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Tears, Toenails & a man called Dimi
I’ve been pretty silent of late, not quite knowing what to say that might add any value to the current situation. I guess times of crisis bring out the best and worst in people, so I wanted to share a story from my first challenge that definitely shows the best.
Six days into my attempt to run 44 marathons in 44 countries in 44 consecutive days I arrived via Belarus into Ukraine injured and alone. I spent the evening wondering around an underground market desperately trying to find some nail clippers so I could cut/hack away my big toenail and release a blood blister conveniently positioned underneath it. I really wasn’t in a good place physically or emotionally.
The following morning, I posted a video where I honestly thought that might be it. I barely held things together for the minute or so it took for me to say that I would be starting that 7th marathon in Ukraine but may not be finishing it. After that video finished the tears came and when I think back to that moment, and even writing this, they still do.
A few minutes later I had dried my tears, bandaged up my big toe (minus nail) and headed down the hotel stairs to begin the marathon. As I started my big toe was throbbing away, only made worse by the pain in my knee, which had resurfaced from a couple of days earlier. A marathon that had begun with uncertainty was now in even more doubt than when I was crying in my hotel room a few hours before. However, all was not lost.
At around the halfway point I was joined by this beautiful human being, pictured below, called Dimi. Dimi hardly spoke a word of English and my Ukrainian wasn’t great, it still isn’t to be fair, but I gradually found out that Dimi had heard about what I was doing on facebook and had come to run with me to the finish line.
As we ran along exchanging more actions that words, I remember Dimi pointing to his muscles and then to me, trying to imply I was strong. I felt anything but 20 miles in, but it’s no exaggeration to say that Dimi literally dragged me to the finish line that day and changed not only the course of the day but of the entire challenge.
Dimi was just one example of human kindness and of strangers supporting me throughout those 44 days. It’s also almost 3 years to the day that I set off from Russia to attempt the challenge and it’s hard to even contemplate what was achieved given the current situation in the world. I don’t want to patronise people or offer shallow or generic words of wisdom, but I hope this story of human kindness helps in some way. Keep safe and take care ❤
What practical things can you do to pace yourself better? 🏃♀️
The first point is something that happens before you event start. It’s about where you position yourself in the starting pen. I suggest you go further back than you think you should. This will mean you are less likely to get swept along by other runners speeding past from behind and it also means there are more people to catch, something that can be a big motivation later on.
The next thing would be to make a conscious effort to let people pass you at the beginning. Unless you get your positioning spot on, then people should be passing you at the start. If the majority of people sprint off, and you want to be the exception, then if people aren’t passing you then you’re going too quickly! It is also much more motivating to be passing people at the end than being passed. Even if you are not naturally a competitive person it is hard not to prefer it being that way round than the other.
I know with both these points there is the fear you’ll get stuck behind others and be held up. However like I mentioned in my last post, unless you’re in a big city marathon or large scale event then there should be plenty of time for the runners to thin out and for you to find space to naturally pass people. Obviously the longer the race, the more opportunity for this, but any small gains you may make in running a ‘racing line’, will almost certainly be negated by the losses of running on empty at the end.
The next point would be about telling yourself the race starts at half way. It’s a bit of cliché, and potentially just a meaningless collection of words if used in the wrong context, but in pacing a race well it means everything. Whatever the distance your mindset really should be that half way is the time you step it up. The race should have been controlled and fairly comfortable until that moment and then it’s you’re moment to get going.
An important tip I use at this point is to stop looking at my watch and just run to feel. Your watch will have been useful up to that moment, to control your start, but towards the end of the race it’s all about running to feel and trying to pace that finish right. Your watch can be a big distraction in doing that well.
Another point is that if you find yourself slowing down then your watch is more likely to demoralise you then provide any assistance. Sadly however many times you look at it, it won’t make you run faster. If your'e running too quickly then it can also make you hold back when you’re in full swing. For example thoughts of “I shouldn’t be running this quickly, I need to slow down”. If you feel good, you’re overtaking people and you’re in control, then go with it and judge that effort to the line. You might surprise yourself at how quickly you finish by focusing on catching the person in front rather than hitting a split on a watch.
Practice, practice, practice. The next thing is to practice this in training. You can’t expect to learn something without practice so practice finishing your longer runs with a quicker second half. It is something I build into my athletes long runs as a way for them to practice and develop their pacing. Psychologically, knowing you need to speed up in a training run also normally means you start off slower. The exact thing I want to get across.
Some people might say that this approach takes the fun out of running, the freedom to run to feel and that dream that one day you just go off quickly and hold on. Maybe you will but in reality more often than not you won’t. If you want to run with a complete freedom then great I’m all for that but I’m just saying if you want to run quicker sometimes then it can pay to be a bit more methodical and a bit more measured. Well at the start at least 😀
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Could you run faster by starting slower?🏃♀️
The answer in short is undoubtedly yes. But why? And how? I’ve been racing for many years now and am always amazed at the speed in which people set off in races. It seems like there is an unwritten rule that you should run as fast as you can for the first 400 meters or so and then return to your normal or target pace. A pace which then becomes a lot harder because you’ve preceded it with a 400m sprint!
I believe going off too fast at the start of a race does one of two things. Firstly it makes the race so much harder than it needs to be and secondly it means you are likely to run a slower time and enjoy it less. So if you’re someone who tends to get their pacing wrong and really struggles in the second half of races, how about starting slower?
I know that sounds incredibly simple and runners clearly don’t set out to intentionally start of too quickly and slow down along the way. It can happen for many reasons though such as bad pacing, an overoptimistic target, getting caught up in the moment or simply having a bad day (normally as a result of one or a combination of the last 3).
What about getting stuck behind everyone and them slowing you down I hear you ask?! Unless you’re in a big city marathon or large scale event then there should be plenty of time for the runners to thin out and for you to find space to naturally pass people. Obviously the longer the race, the more opportunity for this, but any small gains you may make in running a ‘racing line’, will almost certainly be negated by the losses of running on empty at the end.
Everyone is slightly different but I have always got my best times running an evenly paced race or with a quicker second half. For example when I ran my 2:25 marathon I ran the first half in 1:13:45 and came back in under 1:12. The biggest thing I learnt from this and other races was that by holding back at the start it actually made me run quicker and enjoy it more.
I realised that starting slower didn’t mean that I was leaving my best effort out on the course or not trying hard enough, it just meant I was running smarter. There will be times when you still get this wrong but running is all about calculations, feelings and the judgement of how your body feels in certain moments.
I will put a post next week with some practical tips for better pacing but I want to leave you with this question. Is slowing down in a race inevitable? If you answer that with a no, then it not only shows your open to change, it’s also an incredibly positive mindset to take into any race.
Race management, pacing strategies & progressive training runs form a fundamental part of my online coaching support. For more information & to sign up click the link.
What motivates you?
Motivation is clearly a key factor in whether we succeed in our goals or not. Whether you are trying to run your first parkrun, lose weight or manage your mental health better through running, there will be a time when your motivation fades. It’s about as inevitable as going off to quickly in your first race.
But we are all motivated by a combination of different things. So how do you know what really motivates you? And more importantly how can you keep that motivation up when you want to stop?
Despite sounding a bit like homework, a key way I use is to simply write down what motivates me. I have always done this throughout my marathon training and for both the challenges. I then score that list out of ten. 10 being something that is a rock solid motivation and 1 being something that is a lot more fragile.
Some people’s motivations will be more obvious and they will be able to list these straight off. Others will require more thought. Regardless of how yours come about the key is to be really honest with yourself. In reality the idea of running your first park run might not motivate you at all, but the idea of losing weight and making friends along the way may. If so they will score higher.
Once you have scored these out of 10 list them in order from lowest to highest. You will then have what I have just decided to call your ‘motivational barriers’. I may need to work on the name!
Each motivation forming a ‘motivational barrier’ in your mind that negative thoughts will have to break through to make you stop (or a lot of the time to stop you starting). I like to humanise my negative thoughts into a person but maybe that’s just me. I call him ‘Steve’, we’re not friends.
Individually these may be quite weak but if you can line them up together, those negative thoughts will have to go a long way to get through all those barriers. You will then have your own personal defence system and a way to keep you going when things are tough.
Sometimes it is easy to forget these so keep the list somewhere you know, for example for when you don’t want to get out of bed to go for a run. Also physically take it out on your runs with you before it becomes more ingrained in your mind.
As you start running your first ‘motivational barrier’ might quickly be broken down but then it is on to the next. If you can visualise these barriers in your mind then it will really help. When I was running up those mountains in France and I wanted to stop, I was sometimes down to that last ‘motivational barrier’. In my mind I was saying that you’re not going to break through, I was fighting to push back the other way.
If you ever hear me running along shouting “F**K you Steve, you’re not getting through’ you now know why.
Everyone is clearly different but just by going through the process of writing down what motivates you, you will have a much clearer idea in your mind. If you can only think of one thing then realistically it will have to be an incredibly strong motivation/’motivational barrier’ in order for your motivation not to be quickly broken. If you really think about it I’m sure you can come up with at least 5 as they really don’t need to be huge things. It could be as simple as wanting to spend more time outside every day.
Here are a few things that were on my list from the tour challenge below. As you can see it would have taken a lot for that pesky Steve to break through.
* Crossing that finish line in Paris
* Raising money for charity
* Inspiring others
* Finding out what my body was capable of
* Sharing the experience with others
* Not letting people down
* Taking a risk
* Getting to see France
* Eating what I like (malt loaf sandwiches etc I’m not a proud man)
* A double espresso and a magnum at the top of a mountain
* Getting to put on my OofoS (Comfy flip flops) when I finished each day
What motivates you forms a big part of my online coaching packages. Learn more on the link below.
Could you run without a GPS watch?
I know a lot of runners, my previous self-included who would shudder at the thought of going running without a GPS watch on. GPS watches clearly offer a great deal and can be a brilliant tool in helping people to track their progress and achieve their goals. Do they have to be used on every run though?
Although I completely get that the mantra ‘if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen’ is a bit of fun (I do have fun sometimes) it does emphasise the idea that every run needs to be recorded. And if it has to be recorded then it in turn create a pressure to run quicker. A pressure that can often be counterproductive as running quicker than you should can potentially lead to injury and a lack of enjoyment overtime.
Also to not stop to speak to that person or take an unknown route because it may be slower is a mentality that may be useful for a speed session, however it is not a healthy way to run long term. This is the way I often used to run but I don’t think it has to be the only way. In fact I know I doesn’t.
Running without a GPS watch forms a key part of the coaching support I offer and the idea of having sessions where you run to feel instead of time. That doesn’t mean ditching a GPS watch altogether but instead just having at least one or 2 runs a week without it. Runs where the focus is on the experience, how your body feels, who your running with etc. instead of a set distance or speed
I do not believe this means these runs are less effective in fact far from it. If used on easier runs or runs where you want to explore somewhere new I think it is the perfect match. Why not give it a try and start a new mantra ‘it’s not on Strava but it did happen’.
