GOING THE DISTANCE
Learn from the past to progress in the future
The year past will, as is always the case in a running environment, have left an indelible mark on a personal running legacy.
Careers are relatively short at a runner’s peak, albeit that with running they can be prolonged through the age groups. Still there remains a specific time span of years where personal best times are on the rise, before they plateau, even stall and then gently regress.
It is how we manage training, racing and most of all recovery that will be the author of our personal diary, log book or runner’s story.
I have been extremely fortunate down the years to get to know the very best runners produced in South Africa, to work with the best at all levels and watch and learn from the success and failures of many a tough competitor.
A similar experience is wished on all runners I am privileged to share running adventures and training with today. Together we learn.
So “looking back to look forward” is a favourite quote that can encourage us all to keep our wits sharp as 2018 departs and 2019, a somewhat innocuous number, beckons.
The makeup of every year is different for those who indulge in marathon, ultramarathon and even half-marathon running specifically. For those are the most arduous distance races in the sport.
I watch in absolute wonderment, sometimes dismay, at the number of long races undertaken by intelligent individuals who allow all clarity of thinking to slip them by with the allure of “miles” rather than times on the road.
The year that is set to pass has been one of the few where it was “maybe” possible to race both Two Oceans and Comrades without doing meaningful damage. The gap between events was three weeks longer than is the case in 2019.
Added to this quandary is that the Buffs Marathon, the favoured race to improve a seeding at either of the ultra’s, is on March 10, one to two weeks, later than it should be.
Runners most affected will be those without a coach with experience in racing such events, or those who succumb to the runners high syndrome of “let’s just run everything”.
The stress factor on body and mind is likely to be substantial.
A good run is always planned for and is never a fluke, just as when something goes wrong, when a runner hits that proverbial wall at 30km into a marathon, there is always a reason. It too is never a chance happening. The runner has erred somewhere in the buildup, the training, the pace on the day. A bad run too is not a fluke.
The next 10 days or so offer a superb opportunity to consider all race plans, from a 5km parkrun assault on a PB to a preferred medal at Comrades in 2019.
Share experiences: bob@boastrunningsuccess.co.za