Monday, October 8, 2007
The first 5 minutes are always the hardest. I set off like an old man, aching and creaking until I began to warm up. Then the tiredness starts evaporating, the music on my ipod getting me through the initial minutes. Saturday I ran 10k and Sunday I ran 5k followed by 1.5hours on the bike. Anythings possible with the right shoes! No aches or pains today, legs felt fine so went rowing for 3 miles at lunch. I feel an urge for chocolate coming on! Running out of sports kit though- hint hint!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Do it!
Day off today- full day of rest from exercise. Its written in my shedule so i'm absolutely going to do it. I rest with as much conviction as i run!
Read the following earlier, by some bloke who'se worth millions and millions. Thought it sounded relevant to what I was saying in my previous blog about everyone needing a challenge.
Q: What is about you that has made you successful?
A: Focus and drive. No question this is what separates the winners from the losers. It's not a lot to do with intelligence. It's to do with actually DOING something to make yourself wealthy instead of chattering about it. In my experience, people are lazy beyond belief. I am frequently shocked by how little people are prepared to do to improve their lot in life. They are also timid. The slightest hint of work or the tiniest hint of danger and they will run for safety. And that is why not everyone is a millionaire.
is there a similarity between sportsman and entrepreneurs? yes certainly if its just bothering to DO IT. Nike have it right!
Read the following earlier, by some bloke who'se worth millions and millions. Thought it sounded relevant to what I was saying in my previous blog about everyone needing a challenge.
Q: What is about you that has made you successful?
A: Focus and drive. No question this is what separates the winners from the losers. It's not a lot to do with intelligence. It's to do with actually DOING something to make yourself wealthy instead of chattering about it. In my experience, people are lazy beyond belief. I am frequently shocked by how little people are prepared to do to improve their lot in life. They are also timid. The slightest hint of work or the tiniest hint of danger and they will run for safety. And that is why not everyone is a millionaire.
is there a similarity between sportsman and entrepreneurs? yes certainly if its just bothering to DO IT. Nike have it right!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
I just think we all need to challenge ourselves. We need to see what we're made of. It's very life affirming to do something that takes you to the edge of your abilities. Yes sure some of it might come down to vanity, some of it might be a very Zen quest for inner peace or the meditative state of running on your own for ages, certainly some of it's a stress reliever or just part of an everyday life habit, but mostly I think its just because we need to define our limits and see if there is a way through them. "Test your metal" as the saying goes. It must be the same reason people join the army or the police or sail around the world single-handed. By reaching your boundaries its a way of shouting out to a world that generally doesn't want to listen, "Go on, show us what you've got, do your fucking worst,throw all you've got at me and see if i can't take it"!!
Life is so sophisticated and monitored and controlled and organised now, its a way of escaping from all that. Its so much easier to be complacent and just "not bother" than ever before. So, I say again, we all need a challenge! It's for this reason that I can't understand how people run or train without a specific event or purpose in mind. You have to choose a task, set your ambition and work hard preparing for it, so when and if you achieve it, the success is even sweeter.
I map out the years races i'd like to do and structure a training program to build up to each event. I'm not at all a selfish person, but about this I have to protect my time or else the little time I do dedicate to myself would quickly be swallowed up in the need to do the food shopping, paint the bathroom, take the kids to weekend clubs, gardening etc etc. A little bit of selfishness is a good thing because it then means I'm happier at doing all these other things.
Once I've mapped out the events I want to do the real effort begins. Triathlons require a certain degree of fitness. You can't do anything if your breathing is erratic and your out of balance. It takes perseverance to get the strength to feel balanced,and from balance comes power. Not power in a macho Sly Stallone way but power in an endurance way; in that it is resilient to all the variables. No two steps are ever the same when running; the weather, your environment, your state of mind are always different. That's why training is never boring and that's why the big pay-off is actually doing a race where you get to use all that acquired experience. My best ever result was in the 2005 London Triathlon in which I came 49th. The result was great, I'm still really proud of it, but it's no where near as important as the fact that I set myself a challenge, worked out what i had to do to prepare for it and then actually did it!
Life is so sophisticated and monitored and controlled and organised now, its a way of escaping from all that. Its so much easier to be complacent and just "not bother" than ever before. So, I say again, we all need a challenge! It's for this reason that I can't understand how people run or train without a specific event or purpose in mind. You have to choose a task, set your ambition and work hard preparing for it, so when and if you achieve it, the success is even sweeter.
I map out the years races i'd like to do and structure a training program to build up to each event. I'm not at all a selfish person, but about this I have to protect my time or else the little time I do dedicate to myself would quickly be swallowed up in the need to do the food shopping, paint the bathroom, take the kids to weekend clubs, gardening etc etc. A little bit of selfishness is a good thing because it then means I'm happier at doing all these other things.
Once I've mapped out the events I want to do the real effort begins. Triathlons require a certain degree of fitness. You can't do anything if your breathing is erratic and your out of balance. It takes perseverance to get the strength to feel balanced,and from balance comes power. Not power in a macho Sly Stallone way but power in an endurance way; in that it is resilient to all the variables. No two steps are ever the same when running; the weather, your environment, your state of mind are always different. That's why training is never boring and that's why the big pay-off is actually doing a race where you get to use all that acquired experience. My best ever result was in the 2005 London Triathlon in which I came 49th. The result was great, I'm still really proud of it, but it's no where near as important as the fact that I set myself a challenge, worked out what i had to do to prepare for it and then actually did it!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Baggage
I'm looking forward to my run at lunch already. I think about running alot, then again i tend to think about everything alot! Except for when i'm running.One of the most enjoyable aspects of exercise is the way you switch off from a big part of yourself. You know the voice that worries over money, work, your kids, your hair, the twat on the bus who barged in, the weather, the leaking garage roof, the state of the economy, the environment and all the rest of the splinters of half thoughts that flash into your mind; all these go, dissolve and retreat behind the sound of your feet and your breating. You shed things, leave thoughts behind you in a trail, disgarded baggage.
At the weekend i ran to one of the many long sloping hills near my house. I didn't have long, just wanted to put the previous week behind me. I ran that hill 12 times, trying to keep my strides up long not short pitter-patters. With each step I count to 8 and keep the breathing in tune.
I got home, had a shower and then started cooking a huge lunch for 12 friends and their kids who were coming over. Felt brilliant and enjoyed the afternoon massively, loving eating and hanging out with friends, and not a single selfish thought it in my head!
At the weekend i ran to one of the many long sloping hills near my house. I didn't have long, just wanted to put the previous week behind me. I ran that hill 12 times, trying to keep my strides up long not short pitter-patters. With each step I count to 8 and keep the breathing in tune.
I got home, had a shower and then started cooking a huge lunch for 12 friends and their kids who were coming over. Felt brilliant and enjoyed the afternoon massively, loving eating and hanging out with friends, and not a single selfish thought it in my head!
Monday, October 1, 2007
810
You'd think I'd won wouldn't you with the celebrations pictured, but indeed I hadn't!! Not by a long way. I can't get over how much quicker some of the other competitors are!! I now they have more than 10 years advantage on me but it shows how hard they train and how naturally talented they are! I was pleased though cos I was quicker than I'd managed to do the year before in this race and prooved I'd recovered from a back injury having come off my bike the year before that.
This was a Sprint Triathlon in Eton- only 750m swim/20k bike/ 5k run and a great event for novices and old timers alike. When I started doing this event 7 years ago there was only one tent to register and about 50people in the whole race. Now the events have a "race village" with shops, massages, bike repairs and nearly 2,000 competitors spread over the whole weekend. Its a great atmosphere and occassionally the family can be dragged down to enter a Scooterthon or other such race.
I've taken part in over 30 of these events over the past 7 Years including The London Triathlon, Royal Windsor, London Duathlon, Milton Keynes, Blenheim Palace, South Coast, Bullbuster etc and they just get better and better. its the fastest growing sport in the UK. Anyone else doing them?
Great thing is that the training can fit easily into your lunch hour. You can run, or bike or swim and still be back at the office within the hour. Today was running - 12 sets of 400m sprints with 40 sec jog/ rest in between each.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
I can't believe my first attempt at writing a blog about my running addiction is going to be such a flop and make me sound like such a light-weight!
I would have liked to share with you how wonderful my regular 10 miler is through the hills, lanes and woods of the Chiltern Hills; or how elated I felt in the last 5k of the London Duathlon the other weekend as I seemed to be getting faster, my feet lighter and my breathing easier; but instead I'm going to talk about snot, sneezes, sore throats and aching limbs!!
Bloody colds and flus,I despise them! Surely they're curable in this day and age of space travel and Quantum science? Breathing in other peoples sneezes on a packed tube train- it's the curse of millions of people having to live on top of each other! If i'm running from anything, I'm running from this! I run because I crave to fill my lungs with fresh clean air that makes your feel lighter and helps you see more clearly.
For now though I can't breath through my red raw nose and I feel like I weigh a tonne. I need to chill and rest. Just a couple of days is all it'll take hopefully, then i'll be able to run and breath again!
I would have liked to share with you how wonderful my regular 10 miler is through the hills, lanes and woods of the Chiltern Hills; or how elated I felt in the last 5k of the London Duathlon the other weekend as I seemed to be getting faster, my feet lighter and my breathing easier; but instead I'm going to talk about snot, sneezes, sore throats and aching limbs!!
Bloody colds and flus,I despise them! Surely they're curable in this day and age of space travel and Quantum science? Breathing in other peoples sneezes on a packed tube train- it's the curse of millions of people having to live on top of each other! If i'm running from anything, I'm running from this! I run because I crave to fill my lungs with fresh clean air that makes your feel lighter and helps you see more clearly.
For now though I can't breath through my red raw nose and I feel like I weigh a tonne. I need to chill and rest. Just a couple of days is all it'll take hopefully, then i'll be able to run and breath again!
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