Chapter 60 : the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Dear patient of the Royal Hobart Hospital.

I  love you.  I want you to get better and get out of the Royal.  The best way is take control of your illness. Accept responsibility for your illness. You are the cause and also the reason you will get better. The majority of illnesses are associated with lifestyle. In your case it may not be true but the moment you accept ownership of your illness you enter a wonderful place.

I have based my opinion on my experience in the hospital. Which kinda went like this.

A consultation with one doctor.  Whenever I mentioned a symptom he said he had seen it more often than me and one case ten times worse.

Consultation with a support group who wanted my email address. So they could send me weekly newsletters, dates of support group meetings and other ways they could give me information and support me over the next few years. I said I wanted to get better and my aim was to work towards not needing their support and they said, “Have a nice day. Goodbye.”

Consultation with a doctor. I pulled out a list of questions I wanted answered. The doctor was stunned. I was there to listen to him, not ask questions.

I asked for a copy of my notes and was told I had to fill out a form and apply through at a different part of the hospital and they would explain to me how to get there.  Elsewhere in the hospital I encountered staff who photocopied pathology results and gave me a copy and said,” don’t tell anyone”.

After a few weeks lying on my back I decided I wanted to get out and not return and that it was up to me. The system was not interested in promoting health or preventing patients returning.  The system was biased towards ED.  The Royal was expert at picking people up from the bottom of the cliff and resuscitating them and hopeless at preventing people falling over the cliff. They found me at the bottom of the cliff and I was expertly resuscitated and completely ignored when I wanted to prevent falling in the future.

There is nothing especially good or bad about the Royal Hobart Hospital. It is typical of a western hospital in the way it is staffed, managed and run. The only exception is morale which is probably worse than average. Which is probably because we are a small stable, prosperous island state with very distant neighbours and little news apart from the Royal.

In my seven weeks in the Royal I never heard a member of staff say, “I love working at The Royal. We do good work.” They used to they raised their eyebrows and shake their heads whenever they mentioned The Royal.

Does poor morale matter to you?   It does because a front page news’s story or politician on the evening news leads to a decrease in staff morale. Staff in bad moods affects you. You will suffer. A politician will celebrate getting their face on TV and the next day you will receive worse treatment. As a patient I used to watch the evening news. Just to make sure we never made it.

There is one thing you can do about staff morale. Thank the staff for their work. Whenever they do something for you, thank them. Tell them they are doing a good job. It’s probably true and means that in the future they will be happy to return and help you again.  It is a very easy task I am giving you. Because most of the staff are neat, tidy, punctual, compassionate and know their work.

In the ward one thing you will watch is the nurse complaining about the next ward, the doctor complaining about the registrar, the pathology staff complaining about administration. You could call them power struggles.  Everybody will get involved including the various wards, administration, the general practitioner, the lab, the nurses, the doctors and the registrars.

If you have worked in a big organization you may be used to these power struggles. If you are like me then it will be new to you. You have no choice. Get used to it. Go the same way as me. Assume that a power struggle means people have pride in their work?  Assume that there is nothing wrong with power struggles.  Everybody can argue about how to move forward if they are all moving in the same direction. 

Another thing you may see is the staff becoming confused about who the patient is. The staff would speak to my significant partner and then she would try and interpret. I would then ask her questions and she would say ,”We never discussed that” or “It never came up” or “Next time I will mention it”  or best of all, ”I was there. I know what happened better than you.” I saw this happen to other patients so it was a common habit and may happen to you. Please be careful.

What are you going to think about when lying in bed 24/7? Well I don’t know what you will think about. I can tell you what I thought about. I never thought, “How lucky I am, that I have been admitted. I am grateful and thankful for the services provided.”

I spent a lot of time feeling disappointed that I needed a bed, staff and services. I was never grateful that it was provided.   I thought about myself and my particular illness. I did not want to come back and I realised that the staff were not going to emotionally invest in my future. I had to take control. I had to find everything out about my illness. I had to get all this information from the staff.

Some staff were incredibly perceptive and would help me.  Others saw me as a threat to their control.  I eventually, by various mean, found out ways to manage myself. It is up to you to work out which staff will help you.

What I wanted was to get better and not return. What the staff wanted was to be neat and tidy, punctual and perform their procedures correct.   This is what they were expert at. They were sober, neat, tidy and polite.  They were kind, considerate and expert at following standard procedures. There was a standard procedure or standard form for every situation which was followed.  After discharge there was even a standard form for feedback.

Good luck to you and all the best with your recovery. Politicians will talk about bed numbers, staff numbers, number of services provided. Staff will concern themselves with standard procedures but it is you accepting responsibility for your illness which actually matters and will get you better.

Taking control of your management will not guarantee you eternal life but it might make what remains more enjoyable. Aim for a balanced life with physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual health and a healthy diet free of excessive drug use. Good luck.

BIO: Alan Carlton is a retired Hobart dentist. He was admitted to The Royal in 2015 and 2017 (including ED and two weeks in ICU). He has now retired from work. He now spend his time running, playing tennis, gardening and visiting every cafe in Hobart.

Chapter 59 : Mid-winter fest

Once upon a time Mona was infallible. Mona displayed modern, global, fashionable art.  And it finished up here in Tassie which confirmed that Tassie was up to date, modern and part of a global trend.  We were eternally grateful for Mona. Mona made us part of a modern, fashionable world. And they also bought the tourists.         

Their art has never arisen spontaneously from the local community or related much to the local community.  It was always bestowed upon us from a great height and we always said thank you but now it has crossed the line. They have now giving us weird, cruel, performance art. Which we have not gratefully accepting.

Mona has changed Hobart. But we never embraced their vision. We never become creative artists.  We never embraced the obsessions of Mona with sex and death. And the pottery or water colors or music originating in Hobart are not better or worse than prior to Mona. 

Mona has now given us the Midwinter fest. Balls of flames evaporating upwards from pyramidal structures. The flames infiltrate the dark, shadowy, gloomy and obscure sky.  We walk through a field of light which delights us.  Inside the Winterfest the ambiance is light and dark. Red lights and light bulb trees overhang some beautifully, inviting tents. The gloomy, dark, bleak, areas contrast with the cheerful, sunny, optimistic, enthusiastic, light areas.   

We meet my grandson. He has bought me some good news.

Bruce: “I am wearing my invisible hat.”

I say the obvious, “I can’t see it.”

He replies, “That’s what invisible means. You can’t see it.”

I ask him, “Is it keeping you warm?”

Bruce, “Yes it is.”

The winter solstice is a time to celebrate the beginning of the sun coming. The sun bringing light and brightness. The sun causing the evil, dark to cower and hide. The brightness of the sun disinfecting and cleaning our dark, sleepy lives.

I brows the stalls and become confused. Should I go with organic, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, seasonal veggies, artisanal cheese, wallaby, succulent octopus, delicious kimchi, or plump oysters.

We have always enjoyed food and drinks on the docks from vans served on paper plates. We celebrated the docks and street food. Now most of Hobart is enjoying it with us.

Now I have to decide on a cooking style.  Should I try the Vietnamese, Argentina, Middle Eastern, Persian, Japanese, Spanish or India food? Should it be roasted slowly over hot coals or roasted over Mallee root charcoals.

We can choose to wash the food down with traditional, small batch and hand crafted beer, apple cider, wine or ginger beer made from local ingredients served in paper cups.

The food is creative and inspire us to different ways of cooking or different ingredients or different combinations.  The food inspires us to be creative in the kitchen.  One daughter says she is going to make pancakes with berries and salted caramel.  Another daughter is inspired by the wood fired pizza with the thin sour dough base.  

A grandchild is creatively sucking a chip and says, “That’s my best food.”

I say, “What are chips made from?”

Kay smiles and replies, “Yellow.”

I continue, “Okay what is tomato sauce made from?”

She says, “Red.”  She is just beginning her food education. This is a good place to learn about food.

And I am distracted by a noise.  The noise was originally music created by a performer who I can spy between the dark jackets. The mumbled hum infiltrates our group but doesn’t overpower our talk.

Which is all about food. I can hear words like, “I like that. They have used. That’s a strange combination. I would never have come up with that combination. It works well. I think I’ll add when I make it. I’ll try that. I love the way they have fried it. It’s delicious.”

Perhaps this just says something about my family.  We are more interested in cooking and eating than the creative arts.  Except one daughter, who talks like a politician, and says, “Dark Mofo brings a lot of money into the state.”

I am more interested in the elephant in the room which is a dead cow.   Vegetarians and vegans and animal lovers have complained about the disrespect for animals masquerading as a work of art. It is inevitable people will change their attitude to eating meat after seeing this performance about meat. The butchers of Hobart re having their activities dissected, examined and looked at.

What is this role of meat in our society? What have all the protests said about our society? What is the connection between the art and the food eaten?  Somebody says the performance is over.  Ah well moving on.

And listening to my grandchildren while sipping and nibbling I relax. Talk turns to a nude swim.   I am grateful and happy that other people are doing it.  It’s one way of saying, “I do whatever I want. Whenever and wherever I want. The weather doesn’t control me. The darkness doesn’t tell me what to do.”

We make our way along the docks to Dark Park.  Where I see something strange. An enormously large, compliant, passive, well behaved crowd of jackets, beanies and cameras trying to decipherer a few installations of light, shadows and sounds amidst buildings and passageways we previously didn’t know existed. 

What are they telling me about traditional winter solstice rituals?   What are they saying about ancient myths and legends of light and dark, birth and death? I ate and drank and don’t care.  I enjoyed the food, the fellowship, the entertainment and the crowds of happy people. That’s enough.

Alan Carlton is a former Hobart dentist. He retired in October 2015. He now spends his time running, playing tennis, gardening and writing blogs.

Chapter 58 : I am not dead because....

Lying in a hospital bed I read articles in the local newspaper about the Tasmanian Health System. Articles written by health experts or politicians or the unions.  This disturbed me. None of these articles was written by anybody who had done what I had done.  Been a patient in The Royal.  

Well you could say that these people had my best interests at heart. They were just channeling my thoughts. Well maybe but I will tell you what a patient actually thinks not what other people say is best for me.

Politicians often, without asking me, used me and my predicament to try and gain political advantage.  They focused on things they could understand or things they thought were going to get them media coverage. Such as bed numbers, staff numbers or obvious mistakes by the health system. Politicians gave the impression they didn’t understand health, care about my fellow patients, or want the portfolio. I also got the impression that politicians were good people, who had been given an impossible job, and that both sides were the same.

Some articles were from the unions. The union had a standard response to everything. We need more nurses. Sometimes they may have been right but they were always predictable and when I was a patient I never thought the union was on my side.

As a patient I used to think. How can I get out of here and not come back?

I used to spend most of my time thinking about my particular illness. I did not want to come back and I realised that I had to find everything out about my illness. I had to take control. The staff were not going to emotionally invest in my future.  The staff knew everything and I had to access this information. It was not a formality that this information would automatically flow from them to me.  It varied. Some staff were incredibly perceptive and helpful.  Others saw me as a threat to their control.

The system as it exists at present is not interested in promoting health or preventing patients returning.  The system is biased towards ED.  The Royal is expert at picking people up from the bottom of the cliff and resuscitating them and hopeless at preventing people falling over the cliff. They found me at the bottom of the cliff and I was expertly resuscitated and completely ignored when I wanted to prevent falling in the future. I realise now that promotion of health has no political or news value.

I never lay in bed thinking, “How lucky am I that I have been admitted.” I never felt grateful and thankful for the services that I needed. I was never grateful to the staff that helped me. I was never grateful to the Royal for providing a bed. I used to spend my time feeling unhappy and being self-obsessed.  I was disappointed that I needed a bed, staff and services not grateful that it was provided.   Bed numbers and staff numbers were never an issue. Never something I thought about.  

As a patient I was mesmerized by the behavior of staff.

There was nothing else to do apart from watch the staff. The staff seemed to have a form for everything.  Everybody filled out the same form. I began to see how a generic form could trigger the staff to think of everything and cover every situation. I found this behavior strange but my work history does not involve a big organization. Maybe standard procedures and standard forms are needed in all big organizations.   

The moment any incident occurred the reaction would be, “We must write a report and make sure this never happens again.” There was always something that prevented a good outcome and a report that would fix the problem.  Maybe not accepting responsibility is also inevitable in big organizations

And I used to observe power struggles between one member of staff and the next ward, administration, the general practitioner, the lab, the next nurse, the other doctor or the registrar. At times the power struggles deviated from humorous.

The other situation I used to observe was the issue of focusing on the patient and ignored the family.  I witnessed it many times.  A patient being successfully managed. And coping well. And then the family would visit. They would not be coping.  Often emotional wrecks. The family would need some sort of support. They had to be part of the solution. They had to be involved.  They were either part of the solution or needed help.  At the very least they needed a friendly chat.

As a patient I noticed that staff morale was poor.

Whenever the staff mentioned The Royal they raised their eyebrows and shock their heads.

This attitude is understandable if you read or listen to the local media.  Every story making the news will highlight some failing, discrepancies or mistake.

At times the front page news’s story or politician on the evening news leading to a decrease in staff morale was palpable. A politician will celebrate getting their face on TV and the next day the staff will treat you worse. When you are a patient you dread The Royal making the evening news. It leads to grumpy staff who don’t treat you as well.

In my seven weeks I never heard a member of staff say, “I love working at The Royal. We do good work.”

Which is sad because a lot of the staff do a lot of good work and should be proud of their work.

What else did I think about when lying flat on my back?

I saw many procedures performed. Sometimes they didn’t go as in the textbook. The equipment was not in the drawer; the patient’s anatomy was unique.  That pleased me. That tells me that The Royal is full of unique humans (carers and patients).  I love this confirmation that The Royal is one part of our magnificent, imperfect and ever-changing world.

Thanks to The Royal I know how lucky I am. I did this by sharing a ward with people who were not as lucky.  I saw people who, unfortunately, had not been given good cards. At the time my impotent reaction was to wish these people all the best. To hope they got better and got out of that place.

Despite or because of its idiosyncrasies I am not dead.  The Royal did the right thing at the right time. My trip to The Royal leaves me feeling blessed and lucky.   I encountered staff who were sober, neat, tidy and polite.  They were kind, considerate and knew their subject.

BIO: Alan Carlton is a retired Hobart dentist. In 2015 he spent seven weeks in The Royal (including ED and ICU). Since then he has retired. He now spend his time running, playing tennis, gardening and visiting every cafe in Hobart.

Chapter 57 : the City to Casino (C2C)

Why do it?

By talking about it, both before and after, it makes me feel part of the community.  It connects me with the other people running in it (not the people jammed in their cars).  It connects me with all the people who ran in previous years. It feels good to have two of the thousand moving legs.    

Some who enter will train specifically for it.  Other’s will maintain their usual lifestyle.  Which may or may not involve running, playing other sports or gym work.  Thousands of people will run on the day. Everybody will enter for a different reason. Everybody will train differently. Everybody who finishes will win a medal.

It will be a good guide to how fit and healthy I am. Good results will confirm my healthy lifestyle.  Bad results may trigger a change in lifestyle.  My result will be a record of my general physical fitness, my diet, my ability to rest and relax, my emotional health, my social health, my knowledge of running and specific running ability. My time will tell me if I need to change or luxuriate.

What is my aim?

My aim is to achieve a happy, healthy lifestyle. My aim is to be healthy physically, emotionally and socially. Emotional and social health are difficult to assess and probably not the main focus of the C2C.  I can try and do what everybody else is doing.  Continually self-assess and self-manage my own emotional and social health. I am the one who should know if things are going badly or working out well.

My time in the C2C will be a guide to how physically healthy I am.  Is my body or free or hosting an illness? Is my body receiving adequate rest? Is my diet healthy?  Is my diet full of the right amounts and types of fats, carbohydrates, proteins vitamins and minerals? Is my diet free of toxins?

To translate a healthy lifestyle into physical fitness I will need to do some physical exercises. My finish time in the C2C will be a guide to how physically fit I am. It will also tell me if the physical fitness I have achieved is the physical fitness appropriate for the C2C.  Though to me my physical health is what matters not my finishing position in the C2C.

Specific training for the C2C.

This year I will train specifically for the C2C. I am looking forward to enjoying the training and the C2C.  I am not seeing each training run as a chore leading up to the C2C.  I want to run for relaxation or for social reasons. Or maybe a form of mindfulness or meditation.

To me running is not about following a prescribed program. It does not mean looking at a program and saying, “Today is Monday therefore I run 5 kays.”  I run where and when I feel like running. I run for as long or short as I feel like. 

I take pleasure out of a result which indicates physical health and physical fitness. I take pleasure out being self-aware to such an extent I am able to fit my physical exercises in with my lifestyle.  I do not take pleasure out of correctly following someone else’s plan.

For the novice runner who hasn’t previously run the C2C what is the right distance for your training runs? The distance will depend on where and when you can run. It will depend on your commitments and on your general health. If you have to cook tea; you are going out; the weather says showers are possible; you have to pick the kids up at a certain time; you are feeling fit; your shoes are torn and need replacement; the lady next door wants to run with you then will mean you have time for a training run of 30 minutes.  You then need have to decide how fast you are going to run. Perhaps keep up with the lady next door.

The next day all the variables will have changed.  The length or speed or place for your training run will change. Go with the changes. Celebrate the fact your life involves an infinite number of variables. 

On race day you can normally double the distance of a raining run. If you can routinely do a training run of 5 kays then on race day you should be able to do 10 kays. Choose a distance in the C2C that fits in with the training you have been able to do.

Training should involve slow, steady and gradual increases. For a body to adapt it takes time. Training will result in changes in muscles, the nervous system, blood vessels and hormones.  It takes time for blood vessels to grow; for muscle cells to change; for hormones to become more efficient.   The initial increase should be of distance. Increase your weekly distance until you reach what you think is the right distance.  Then increase the speed or intensity of your running. This means train so that you can finish the course. Then go for speed. Speed is built on a foundation of endurance. 

Running is probably the best training for a running race. But for a race like the C2C you definitely can train by playing other sports, going to the gym, aerobics classes or swimming. It is your life. Do what you enjoy. You can enter the C2C and run it successfully with not one specific training run.  Everyone will prepare differently and have different expectations on race day. There is no rule to say you have prepared wrongly. Just enter and go for it. Whatever training you have done will fit in with your lifestyle, will relate to your health and fitness, will be enjoyable for you, will be done at the right time and place.  On race day, everybody standing next to you, has trained differently and correctly.

Race day

Just before the race the conventional wisdom is that you taper. The aim of a taper is to arrive at the start line in peak condition.  The taper is a period of decreased running and should allow your body to rest and recover from training while maintaining all the adaptations from training.  The taper is also a time to prepare mentally. Rest and meditate about the race.

The average person can finish the C2C using glycogen stored in the muscles. They will not need to eat or ingest any energy. Water will be needed. How much will vary; It will depend upon the speed at which you run; the distance you run and the weather. My basic rule is drink at every drink station.  It is very unlikely you will drink too much.  The dangers associated with inadequate water are much worse than making unplanned toilet stops.

Enjoy the race. If you want you can go the same way as me. See the C2C as a community celebration connecting and strengthening Hobart.  You can see your result as a guide to your own unique lifestyle with no correct answer. Or not. If you want to go some other way then do it. Go for it.

Chapter 56 : I finished the Canberra Marathon

Split       Split Time            Rank      Time                     Rank      Dist.       Pace      Speed

10KM    01:10:08               983         01:10:08               983         10.000   7:000     8.55

20KM    01:15:57               980         02:26:06               990         10.000   7:350     7.90

30KM    01:12:35               882         03:38:41               958         10.000   7:150     8.26

Finish    01:30:37               790         05:09:19               925         12.200   7:250     8.08

NET TIME

05:09:19

AVERAGE PACE: 07:19

OVERALL

925

OF 1,012
(8.60%)

MALE

675

OF 727
(7.15%)

M60-69

43

OF 54
(20.37%)

Chapter 55 : I want to finish the Canberra marathon...

I want to proudly cross the finish line of a marathon.  I don’t want to stagger and stumble across the finish line. I don’t want to see the finish line as blessed relief. I do expect to be aware of every aching muscle in my legs.  I want people to congratulate me and ask me how I feel.

What is a marathon?

The marathon is a long-distance running race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (26.219 miles, or 26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road  race.

The modern Olympics began in 1896. The organizers were looking for an event that recalled ancient Greece. They decided on a race from the town of Marathon to Athens. The race was to commemorate a local Greek fable. The fable was that in 490 BC a Greek messenger soldier ran from Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in a battle. When he arrived in Athens he ran into the political assembly; shouted, “We have won”; collapsed and died.  The initial race commemorated the fable and says nothing about the fable being historically accurate. 

Why such an odd distance?

In 1896 the first modern marathon was won by a Greek water carrier. The distance from Marathon to Athens, going the chosen way, was about 40 kilometers. The length of the first few Olympic marathons varied. In 1908 the Olympic Games were held in London. The organizers decided on a marathon course from Windsor Castle to the stadium in White City followed by a lap of the stadium.  The course that was used was 26 miles and 385 yards and after 1908 this became the standard length of any marathon race.  Johnny Hayes from USA won the 1908 Olympic marathon.  His victory popularized the event and led to cities hosting Marathons.  

There was an aura, a mystic associated with running a marathon. The word marathon entered our language.  With phrases such as “like running a marathon”, “the final steps of a marathon”, “a marathon effort”.  A marathon tends to symbolize something that is difficult to achieve; something that requires a long sustained effort; perseverance and determination and the dogged ability to keep going.  Not intelligence or luck or skill or creativity.

What does a marathon mean to me? 

To me a marathon means self-knowledge. Self-awareness. To me it means something that is not for everyone. Definitely for a certain type of person. Certain type of physic. Certain type of personality.

In Australia we are blessed.  We often have the right environment for a marathon.  We often have the right places to train. And multiple well run and organized marathons are available everywhere. In this country we are lucky runners.

I need a reason for attempting this marathon. I need motivation. Going back 30 years, my motivation for running my first marathon arose from fun running. I would enter a race of a certain distance, finish and then think that I could run further. “I can go further. How much further? What is my limit?” My motivation was to find out what I was capable of doing.  I would not think of time. I would only think of finishing. 

I would listen to other runners. They would talk about marathons. I would listen to a guy talk about his marathon and I would think, “If he can do that then so can I.” Other runners only reinforced my motivation. If he can do that then what can I do?

Finishing marathons gave me confidence. It gave me confidence to do other things. There was a slight change in the way people treated you. I thougt some were impressed to a slight extent. Maybe some were unimpressed. Nowadays my goal is the same. My goal is to finish. But my motivation is different. My motivation is to prove to myself that I am not old and ill. To prove to myself that I am fit and healthy. It’s all about me. I don’t care what other people think.

My previous experience tells me finishing a marathon will not occur serendipitously. I will need a training plan in order to finish a marathon.

For me every training run should be about enjoyment

I don’t want my training to feel like a chore. I want to look forward to my training runs.  Every run should be an aim in itself. Not done because it leads somewhere else.  My training runs may begin because the body is telling me to run. I may become addicted. I may run because of my hormone levels; maybe for relaxation or for social reasons. I don’t care. Maybe a form of mindfulness or meditation. Once again I don’t care. 

I want my training to involve slow, steady and gradual increases. From my view the initial increase should be of distance. I will increase my weekly distance until I reach what I think is the right distance. I will then increase the speed or intensity of my running. For my body to adapt it takes time.  I am expecting that training will result in changes in my muscles, nervous system, blood vessels and hormones.  It takes time for blood vessels to grow; for muscle cells to change; for hormones to become more efficient. Any of the changes I am expecting will take months. I am also expecting changes in my brain. I am expecting to learn.

I am expecting my body will adapt, grow and change after hard training. My body will only grow new cells, put down new systems when resting. Hard training must be followed by hard rest and recovery. Without the recovery from training my body will not adapt. Adequate recovery will also help me avoid injury and illness.
Every training run has to be either pushing the body, resting the body or maintaining the body.

A lot of experts advise against over training. The other problem is under training. My aim is to arrive at the start line at my absolute peak.  Everybody needs different training and recovery. Every body’s life is different.  Amount of incidental exercise outside of training varies. Amount and quality of rest varies. And every year for every marathon my training has varied.  This is what I love. I have constantly monitored myself and adjusted my training.  I have never taken pleasure out of correctly following someone else’s plan. I take pleasure out of adjusting and changing my training plans and keeping within my guidelines.

Under training will mean body adapts insufficiently. Overtraining means illness or injury or mentally tired. My aim is to find the right balance between over and under training.

Every training run requires self-assessment. Do I have a cold or flu or a systemic illness? Do I have any local problems such as tenderness, swelling or pain on dysfunctional movement? The weather, social engagements, work commitments, shoes and training gear all influence my training. My marathon training is not an island separate from my life.

My training involves a period of intense quality training. 

Internet experts suggest 8, 10 or 12 weeks of quality training. My previous experience tells me I need ten weeks of quality running which is consistent with the experts.

I cannot suddenly start quality running from zero.  I need a period of poor quality running prior to the period of quality running.  The amount and quality of physical exercise in the lead up period will depend on my lifestyle.  My lifestyle will vary year to year and within the one year.

The aim of training is to build up the body or adapt the body so that it can run from 30 to 42 kays. All of my training is aimed at running the last ten kays.

How many kays a week?

My previous experience:  60 kays a week resulted in better performance than 47 kays a week. 60 kays a week is my target at the moment. I can do this easily without any adverse effects on my life style and it seems to be enough to give me the necessary endurance.

What do the experts suggest?  They all suggest something different which is good. I love this diversity of opinions.

What type of training?

My previous experience says that the average speed of training had little effect on race time. My experience says my average speed in training went up from 6.78 to 7.52 min/kay. My final race time decreased. Other factors were involved.

A speed session or a time trial once a week had little effect. It does give me an indication of general fitness and keeps training interesting.

Experience and all the experts and most runners tell me one long slow distance run a week is crucial. Nothing but empirical evidence. I haven’t seen much scientific evidence or studies which proves long runs are an essential part of training. I have found that the long runs allow me to adapt psychologically. I know every time I do a long run it becomes easier emotionally.

The experts always recommend endurance first and speed second.  I attempt to build up endurance by running long mileages per week. I record my weekly mileage.  I don’t care how it is achieved.  I find my race time is related to my weekly total. Once I can do my targeted weekly mileage easily then I try and introduce speed sessions. I have found that this basic idea works for me. Speed comes second and is built on top of the endurance foundation.  What speed sessions? I try a variety. Depends on my mood or the weather or what others are doing or the stars.

Taper?

Conventional wisdom is that after a period of quality running you need a taper.  The aim of a taper is to arrive at the start line in peak condition.  The taper is a period of decreased running.  The taper should allow my body to rested and recover from all the hard training while maintaining all the adaptations from training. 

My recent experience is: 

In 2014  2 week taper

Week I ¾ of normal mileage

Week 2 ½ of normal mileage

In 2015 4 week taper

Week 1, 2, 3 ¾ of weekly mileage

Week 4 ¼ of weekly mileage

Race in 2015 was 15 minutes faster. Taper in 2015 was associated with better result.  My conclusion is that there are more important variables than the taper.

But the taper is still important and I treat it seriously. I have a few guidelines which I attempt to follow:

Training changes the physiology of my body. Training alters red blood cell numbers, the oxygen carrying molecule haemoglobin, blood capillary density in muscles and muscles cell mitochondria and oxygen carrying myoglobin. These changes last for around 8 weeks.  These changes will outlive most tapers.

Speed decreases quicker than endurance.  I maintain some sprints up to the day before. The closer the race the less the sprints.

Lethargy and sluggishness can occur during a taper. Which I treat by doing some sprints.

The taper should eliminate any muscle damage or muscle tenderness.

Taper is also a time to prepare mentally. Rest and meditate on the race. Calm my mind.

Taper needs to be very flexible. I will monitor myself constantly and try and react appropriately.   

Food and drink and race tactics

Only a small amount of carbohydrate (about 600 gm) is stored in muscles as glycogen. This is enough to get the average person between 20 and 30 kays or about ninety minutes. Not enough to finish a marathon.

After all the glycogen in the muscles has been used the extra energy either comes from carbohydrates ingested during the race or fat stores. 

Energy gels are largely carbohydrate based. These are the conventional method of getting energy during exercise. Some people train with gels.

Some experts are recommending a low carbohydrate diet so that the body adapts and uses more fat and less carbohydrate as an energy source. They are recommending this diet as a permanent life style change.  This is one of the debates in our society. Should energy come from fat or carbohydrates?

My habit is to train without carbohydrates. The body shifts to fat as a fuel and becomes more efficient. On race day I will use a carbohydrate gel.

I have seen this regime called the train low, race high regime. Not my idea. It gives me confidence knowing it is an established regime with a name and proponents who have won Olympic medals.

·         CONTACT US

23 February, 2017

.

Chapter 54 : Driver Licence To Remain Suspended