About the excitement of the uneventful

I’ve been running marathons for about 11 years now. I’m not even certain about the number of marathons I have completed…16, 17, 18? I truly forget.

This journey of discovery has taught me a lot; too much to encapsulate into one blog entry. Like with any journey, we have a choice, we either become decision makers of where we want to go or we decide to be passengers and see where we end up. There’s no right or wrong choice, but it is one we need to understand.

Over the last few years I have discovered an actual interest in running that goes beyond me putting one foot in front of the other. What started as a way of losing weight, and then staying fit turned into a learning opportunity. About myself as a person and about the art/science/joy that is running.

I have posted blogs about why we run in past. And it is always good to remind ourselves what it is that gets us up in the morning, or out of the house on a cold winter’s evening. And again, the beautiful thing about running is that it does not have any prejudice based on age, sex, social status, money… It’s a personal affair. Just you. Your ambition, your goals, your motivation, your desire, your personality, your curiosity, your strengths and your weaknesses. It’s only you.

When you’re in the driving seat of what it is you want running to help with, you are, most certainly, more likely to get it. When you’re dancing to other people’s beats or running to satisfy other than yourself the whole thing can start getting ugly fast.

Let’s start with the fact that this is a personal view and a reflection of how I see things, rather than an attempt to lecture. In that context I feel that there are certain dangers in today’s social media fuelled running.

There is an entire industry of opinions, facts, trends, products, etc. that are based on image. Based on popularity. Not based on the objective science or the personal needs of running. They ignore the “laws” of physiology, of sports science and they also ignore what YOU need. Individually. Your mental health, your space, your inner peace.

Success, in that fake world, is measured by likes, views, kudos, who has what shoes or what running gear, and even sponsorship deals based on popularity, not on ability or craft.

And let’s be clear, I am not ranting at being able to encourage others using social media platforms. In fact, they have brought runners together and have given millions of runners a way of being connected. I, for one, really enjoy being able to see what run Des Linden did a couple of days ago. It’s something that can really inspire and help runners around the world.

But the real danger, for me, is getting lost in this world. Forgetting what you do and why. Only aiming to portray rather than using it for good.

I learned a long time ago that it is me, and me alone, who is responsible for me. With running it’s the same. Why do I run? Is it to impress? Is it for Instagram hearts? — btw, you should check my Insta account ;-)

Or do I run to achieve my own goals? And if I know what I want, how do I get it?

I love the title of this post. The excitement of the uneventful. A friend mentioned it this morning and it stuck with me. As far as my running is concerned, and possibly a lot of other people’s running, most weekly runs are just plain boring. They are uneventful. That’s because, in my book, easy running and recovering plays a huge part in progressing.

I will not go into the “stress+rest=growth” equation but in my experience there’s no escaping that “law”. Just like gravity. It just works. And it turns out my ambitions are about growing, about progressing, so that means a lot of rest. In my case, in the form of lots of easy running and recoveries. Boring and uneventful! They certainly don’t help my kudos count or my number of followers.

But then again, those uneventful runs generate excitement. My own excitement. Maybe the only one that matters, because they are runs that allow me to focus on the key training runs that make up the more exciting part of the equation, “stress”. Those are the funky, modern, insta friendly super runs at super speeds that catch most people’s attention.

The only thing is that they are few and far between. And the other thing is that they are carefully considered and measured. Almost scientifically boringly assessed. Pace, distance, rests, intensities… everything about them.

And then there’s the execution. As important, if not more as the design of the session. The execution is about working on the exact areas as planned.

Super speedy sessions look great, but what are we trying to achieve? Did we do that? Did we have to make adjustments (good) or compromises (maybe good) or did we fail to hit the brief (bad)?

Yesterday I did not complete the session I had designed for myself. I wanted x pace, x length and x intensity. I had to readjust on the go to still work on the right pace for the right length but had to sacrifice intensity. So the outcome of the session is slightly different than intended but successful in working on key elements. I hit the right pace for the right time (graph below) with a very controlled heart rate.

I failed to challenge the threshold intensity but gained endurance at pace.

Is it worth kudos? I don’t know. Is it a great way of progressing? Absolutely!

Right, I’ll leave it here for now. Don’t forget to like this post on social media please ;-)

Happy running!!