Chapter 97 : I want to finish the Gold Coast marathon.

I want to finish the Gold Coast marathon.    

 

There are a lot of other people who want to do the same.

I am 61 years old.

Not so many people in my cohort now.

I have had a dramatic medical problem.

My cohort is getting smaller.

I began my running when I was 20. I was a student at Melbourne Uni. I used to drive home pass the Flemington Racecourse. One day I felt stressed about my study. My mind was racing faster than my legs.   I looked at the racecourse and thought if I run around there my mind will slow down.  It turned out to be perfect. No dogs. No cars. The run restored my mind.

And my running career had begun. And it continued because it helped me relax, helped me study and made me feel good.

After Uni came work. I realised that my job was not providing me with enough physical exercise. When I came home from work I needed to go for a run to help me relax and help me sleep.

And I used to enjoy physical activities. Like squash. I loved sweating and puffing with mates.

And fun runs started to appear. I can do that. I can do better. I can go further. I can run quicker. And I would run against people I knew or play squash against my mates. And I realised men bond with other men by physical activity followed by a beer.

It was all about friendship. I didn’t run to lose weight or build up certain muscles or to look better. It was not about looking in mirrors. It was all about bragging rights. It was about the people I knew. It was what we talked about. We talked about the current squash competition or the next fun run. These were the people I mixed with.

At the age of 25/26 my heroes were sportsmen. I read the newspaper from the back. I read about Robert de Costello and Alberto Salazar.  They inspired me.  Reading about my heroes made me want to copy them.

I can do what they do. I can do that. I entered a marathon. It became my most painful marathon. I learnt that to run a marathon I would need to train specifically for it. It won’t just happen after reading about it.

After my first marathon I was a runner. I talked to other runners about the next race, what was coming up. And I talked about training. And I subscribed to running magazines and I ran and ran. 

My first marathon taught me that to run a marathon I need to train for it and I needed specific marathon knowledge.

I read what the experts said.  They said on Tuesday run 5 kays. I dutifully followed programs the experts had written down.

It was around this time that I learnt something else.

A detailed plan written by someone else doesn’t work for me.  What works for me is weekly or monthly goals. My actual running fits in with the weather, social engagements, my health and other factors.

I find specific training plans incredibly depressing. The moment I don’t achieve the prescribed daily plan I get depressed. I find it much more helpful to keep a record of what I have done rather than a plan of what I plan to do.

I keep a record of what I have done. And then I see how close to my goals I am. Do my goals need changing or does my training need changing?

After every run I write down how long it took.  At the end of the week I total up the time.  . I then divide my time by 6 or 7 to get my distance.  I know have a rough idea of how many kays I have run.  It is a rough guide but it works for me.

At the end of a week I know will know how many minutes (and kays) I spent running. During any week the terrain will vary, the gradient will vary, the weather, my health and the speed at which I run will vary but total time or distance is some sort of guide.

For example:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
34 mins	34  mins	36 mins	65 mins	0	36 mins	79 mins

Total time is 284 mins

Divide by 6 equals 47 kays

Divide by 7 equals 41 kays.

Please debate my plan but I won’t argue about one thing. In order to run a marathon I need a plan.

My plan for the Gold Coast marathon is:

Marathon training to consist of 10/12 weeks of hard training followed by a taper of 2/3 weeks.

My marathon training goal is 50/60 kays per week. I will keeping a record of total run in week.  Total per week will vary dependent on weather, illness or injury and social engagements.  And total run per week is one factor. Other factors are speed and gradient of track.

One session of speed or drills per week. Or one time trial per week.

One long distance run per week.

Develop healthy habits involving healthy eating and drinking.

Develop healthy habits involving social, emotional and spiritual health.

I also need to review and improve my basic knowledge about running marathons. 

I have run marathons in the past. They have taught me one thing.  I have a lot to learn.  I need to read magazines, books and websites about running.

And when I finish. I will celebrate. I will have a beer and a rest from hard running. I will enjoy life doing something else.