(05-04-2014, 09:46 PM)marathondan Wrote: I'm not sure how you can participate in running as a sport rather than just a pastime without taking notice of time and pace.
Yet this is what Askwith advocates. He claims that, his 30's/ 40's peak times notwithstanding, his times in races have not suffered from his free approach, rather the opposite. He claims (as do I and as has Glaconman in these here parts) that a non-style, rough terrain approach develops strength and stability whilst demanding more effort. It's a good read, agree or not.
To take MLCMMan's plaintive cry more seriously, there's no reason why city dwellers can't run free. OK, you may be stuck with pavements for part or even all of your route, but there's nothing to stop you leaving your watch behind so you can smell the roses, or changing the route as you go, just for the sheer hell of it.
Before I had a Garmin I used to use the kitchen clock, recalling the time I left and running straight back to it on my return. I suspect this would get me a bollocking, too, but, other than in my head, time and pace would not distract me.
Listen, I get it. The man can write. He has an infectious style and it's easy to be seduced by his references to animals and birds, flowers and shrubs. Some of his runs sound a lot like
Tales Of The Riverbank. There again, that seems like a far better reason to run that to fill in a spreadsheet. He claims that the reluctance to head off in the dark (he sets off before sunrise to catch the very best of the waking natural world) shrinks when your objectives change.
Going back to the chap who nearly died, it seems underlying medical conditions often play a part in sporting fatalities of this nature. You can't force people to get checked out before they run (NB: MLCMMan has advocated regular health checks on a few occasions, for this and other reasons). I fully understand the twisted view that 'I've done the training, it's not fair that I should have to pull out at the last minute for a cold'. Yet it's hard to sympathise when someone knowingly puts themselves at such a risk.
I had this very conversation just this week, in Shanghai, with the MD of one of our biggest exhibition organisers. He's bright as a button, yet when I suggested he listen to his body on race day and, if he felt good, go for it - he's shooting for circa 3:10 in his first London Marathon next weekend - he all but imploded.
'But I've trained really hard, hit all my targets. I just want to push on and get the best time I can'
He looks gaunt, eyes sunken, wears the mask of the fanatic. It's his first ever run at the distance.
'Just make sure you get round. If you sense you're not at the races, as can and does happen, enjoy the ride and see where it gets you'
He was not thrilled.
When I read the article I thought 'why did you carry on running when you had a full board of red warning lights'. Then I thought 'OK, what would I have done?'. I'm pretty sure I'd have pressed on. I know it, in fact, because that was me, on the broiling streets of Cape Town, seven years ago this month. Lunacy.
