Tag Archives: running

Look into their eyes

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Ran past a guy this morning who wanted to race. It only lasted a couple of hundred metres, but that was plenty. It got my heart racing. He wouldn’t let me pass without coming back at me, and credit to him for that. I’d be the same.

The pedal was pushed to the floor but I searched for another gear. After a few seconds of worry – that’s gonna hurt, have you got it in you? – I hit the red button as he tried to overtake again. It was all or nothing with about 600 metres left to the finish.

I looked around after 10-15 seconds to see if he was hanging on. All I could see were his eyes fixated on the ground. His posture was broken. His cadence wasn’t as steady or rapid as it had been. I knew he was done.

The power of taking on difficult challenges

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I ran 31km yesterday as training for the Sydney marathon (49 days to go). It was a miserable day; cold, wet, and windy – very un-Sydney-like.

I had three and a half hours to think about why we should all push ourselves to do difficult things.

When we take on tough tasks, we grow stronger in our minds. The muscle grows the more we challenge it.

Doing hard things also makes us feel more sure of ourselves. We prove that we can overcome obstacles, making us more confident in other areas of life.

Mental toughness increases. These long runs are small victories on the path to the big day in front of large crowds on the streets of the city. I know I can do it on the day if I’ve put the work in week to week – it all compounds.

Want to set your own challenges? Start small and work your way up. Set clear goals and keep track of your progress. Remember, the hardest things often bring the best rewards in the end.

Get out of your own way

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The hard work is ahead. I’m running a final marathon this year before my knees break down.

I got through the hurdle of a half marathon last week. Training now steps up to distances much further, staying on my feet for longer.

It’s always harder in my head than it is to do the actual running.

The running is the fun part. The pain comes and I grind through it. One foot in front of the other, over and over.

Thinking about it – letting my brain get in the way – makes the task more difficult.

When we run, pushing towards our physical limits, we get a look at how we react to pain and stress. We hear our brain telling us to slow down, take shortcuts, or simply stop.

The challenge is laid down – easy or hard path? Which one do you want? Growth or stagnation? Settle for what you have, for who you are right now, or grow into someone else? Someone you don’t know yet. Someone you’ve never met.

The action gives us the answers.

The act of not doing what my brain says, and doing what my plan says – following my process – is where the growth comes from.

The act of ‘less thought, more action’ doesn’t apply universally, but the more I take action without the ‘what if…?’ thoughts that let the brain get the upper hand, the better the results.

Aches and pains

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sports-injury

I’m going through a patch where my body keeps breaking down on me and it is infuriating but part of the process of getting older. I run when I can and like to train for short races but my lower limbs are feeling the strain and it’s not as much fun to run, even in training, with constant pain.

If you’re a runner, you will understand that training with pain of some kind is inevitable as there is normally some small niggle or ache that develops or comes and goes as you continue through your session. But there are those that just won’t go away, and I have one of these at the moment.

Treatment of the issues at the heart of the problem is the only way to solve these kinds of issues. Strengthening of the muscles in and around the area of injury is also crucial and so it’s usually a longer journey to recovery and avoidance of any relapse than just a quick rub-down from a physio.

I’m just glad to have some active friends and relatives in Sydney who can hook me up with the right treatment and so I will be there as soon as I can to get back on the path to good health and some more racing. It’s the first day of spring today so I need to make the most of this southern hemisphere weather!

Growth through change

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Australia_Day

It’s been a few weeks since I have written anything here because it’s been a time of big change. I’m now writing this from Sydney, Australia after moving here one week ago and the lead up to this change has been very hectic. House rented, belongings packed, plane tickets bought and accommodation secured does make it all sound very simple but I can assure you it isn’t!

Anyway, this time of change is also a big opportunity for growth in many ways. A new country – well, I was here 20 years ago and it has changed a lot since then – that is so far from the culture, weather and lifestyle that we had when in the UK will take some getting used to but that is part of its attraction.

I’m looking at getting back into employment so doing lots of research and adapting my mindset to being part of team again, even leading one if the opportunity presents itself. I’ve also got some time to think about doing some fresh learning in a new area and I haven’t drawn any conclusions from this yet.

Basically, every option is still open and this time of change is going to give some amazing opportunities for growth that will be fabulous as time goes by. There’s a lot to be very grateful for.

As a sidenote – current reading:
Chaos Monkeys – inside the Silicon Valley money machine, Antonio Garcia Martinez
The Inner Game of Golf – W. Timothy Gallwey
Homicide, David Simon

Race schedule for running:
Bay Run 7km this Sunday
City2Surf (CBD to Bondi Beach) on 14 August
Western Sydney half marathon on 1 October

Turning training from hard labour into progress and positivity

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I’m into my bike training for the two rides i have coming up – 50 miles in Wales, April 23rd and 80 miles in Cambridgeshire, June 5th – and it is nothing short of hard labour at the moment.

granny on bike

I’m not a natural on the bike. Too tall, very long in the body and an ideal wind break. I also lack the big hamstring and glute muscles required to grind it out up the hills and push the pace on the flats. I’m also not very good at handling cold weather and facing up to the elements of this time of year where we live.

But I’m doing what I can to get the work done. I’m doing some short distances as often as the schedule will allow and building up to the first event in April. I’m learning more about how to get down low on the handlebars and slice more easily through the wind (of which there is LOADS) and I’ve done a lot of work in the gym on improving my leg strength – there is still a long way to go but it’s getting better slowly.

I enjoy being on the bike and the sense of freedom that it gives but I have come to the conclusion that it’s not a sport I’m ever going to love. I’m happy enough to train for the events coming up this year but long distance rides will be extremely limited in the future.

Having the bike for short sprint triathlons and some leisure riding will be enough for me and I would always rather be running – a lot less kit required, no fear of mechanicals or punctures and, for me, a whole lot more enjoyment. My knees will pack up at some point soon but I will keep them strong through the gym work and then deal with the pain as it comes on over time.

A bit more running

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running

In 2012 I managed to cause some nasty damage to my right knee. It had been weakened over years of running distances up to the marathon on hard roads and a lack of any strength training to build muscle to support the joints doing all of the work. I had completed Paris marathon for the second time and was coming back to prepare for the Amsterdam half marathon at a small 10k. I was doing some simple stretches afterwards and the meniscus in my right knee ripped and that was that. The specialist I saw told me at the time that I should avoid running from that point on as it would advance the onset of all sorts of nasty pain and I did not a lot more from then apart from the normal efforts of middle age men to avoid not fitting into their clothes.

I started doing some very specific strength training about six months ago and have worked to build up the muscles that support my knees as well as some other rehab work on a shoulder injury. I’ve also developed my hamstrings, glutes, back and all of the muscles that keep you moving forwards at a little more than fast walking speed and I thought I would have a go at running short distances again and see how things felt. I’ve been very frustrated by not doing something that I have always loved and I looked into stem cell treatment to grow back the meniscus but it’s prohibitively expensive and I had mentally let any thoughts of running again fade away. I didn’t start the strength work to be able to run again but I’ve talked to a few people who know about these things and they have all said that I should give it another try. Start out light on softer surfaces and at easy pace, then see where it leads.

So Katherine and I moved to Warrington a few weeks back and Katherine has recently started to run with a couple of 10k’s under her belt now and is progressing very well. Katherine looked into what was happening locally when we got here and she came across ParkRun from a friend’s recommendation – a 5k run where you can sign up, turn up and run for free every Saturday morning – and the next thing you know I am on the start line with Katherine. We ran our first one together in about 30 mins and had a lot of fun. I was very cautious and watching every step for knee pain or any problems but got none at all and was very happy with being out there again and running.

I’ve been giving it a little bit more of a test over the weeks on the treadmill and it has responded well – still no pain and some decent speeds. I wanted to have a crack at pushing the pace outdoors and so we went back to ParkRun last weekend and put the hammer down. No real preparation other than a handful of 15 minute treadmill sessions and I got around in 24.16 with no pain and followed up with another 8 miles of walking around the golf course. Very pleased at being able to get it done again and not setting any goals past keeping the knee strong and pain free, but very happy. I ran 20.20 when I was running marathons in under four hours more than ten years back so it will be good to see if I can get back to this kind of speed so we will see.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

Running is not like team sport. You have to be egocentric. But you also have to separate the race from the rest of your life; you shouldn’t become an egocentric personality.

Wise words from Grete Waitz (86), taken from Noakes’ classic Lore of Running (3rd edition, 91)