When good plans backfire

I have a hip injury that is stopping me from getting some long runs in leading up to the marathon. I only needed on more long run to make sure my body would know what to expect on race day. So, my plan was to do lots of cross training, in particular, cycling. At least, so I thought, my legs would be getting a good workout. A few short runs and a few long rides was working well, until...the good plan.

The plan was to join a group of young guys heading out for a long ride, exhaust my legs, and then on Friday go for a moderate run. This way my legs would get the feel of the final 10kms but without all the pounding I would need to put my legs through with a long run. So goeth the plan.

On Thursday a number of us headed out for a 100km ride. Two of us were doing a round trip while the rest of the group was going to stay over night and head back the next day. The key mistake was in the positive assertion that we could get water along the way. We could get water, just not purified water. If I was going to drink enough water not to dehydrate I would need to drink village water. This can be hit and miss. Sometimes it's just fine. Other times your body doesn't respond well to it and you get sick - really, really sick. That's the backfire.

Friday was spent in bed with fever, body pain and diarrhea. Saturday was spent fatigued and exhausted. Today is stomach cramps and headaches. It sounded like a good plan when I headed out.

With three weeks to go the training now has to wind back. Whatever speed I have I have. Whatever endurance I have attained I have attained. Very little improvement will come from the final 3 weeks. The most important thing now is not to get sick. Getting sick is far more dangerous to starting and finishing the marathon than any progress that can be made at this late state. Ambition is great at the start but at this stage reality must govern the training. Too much and I'll hurt or exhaust myself and perhaps catch something. Too little is better at this stage.

Hopefully I can get in a 20km run and few 10-15km runs but the most important thing is to stay healthy.

3 weeks to go.

Apparently, this may kill me sooner than later

I was watching a Youtube Tedx video entitled "Run for your life! At a comfortable pace, and not too far: James O'Keefe". The gist of the talk is that running more than 20 miles (36km) per week is not too good for you and could in fact undo all the benefits of runners. While this talk has brought out some critics such as this article from Runners World,  there are some take home applications which both Alex Hutchinson and James O'Keefe do agree on. And Ill finish with my thoughts on the matter.

Firstly, yes, running too much is detrimental to your health. Nobody disputes that. The question of course is how much is too much. Where that line is nobody really knows and while James O'Keefe, a research cardiologist, has some opinions at this stage the evidence is unclear and unconfirmed. What Dr. James does suggest is that we all should get out there and do something; exercise a bit each day and you will be significantly healthier and live longer than if you do nothing. So the first take home application is that we should exercise, at least a little bit.

If Dr. O'Keefe is right, then long endurance based exercise over 25 years will shorten your life by about 6 years, the same amount if you did no exercise. My second point would be this - who cares? I don't know anyone who is out there doing long endurance based exercises because they must. Anybody who is exercising because they have to don't get into endurance based events and maintain that for 25 years. If you do something you love for 25 years and die 6 years earlier then that seems like a good trade. I'm a twin. Do you know how many twins live past 100? I know of one set of twins. Genetically, I'm wired to die early. I intend to live well with the years I have and if you love exercising for long periods then enjoy it. And remember, nobody really knows for sure if Dr. O'Keefe is right yet so he may be wrong.


Lastly, it turns out that diet is really important - who knew? You can be fit and thin and really unhealthy. You may be fit and still get a heart attack. What we eat impacts us on the inside even if the muscles are big and the girth is narrow.  What we eat affects our arteries and if we put junk in then no amount of exercise, either strength training or endurance training, can help us. Of course, if you are sedentary then junk food will impact you more and cause more problems but just because you look great and can run a marathon doesn't mean that you can eat whatever you want. Your choice of food matters.

So what's my take home perspective on all of this? I'm not over training by anybody's standard either O'Keefe's or Hutchinson's so I'm fine. I'm going to die early anyway so the best I can do is be healthy until the end. And lastly, my diet is fine. I'm going to do my strength training and stay strong and I'm going to do my fair share of endurance exercise to keep the heart healthy.

Actually, one more point. If you don't exercise or if your diet is horrible, please, do something about it. Extreme exercise may be a problem but even if it does kill you earlier, it's compared to those who do nothing. Do you hear that? If you aren't doing something you will die 6 years earlier and it's not a healthy six years. It's six years of pills and pain.

So tell me, what are you going to do this week to get off the couch and bring health to yourself?

4 weeks to go.

Admit it so you can move on

I had my first significant setback this week. Bursitis of the hip. Bursitis is inflammation of the joint due to overuse - turns out I've tried to do too much too soon. It's not serious as I can still run on it but the problem isn't going away and it's not going to go away unless I stop and treat it properly.

The good news is that with proper treatment this problem should disappear within a week or so. So, I've skipped my long run for the week, got the noninflammatory lotions working and taken it easy. Thankfully, after only 2 days the pain has subsided significantly.

Mentally I'm fine. Yes, this pain has stopped me from running for the moment but it's just a setback. Setbacks are not the end. Setbacks are obstacles that need to be worked around and resolved. If I don't listen to the setback but push ahead regardless then there is the real risk that the setback will turn into something more permanent.

Listening to setbacks is difficult though. They appear permanent. They appear to stop one's goal from being realised. Objective thinking is hard when you want something and something else is standing in the way. To stop running in order to heal also means I'm not progressing in my running since I'm not running. Until I can admit to myself that a break from running will lead to better running I'll continue to run despite the pain. Denial delays acceptance of the setback.

When I finally accepted my pain was real and was not going away (which took three weeks) finding a solution and building hope didn't take long. A quick search on Google for "running hip pain" immediately led to several articles and a short video on hip problems and remedies. Fifteen minutes later I knew what the problem was, what the remedy was and knowing that I have 6 weeks to go allows me time to recover and finish my preparation. Did you notice the biggest problem I had with this setback? Admitting I had a problem.

Most setbacks in running, body building or life can be solved so long as they are identified before they cause permanent damage. Admitting there is a problem is the toughest part in working around a setback. Without the admission nothing changes. Actually, there are changes. Bad changes. Changes that make and will continue to make your life miserable. With admission comes healthy change.

What's hampering your progress? If something could change right now that would make you better what would that be? What's stopping it from happening?

6 weeks to go.

1 starting line, 3 finishing lines.

There's only one starting line for the marathon but there are three finishing lines.

The starting line is race day. Every one is standing around with all their doubts and questions. Have I trained enough? Am I going to get a PB? Will I win this thing? (Personally I don't think I'll ever be asking that question before a marathon, but the top 3-5 runners are.) Have I forgotten anything? Do I have time to go to the bathroom? Questions abound. But there's an excitement around the starting line. It's also the first finish line.

Many people want to run a marathon. Most never will. It's a huge goal to pursue and one which you can be proud of even if you come last, after all, you still beat the guy lying on the couch. But even for those who want to and set out many still don't make it. I can't remember which marathon it was, whether it was my second or third, but 8 of us said that we would run it. For various reasons 5 didn't make it to the starting line. Some just got busy with life, others had to pull out due to injury. Only 3 made it to the starting line. Starting a marathon isn't running one. I guess anybody can show up - but usually the only people who do are those intending to finish it. The first finishing line is the starting line. You finished your training, you finished you preparation, you finished the first race which is to the starting line.

Then comes the second finish line. This line varies for people but it kicks in around the 32km mark. There's two reasons for this. Firstly, around 27km you start to run out of easy energy, that is, the energy that your body needs to run as easy sources and difficult sources. It takes more effort to convert the difficult sources into the energy your body needs to keep running strong. By 32km you're exhausted and now it's up to how much you want it. The second reason is that most people only train till 32km so once you get there it's new territory for your body. Any new experiences in the body are met with internal suspicion and the body will ask you to stop if it's all too hard - and of course it's hard, you don't have any easy energy left! While I would be reluctant to say that the first 32km is easy I would say that the last 10km is as difficult as the first 32km. However much you have suffered emotionally and physically for the first 32km you will suffer it all again over the next 10km. The comfort of the marathon ends at around 32km - the second finish line.

And then there's the final finish line. That last 10km is a mix of pain and excitement. Pain because you're exhausted, the feet are perhaps blistering, if you didn't prepare well your nipples are bleeding, your toenails are black and your legs are chaffing. Excitement because you have run 10kms lots of time, it's kinda familiar. And the last 200m that's just a laugh. At 42km you have 200m to go and it's hilarious - at least for me. I can sprint 200m and mentally I'm able to do it but the body can't. So, I start the final spring at the 42km mark. Within about 20m the legs fail and I'm back to plodding. But then excitement kicks in again closer to the finish and once again I sprint. Of course, that's not what it looks like. What I call sprinting at that stage is barely faster than a walk but I'm running fast than Bolt in my mind.

Each finish line has it's own hurdles to overcome. But that's the glory of the marathon - it turns you into a finisher. And that's something you can be proud of.

7 weeks to go.