And now for something completely different...
No, I am not into my own take on Monty Python, and somehow relating it to how I am struggling with running these days, but I do secretly wish for such creativity. Instead I have decided to add something new to my "training"...
After reading "The Lore of Running", as mentioned here, I was intrigued by the training techniques of the best runners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you haven't read Chapter 6 of this book I highly recommend it for entertainment alone! Specifically I was shocked by how fast some of the cotton-wearing masters of the Victorian and WWI era were able to run on the diets that they recommended to other athletes. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't get very far on stale bread, flat bear, and old mutton. Gross.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, how does this particular Chapter impact my so-called "training". Well, in a word: walking. It seems that the marathoners and ultramarathoners of a bygone era were big on walking, LOTS of walking. I am not planning on 30km every morning like some of these folks, but I figure a bit of walking can only help my running in two ways:
Then, after a day of desk sitting, I ran home. My right leg was a bit stiff from the walk (remember those complimentary muscles getting worked out?), but this didn't seem to affect my running. I ran slow and steady all the way until I was pretty close to Owen's school, stopping at 7.3km. I easily could have gone the extra half kilometre to the school's front door, but given that the longest run I've been on since starting up again was 6km I figured I'd pushed it far enough.
The only thing I did wrong was neglecting to put on the extra fleece vest that I had in the backpack and, therefore, nearly froze on the walk home. Live and learn...
After reading "The Lore of Running", as mentioned here, I was intrigued by the training techniques of the best runners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you haven't read Chapter 6 of this book I highly recommend it for entertainment alone! Specifically I was shocked by how fast some of the cotton-wearing masters of the Victorian and WWI era were able to run on the diets that they recommended to other athletes. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't get very far on stale bread, flat bear, and old mutton. Gross.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, how does this particular Chapter impact my so-called "training". Well, in a word: walking. It seems that the marathoners and ultramarathoners of a bygone era were big on walking, LOTS of walking. I am not planning on 30km every morning like some of these folks, but I figure a bit of walking can only help my running in two ways:
- By adding extra mileage to my training without the destructive pounding of running.
- By working out complimentary muscles which running ignores.
Then, after a day of desk sitting, I ran home. My right leg was a bit stiff from the walk (remember those complimentary muscles getting worked out?), but this didn't seem to affect my running. I ran slow and steady all the way until I was pretty close to Owen's school, stopping at 7.3km. I easily could have gone the extra half kilometre to the school's front door, but given that the longest run I've been on since starting up again was 6km I figured I'd pushed it far enough.
The only thing I did wrong was neglecting to put on the extra fleece vest that I had in the backpack and, therefore, nearly froze on the walk home. Live and learn...
posted by Vava at
6:34 PM
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