Running through quicksand

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Bo

I’ve been clocking up some awesome times at track lately. But it’s not necessarily because I’ve been working hard. It might be simply down to guilt. You see, although I’ve tried to be quite disciplined in attending track, my easy runs on weekdays and weekends have really suffered.

In the last two weeks, I skipped my easy runs on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, made excuses on Fridays, rolled over and went to bed last week Saturday. The only long distances I’ve managed to squeeze in has been the RAC 10km race and more recently, the Boskruin 10.5km Sunday run.

But in reality, it feels as if I’m running through quicksand.

I keep blaming:

The Comrades runners who are tapering. Shouldn’t the supporters also be tapering?
Load shedding and the traffic which prevents me from getting home early enough
Winter is coming. I’m not a big fan of running in the cold. My ears ache. My fingers freeze. It’s dark… I’ll save this for another blog post.

When I was young, I recall watching those cowboy movies where anyone falling in quicksand was doomed to die. That there was no way out and as much as you tried, the sand would eventually swallow you whole.

People falling into (and, unrealistically, being submerged in) quicksand or a similar substance is a trope of adventure fiction, notably in movies. According to Slate, this gimmick had its heyday in the 1960s, when almost 3% of all films showed someone sinking in mud, sand, or clay. ~ Wikipedia

I’m feeling exactly like that. I’m stuck in the sand and cannot move or make an effort.

I know what’s missing. It’s the lack of discipline and consistency on my part. I know that the less I run, the less I want to run and so the less I do run. It’s a vicious circle. It is harder to find that motivation during winter and I’m already struggling to do so.

So I guess as long as I continue to track sessions and commit to at least trying to get out there, I’ll be okay. I need to buckle down and recommit. It’ll be worth it come spring time!

(Images: Google)

Conversations about stone

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Bo

Chatting to my running Coach one evening after training, I asked him just how long it would take for me to run faster. He gave me the cheesiest of answers. “Bron, it’s like the artist who works on a marble sculpture. It takes time. Every time you get out there and run, we’re chipping away at that statue.” Pffft, I thought.

But after just 3 months of hard training, I’m starting to see the sculpture forming…

When I started, I was the stone with lots of unwanted rock and baggage. Over the weeks, the Coach has been busy with the “roughing out” stage of the sculpting process by supplying me with a training schedule which toggles between easy runs and quality training.

Using a chisel, texture is being added every time I step out on to the track and road to run. It may not seem like a lot when you’re counting mere seconds, but my running log book has shown me just how far this art work has come.

The warm up lap before we train used to take me a good 25 minutes to complete, it now takes me on average 17 minutes. I used to run 400m in 2:54, then 2:50, 2:42; 2:31 and now I’m clocking 2:26. I even ran (and did not walk) 15,2kms on a cool Monday evening recently as a support to a fellow runner training for Tough One. I can even almost touch my toes!

If I have to honestly look back to where I was when I started and to where I am today, it a huge difference.

My Coach, the sculptor, has changed me, the stone, from a rough block into the general shape of an un-finished statue. Various tools are now being used to enhance this shape into its final form. The chipping away takes time but it has to be right. You can’t rush these things but the wait is so worth it!

We often don’t take time to reflect on the work we’ve put in because we’re so focussed on the goal ahead. But to really appreciate our efforts, it helps to pause every so often, catch our breaths and take stock.

The final stage of the carving process is polishing. I’ve got a long way to go ’till I get to this stage, but I’m not rushing things. Remember Bron, you’re like a marble sculpture.

Smelling the roses on the run

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Bo

I’ve always had such a complex about my running pace. (I mean, just look at the name of my blog!). So as I stood at the starting line of Sunday’s race, I was terrified. A running friend asked if I’d like to run a race with her and I jumped at the opportunity. No one had ever asked me to run with them before! I was overcome with my usual insecurities; would I be able to keep up? Would I cramp? Would I slow her down?

At about the 4km mark, we slowed down quite a bit as she started to take strain. She had been struggling with a nasty flu bug from the week before and had misjudged how weak she still was. It had knocked her hard and she was not herself on the day. It happens and so we ended up just taking it easy.

Unbeknownst to her, I was tackling a lot of my own demons. It was only the second race that I was running since starting my running training with Coach Dave so I had no idea what my pace would be. But I felt super strong and confident. This is new.

This is what really mattered on the day:

I’m able to run without having to stop and walk every 500m.
I am definitely getting stronger.
I don’t have to be terrified anymore.
A day came when I was the strong one for a change.
I don’t care what the finishing time was. To me, what mattered was running with my friend.
Runners are a different breed. Why was I worried that she would leave me out on the course? Because I would never have done that to her.

My running priorities have definitely changed over the weeks since I’ve been attending track training. I signed up to run faster but as the weeks go by, things that I never thought of before make sense to me now. Such as managing to run and not walk as much as I used to. Such as finishing a race feeling strong. And knowing that some days it’s not about the time on my watch that defines what a great race is all about. Sometimes, it’s all about the company and facing those demons head on. Thanks Denise!

It’s serious now.

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Bo

I finally have one! A training programme from my running coach for the month of October. It feels like I’ve entered the big league now as I arrive at the running track checking out what my (I) pace or my (T) pace is for the session along with all the other runners. This is new for me because I’ve always been the kind of runner that just goes out and runs. (and then gets home disappointed at my pace).

But after almost two months of structured training, it’s finally sunk in. In my pre-Coach Dave days, every time I ran, I never had a plan as to how fast or slow I was going to run. My pace was either slightly faster that 8 mins/km or much slower than 8 mins/km. A structured programme cuts it up differently. There’s Easy, Threshold, Interval and Race pace and details as to when to run which pace on which days.

There is a sense of relief having a programme too. Not only does it give me set distances to stick to each week, but for a change I know the difference between a quality track session and an easy Sunday run. Because there is a difference.

The track work forces me to give 110% effort and learn to run at the required training paces. I’m improving my aerobic capacity, conditioning my body for longer runs and increasing my overall performance without risking injury. An easy run is to get precious time on my feet but resisting the urge to run faster than I should.

The tricky part is getting my body to be familiar with the different paces – am I running too fast? Am I going too slowly? Because right now, without looking at my Garmin, I don’t know. Baby steps, right? Ha, and I thought running was just running! Silly me!

(Image credit: http://www.runningonthewall.com)