Runningmonkeys

Today we are sitting at the front of a typhoon.  It has been coming up from Okinawa and is just starting to show up here. 

First thing this morning I went running in the rain and I didn’t see any other runners.  All I saw were people huddled beneath umbrellas or giving me strange looks through the windows of their cars.  I finished my run as per schedule then came home.  After a quick shower and something to eat, I headed out on my bike to meet some of my team members for training and to fill out some race forms.  Only two of us ended up riding.  The other guys headed off in their cars (one with a brand new million dollar bike, as yet, unridden!).  We were the only cyclists riding anywhere that I saw. 

The 2 of us headed off up MT Tsukuba and climbed a ridiculous road.  It had a textured concrete surface and that was all that gave us any traction at all.  It was a constant struggle to keep the back wheel from slipping and the front wheel on the ground.  Roads like this simply don’t exist in Australia.  I don’t understand how any car was supposed to climb it!

Anyhow, I am not writing this to win your praise.  My point is that if we want to achieve anything substantial, we will have to persistently put in effort that goes beyond where everyone else stops.  If we stop when every sane person stops, then we will probably achieve whatever they achieve.  This is sound logic, but not really a fairy tale ending.

Sometime we have to behave in ways that appear crazy to others, if we want to achieve our goals, but I, for one, am willing to put up with that.

I will be writing up an article about commitment on my brand new site www.lifegoalaction this week.  I am still getting the structure of the site together but by the end of the week, the first few posts will be there for you to read.  If you are interested in achieving extraordinary things with your life, then you might find the site very interesting.  Drop by any time from 20th July 2007 and see what you think.

Thanks

Tom 

There has been a lot of debate over how much sleep the average person needs to get by.  We are told that below a specific threshold, the average person, loses the ability to think clearly, operate productively and relate effectively with others.  This threshold is supposedly along the lines of 6 hours per day for an average person.  Of course this average means that some need more and some need less and we are not really talking about optimal levels, actually only the minimum for effective survival.  The generally accepted optimum sleep quantity for adults is between 7 and 8 hours a day.  [Read more →]

So, here I am in the second week of my brand new training program.  So far I have fulfilled 100% of the running I specified, but that has only been 9 runs.

The program includes a long gradual base phase as per my posts on base training.  I picked a maximum mileage of 105 kilometres per week this season.  By the end of my base phase I will have reached 84 kilometres (80% of max). 

My first 3 weeks are 48 kilometres each and after this I increase the distance by about 9 kilometres every third week.  This means I will be spending a total of 15 weeks in base training.  Some would see this as a long time, but I see it as an investment in my future.  Considering that I am still growing into the Pose Method of Running, I have chosen to take a conservative approach to maximise my preparation while minimizing my chances of injury.

My first weeks are assuming a VDOT value of 53 (which is frustratingly slow at E pace so I am cheating by about 8-9 seconds per kilometre by running faster than I should).  I will ease this up a notch every five weeks if all is well.  If this doesn’t mean much to you, have a look at my review of the Jack Daniel’s Training formula and then click on the link to buy it…you won’t regret it.

So far I am doing my mileage over six even days, with Monday as a rest day.  Later on I’ll include a touch of speed work and reserve a moderately long run for one day a week.  This week I’ve decided to take my shoes off for a short part of my runs (about 1.5klm) and as the weeks go on, I aim to increase this amount.

All in all, I have a long way to go before I reach a peak in February next year.  This will be just in time for the Tokyo Marathon, which I had better get my entry in for.  On the way, I’ll run the Tsukuba Marathon in November as a progress test run.

Apart from this I’ll be bike racing and perhaps I’ll find time to fit in a couple of triathlons. 

My number one priority for this next twelve months is to train carefully but progressively and end up 100% injury free this time next year.

Anyone like to join me?  I’d love to hear what you have in your running diary

A marathon is run over 42.2 kilometres or 26 miles.  That distance is firmly entrenched in running culture as a mark of a specific type of run.  It is recognisable in much the same way as a 100m sprint.  A hundred metre sprint is never anything but 100m and a marathon is never anything but 42.2 k’s or 26 miles.

However, this is not how the Japanese use the term.  When I mention a recent marathon to a Japanese person they will usually ask how long it was.  At first, I was amazed that so many people had no idea that a marathon could only be one distance.  That was, until I discovered that my idea of a marathon wasn’t the same as their idea of a marathon. [Read more →]

Subsequent to my post regarding the “Militant” group of barefoot runners, I have been in contact with Barefoot Ken Bob who runs the site.  His site  has some very interesting things to say about running barefoot and he particularly directed me to an article on his site, by Dr Nicholas Romanov (who wrote The Pose Method of Running) regarding his take on barefoot running.

Since reading a bit more I have decided to introduce more barefoot running into my weekly training.  I don’t have a beach near me any more, meaning that sand running is out of the question so today I began the process of adaption by taking off my flats for a kilometre and a half of my run while I was on a rubberised walking track near my home.

I was immediately surprised by how quiet it all sounded.  My feet made only the slightest sound as they lightly padded the ground at each step.  I freaked out a few early morning walkers by inadvertently sneaking up behind them silently and then passing by.  They were completely shocked to see someone without any warning, and particularly when it was a foreign guy wearing only a tan mark where his shoes normally go.

Tonight the balls of my feet feet a little burnt but that is no surprise.  It has been quite some time since these feet have braved the pavement without at least thongs to protect them.  It will take some time for them to toughen up.  All in all it was a positive experience and I have no idea where it will lead but I expect to see some benefits if I stick to it for a while as part of my training.  

I love running.  In fact I love a whole lot of active pursuits.  That is why I used to question the value of a day off training.

Why would I want to deliberately stop myself from doing what I love?  Would I not be harming my progress and holding myself back if I don’t train every day? [Read more →]

Yesterday when I was walking through the park with my 2 year old daughter I learnt a very important lesson.

It is summer here and the local wildlife, particularly snakes, just love lying in the sun and doing their thing.  My daughter, also likes doing her own thing and when these two things interact there is plenty of excitement.  [Read more →]

• Marketing type people will tell you that the best shoe communicates your chosen  lifestyle, most accurately.
• Retail salespeople will tell you that the best shoe is defined by product gimmicks.
• The world will tell you that the best shoe depends on how successful you see yourself.
• Reality will tell you that the best shoe is simply which ever shoe does the job.

Who do you listen to?

I’ve just been reading a paper by a couple called Bernard and Veronique Cova called Tribal aspects of Post Modern Consumption research : The case of French In-line Skaters.

They describe the way that this category of people, the cultural group brought together  in the name of in-line skating, has formed more of a tribe situation rather than a formal association.  These tribe members are more likely to share common emotions, styles of life, moral patterns and patterns of consumption rather than more conventional descriptions. [Read more →]

I am a big fan of barefoot running.  It can be fun, relaxing and can definitely help you get your feet into shape.  When I get the chance I use it, when I don’t, I don’t.

However, I have just come across these guys.  Running Barefoot.org is a site specifically set up for barefoot runners (you could probably guess that!) and they seem like a militant lot.  If there is ever a fire at a running shoe factory, I would send the police to this site to start interviewing suspects.  It is an interesting read though.  Check it out