Getting back into running after a lay off is pretty tough I reckon. Not only do you have to go through all the aches and pains again, but there's the frustration of knowing you've already been there done that, and by now you should be up there running effortlessly through the hills and thoroughly enjoying the experience.
Which is not to say that I'm not enjoying starting over. It's infinitely preferable to not running at all. And it is exhilarating. But there's no denying that it's painful and slow. Like bloody Sisyphus rolling the stone up the hill I guess. Some say that's what life is all about. Jeez, I hope not!
My attitudes have changed a bit now. I'm definitely not so paranoid about times and distances, although I still measure them of course, but I'm not going to be so anal about them*. And my goals are less extreme. Now I really am running for fitness... a marathon would be nice, but it's such a distant and largely irrelevant goal that it doesn't really figure. I'm not pushing so hard to run longer and faster, but the aim is to get fit, and enjoy the process.
There is still a need however for some goals to keep the motivation levels up. I think a couple of 10km races would be in order, and I think a half marathon would not be beyond me sometime in the next few months. In the meantime, motivation comes from the bathroom scales and the mirror, which reveal less-than-pretty sights. In fact I weigh more now than I ever have before, and need to shed about 8 kgs fast. I also tentatively tried a few exercises the other day (chin-ups etc) and was horrified how badly I've let myself go. More motivation!
I was up in the hills beyond my home yesterday and found it covered in heavy machinery and work crews transforming the rough trails into beautifully graded gravel roadways to give fire trucks easy access - a result of the severe bushfire season this summer. Whether these will prove a blessing or a curse for running I won't know until I tackle them properly in coming weeks. My quads are still killing me from yesterday's descent, so it won't be for a few days yet.
*Having said that, I'm probably still the quintessential number slut, carefully recording all my runs in a spreadsheet and measuring runs down to a tenth of a kilometre. I have however discarded splits and charts of heart rate progressions. But my family still thinks I need professional help...
Yeah, makes my sun-dial and rice trail method sound a little old fashioned . . .
I sympathise hugely with your feelings about starting over. I do it every bloody year . . . train like a loon from January till April, run London, get into the ale and slide . . . for 7 months. I really really really really will not let that happen this year. Really.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
It's a problem that all of us face - at least those of us who aren't totally obsessive, competitive types who belong to clubs called the Something Harriers. Post-race blues, or the post-race slide as Sweder calls it here.
There's only one good way of dealing with it that I've discovered, and that's to have further goals planned BEFORE the race. I mean the planning is before the race, not the goals themselves.
This year for instance, after the Hamburg marathon in April, I've entered a 10K race in Oxford 3 weeks later, and I hope to do the Hogweed 10K again the following week (though it's a Monday evening, so will have to judge nearer the time). I'll still probably have my week of debauchery and rest after the marathon, but the week after that I'll have to start thinking about doing 2 or 3 runs just to claw back a little of the lost fitness.
Note these are 10Ks - a good distance to aim for post-marathon I think. Worth preparing for, but no need to get too hung up about, especially coming off the back of a marathon schedule. A 10 mile race or a half marathon I think would be too much to do within a few weeks of a marathon.
Then later in the year is a pencilled-in plan for another marathon, possibly Dublin or somewhere in Poland. I may be kidding myself here, but just the thought of it is enough to keep my motivation simmering. If I do Dublin for instance, I'd have to start the 16 week training about 6 weeks after the Hogweed 10K, so this gives me time to plan a break and then slowly psyche my way back into a running routine.
So that's the answer - fill the space
wiv anuvver race.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Good advice there brother (bit of pseudo socialism there).
It'd be nice to 'guest' in other members' local races. We're already up for Almeira, Fiona mentioned the Plymouth Half, you have the Reading, Brighton has a good half and Lewes a fun 10K later in the year.
I'll nip onto the homepage and check out Coming Attractions, maybe even book into a couple of them. Then I'll be in the sticky stuff . . .
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Good to see that your pseudo-intellectual socialism levels are improving nicely with the training, Sweder. Well done, comrade.
Meanwhile, what's all this tommy rot about a 10k or two after a marathon forming some sort of easy carrot-shaped panacea for the too-easily-deflected-into-the-pub-and-chocolate-cake crowd ?
Despite having one half decent 10k last year (well, in my entire life, actually), I don't see the 10k as any sort of soft option. It's torture of the highest order, and whilst you can lope along with a fair amount of impunity at longer distances, the 10k just never seems to be any kind of a forgiving distance to me.
I think I'd rather run a half marathon. Any time. Or give up altogether. Which is, er, yes, what seems to happen to Sweder every year. Maybe I can understand how it happens then, after all....
Well I guess that depends on how you like your 10Ks, Nigel. Sunny side up or over-easy are my choices, while I suspect you're a hard-boiled type.
I do pep-talk myself before these races. Yeah, this time I'll finish just a few seconds below 60 minutes rather than perennially hovering just the other side of that line. But it never happens. Sometimes I do finish these races actually feeling tired but more often than not they're just pleasant, reasonably brisk jaunts that (and this is the critical point) don't last very long.
I like them. They're just long enough to let me feel holy about having taken part in a race, but not long enough to disturb the placid waters of my existence too much. That's probably what I'm doing wrong....
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Sorry MLCMan - I had to stray to the subject of leather & willow this evening.
I'll take my punishment from the administrators with good grace.
What a test match! At the start of the day England sat on 200 ish for 5. A lead of 270+ by lunch was Englands' only hope. This would leave just two sessions to knock over South Africa on (still) a pretty good surface with a depleted attack, or more likely for SA to bat out the day. Anderson had the yips, Hoggard a calf strain and with no turn for Giles Hoggard and Flintoff would have to bowl 20+ overs each with little or no break. The pundits had SA slight favorites to win, with the draw second best.
Double Nelson saw Jones depart for not many, leaving Trescothick to shepherd the tail. Trescothick, 101 over night, played steadily as Giles acrrued 31 before he perished on the boundary. Hoggard edged Pollock to Boucher at 265, bringing Harmison to bat with only the happless Anderson waiting in the hutch. Trescothick woke up and realised if he wanted 150 he'd best get his foor on the gas. He took 2 sixes off Boje's spin and 2 more off Kalis. In a 9th wicket partnership of 50, Harmison scored just 3. Trescothick nicked the new ball to slip for 180 and Vaughan declared (for the second time in the match) on 322 for 9, effectively leaving SA 2 sessions to survive or the less likely target of 315 from 76 overs to win.
Gibbs made 98 but at the other end Matthew Hoggard was wreaking carnage, taking the first 6 wickets for 60-odd including the dangerous Kalis for a first ball duck. Flintoff and Giles chipped in and SA were left 100 shy with 2 wickets remaining and 14 overs to go. Fading light meant we'd probably only get 8 or 9 of those bowled. Smith, the SA Captain, received a blow to the temple in warm-up and came in at number 6 on medical advice. He was playing beautifully and needed Ntini and then Stein to hold up the other end. Ntini fell LBW to Flintoff bringing Stein out with probably a maximum of 5 overs left. SA were on 227, still 90-odd short so only the draw or an England win were possible. Smith opened his shoulders and plundered 3 more boundaries when Hoggard came back and had Stein snagged by Jones for one of the finest England away wins in modern times. The brave Smith was stranded 67 not out, close to tears and kicking lumps out of the turf.
2 - 1 to England, the 5th and final test kicks off at Centurion on Friday.
I love this game.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Yes indeed, a magnificent win to Hoggard at the Bullring. But you'll need more than one good bowler to beat the Aussies, even at home. England have been fairly impressive in South Africa, but watching the Aussies thrash Pakistan and West Indies over here at the moment, I have to wonder how good your boys will be during the coming Ashes tour. Watching Gilchrist, Langer, Ponting, Clarke, McGrath, Gillespie, Warne at al all having magnificent seasons at the mo, I have to say you'll be sorely tested come July. But at least you have some youth on your side. Without the albatrosses around their necks from previous series, your young blokes may play to their full potential and have some good sessions. But win an Ashes test match? I'd like to see what odds are on offer...
Dem's fighting words of course. Prove me wrong by all means - cricket will be better for it. For the moment though, make the most of the recent wins And find another Hoggard or two...
I see Greg Rusedski had a good win today in his opening round match of the Oz Open. Not so sure about Timmy Henman though ... is his light fading? And neither of them are young bucks anymore - who are the new wunderkinds of British tennis?
Well in that one majestic, and incredibly powerful serve this new young tennis champion Seafront Plodder has shown us just how bright the British tennis star is. He showed incredible balance, an almost perfect service action and placed it with such precision and power right on the T that the Aussie hopeful at the other end had no option but to just watch it zing past. Totally unplayable.
Over-weight, Under-run
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