(29-09-2009, 04:21 PM)glaconman Wrote: Just caught-up with a couple of your latest posts E<2G. Somebody once said 'A man without a plan is not a man.' Sounds like Fred Nietzche to me. You're the philosophy grad. Anyway, you're to be commended on your meticulous approach.
I would add the following 2 points to your list.
Stay hungrier for longer. I'm not advocating fasting or missing meals. Neither am I recommending this for post-run recovery meals. Just experiencing the feeling of hunger for an hour longer than normal if you're not running that day. I think it's as important as what you eat or how much you eat.
Secondly, join a running club. I'm not really prone to joining clubs. But if you're looking to raise-your-bar then this is the most effective thing you can do. Running with somebody else can improve your performance. Running with other people during an event further enhances your effort. Pulling on a club shirt adds another dimension. This weekend I ran a road-relay and ran as part of a team. This added yet another element. I really pulled-the-stops-out.
So there are five levels of running intensity that are available to us. Others (upto running in an Olympic relay final) are probably unlikely given our age, work commitments and general tendency towards the consumption of fermented beverages.
I've been cantering back-to-base on an evening club run at a much faster pace than normal, wondering were the last hour has gone. Perhaps I'm lucky to have such great clubs on my doorstep with the likes of Keighley and Bingley. (There's an Idle Athletic Club near Bradford. How I want one of their vests.) I'm sure Berkshire has it's fair share. Think on lad.
Ah, great to see the return of a couple of GM favourites -- the Nietsche quote (which I still recall from the first time you imparted it -- nearly 20 years ago), and the praise for hunger. The latter has fascinated me since you first mentioned the idea. Must admit I have trouble with the notion of voluntary hunger, though I still remember the phrase you used previously about "inviting hunger into your life", and I should take a look at this again. It's culturally unnatural, and I suppose counter-intuitive as an aid to the running life. These are the obstacles in my way at present.
Bingley Running Club? Believe it or not, I nearly joined this club about 5 years ago. I emailed them to enquire, but never heard back. Perhaps they were unimpressed with the reason I gave for wanting to join i.e. the blue and white hopped club vests, which I've never been able to find elsewhere. Now alas they have changed the design too much.
As for clubs in general, I quite agree with you. I've been a member of two local clubs. The Reading Road Runners were just too big and disorganised and directionless (or were about 5 years ago). The other, Reading Joggers, are much more my cup of tea but I seemed to upset the club nobility with a jokey comment in a race report -- the funny side of which they were unable, or unwilling, to see. I occasionally toy with the thought of rejoining for the reasons you state. When I ran with them, I was conscious of being pulled out of my comfort zone, which was beneficial despite the temporary pain.
Just at the moment, my main driver is weight loss. Once I'm down to fighting weight (about another 10 pounds), I'll look at how to change things. The gym I use has an informal running club that meets weekly in the months leading up to the Reading Half in March, so that's another option.
In the meantime, there are a couple of things that might fill the gap. One is my casual collaboration with Phil the sports therapist. Not a club, but still a positive external influence on my efforts. The other, which I will start just as soon as I feel able to maintain a half-decent pace, is the weekly Reading 5K park run. 5K is no great shakes, but it's been suggested that this could make a good weekly tempo run, at least for a while. If I feel up to the 7 miles each way on a bike, this could be a quite a thorough workout. (Perhaps too thorough -- not sure if I'll want to dash 3 miles after 7 miles on the bike, which is still a fair old ride for me.)
I will indeed "think on", though I will probably wait until after the Crawley 10K plod on Oct 18th in 2.5 weeks before making any big changes. Thanks for the ideas and insights.
