haven’t done enough, also I can hear if someone coughs half a mile
away! followed by the traditional Pasta evening at Florios a great social event,
good wishes all round for the marathon and those doing the 3 peaks race the day
before (I don’t think anyone is doing both)

Friday At
last I am stood on Seamer station, the adventure begins! Forgive me if the next
few posting are a little self indulgent but I want to capture as much of the
experience as I can. My training schedule since November has involved 1735.28
miles, an average of 72 miles a week. If this effort doesn’t translate into a
good time at the Marathon then there is always
plan B, which is to enjoy the event as much as possible. 
I really enjoyed the train journey; all the cares and
worries of the last few weeks are gone now, I can read, write, think or just
chill. Once in London there was the small matter of getting across town to the
Expo to pick up my number, timing chip etc but it also gave me a chance to do
some retail therapy and buy some shoes. I am the Imelda Marcos of the running
world. Thanks to Shaun T for getting me back and to across the city

Saturday spent most of the day chilling out. Had a
shopping trip to oxford Street, more retail therapy. Later a light and short
jog round Regents park, oh you lucky
Londoners having such beautiful places to run (mind you we don’t do bad up
here)

Race Day packed like sardines on the tube to Blackheath
but once that chore was over everything was cool, no nerves now, got a job to
do. Hobnobbing in the elite enclosure was ace, no waiting for the toilets though
I still keep my empty bottle with me right up till the start for that last call
of nature. So there I am a dream come true stood right at the front talking to
Darren Bilton (top brit Vet) feet away from me are the best marathon runners in
the world, this is of course as close as I would get they took off like bullets.
An account of the race to follow in next post

PT 10 The London Marathon 

I really tried hard not to go off too fast and still my first mile was 5:56 ( I was aiming for 6:10) one day I hope to manage the negative split i.e. running the second half of the race faster than the first, or even a constant pace throughout. I backed off but was still pulling 6:00 to 6:05 for the first few miles despite having some fun with the crowd, giving the kids high 5’s and blowing kisses to the girls. The first 7 miles don’t have many land marks and could be any suburban area, I spent this time trying to settle and relax and also dodge the puddles, it had been raining and stopped but I didn’t want wet feet. Warm temp and wet feet mean blisters. They say that you know your in trouble when the first runner in costume passes you, at 7 miles Batman came passed and started pulling away but my pace was ok and I wasn’t dropping back, 2 miles later he blew up and dropped, I don’t delight in seeing other runners suffer but I was glad to see him go. The Cutty Sark came and went or rather the boards surrounding it did, a mate of mine was watching from here but his abuse wasn’t obvious enough so I didn’t spot him. The next recognisable feature was the bridge over the river I got a huge boost of the crowd here, they were getting greater in number, noise and enthusiasm and I was feeding off the atmosphere as much as possible. There are loads of bands of all descriptions round the course and piped music as well, when I heard “Don’t stop believing” I almost cried with happiness remembering all the snow and the hours spent in the gym (I also love GLEE, another guilty pleasure confessed). On the isle of dogs I started getting doubts like “I can’t keep this up” but I just let them pass. The air is usually dead and humid in amongst the mini sky scrapers of Canary Warf but it was pleasantly cool this time, there was plenty of water to be had and the field had strung out a bit so I was getting individual attention from the spectators, if you have anything written on your shirt they will shout for you, so I was getting loads of “come on Scarborough” it took me a while to realise that these people Weren’t from our fair town and also that they were enjoying the occasion as much as me (we just have different views on what constitutes enjoyment) I also got “run Pirate run” and “run little legs” which tickled me. When you get back off the Isle there is a section where you pass alongside the runners 7 miles or so behind you they are on mile 13 and I was on mile 20 and very relieved to be where I was and not on the other side. They say that 20miles is the true half way point of a marathon but although the pain (or discomfort)depending on your point of view increases at this stage it dose so in direct proportion to the relief of clicking off the miles. I started thinking of having a push and trying to increase the pace a bit, but my body soon let me know that this wasn’t an option. With 3 miles to go I tried again but had to settle for the pace I was at. I was beginning to slog a bit now but the closer I got to the finish the more I was able to put up with. On Birdcage walk (about a mile to go) I tried to reel in a group of 4 runners in front of me, I closed the distance but it hurt too much so I let them go, the last thing I wanted to do was breakdown so close to the end, I turned at Buck house then remembered there was a bit more to go before I could see the finish line. With the clock in sight I summoned up a sprint and the crowd went berserk because I was closing someone down I didn’t get him but it really didn’t matter I was home. Its funny how I turn from speeding bullet (in my head) to drunk and wobbly the instant I cross the line, it took a few moment to compose myself then came the tidal wave of joy, 24 weeks, 1700 miles, blood, sweat, tears, blisters the price I’d had to pay for this moment, was it worth it? Dam right it was. My time was 2:44:18 not a PB but I don’t care, it’s a good solid start to build on and I always seem to go better in the autumn. I was 288th overall and 21st in class, out of 36,549 finishers. As me and my buddies were walking to the tube with 6 hours on the clock runners were still coming down the Embankment with another mile to go, we had all achieved something special, maybe more so for them, for they had to endure the forces the would try to make them stop for far longer than me. What a fantastic race and weekend. Some anticlimax followed a few hours later and the next day but in 4 weeks time I do the Edinburgh Marathon, far from being sick of running Roll on, roll on, I can’t wait .

PT 11 Post Marathon blues

By the Thursday after London the buzz had all but worn off and the anticlimax had taken over, the post marathon blues! coupled with a distinct lack of running endorphins. Fortunately ive been around long enough to realise that these conditions are only temporary and while mildly unpleasant they will pass. As I have written earlier Running can be a hard life but it’s a good life, contrast between good and bad, hard and easy, effort and reward are not only inevitable but necessary, imagine the situation if it was warm, sunny and light all year round we would love it at first but how long before we longed for some thing else, I can only appreciate the warmth after I have come in from the cold, “pleasure without work is a hollow experience” as someone once said. Running success is all the sweeter if preceded by hardship or disappointment. They say that you should have another goal set for after the marathon, something else to aim for, luckily I have several one as already mentioned, is the Edinburgh Marathon, I dropped out exhausted at 10 miles last year so I have unfinished business up North (another monkey to get off my back) also there is a possibility that the effort of the London marathon will contribute to a good time in Edinburgh but I wont be upset if it doesn’t I still have two more marathons to go at in the autumn and for some reason I always seem to go better at this time of year. The one outstanding problem I am facing at the moment is a niggling doubt that something outside of my control will prevent me from reaching my lifetimes best marathon time (I may have already reached it) but something tells me there may be a little more to come I don’t care what the eventual time is as long as I can say I couldn’t have tried harder. So what have I done since Sunday? 
 
Monday Out with the club, a country run up around Reasty Bank, beautiful up there, and I though Londoners were lucky to have regents park to run in, we have so much more, whether it be the sea front, the rail track or out on the trails. Really enjoyed run, got into a few mini sprints with people just for the sheer joy of it.
 
Tuesday A careful recovery runs in the gym. Music getting better a loads of 80’s stuff Footloose and Flash dance (oh my go what’s happening to me I am a rock and Metal fan for gods sake) also “I believe in a thing called Love” by the darkness which I used to think was I joke but I was ‘Air Guitar-ing like a good un’ no strange looks from the weight lifters they have got used to me now.
 
Wednesday   No running,
Core/circuit at Pindar instead enjoyed as always 
 
Thursday Club run again only light and short (a little like me) trying to save a bit for track and field on Saturday So plenty to go at, Beverley 10k in a weeks time and a busy summer with one thing or another, the blues will pass and I will get back to doing what I love the most, running and lots of it, like a kid in the playground. I read a fantastic quote From the Book “Playing Hard Ball” by E.T. Smith “sport is the toy shop of the adult world”, I couldn’t agree more.

Pt 12 Track and Field Whitley Bay
 
It’s always a privilege and an honour to run for Scarborough Athletic Club, more so as part of a team, rather than just in club colours doing my own thing.  Its great fun, I love being part of something and cheering on my team mates, I am sure it also makes me run that bit faster (not wanting to let the side down) So anyway there I am standing on the long jump runway or run up or whatever its called, wondering whether or not I will actually make it into the sand (you cant tell from the photo but I am only 5”2’ weigh little over 8st and as a spectator at London kindly pointed out, have little legs!) I looked at my watch 1.00 pm, this time a week ago I was chilling out on Horse Guards Parade, bathing in the afterglow of completing the Marathon, what a difference. There are lots of things I wasn’t going to be doing at 47 and long Jump was fairly high up the list. I thought “what the hell am I doing here”? Well I was trying to score a point for the team, I played it safe and jumped well before the board thingy and yes I made it into the pit, just! Toddlers playing in the sand would be perfectly safe. I made a clean jump and retired, under no illusions about doing a “Bob Beaman”. Later on I did 800m, 1500m and 5000m, in the first two I got hammered (this time failing to emulate Seb Coe). These days if I enjoy doing something then my proficiency is irrelevant. Track and Field is a great day out, that’s all that really matters. I did get some redress later on in the 5000m, finishing 2nd about half a lap down on the winner and gained some kudos when word spread that 6 days earlier I had run a Marathon. From the
gun everyone cleared off and I though “oh well I must still be tired”, but one by one I picked off the runners in front, even people from opposing team were shouting encouragement (it’s the camaraderie between athletes again) thanks guys. At the end of the day I just love competing, and time and position don’t matter that much, I had a go and it was fun. How did I get to be so lucky?
Where I expected middle aged domesticity I have found myself on a running track, somebody pinch me! As a team we finished 3rd out of 7 teams with some fantastic individual performances. It took us a couple of hours to drive each way, so the day started at 9.00 and finished at gone 7.00 but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Thanks to all for making the day.

Pt 13 the Beverley 10k
 
                It didn’t take me long to realise that it doesn’t matter where you finish in a race, finishing at the back still gets cheered and fellow runners are sincere when they shake your
hand and say “well done”. If time and position were the only thing worth racing for then only two or three runners would bother to turn up (in the case of one of my heroes, Ed Moses, only he would bother) The winners up at the sharp end might not realise it but full fields of mid and back packers make races. Imagine London or The Great North Run without the crowds of runners, obscurity would beckon. If I was to recommend a first race to anyone it would be “The Beverley 10K”, its not too long the weather is usually good, the course pleasant especially the golf course bit and running through the town its self (always brings the extrovert out in me) and is not too demanding, oh and you get a half decent T shirt at the finish.                Due to the closeness of my next marathon I decided not to run this race too hard, just to enjoy it, to practice what I preach, oh and to do some messing about on route, besides I’ve got loads of 10 K’s to go at and usually save my PB attempt till The Leeds Abby Dash in November’. Loads of club members do this race so there are always plenty of stories to be had, PB’ be congratulated and the like and you often see club mates during the run so there is the opportunity to give encouragement or abuse depending on the recipient. I usually worm my way onto the front of the start of most races even though I sometimes don’t belong there, so it was a bit strange starting in the middle of the field with my mate Ian, the first mile was a bit crowded it felt like we were jogging at times (god forbid) at mile one the road starts to rise more of a drag than a hill but its always a relief to get to the high point it also has the effect of stringing the pack out a little. At about half way I stopped off for a call of nature witch gave me the chance to stretch out a bit catching back up to my buddy. At 7k we were heading back towards the town seeing the Minster up ahead probably providing a relief to some of the more tired among us, as we got back onto the golf course I spotted my fan club, a woman old enough to know better and her husband who seem to be at most of the races I do including Edinburgh its nice to be cheered on and I am grateful but it’s a bit embarrassing I know what Tim Henman must have felt like with an army of frumpy middle aged women covered head to foot in Union Jacks stalking him, seriously though thank you madam it is appreciated. With 1k to go there was a definite change in the wind Ian spotted the chance of a sub 50 min run and the pace picked up noticeably. When we got into town I let rip, we have an understanding when I pace Ian, the last 800 m is mine. No offence to any running around the 50 min mark but the difference in speed between them and me was huge I must have passed 30 people on the way to the line and could here people in the crowd commenting like “who the hell is this” what a hoot! The bloke at the finish funnel looked surprised to see someone sprinting at him. Despite this last bit of a kick I still felt a bit unfulfilled , running below my potential is not easy, overall though I enjoyed the day and as always the company of other runners. Post race and everybody is buzzing it’s a great place to be                        One of the great things about Athletics is that it’s all inclusive and a shared experience and for me sharing the road with the like minded is living life to the full. If I could paraphrase Steve McQueen “running is living, everything else is waiting”.

Pt 14 Zen Running
 
              Literally translated Zen means Meditation. Meditation primarily helps you to ‘see’ better, when you start to see better you begin to understand why you need to see better, it dose have other effects and benefits but this is the main one.             First let me point out that despite appearances I am not a Buddhist monk nor am I qualified to teach meditation, all I can do is pass on my experiences and refer to books and other sources of information relating to this subject, all that I know and practice was gained this way.              Meditation is simple to understand and simple to do, the difficulty lies in keeping it up and making it a regular part of life, it requires patience and persistence qualities I lack unless strongly motivated. Meditation’s shades and features are sometimes quite subtle which puts a further strain on my limited writing ability, like running itself, experiencing it directly is best. As I explained earlier I took up running because of mental difficulties (depression, addiction) and health reasons (high blood pressure) I started meditating a few years before I started running and for much the same reasons, I was delighted to discover the not only are they compatible but also beneficial to each other. From getting me out of the door on a cold, wet morning to coping with the stress of speed and distance meditation is very useful.             There are many different kinds of meditation but their purpose is pretty much the same, to narrow the focus of the mind and quite that chattering monkey that accounts for at least 99% of what passes through my head, direct experience is far superior to thinking about it. Mindfulness meditation, also called Insight Meditation or Vipasana is the type that I practice most often. Mindfulness is all to do with being aware of your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and external stimuli in a detached way. The key to mindfulness is not to try and change anything whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, not to distract yourself away from what you are “watching” or experiencing and not to get involved in the story being played out in the mind, detached observing of what ever is present in any given moment is the idea, this means that it can be done anywhere at any time you don’t have to be “on the cushion”  It’s a bit like watching a film in a none involved none judgemental way, rather than leaving your seat and stepping into the film. Letting the images both mental and visual pass by leaving no mark behind and taking no part of you of with them. Most of the time we cannot see our thoughts because we are part of them, immersed within them. It takes practice but the idea is to watch our thoughts, feelings etc pass by like clouds across the sky. If a thought or feeling is distressing we don’t try to mentally fix it or work it out, that may work temporarily but it will be back. If we feel something pleasant again we are just aware of it.                         So how dose all this apply to running and racing well if you have begun to see the idea it actually
applies to every part of our lives. But here are a couple of examples that apply directly to running. Its 7.00am on a January Sunday morning and I have a 20 mile training run to do, I don’t feel like it, this is the minds way of protecting the body from exertion, but if I don’t do it I will regret it and feel bad, I can start a dialogue off trying to mentally persuade myself to go
out, I can grit my teeth and force myself out hoping that I will feel better a few miles down the road or I can apply Mindfulness I can stop thinking and just become aware of what I am feeling, cold can be just cold and nothing more! When I add my thoughts and objections it becomes much worse, labelling things helps to detach from them. Buddhists have a saying (well loads actually) but this one goes “chop wood, fetch water” just do that and nothing more. So cold is ‘just’ cold and nothing more, the moment I add thought to it I might as well subtract 10 degrees and make it colder. Another example, mile 23 of a marathon and everything hurts even those plastic sleeves at the ends of my laces are throbbing, the sensible thing to do would be slow down and lessen the pain but we are runners sense and running are mutually exclusive, every runner I know is crazy its only a matter of degree, by focussing on the pain I can see it for what it really is just pain ( a good part of our lives is spent avoiding pain but paradoxically embracing it lessens it, with practice the threshold goes up and I actually go looking for it, in none Buddhist  language its called aversion therapy, avoiding things makes then worse, immersing yourself in them makes them easier to bare) pain is only temporary and it won’t kill me, well if it dose I wont know anything about it! (I don’t want anyone getting the impression that I am some sort of pain junky far from
it I am the biggest coward going)  so I experience the pain, get to know it, try to see what’s behind it, but above all keep my interfering mind out of it. A joke. Question what time does
the display on a Zen runners watch read after any length of run?
             Answer “Now” 
 
There are Hundreds of books
about meditation and related subjects so here is just a few that I could recommend
 
Meditation for Beginners by
Jack Kornfield
 
The Art of Meditation by Richard
Mattieu
 
The Miracle of Mindfulness by
Thick Nhat Hanh
 
Wherever You Go There You Are
by Jon Kabat Zin
 
The Tibetan Book of Living
and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche for a fuller understanding of Buddhism
 
Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugene
Herrigel Possibly the best book ever written on sports psychology

Part 15 Brian the Toenail
                 No matter what shoes I wear I always get black toe nails, must of the time this isn’t a problem and I consider them a badge of honour but when it’s the big ones it can hurt a bit
and upset my running form. During heavy training last year I got a doozy on my right foot, there was only one thing to do, it had to come off. I have tried to cover as much of my experiences as a marathon runner as possible so here is how I deal with black toenails. Basically what you have is a blood blister under the nail so the first job is to relieve the pressure. The bath is the best
place I have found to carry out this “operation” you need a sharpish instrument to make a hole or two in the nail. The running mags recommend a paperclip but I find it to blunt and a sewing needle too sharp this can spike into the flesh and cause even more pain (there is a limit you know) no the best of both worlds is a darning needle, using a kitchen blow torch (a fag lighter takes too long) heat the needle to red hot and pierce the toe nail in a couple of places till the blood flows out, if you are really lucky you get a gusher like the Russian Roulette scene from the “Deer Hunter” and a little fountain of blood spurts up, now you can work the nail letting the cavity behind it fill with bath water and spurting it out of the newly formed holes (who needs children’s squrty toys) .If you are lucky the nail will drop off  by its self over the next few days. I had a long run coming up and badly needed Brian (as I had taken to calling the stubborn little rascal) off so I couldn’t afford to wait. So there I was in the toilet at work armed with reading glasses, a can of freeze spray and a scalpel. I flicked one side of Brian clear of my toe easy this I thought (little did I know) I carefully began to cut away the skin holding the nail in place just like they do on Casualty it never occurred to me that they were actors not real surgeons, anyway the contents of my freeze spray was going down in direct proportion to the pain going up eventually the nail was free on two sides but try as I might the last side clung on more cutting and more blood but to no avail by now the sweat was poring off me I pushed the nail over as far as my pain threshold would allow the held it against the pain waiting for the endorphins to kick in when they did I pushed a little further till I could just bare the pain and waited again the last bit of meat clinging tenaciously to the nail more cutting and freezing I had lost so much salt sweating that I must have resembled a Pringle I shut my watering eyes and pulled, at last the little so and so came off I wrapped everything up and went hobbling back to work it didn’t take long for the blood to seep through my shoe not that I needed reminding about what had occurred and
it was a little tender for a few days but I could run on it without favouring that side. I want my headstone to read “never let it be said he didn’t suffer for his art” he he. Seriously I don’t wish to put anyone off the joy that is running not everyone gets black toenails, and I will keep looking for a way of preventing them in the first place.

Pt 16 the Edinburgh Marathon

                Last year I dropped out of the Edinburgh Marathon, I am still not sure exactly what went wrong I just seemed to have lost my endurance, right from the start every mile was 10 seconds slower than the one before, by 10 miles I’d had enough, the same thing happened at London 5 weeks earlier and I just couldn’t face another pain fest, that time I kept going but this time I didn’t see the point, there wasn’t any training value to be had from battling on. I was heartbroken as I sat at the finish watching everyone come in.

               The weeks that followed were pretty miserable I thought that I had lost this thing that I loved so much. As it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened to me, I changed a lot of my methods, shed two stone (I ended up so thin that someone compared me to a severed head on a pike staff!) and went on to better things later in the year. Every cloud dose has a silver lining. I don’t like pain and disappointment but they are easily life’s best teachers.

              I still needed to go back again this year and bury the ghost, I was hoping to cash in on already having London in my legs but as it turned out the weather put paid to any chance of a good time, however I did have a good time! and settled the score. Passing the 10 mile mark was particularly satisfying. Edinburgh is a great course for the first timer or if you are looking for a PB, you drop 200ft over the first 5 miles then it’s virtually flat all the way. There is a grandstand finish and very enthusiastic crowd at Mussel borough Racecourse and of course it’s easier to get in to than London. Some of the course is very picturesque and some not so (Cockenzie PowerStation), I will go again next year but with a few visits to the sauna in preparation.

              At the start line we were all smiles because it was cool and damp, hands were rubbed together in glee and pace bands were replaced with faster ones. I don’t get anything like as nervous just before a race as I used to but still find many visits to the loo a necessity.  At mile one the clouds parted like something Biblical and the sun beat down, I was half expecting to see Peter O’tool come clopping over the horizon.  So with a scorcher immanent it was over to plan B, stay alive, keep cool, and get round. I took water as often as possible and this is where the bandana comes into its own. Pour water over it and it stays wet for a good length of time. I was determined not to go off too fast and hoping to average 6:10 for the whole race, the first mile one took me a little over 7 mins I wasn’t concerned but mile two was 5:30 and both felt exactly the same! One day I will get this pace business right. I kept missing mile markers which really bothers me, but my trusty Garmin told me what was going on. And it soon became apparent that it was too hot to hold 6:10. At mile 9 sure enough my fan club were waiting (see pt Beverley 10k) but their encouragement gave me a lift so thanks folks (they were there again at 22 when I really needed them). I was really relieved to pass mile 10 I knew from then I would make it home. From this point to mile 15 the course is a bit straight and boring and you have to pass (and later re-pass the PowerStation) which incidentally you can see from the city and from there it looks a long way away! I try not to look. The road starts to twist a bit and undulate which is a relief if the muscles are starting to ache a bit. This is a really nice part of the course, the Forth of Firth looks beautiful. At mile 19 you pass through the grounds of a stately home and turn back on yourself always a psychological boost knowing you are heading for home, my buddy Ian and me passed each other on opposite sides of the road and managed a high 5 without colliding or getting in anyone’s way.  I tried to push the speed up a little but something pushed back so I stuck to my pace concentrating on form and rhythm, I had stopped playing to the crowd now too tired too blow kisses and wave etc. The last few miles started to bite as they always do, but I am sufficiently battle hardened to put up with it, in some ways this is the best bit, the part I most wish to master, the part in which I feel most alive and dead at the same time (the paradox of running) and the part which yields the most training value.  In the end I was 26^th overall I couldn’t believe it 26^th. Dropped out last year 26^th this year, job done! I picked up the goody bag and finishers medal (heavy enough to bring down a hoody!) I found the shade of a tree and let the post race euphoria wash over me. For me the only thing better than the afterglow is the running itself. The only downer was the mile and a half walk to get a bus back to the city I got a bit short tempered at a lady runner who insisted that I have my heavy kit bag on my knee for the 30min ride, she had only run a short leg of the 4 stage relay (6 miles to my 26) and I let her know it. I must confess to my shame that we full marathoners get a bit snobby about anyone who hasn’t done the full run, it contradicts stuff I have said previously and I know it’s the wrong attitude on my part and not the behaviour of a Zen runner. I doubt very much that the lady in question will read this but “madam I am sorry”

PT 17 Back to Full Training

              Its 12 weeks till my next marathon (Wolverhampton) so after the inevitable dip in activity following Edinburgh I have started to pick my training up again. This is when I am at my happiest, putting the miles in, out on the road just me my legs, lungs and freedom! I like running and I like running a lot of miles. In past recessions I had long periods out of work with nothing to do and it was very frustrating, if I was made redundant now I would be in my element! I’d make forest Gump look like a lightweight. I had high hopes for this economic down turn but my company steadfastly refuses to go under in fact we are doing ok, anyway I digress.

              I find the lull after a Marathon harder to deal with than the taper that has to come before it. When I first started to run it was always my intention to build up to a large dose of weekly mileage, I suspected that I had more endurance than speed and that this was the way to go, it seems to have had the effect of making me more resilient and injury proof (touch wood). Most of the running magazines/books caution against too high a weekly mileage concluding that once you go over 45-50 miles your chances of injury greatly increase, this may well be true across a wide range of study subjects but I have found that training is a matter of finding what works for the individual and less mileage but more speed or so called ‘quality training’ can be just as dangerous injury wise, especially without first having an endurance base to build on, it’s a matter of  finding the right balance and for me the search continues, its an experiment, I am my own guinea pig. With higher mileage the aches, pains, niggles and twinges come on more slowly and at least give some warning of potential injury it’s at this point that action is required, ice massage etc. With too much speed work trouble can arrive very quickly. This is not to say that I don’t do fast training sessions, I do, but for me the best situation seems to be weighted towards putting the time in, paying the price or doing the hard yards. That great Athletics coach of the Twentieth century; Joseph Stalin once said “quantity has a quality all of its own”.

               Most training is based on the first principle of ‘progressive overload’ i.e. you stress the body (and mind) then give them both time to recover and adapt to what you have just done to them, after a while you can run the same speed/distance with less effort or as is usually the case greater speed/distance for the same or more effort and so it goes on. The best analogy I can think of is if you break a bone when it heals the area around the break is stronger than the original and if you were unfortunate enough to break it again the fracture would occur either side of the healed area the same thing happens in training we ‘break’ the body and it heals stronger.

              I still go to the gym and find the treadmill a good place to meditate as well as do some of my speed work but with the sun putting in an appearance now and then I am spending much more time outdoors, even running off road now and then, its good to use different muscles and trails, apart from being more picturesque help to keep my pace down when doing recovery runs. I have even started to enjoy running in mud and puddles, the running vista broadens you might say. Given how happy I am whilst on the move I can only conclude that Man (and woman of course) was meant to run .The more I read about running and evolution the more I am convinced that its one of our natural states and an important part of our development. Human beings can easily tell the difference between unnatural activities and natural ones, when we are in the flow of our inheritance we don’t even have to think about it (Zen again). It’s as corny as hell, I know (especially as I am I big Springsteen fan) but I was Born to Run!