It’s a late blog and I apologize. Having said that, I never said I would do a weekly blog.... however, it would appear that once you get in the habit of posting on a Sunday night, everyone expects it!
Last Sunday was Paris Marathon and for me the bulk of this last week has been taken up with recovery. I didn’t run for five days as my legs were quite literally trashed. A completely different type of trashed in comparison to when I ran the 50 mile EcoTrail. Post the Ultra my legs were weary and lifeless. With a few easy runs, two massages and some well planned speed work they came back to life with new vigour as my PB at Paris shows. But post Paris my legs hurt!! The type of hurt that you know has caused damage. I knew I needed to ease back, sit down, relax and accept that if I wanted to run London Marathon on the 25th April I had to do nothing. Sometimes the best training really id rest. If you think logically, London was two weeks after Paris, so, I couldn’t get fitter. All I would do with training is basically add to the fatigue that was already in my body.
On Saturday I felt refreshed. Five days rest and my legs felt normal. I went out for an easy 5 mile trail run. It took about two miles to get the ‘feel’ back. My ITB was still a little tight causing some pulling around the knee and my Quads, although recovered still had some tenderness. Sunday was a different day. My legs were back and my morning 6 mile trail was followed with a 10k in the evening on the road with a little pace added. The rest had paid off.
Yesterday, Monday , was my massage day. To be honest I was looking forward to the massage. I needed Mark to get deep in my quads, hamstrings, ITB and freshen me up for Sunday and VLM. Needless to say it was a bloody painful hour on the table. I always leave feeling jelly legged and dehydrated, Monday was no exception. I ran in the evening, another 5 mile trail with 6:30 tempo added. Mark had done a great job.
So the week ahead has the UK’s biggest marathon and of course, one of the biggest Marathons in the world. I think 2010 will be a significant year for London as I strongly feel that Virgin will add a new dimension to the race. Also we are in the build up for the Olympics. It is an important time for all involved. I will be running, at the moment I am undecided on my strategy. I achieved my target at Paris and to try and do that again within two weeks is probably optimistic. However, my planned trip to South Africa to run Comrades Ultra on Mat 30th now looks in doubt due to finances, so, I am tempted to give London a blast and see what happens.... I will no more on Thursday/ Friday when I can ascertain how my legs feel.
Taking part in London is Laura Mackay who has really trained hard for this event. She has been a super client to train as she has quite religiously gone out and done the sessions. She has moaned, called me cruel but she has done them. Laura will reap the benefits of that training come Sunday. Best of luck Laura!
Post Paris Richard Fluck has had to analyze his race and break it apart. Although he once again ran another PB he missed his sub 4 target by an agonising 6 seconds.... 6 seconds I know!! It’s tough. How did you rationalize six seconds in an event that takes 240 minutes or more importantly 14,400 seconds. I know as does Richard that those six seconds are nothing.... certainly nothing in terms of the whole event BUT when you need those six seconds to achieve a time, they can be a world away. As Richard recovers post Paris we now look forward and plan to a new PB. This time that time will be 3:59 and something seconds... In actual fact, do not be surprised if we have a 3:57 or 3:58. Richard is more than capeable.
You may have read this quote before, it is a favourite of mine and I like to use it for myself, my coaching clients and basically as a motivational quote. Remember that running enhances your life. It is such a positive addition to your lifestyle and for all those couch potatoes who think you are mad, copy and paste this and send it to them:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, tat the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Remember though that running is an enhancement of your life. You need to keep it in perspective and you need to balance it. As a runner your sport is a past time, a hobby or an escape. Don’t loose sight of this. I am always keen to bring out the best in all my coaching clients but that is done bearing in mind what other commitments you or they have. Compromise is required on both sides. Sometimes you will need to run at an awkward time, you may need to run long, you may need to run twice a day. If that is the case keep sight of this and make sure that you give the time back to those you love and care about.
Time for inspiration!
Niandi has a very good friend in Paris called ‘Didier’. Didier has just returned from his 16th Marathon des Sables. For those who do not know, the ‘MDS’ is a six day foot race in the Sahara covering appx 156 miles in scorching heat carrying all your own kit in a rucksack. The only provisions supplied by the organization are a tent for the night (shared) and a water allowance. Stunning you think.... 16 editions of the MDS!! WOW. What is extra special is Didier is blind..... I get goose bumps just writing about him. I can’t imagine the frustration, the suffering and the commitment required to do sport at this level and without sight. Look at the photo below. This is an image taken from this years MDS. Apparently his feet were in a mess but he continued to the end; awesome.
Didier embraces life and he manages his disability by running. He has completed endless events. The list is too long to even mention. Hundreds of marathons, endless Ultras... he was even at The EcoTrail doing the 80km before heading out to the Sahara. In the coming weeks I am going to interview him and I will add an MP3 to the blog so that you can all hear from this amazing guy.
So, why mention Didier?
Well what I want to emphasize is the importance of taking part. Didier will never be the quickest because of his lack of sight. In actual fact, he has more reasons NOT to run.... Lets face it, if you couldn’t see would you want to run?
No, Didier runs for the love, the taking part, the passion and the enhancement it brings to his life. Without running, Didier would not be whole.
So, if you are ever in doubt WHY you run, think of Didier and think; WHY NOT!
No comments:
Post a Comment