Enjoying Running

[Liz]

I'm looking forward eagerly to your thoughts on this one. I find that, like you, I really love having just finished a run or race.

I guess I'm thinking about this a lot at the moment as the countdown to the Chicago marathon continues - 4 days and change at the moment and I'm in DEEP trouble. Why am I doing this again?

I was training fairly well - only missed one long run and that was because I was doing a triathlon the following day (seems reasonable!), but 2 weeks back I caught an achy body/sore throat thing and didn't run for 10 days. Then after the layoff, I did my final long run on Sunday (8 miles) and my thighs still ache two days later. The tendonitis in my ankle isn't totally healed either - apparently (and hilariously to me, a couch potato) it's an overuse injury.

Sunday I plan to have lots of alcohol as a pain killer - assuming I make it to the finish.

[parky]

Liz best of luck with Chicago. The atmosphere on the day will carry you round I'm sure. Remember its better to be 90% fit and 100% healthy on the day than the other way around :-)

On the subject of enjoying running, I've found that constantly doing road races can become a bit tedious especially if you've done the same race a couple of times. So I've tried to do some other sorts of races.

Cross country anyone? Good fun, hard work!

Trail races. My club seem to do a lot of these which basically involve running round the countryside on tracks/footpaths following a list of instructions.

The beauty of this is that it doesn't matter how fast you go if you take a wrong turn you could scupper your time. Its not uncommon for slower runners to win these just because they've been accurate and haven't vanished off on a 20 minute wild goose chase! It also helps to know your left from your right (which is unfortunatly my problem!).

Anyway the other thing is that you get to see parts of the countryside that you wouldn't normally go to to have a look at. Well worth doing for that reason alone and they tend to be a bit cheaper than road races.

Don't know if these suggestions are anyuse hope they are.

[El Gordo]

Hi Guys.

Nice to hear from you again, Liz, and I hope you get round Chicago OK. It's interesting that you say "Why am I doing this again?" I do think that doing races, at least the same races or even just the same KIND of races can get dull unless you're a fanatic. I felt that a little at the GNR, even though it was the first time I'd done it. It is a great event, and I wouldn't criticise it or the organisation of it, but for me, I just didn't feel the massive excitement I felt the first 2 or 3 times I did very big events. Last year was great, with the first-ever experience of the London marathon, and the Reading Half, and of course Chicago. THis year I wasn't excited by Silverstone or Reading again or the GNR.

Which leads us to Parky's point. Trail races. I think that's an interesting idea. I like the idea of doing cross-country events though my usual paranoia shines through at this point -- the feeling that I'm just not good enough to do loads of hills. But I guess that's just a matter of doing a different kind of training. Hmm, thanks Parky - that's given me something to think about, especially as I love to run in the countryside. I'll look into it. Cheers.

[Nigel]

Each race always costs me at least 2-3 weeks of recovery. And that's when I'm fit. The bigger the race, the more mental and physical energy it takes out of me. Double that for hilly races with 46,000 people blocking every inch of the road.

If you're not enjoying running much in general, I'd wager you're probably running too fast and getting knackered in the process. Targeted speed can work wonders in small doses, but for 90% of the time it is better to run SLOW and save your mental energy and excitement for race day. After a half marathon, you might easily need 131 low stress miles to recover.

Running too fast in training is a constant problem for me. It's the pressure to improve that makes it tempting. Yet running slow burns fat, improving performance. Running fast burns glycogen and burns you out. We know all of this, yet selectively ignore it.

Leaving the watch at home is the first step to recovery. A couple of social runs with a beer at the end may also help.

Finally, I used to think that sport could chill me out after a hard time the rest of the week. Now I know that I have to be chilled out first, or the sport will suffer. This goes against the accepted wisdom, but I know it to be true. When the pressure lifts and the skies lighten, my game always improves.

The Great South Run is flatter, shorter and much smaller than the Great North Run. The weather forecast is good for Sunday, and a relaxing plod along the seaside might be just what you need.....

[El Gordo]

Thanks Nigel, encouraging words. Whether or not the GSR happens depends partly on domestic politics, partly on my mental state and partly on whether I can spend 2 hours in the pub tomorrow evening, watching the Turkey game, without any alcohol.....

[Debbie]

Absolutely agree with Nigel about running too fast most of the time in training. I've recently started a programme of base building, having read a lot about it on the Runners' World website and various links therein. It seemed like a sensible way to go to safely increase mileage and at the same time train my aerobic system and all those slow-twitch mitochondria in my muscle fibres. I'm finding it hard to go from about 8-8:30 minute miles to 10+, but it's enabling me to run easily on consecutive days which previously I found difficult. Now that I'm using a heart rate monitor I'm learning what different efforts really feel like: previously I tended towards the "one pace for all" approach, whether it be a training run, a long run or a race. What I discovered through using a heart rate monitor was that what I perceived as an "easy" run was actually not easy at all. And sometimes I'd set out to run "easy" but when I worked out my pace it was closer to tempo speed.

Slowing down on these dark winter nights has got to be an advantage in more ways than one, too - it gives me time to see that raised paving stone before I trip over it, time to see that dog poo before I step in it and time to enjoy my running rather than feeling under constant pressure to race against myself.