I wouldn’t consider myself any different to other runners who enjoy the sport. Recently I’ve been thinking deeper about what drives me to run and how does running fit in with my life. These questions have aroused my curiosity and driven me to open up in written form.
Month: July 2016
Rest and Recovery
One of the biggest factors to people over-training, injury and slow improvement is their lack of respect for rest and recovery. People assume that taking a day off has a negative effect on their training. It’s the opposite. Continue reading
Injury
The past decade has seen an explosive rate of people take up running, many for health and fitness goals. A large proportion of new runners will join the sport with the hope to complete a race. I think it’s a huge accomplishment to run any race no matter what distance it is and what your background is.
Runners high and the low – part 3
As a runner, you can sometimes be lucky to reach a stage in a run that is called the runners high that feels exhilarating and euphoric. You’re relaxed, everything feels great, and your breathing is in tune with your cadence, you have a rush of adrenaline and a spike in endorphins. Continue reading
The influence of Technology – part 2
A good few runners that I meet now, including myself, are always checking their watches making sure they stay within a couple of beats of a target heart rate or running an exact pace. I’ve noticed how much it changes your mental ability to run a distance as you become so fixed on the device and can’t function without it. Continue reading
Mental challenges during running – part 1
In this three-part set of posts, I’m going to be touching on some unique areas that can affect our mental performance and attitude when running. Whenever putting extreme emphasis on training, there is a lot of psychological pressure that influences our thinking and performance. In sport, it is common to undergo pressures that we put on ourselves to perform our best and when challenged with difficult obstacles.
Whenever placing extreme emphasis on training, there is a lot of mental pressure that influences our thinking and performance. In sport, it is common to undergo pressures that we put on ourselves to perform our best and when challenged with difficult obstacles. Continue reading
Vo2 max, lactate, zones and energy usage
When I was training for my second marathon, I wanted to develop my understanding and prepare myself for such a long distance. My running pace and fueling techniques had to improve, so I began to read a lot regarding training zones and training the body to be more efficient at a lower intensity.
My first half Ironman
It’s just past midday on the 12th June 2016, and I’ve crossed the finish line at the Victoria half Ironman. A comfortable 1.9km lake swim, 90km bike ride, with just over 800 meters of elevation gain and a 21km trail run. Yup, a friggin half marathon after all that cycling! This race was on my horizon for over eight months and would be a new benchmark and chapter to my racing.
Running – the long-term goal
After hobbling over the finish line at my second marathon, a year after my first, I had to question why I was doing this to my body. My body wasn’t ready for running marathons, as I hadn’t conditioned it to run those distances. I had only been running long distance for barely two years and nowhere near enough before that to realistically continue at that distance. Continue reading
Running my first marathon
I came to Vancouver in the summer of 2012 with a short-term contract at a VFX Studio I had previously worked for in London. I couldn’t pass at the opportunity. British Columbia had always been a destination I was interested in visiting, and it was a bit of a dream to be able to have an extended period to travel while I was working. Within a few weeks of arriving in Vancouver, I fell in love with the city, the landscape and lifestyle. Continue reading
