DFW running club mark 3!! ALL ARE WELCOME!!

beer_tins

RichOneday wrote: »

Interesting article:


Perhaps we know too much. Perhaps in our efforts to stay healthy and uninjured, we have become too cautious. If the objective is excellence, do we know too much for our own good?

As in business, there is a risk-reward system inherent in training. If you train comfortably, you can be pretty much guaranteed of running reasonably well and staying healthy. If you train a bit harder, you will very likely race better, and your risk of injury, illness, and overtraining will increase marginally. Eventually, you reach a point at which the incremental risk of more training outweighs the likely improvement in your running. I suspect that we have been systematically overemphasizing the risks and underestimating the rewards. I suspect that we run the risk of ingrained mediocrity due to a systemic bias against risk.

Perhaps we know too much. Or, perhaps we just need to reconsider the optimal balance of risk and reward. If your objective is excellence, then perhaps a bit less caution is called for. Perhaps a more aggressive approach to training with its incrementally higher risk will help you achieve your objective. This raises a fundamental question: To reach your full potential, do you have to live on the wild side and take some risks?

Well, yes and no. The key to success is to understand both the risks and the potential rewards. The most successful runners take calculated risks based on an understanding of physiology and an understanding of their bodies. They find that fine line where the potential gains roughly balance the potential risks and train close to that edge. Are you training by the edge of your abilities or staying safely within your limits? The question is equally relevant whether your goal is a 2:30 marathon or breaking 4 hours for the first time.

If you want to reach your full potential you need to train optimally. You cannot afford to train hard for the sake of training hard and leave your races on the roads and track while you recover from injury and overtraining on race day or to waste your time and effort on ineffective training.

To train optimally, you need knowledge. To reach your potential, you need to read everything you can (taking much of it with a grain of salt) and pick the brains of experienced coaches and runners. And you need to learn to discern between the running gurus whose role is to help you simply survive your first marathon and those who can help you shave another minute off your personal best.

You also need self-knowledge, the kind which can only be gained by years of experience. You need to know how your body is likely to react if you do repeat 1200s today and a 15 miler tomorrow when it¹s 85 degrees in the shade.

If you take your running seriously, it is your responsibility to learn as much as you can about training, about recovery, about hydration and carbohydrate intake, about what shoes suit your biomechanics, and how much sleep you need. Then decide what to do with that knowledge. If your objective is recreation, then err on the side of caution as an insurance policy to keep yourself healthy and injury free. But if your objective is performance, then find that fine line of what your body can handle and take it to the limit.
In seeking excellence, you will periodically go over the line and need to back off, but with knowledge and experience you will achieve your running potential. So, learn as much as you can about training and about your own body. Then go train with your local version of the Kenyans and learn from them. There is always more to know.

walk-run all the way for me

Personally, I'm happy pushing myself a bit and training gently to avoid the risk of injury. I have no ambition to smash any records! I do it as a hobby. If the little "risky" trianing I do is calculated and based on better knowledge, then all the better.

beer_tins

Simplycynical wrote: »

..... and that's where this thread helps enormously - the sharing of knowledge and experiences (good and bad). You have a very good nose for useful articles Rich - thanks

Never mind about building up knowledge, just ask rich :rotfl:

Ukevas

I noticed that the swine had put himself in for the GYR :mad::mad:...

Say hello to Penniston road for me when you go running up and down it ..

Just leave a little in the legs for the last km

and dont let the KFC... Pizza Hut and Mcdonalds temp you in as you run pass them twice....

becky_rtw

hes been grumbling about the fee though...wonder if he will do it!!!

Ukevas

lol i did wonder that... it is a Bupa run after all i was shocked when i seen it on his list :P

I would save his pennys for next years Sheffield half if I was him... the 10k aint that exciting course wise...

RichOneday_2

I know, it goes against the grain supporting a bupa event BUT it is the national 10K championships and as such free places are available.

Slight minor issue is that you need to have run a 30:30 to qualify for a freebie.:eek:

Ukevas

what you waiting for then... go get your 30.30 then

RichOneday_2

I told them that I've already done sub 30:30 a few times.

But they seem to be insistent on it being done over 10k and that 5k doesnt count.:p Spoilsports.:rolleyes:

becky_rtw

HAHAHAHA nice one!!!

Remind why I cant do that one again...my brain hurts!

Been playing with RW lot again - god there are some thickos over there *rolls eyes*

RichOneday_2

becky_rtw wrote: »

HAHAHAHA nice one!!!

Remind why I cant do that one again...my brain hurts!

Been playing with RW lot again - god there are some thickos over there *rolls eyes*

Only because you've got two halfs (or halves) in the following 2 weeks.

I know - they're ready to burn me at the stake for backing you up.:p

They're like an angry pack of hunting wolves.:rotfl:

The actual runners are bullied into retreating into dark corners to pursue their dirty little habit of actually running 'running' events out of sight.:eek: