Motivation and inspiration

Sometimes the hardest part about going for a run is getting out the door. Whether it is getting up early, heading out after a busy day at work or just feeling unmotivated, we often find ourselves in the position of having to make a decision to run or not.

What motivates us to get up when it is still dark? when most other people are sensibly asleep in their beds, what makes us sacrifice after work drinks or put in that hard effort or extra couple of kilometres during training?

I have asked myself these and other questions many times before. Sometimes my answer is to go for a run, other times I turn off my alarm or stay at home. Sometimes opting out of a run is the smart decision. Often I get home from a run and remark to my very supportive wife that I am glad that I went for a run and feel much better than I did before heading out the door.

Having a goal such as a race to train for helps with motivation. I am very goal orientated and use an upcoming race or event to get myself pumped up and enthusiastic. I am always visualising and playing out little scenes in my head, thinking about the race, wondering what will happen and how I will perform etc. I visualise myself on the course, running with other competitors and I even visualise the thoughts and feelings I might have on race day. Some people may say that it is nothing but day-dreaming but while I'm out running these thoughts spur me on and help me to look forward and gives me great enjoyment while running by myself.

Although I tend to do a lot of running by myself, running with others or as part of a group can be very motivating. Whether it is the commitment itself, to be at a certain location at a certain time, or simply the presence of likeminded persons to help you push yourself when you would otherwise call it a day, running with others is a very important part of my training. When I started running I had various training partners and friends who had similar goals to mine. I also joined and have been part of various running clubs and with large and diverse memberships.

My first running club was the Wellington Marathon Clinic whom I ran with on Sunday mornings. I ran with them for my long runs as part of my triathlon training. From there I went to the Wellington Scottish Harriers who have been instrumental in my running career. With so many outstanding people from elite national representatives to the social weekend runner, I have always found myself surrounded by inspiring people. Moving to Rockhampton, Central Queensland in 2009, one of the first things I did was to look for a local running club. I found one. I found a great running club called the Rockhampton Road Runners. Although the club is not as big as Scottish, there are some amazing people and I have developed a lot of respect and admiration as well as making many friendships.

From all the club and interclub races at Scottish through to the local events put on by the Rocky Road Runners and HRE (Human Race Events - a new local company set up by local runners Sean and Jason) there is always an event to look forward to.

I love racing, competing and pushing myself which is why it is important to me to look for the next race, the next adventure or challenge and go for it. I have learned from my recent failure at The North Face 100 that it is better to try and fail than to never have the guts to give it a go in the first place. I don't want to live a sedentary life, I don't want to live vicariously through the achievements of others, I want to get out there, I want to give it a go, I want my own achievements, I want to do something my kids can be proud of, I want to do something I can be proud of.

I am also motivated and inspired by watching races on TV, DVD or the internet (hey, I'm up with the times). I have regularly recorded the Tour De France, Hawaii Ironman and other key sporting fixtures to arouse my spirit and focus my energy. The weekend just past I spent many hours glued to the internet for the Western States 100, and for the recent The North Face 100 I watched the previous year’s footage to develop an appreciation for the course and learn how other people prepared for the race. I am not limited only to live sporting events to feed my appetite for inspiration and regularly look to other forms of media such as running magazines, sports (auto)biographies and movies etc. An example of a motivating movie for me is Rudy. It is based on the true story of a young man who wanted to play American Football for Notre Dame and was always told that he couldn't because he was too small, too poor, not smart enough etc. I rate this movie as a 10 out of 10 and always have tears in my eyes at the end. I strongly recommend the movie, you will not be disappointed.

This leads me to my final point. I am intensely motivated and inspired by the personal achievements of others. From those I compete against at the same level through to those who perform at the elite level well above me and onto others who push themselves to achieve their goals and dreams whatever they are. The human spirit is an amazing thing, all we need to do is fire it up, motivate ourselves, inspire greatness so that we can realise our dreams and make them our reality. Find someone or something that motivates you and use it as your own personal fuel. Fuel to feed the fire inside you. Get out there and go for it.

Keep running.

Week 5 - Taper begins

This week marked the beginning of my two week taper period. Having only a 6 week training program limited me in my ability to adequately progress through the various training microcycles of a typical marathon training program. In organising my taper I decided to focus on a two week reduction in volume while keeping the intensity. I planned two days off for this week to help with recovery and freshening up for the marathon.

There are varying approaches for a taper period from gradual reductions in volume over four weeks to total rest for the last week or two. The goal is to allow the body to recover from all the training and be ready for peak performance on race day. Too much in the taper will make the legs feel heavy and not enough will leave the body feeling flat. Each individual person is different and therefore the taper period must be adapted to suit.

For me, I've found that a two or three week taper is ample. Any more and I get a bit stale. I try not to get too scientific and keep it relatively simple. I take an extra rest day at the beginning of the week and reduce the volume of each day. On Tuesday I only ran just over 14km and included some race pace work. I ran 6km on a flatish course with a few undulations. I had a comfortable warm up and ran each of the six continuous kilometres at below 4:10mins/km pace. The pace was reasonably comfortable to start and I had to consciously slow down a few times. I turned around after 3km and realised that I had a slight headwind. I found that I had to work a bit harder and was likely running harder than I should have been.

I didn't feel too comfortable on Wednesday. The taper period can be a strange time in the lead-up to a key race. It is during this period that athletes tend to get little niggles, pick up colds or just feel flat. On Wednesday I just felt flat. I had had a long day at work and my legs felt a bit swollen. It was strange to only run 8km but considering how I felt it was probably a good thing. It is quite tricky training towards a specific time goal, such as mine for a Sub3 in the marathon. The trouble is that every time I run I tend to worry about pace. In hindsight I was probably running too quickly for a recovery run and this may have contributed to my feeling flat.

Thursday was much better. I ran with the Rocky Road Runners and put in some change-ups where I varied my pace similar to that of running a fartlek session. Overall the run was a bit quicker than I had planned but I felt great and was really enjoying the run. The acclerations in pace help to 'wake up' my legs and stress different muscles in different ways compared with steady running at a constant pace.

After another rest on Friday I ran with the RRR on Saturday morning. For the long run it was quite short at only 21.12km but had some good pace for some of the kilometres. A large group of RRR's were there as there will be a large contingent going down for the half and full. Good luck to you all.

With only a week to go, I'm getting really excited and very much looking forward to racing.

Week 5

Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - 14.05km - 1hr 03mins 59secs - 4:33mins/km - 6km at Sub 4:10 pace
Wednesday - 8.05km - 40mins 44secs - 5:04mins/km - easy flat run
Thursday - 12.20km - 55mins 34secss - 4:33mins/km - with Rocky Road Runners
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - 21.12km - 1hr 39mins - 4:41mins/km - with Rocky Road Runners
Sunday - 11.50km - 57mins 44secs - 5:01mins/km - easyish group run

Week 5 totals - 66.92km - 5hrs 17mins 04secs - 4:44mins/km average pace

Check back in a few days for another blog where I will put down my thoughts on motivation and inspiration for training and racing.

Keep running.

Feel the rhythm

The Miami Sound Machine sang "Rhythm of the night". Whilst running on Wednesday I got to thinking about rhythm running. Some people like to listen to music whilst running, which I do sometimes on my recovery runs but mostly I like to think to myself on my training runs.

I started off the week feeling a little worried about my running form. I was reflecting on the Rocky River Run and concerned about my left leg as the muscles in my quad and inparticular my hamstring were very very tight and sore. I ran a slightly shorter recovery run of 10km on Monday with the hope of loosening up my leg. I ran at an easy pace and my stride was not really affected but the muscles were still very tight and ached. I stretched alot and used my massage stick but it didn't really help. On Tuesday I had a hard session with some race pace tempo planned, but after I finished work quite late and got home I was tired, my leg was sore and so I decided to take the day off to help the recovery process.

I'm glad I did because, with continued stretching and work with the massage stick, my leg was starting to feel much better. I decided to do my tempo run on Wednesday and set off at an easyish pace to warm up. I didn't feel as fresh as I wanted and decided to drop the planned pace of 4:10-4:15 down to 4:30-4:45. For the third kilometre I picked up the pace and began striding out. This part has a smallish hill in it and did my first kilometre in 4:34, so I was on pace. I tried to pick it up a bit on the downhill and managed the next kilometre in 4:22 but I was really forcing the pace and my breathing was struggling to keep up with my leg turnover. So I did the logical thing and slowed down. I kept my stride length but slowed the turnover and concentrated on relaxing my body and breathing. I ran a 4:36 followed by two 4:30's and got into a comfortable rhythm.

Guess what happened? I got faster with less effort! As I relaxed into this rhythm my speed was dropping down to kilometres of: 4:20, 4:18, 4:13, 4:13, 4:10. When I did my downhill 4:22 I was pushing hard, my left leg was getting tight and my breathing was ragged but now my leg had loosened, I was running moderately hard but was relaxed and feeling the rhythm. It got me to thinking about the half marathon and how I approached the race.

I found that the race was similar to how I started my run on Wednesday. I took off and was pushing the pace, my breathing was forced and I was not relaxed. In a race situation when you are aiming for a specific time goal there is not a lot of room to start off at an easy jog until you find your rhythm and a loss of 15 to 30secs is difficult to make up when you are racing at maximum effort.

As I ran on I kept thinking about how much of a rhythm runner I am. I thought that rhythm running is not so much about pace because of such variables as elevation, wind and weather etc but it is more about relaxing and feeling your run. I was attuned to my whole body, my breathing was even, I could feel the road as I pushed off, and I wasn't forcing my legs to turn over at a specific speed or fighting the road. I was running hard but I was in a rhythm that I could maintain for a long time.

There has been alot written about slow and fast-twitch muscle fibres and how they become fatigued at different times and under different stresses. Some coaches have advocated surging at various times in a race to activate these muscle fibres. This can be particularly helpful when you are feeling fatigued in the later part of a race and has happened to me around the 30-32km mark of a marathon a few times. I tested this theory and for the 13th kilometre ran a 4:05. I kept my rhythm, just pushed a little harder. Because I was relaxed I had more to give and afterwards settled back into a 4:10min/km pace.

I ended up running 1hr 30mins for 21.1km and logged 25km for the run. I felt so much better after this training half marathon than I did for my race three days before. Additionally, I felt that I could have kept the pace going for much longer despite running on tired legs from the race. It gave me much more confidence for the up-coming marathon.

I had a solid week for the rest running 20km the next day including some moderate pace work with the Rocky Road Runners. After a recovery session on Friday I had a very good long run on Saturday. Many of the runners that turned up at 5:00am are heading to the Gold Coast as well. It was quite cold so I was dressed in a long-sleeve top, short-sleeve t-shirt and gloves. We started off slowly with 5:30min/km's but soon formed into our various groups according to pace. I was trying to emulate Wednesday's rhythm and worked on my stride, breathing and relaxing. The pace was not as fast as Wednesday, and my legs were a bit tired but I was able to find a good rhythm and settle into the run and enjoy myself. Jason and I had some fun doing some sprints before one of the water stops and I managed to put in some good efforts with Michael and Gavin, running hard on tired legs. Two weeks to go and now the taper period begins, time to freshen up. I'm getting very excited about the marathon and really looking forward to it.

Week 4

Monday - 10.05km - 51mins 54secs - 5:10mins/km - recovery run
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 25.05km - 1hr 49mins 31secs - 4:22mins/km - including 21.1km tempo at race pace
Thursday - 20.05km - 1hr 35mins 06secs - 4:45min/km - includes run with Rocky Road Runners
Friday - 10.05km - 51mins 36secs - 5:08mins/km - recovery run
Saturday - 35.22km - 2hrs 44mins 48secs - 4:41mins/km - long run with Rocky Road Runners
Sunday - 13.20km - 1hr 07mins 08secs - 5:05mins/km - easy/recovery run

Week 4 totals - 113.63km - 9hrs 00mins 05secs - 4:45mins/km average pace

Find your rhythm. Keep running.

Rocky River Run Half Marathon & Week 3

Well I am now half-way through my 6 week Gold Coast Marathon program. This week had a slightly reduced training load and a half marathon test in the form of the Rocky River Run. I didn't want to fully taper for the race, opting instead for a slight reduction in volume and no tempo runs so that I could test my progress in the half.

I got up at 4:30am this morning and tried out a new breakfast to see how it would digest / sit in my stomach in a race environment. My normal breakfast routine for a race is to eat weetbix or cornflakes at least two hours before the start. I have read articles claiming that milk is not a good idea on race morning and tends to have a negative effect leading to stomach upset. So with my history of stomach problems I tried 3x pieces of white toast with canola spread and NZ honey (sorry to my Aussie readers but the honey in NZ is far superior). I also drank a bottle of Gatorade and had a banana about an hour before the race. I intended to have a gel 30mins before the gun as well but decided against it as I felt more full than I expected at this time.

I got to the start line with half an hour to go and caught up with a few friends and had a very short warm-up. I intended to do 2km but time got away on me and I did about half that. Going into the race my plan was to run an average of 4min/km for a total time of about 1:24. I was hoping for a top 10 position and even a top 5 depending on who turned up. As it turned out there were quite a few good runners at the start line so a top 5 was going to be very difficult given my lack of speed. Weather conditions were almost perfect with cool, calm conditions and no sign of the rain the plagued the entire day yesterday.

To the sound of a somewhat subdued starters horn we were off. Immediately a group of four runners hit the lead with another four in the chase group a few metres back. I was sitting in 9th / 10th position running shoulder to shoulder with Jacob, whom I have run with on various training runs around Rocky. I checked my Garmin GPS watch after about 500 metres and realised that we were running quicker than I wanted, sitting on 3:46 pace. I have run this pace and quicker in shorter races but my current form meant that this pace was far too quick. I tried to settle into a good stride and work on steadying my breathing in the hope that the runners ahead would come back to me after starting too quickly.

The lead woman came past after the first kilometre or so and looked very strong. She stormed past and easily bridged the gap to the chase group as I picked up the first casualty of the fast early pace and moved into 9th place outright. I ran strongly through the first 6km with times of around 4min/km but I was starting to tire. At about the 5km mark we hit some soft mud and dirt sections before traversing the boggy soccer fields and more dirt roads until 7km where we rejoined the road. My kilometre times were extending out to around 4:08min/km and I could feel the strain. Things were not going to plan and about to get worse.

I was slowly catching a runner in front who had dropped off the chase group but I could also hear the ominous sound of rubber hitting bitumen together with the tell-tale laboured breathing of another runner behind me. Up ahead of me I could see Michael (the defending champion and regular training partner) and the lead woman but something was wrong. They had gone past the right-hand turn and were heading towards the bridge. I had read the course description and checked the map the night before and was aware that we were required to make a right hand turn into Goodsall Street. Two more runners missed the turn and I could see the SES marshall fold up the sign and move it away from the corner. I was a little confused but thought that the course must have been altered due to the heavy rain yesterday. That was until I saw Michael and Anna, the lead woman, turn around. I wondered if there was a little out and back loop near the bridge to correct the course distance but Pat and the runner I had been gaining on turned around. I stopped where I was. I stopped my watch. Michael continued towards me. I turned around and could see Jacob and a few other runners heading towards the turn. So I started my watch again and began running back towards Goodsall Street. I figured I lost about 30 to 40 seconds but Michael and Anna had lost even more.

I didn't panic or get too worried as it was not my key race and it was not too much of detour (compared to my course transgressions in other races). As well as Jacob, the second and third placed females, Alice and Leah joined the group. The runners who had been ahead and behind me (before we missed the turn) had put some distance on me as Michael and Anna came roaring past. I was running very hard and could not match their pace as they ran towards and over the Fitzroy Bridge. I ran on with Jacob and Pat before slowly pulling away in my pursuit of 8th place again. The course loops back underneath the bridge before heading back towards the start / finish area and the beginning of the second lap.

It took me another 3km on the second lap before I caught the elusive runner, Peter, in front of me. I made the pass, gaining 8th place, on the railway bridge and he gave me a kind word of encouragement. Every breath was precious at this stage and I could not spare any to talk, opting instead for a thumbs up. I had been chasing him for the better part of 14km and now had no-one to key off as Michael, Anna and the runner in 7th were out of sight on this meandering part of the course.

As we headed towards the dirt and cross-country sections of the course I could see Michael and 7th place were over a minute further up the road. We made the right turn onto the mud and dirt sections and my pace slowed accordingly. I spied race leader Paul Tucker on the other side of the touch football fields having successfully navigated the mud and dirt and heading towards the finish. Where I had been running around 4:03-4:05 on the road, my placed slipped to between 4:09-4:18 for the next 6km. I was struggling.

I managed to put a little more distance between myself and Peter, the runner behind me, and was confident that I was guaranteed 8th place. I crossed the finish line in 1:26:42 for an average pace of 4:06min/km. I have mixed feelings of my performance. I am happy to have finished in the top 10 but am a little disappointed to have been two minutes slower than my pre-race goal. My time is over four minutes slower than my last half marathon (February 2009) and is about six minutes slower than my PB. My biggest concern was my lack of speed and race stamina at 4:00min/km pace and inparticular my fade to 4:18min/km for a couple of kilometres. I am also worried about my ability to hold a pace of 4:15 for 42.195km and hope that the gains I make in the next three weeks including a two week taper will help drag me along to my second Sub 3hr marathon.

Although my time was slow there are still many positives to be taken from the race. I had another top 10 finish and although my pace was on average six seconds slower than planned, I was still nine seconds a kilometre quicker than my required marathon race pace. The pre-race meal was a success and did not adversely affect my run and I got to test out my new racing shoes, the Asics DS Trainer 16. I also managed the run without a taper period and it was my first road race for over a year. Finally, it has only been three weeks since I started implementing faster tempo work since my 83km in TNF100, where all of my runs were considerably slower than 5min/km. If I can keep up that progress towards the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and manage my pace correctly I have a good chance of Sub3.

A big thank you to all the volunteers, marshals and officials who put on a great race and congratulations to all my friends, training partners and work colleagues who ran in the various events. Some great results out there and too many to list here, although special mention must go to those that raced the full and half at Challenge Cairns the week before and did the half today, one week later. And I thought I was crazy!! Check out the link which will take you to the results page.

There is a saying that you are only as good as your last race, so I can now finally put The North Face 100 to rest and look towards the future.

Week 3

Monday - 12.51km - 1hr 04mins 43secs - 5:11mins/km - recovery run
Tuesday - 18.06km - 1hr 26mins 48secs - 4:48mins/km - moderate run
Wednesday - 12.50km - 1hr 03mins 55secs - 5:07mins/km - recovery run
Thursday - 16.05km - 1hr 17mins 46secs - 4:51mins/km - group run with 4x stride-outs
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 8.05km - 41mins 18secs - 5:08mins/km - easy run
Sunday - 21.17km - 1hr 26mins 42secs - 4:06mins/km - Rocky River Run Half Marathon + 2.27km warm down

Week 3 totals - 90.61km - 7hrs 12mins 45secs - 4:47min/km average pace

Keep running.

Running and working nights

This morning I finished my last of seven nightshifts. I start night work on a Tuesday night working a 10pm to 6am shift finishing the following Tuesday morning. I've been a shift worker for over 8 years and it doesn't get any easier.

This week is week 2 of my training for the Gold Coast Marathon on the 3rd July.

Monday - 12.52km - 1hr 05mins 15secs - 5:13mins/km - recovery run
Tuesday - 25.05km - 1hr 52mins 35secs - 4:30mins/km - with 18km at race pace
Wednesday - 12.50km - 1hr 06mins 37secs - 5:20mins/km - recovery run
Thursday - 23.43km - 1hr 49mins 22secs - 4:40mins/km - with 6.5km at 10km race pace
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 35.05km - 2hrs 49mins 45secs - 4:51mins/km - mod/steady long run
Sunday - 13.17km - 1hr 08mins 05secs - 5:10mins/km - group easy run

Week 2 totals - 121.73km - 9hrs 51mins 42secs - 4:52min/km average pace

Another good week of training with tempo and race pace efforts on Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday run was a good test and a pretty positive improvement on last week. I had a 2km warm up and ran hard with km splits between 4:02 and 4:27. The splits were pretty even and averaged below 4:15 but the uphill km's from 16km were tough and blew out to 4:27. Thursday's run showed improvement as well with a 9km moderate warm up before 6.5km with the Rocky Road Runners. I ran a bit too hard for the first couple of km's including a 3:42 first kilometre but then settled down and averaged 4min/km's. I took Saturday's run slightly easier than last week and felt much better for the last 5km despite being tired from night shift and having a tough middle part.

Over the years I have experimented a little with running while working various shifts. The toughest part about night work is the complete reversal of my bodyclock, however this has little impact on my running. This is due to the fact that I can run in the mid to late afternoon which is no different to most people and is quite often when I usually run during the week. I tend to be in bed by about 6:30am after a bowl of cereal and usually get up somewhere around 2:30pm. Eight hours sleep on a night shift is really good but some days it is around six hours or even less.

I have talked to a few people about their routines during night shift and they all vary depending on the person's prefered routine. Some, like me, go to bed when they get home whereas others like to stay up until late morning or midday and sleep until 8pm. I have talked to some colleagues who split up their sleeps with a few hours in the morning followed by another sleep or nap in the afternoon or early evening.

So with many varied routines and preferences there is no one magic formula to overcome this form of work jet lag. What is also difficult for me is that each night shift is different, one week I might sleep eight hours every night and feel great whereas others find me waking after five hours and being unable to get to sleep again. The first night is always the most difficult for me and I am usually awake for around 24 hours before I get to bed. Funny thing is though I am so tired that falling asleep is so easy and very enjoyable.

My routine of running in the afternoons works for me at the moment. I go to bed in the morning after a bowl of cereal (which most nutritionists would discourage), however, there is a method to my madness as I find it difficult to sleep if I keep waking up hungry. After I get up around 2:30pm I have something to drink and some toast. I leave my food to settle for up to two hours and then head off for my run.

I have tried various alternatives such as running at night before work and even running in the morning after a night shift. As I tend to keep normal eating habits (which helps ensure a smoother transition to normal sleep patterns), running in the evening means a heavy stomach after dinner and I get a bloated uncomfortable feeling. I have run a few times in the mornings after work and have had mixed results. Last night work I ran 10km to work in the evening, was able to sneak out early and meet my running group at about 5:30am. I then did my long run with a full backpack and a tired body and mind. I struggled big time and could only manage about 26km or so when my program required 35km. I felt like I was going to fall asleep while running and is in stark contrast to a couple of 34km Makara circuits I did in New Zealand after a night shift where I ran really strong.

Now I have the toughest challenge of all, getting back into a normal routine. This morning I went to bed around 6:30am and made myself get up at 10:30am after only four hours of sleep. I woke up feeling fuzzy and desperately wanted to go back to bed but this is how I try to combat the transition. This way I feel like crap through the day and feel tired enough to go to bed at my usual time. Trouble is that sometimes I start to wake up and get a second wind at about 10pm. It takes me about 4 or 5 days to get back to normal which is just in time to start a new lot of shifts again. The second night after my nights is the most difficult and I have often woken up around 2am and can't get back to sleep. Thankfully I only do night shifts every five weeks or so and strangely enough I see more of my wife and kids on a night shift than I do working afternoon shifts.

I will go for a run this afternoon and then it is a trip to the Rocky Show with Mel, Holly and Ethan (I will try and avoid the dagwood dogs and carny food though). This week will be a medium volume week of around 100km as I have the half marathon on Sunday.

Keep running.