WELL & GOOD
IF YOU ever want a comprehensive reference guide for running, buy the The Lore of Running by Dr Tim Noakes. This encyclopaedia-sized book is one many people own but not many have read from cover to cover because it is so in-depth. Noakes is a world-leading sports scientist from South Africa who has created a lifetime body of work. It has had a massive influence on not only the world of running but other sports as well.
In 1997, Noakes introduced the central governor theory. The basic concept is that your brain will restrict your physical body during intense exercise once it gets to a point where it feels you may be damaging yourself. Here’s a more detailed explanation of this theory from Wikipedia:
‘‘In particular, physical activity is controlled so that its intensity cannot threaten the body’s homeostasis by causing anoxic damage to the heart muscle. The central governor limits exercise by reducing the neural recruitment of muscle fibres. This reduced recruitment causes the sensation of fatigue.’’
I have listened to interviews with Noakes and he questions whether our central governor is the biggest limiter to performance.
He talks about how once a toplevel runner gets to a certain point of intensity, his or her brain starts working against them to preserve their body. This preservation is represented in pain. Their running becomes extremely hard, harder than most of us could ever imagine. It is at this moment where the runner who can delve the deepest into their inner motivation to stay in this place of pain will be the winner.
Noakes feels that the person who wins is the one who needed it the most; they had more on the line so they had more motivation to push through this level of pain.
The world record for the marathon is 2 hours 3 minutes. Some sports scientists argue that with our physiology humans should be able to run a marathon somewhere around 1 hour and 45 minutes.
While this is a much-debated topic, it does bring up the argument that we could be well away from reaching our potential. Noakes talks about how we don’t see top-level runners die in performances, which indicates they could push harder. It’s a bleak thought, but it does show how hard our bodies work to protect our physical self.
You may have experienced the central governor in your own exercise routine. Have you ever done a race or workout where you felt there was nothing left to physically give, where every part of your body was telling you that it’s impossible to go on, that you should quit because the pain is so hard?
Then suddenly something switches in your mind which gives you an increase in motivation and you are able to push yourself physically harder. These moments show your body could have gone harder and it was your mind you had to overcome.
Thinking about the central governor theory and the concept of how much you want something could have a massive influence on the level of discomfort you are willing to experience.
Looking back to the times when you pushed through the pain, what was the reward for you? Did you grow? Did you gain a deeper understanding of yourself? Did you achieve things that may have seemed impossible before they were achieved?
Understanding the central governor theory has led me to contemplate two questions: how do I gain knowledge of how to get through discomfort; and, how do I find the depth of inner need that will help me find the motivation to push through the hardest moments?
The answer to these questions will differ from person to person, but if life has taught you that a lot of value can come out of the toughest and most uncomfortable times, I imagine that deep down this is a place that you have some level of desire for.
We all need comfort, security, and certainty but we also need discomfort in certain areas. The aim should never be to remove all discomfort from our life.
If we remove discomfort, we remove the opportunity to explore who we truly are. This is something that top athletes are always exploring and maybe is something that is worth exploring for yourself.
IT’S the saddest story Roald Dahl ever wrote – a poignant letter pleading for parents to vaccinate their children against measles, after his daughter died from the disease at age 7.
Dahl’s 1988 plea urged everyone to vaccinate their children, and has resurfaced in the wake of the measles outbreak in California, where unvaccinated people were infected by a contagious Disneyland visitor.
Olivia was Dahl’s oldest daughter, and in 1962 she seemed to be recovering well from what was then a common childhood illness when she went rapidly downhill.
She had contracted measles encephalitis, which occurs in just 0.1 per cent of reported cases.
More than 20 years after Olivia’s death, Dahl, the author of such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Boy and Matilda, wrote an open letter to parents.
‘‘Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course, I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it.
‘‘Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything. ‘Are you feeling all right?’ I asked her. ‘I feel all sleepy,’ she said.
‘‘In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead. The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis, and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her.
‘‘That was twenty-four years ago in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her.
‘‘On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunised against measles.
‘‘I was unable to do that for Olivia in 1962, because in those days a reliable measles vaccine had not been discovered. Today, a good and safe vaccine is available to every family, and all you have to do is to ask your doctor to administer it. ‘‘Incidentally, I dedicated two of my books to Olivia; the first was James and the Giant Peach. That was when she was still alive. The second was The BFG, dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles. You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books.
‘‘And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children.’’
His or her brain starts working against them to preserve their body. This preservation is represented in pain.
Bevan James Eyles is a fitness professional who runs the training group extramilerunners.co.nz. ‘Are you feeling all right?’ I asked her. ‘I feel all sleepy,’ she said. In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.