A solid part of this blog is the ability to give back and keep the chain of kindness flowing around the world. In this vein, one of the things that jumped out at me this morning was the Santa Race that is held each year in Sydney (I was accosted by a Santa Suit wearing lady at the bus stop).
A great event to benefit the Variety children’s charity, it is now being rolled out to other cities in Australia. At $40 including the Santa suit it is very worthwhile.
I encourage all of our Australian readers to give this event some thought.
Imagine being crowned the fastest Santa in your town.
Keep believing – Keep achieving! – Sean Muller
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
When to run and when to be absent
Many times in the past I ran obsessively. I would run 3-4 times a day just because I thought that this was what one would have to do to improve.
Initially my running improved exponentially. I then started to run to get through difficult patches in life. I still do this, but no longer do I feel the need to run 40km before work in the mornings (not every morning, but some mornings when I thought my body needed extra punishment).
The result was that I was always sore, always hungry and constantly seeking out sweet treats and chocolates. Work left me additionally drained.
The past weeks have taught me that it is okay to be absent from running if indeed you are not truly absent (i.e. you carry over elements into your life). Training and training will not get me any better and as with alot of runners, I had fallen into that trap of training merely so that I could train some more.
A good fitness level is all that is required from now onwards. As a friend of mine who is in his 50s and still runs a sub 3 hours in the marathon pointed out quality is far more important. This will be my goal going forward. No more than 60km a week till December and then build again slowly. I should have known that little distance suits me as I ran my best marathon ever on a maximum of only 60 km a week.
Lessons learned indeed. May you take something from my guinea pig efforts and not repeat the same mistakes that I did.
Diversity is the key to refreshment. Keep believing, keep achieving – Sean Muller
Initially my running improved exponentially. I then started to run to get through difficult patches in life. I still do this, but no longer do I feel the need to run 40km before work in the mornings (not every morning, but some mornings when I thought my body needed extra punishment).
The result was that I was always sore, always hungry and constantly seeking out sweet treats and chocolates. Work left me additionally drained.
The past weeks have taught me that it is okay to be absent from running if indeed you are not truly absent (i.e. you carry over elements into your life). Training and training will not get me any better and as with alot of runners, I had fallen into that trap of training merely so that I could train some more.
A good fitness level is all that is required from now onwards. As a friend of mine who is in his 50s and still runs a sub 3 hours in the marathon pointed out quality is far more important. This will be my goal going forward. No more than 60km a week till December and then build again slowly. I should have known that little distance suits me as I ran my best marathon ever on a maximum of only 60 km a week.
Lessons learned indeed. May you take something from my guinea pig efforts and not repeat the same mistakes that I did.
Diversity is the key to refreshment. Keep believing, keep achieving – Sean Muller
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Lessons learned
I woke the same as any other day today, except a song was in my heart. As I headed out on my morning trot in the rain, I felt free again. Injury behind me I know that if I stick to the plan I have been fortunate enough to have been given then there is no reason that I won’t be back to hard running again in the very near future.
As much as the period of 6 weeks were hard where I could not run at all, I know now that this was necessary for me to reach a new level and new appreciation for man’s greatest freedom. I had needed to be humbled and brought back down to earth after the joys of Comrades. Indeed lessons had to be learned about life, greed and giving back.
In a weird way I have learned way more about myself and running over the period I was injured than through the many years that I have run and taken part in other sports. I have not been idle though and wallowing in my own pity party – what started as my own version of a Greg Welch master class of improvement quickly became so much more.
As the latest chick flick says, I have learned to ‘eat, pray, love’. In fact I would add to this the fact that I have also learned to listen, appreciate, trust and rest. So fortunate have I been that my doctor and physio are some of the best and have learned from the very best himself in Noakes. So many times had I ignored his wisdom and scientific findings in favour of my own personal ideas.
For those battling injury, trust that you will be healed, adopt a positive outlook and give thanks for all that you can do in life. Foster a new hobby – swim, write a book or learn another language. All of these will help refresh you for when you are able to return to man’s greatest freedom. Study what went wrong and come back stronger knowing that you will not repeat past errors. As Sheehan says, we are all an experiment of one and no set pattern that works for me will work for you. That is the joy of running and the joy of life.
Reading the Paula Radcliffe book at the moment has given me new perspective on being able to come back from injury and still reach highs. For anyone having not read it, I believe it to relevant to both the amateur and the elite athlete alike. In between the tales of her racing career, she imparts wisdom about nutrition and life that we can all take something from. A strange taking that I also found was how she talks about the power of friendships in running and that only her friends were able to understand her true pain when she faltered in her pursuits.
So true- only a runner truly understands another runner.
For me, Paleo no alcohol eating is definitely the way forward. Who needs the junk food hangover or the alcohol hangover for that matter. I did however cheat this morning and have two coffees in place of the normal green tea.
The itch is back this morning and I was keen to stride out yet I am also heeding the words of my doctor and coach. They have dealt with people of far superior talent to me.
May you stride out injury free and knowing that there are different forms of victory in our lives. – Sean Muller
As much as the period of 6 weeks were hard where I could not run at all, I know now that this was necessary for me to reach a new level and new appreciation for man’s greatest freedom. I had needed to be humbled and brought back down to earth after the joys of Comrades. Indeed lessons had to be learned about life, greed and giving back.
In a weird way I have learned way more about myself and running over the period I was injured than through the many years that I have run and taken part in other sports. I have not been idle though and wallowing in my own pity party – what started as my own version of a Greg Welch master class of improvement quickly became so much more.
As the latest chick flick says, I have learned to ‘eat, pray, love’. In fact I would add to this the fact that I have also learned to listen, appreciate, trust and rest. So fortunate have I been that my doctor and physio are some of the best and have learned from the very best himself in Noakes. So many times had I ignored his wisdom and scientific findings in favour of my own personal ideas.
For those battling injury, trust that you will be healed, adopt a positive outlook and give thanks for all that you can do in life. Foster a new hobby – swim, write a book or learn another language. All of these will help refresh you for when you are able to return to man’s greatest freedom. Study what went wrong and come back stronger knowing that you will not repeat past errors. As Sheehan says, we are all an experiment of one and no set pattern that works for me will work for you. That is the joy of running and the joy of life.
Reading the Paula Radcliffe book at the moment has given me new perspective on being able to come back from injury and still reach highs. For anyone having not read it, I believe it to relevant to both the amateur and the elite athlete alike. In between the tales of her racing career, she imparts wisdom about nutrition and life that we can all take something from. A strange taking that I also found was how she talks about the power of friendships in running and that only her friends were able to understand her true pain when she faltered in her pursuits.
So true- only a runner truly understands another runner.
For me, Paleo no alcohol eating is definitely the way forward. Who needs the junk food hangover or the alcohol hangover for that matter. I did however cheat this morning and have two coffees in place of the normal green tea.
The itch is back this morning and I was keen to stride out yet I am also heeding the words of my doctor and coach. They have dealt with people of far superior talent to me.
May you stride out injury free and knowing that there are different forms of victory in our lives. – Sean Muller
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Spreading the run
I was casually listening in to a few colleagues yesterday talking about their exploits in City to Surf and the fact that they were proud of themselves for having run 14km. While I agree that 14km of man’s greatest freedom is better than nothing, I enquired as to why they would not consider running longer. The answer that I received was that surely 14km was as far as anyone would consider running – they could not fathom further. In fact one of them said that she had run the City to Surf Marathon. I could not but laugh at that one.
Once I had told them that I love the ultra events, I could see that they could not believe that this was something that humans should even be attempting.
I have my work cut out for me in converting them over to the good side but I will keep up my attempts nonetheless.
I would welcome any funny stories that readers have had around colleagues or friends who are yet to discover the joy of the long run. – Sean Muller
Once I had told them that I love the ultra events, I could see that they could not believe that this was something that humans should even be attempting.
I have my work cut out for me in converting them over to the good side but I will keep up my attempts nonetheless.
I would welcome any funny stories that readers have had around colleagues or friends who are yet to discover the joy of the long run. – Sean Muller
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