Visualisation vs obsession

I'm 30k into the middle of a 35k training run yesterday when I start thinking  about the event that I am putting all this effort into completing (the Virgin London Marathon). It is not unusual for me to spend some time each day thinking about an upcoming event, but this one seems to have so much significance behind it for me. 

Firstly I will be catching up with all my family and friends which will be great, but also because I have put so much effort into the training. I was commenting to a friend at the gym this morning that this is the hardest that I have been training for any event including the Comrades Marathon which is over twice the distance and has much harder hills in it to boot. 

I followed the exact advice that I have given to anyone that I have assisted in that it is important to think about the event, but also to focus on some things outside of this to enable you to achieve balance. 

Sometimes this is very hard as you walk that fine line between continuing to visualise a great race, which is proven to be good for competing in the event and aiding a good result and obsession.

The great Cathy Freeman said that effective visualisation and seeing things in her mind was helped her to Olympic success. In fact she used to leave visual aides all over the house to help remind her of what she wanted to achieve. 

What are your thoughts on visualisation and harnessing it?

Running together (while utilising visualisation), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Training not straining

This week I was reminded of the importance of using training for precisely that – training and not racing or straining.

Many times when we as humans find ourselves in a large group then the tendency is for us to get competitive and a training run of a certain pace turns into a race to see who can make it home the quickest. This is by far not the way we should be using our training sessions.

Training should be comfortably hard but not leaving everything lying on the track so that we are suitably wiped out for the next session. You want to be able to get out of bed and run a good session the next day to.

There are no medals, ribbons, trophies or prize money for the hardest trainers in the group.

In short – save your best efforts for the race day. They will be suitably rewarded then.

Running together (while not straining in training), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller. 

Importance of eating before the long run

This past weekend I attended a unique running camp that my coach holds every so often. The camps are designed to bring people together and training in different sessions to help to improve their running and also to allow people the chance to meet new training buddies and friends.

Given that all the runs were over trails or on the beach, things were pretty hard going and forced one to work pretty hard.

The Sunday morning session was as usual where people headed off in different distances and at different paces. Running 32K over the trails on the morning I made the extreme rookie error of not eating anything prior and also of leaving my water bottle back at the camp.

I was pretty much good to go until around the 28K mark where I started to pay the price with the head going a little fuzzy and having trouble doing maths of where the next KM marking would be. As soon as this feeling of bonking came on I knew I was in trouble and it was for lack of pre fuelling.

I should have known better, but it goes to show that the old adage of doing better when you eat before a long run is so true.

Running together (while managing at least a banana beforehand), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

Using running to get through tough times

Sometimes as simple as it sounds, all I need is a nice run to make everything seem normal once again. 

I was taken into confidence by a friend the other day who had said she was feeling very depressed and close to ending it all. This was quite an eye opener for me and luckily I was able to sit down with her and chat to her about the importance of getting some help and talking to a professional. 

We all have our days where we have some things go not the way that we wanted them to or the way that we envisaged. Something feels just right or we feel very trapped and without options to get out of things. As much as we look at the situation, we can't see a way clear. 

I had a bit of a downer myself yesterday when a situation didn't go according to  how I had hoped. That said I managed to get back up this morning and progress again.

It helps then to have something like running where we are able to turn to something constructive and positive that requires minimal energy and something that makes us feel normal again. 

There is always always a way folks even if it looks bleak and as though there is no way through there is always a way. Having exercise helps us as we are then able to just focus on plodding forward and making some kind of headway. 

Take care of your mates!

Running together (while caring for our friends), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller