Back from holiday
So after a couple of weeks away on holiday I am back into the usual routine and back to the blog.
This year I decided to really reduce mileage whilst on holiday. From the 60 miles I had been averaging since start of the year to about 45 and 50 these last couple of weeks. The decision was easy to make. Other years I may have kept up pretty much 90% of my peak mileage during the summer break since I would be in the middle of a specific marathon training preparation but this year as I don’t start proper marathon prep until September 3rd I was able to reduce mileage considerably without worrying about impact to training.
Also, the very nature of the break was such that I was pretty much forced to take complete rest days and not just a simple case of eliminating most quality session but keeping mileage up like last year.
Being able to take that mileage dip has been great. It has generated several benefits. From allowing my body to recover a bit so I get back into a it a little fresher to other non-running related benefits such as actually having more time to spend with the family and take my mind off running for a while. Although… I say take my mind off running when that’s not completely accurate. I have actually been able to catch up on some good reading which inevitably (part of it) was linked to running. Or not so much running but the various aspects that come into play in running and in other aspects of life.
Two very recommendable books. “Endure” by Alex Hutchinson and “Peak Performance” by Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg. Although both books bring up or use some of the same examples and cases they really cover completely different topics and are, in essence, very different books.
I enjoyed both and, as I’ve said, would recommend both but I enjoyed “Endure” a whole lot more. Alex Hutchinson is a former sub elite runner and performance science expert who was involved in the Nike sub2 project. Not only the book is great in what it discusses but I very much enjoyed his style of writing. It flows very easily and does not over technify anything which makes it a very easy read compared to more physiology heavy books where the technical aspects are explored more in detail and end up feeling more like a science lecture than a runners’ book.
“Endure” pretty much tries to look at the multiple variables that make up the world of endurance such as oxygen intake, fuelling, hydration, etc. but the beauty of the book is that it looks back at historical cases of extreme examples and develops them to a point that sometimes it reads with the flow of a historical novel. Although for me what makes it a great book is the exploration of what are the human limits of endurance and how the mind is right at the centre of every single physical endurance feat. More my kind of area of interest.
In fact, “Endure” has bits of that sub2 attempt that are extremely interesting (especially Kipchoge’s views on the experience) and how they are compared to Sir Roger Bannister’s sub 4' mile achievement. Great book!
“Peak Performance” is written by two authors which can make it a little confusing as the two of them take turns in writing chapters and, being so different in their disciplines, backgrounds and writing styles, to me it failed to provide some good continuity and ended up reading more like a text book.
The book itself goes into the ingredients for improving how we perform as individuals, be it in sports and/or professionally. It goes much more into tips and guidance on how to structure our approach to maximising our performance. From stress management techniques to organisational tips that can help focus our minds and prime our bodies to produce the maximum output with the least possible waste. Reading this book I had this constant feeling of self-help manual. More focusing on the healing than the challenging. Still an interesting read though.
But of course my views on both books are very personal and may not be shared by others. By the way, in case you’re wondering, the other (not running related) book I read was “4 3 2 1” by Paul Auster. I have not finished it yet but I’m loving it.
As for my running while on holiday I find it’s always very different to my running the rest of the year. There is something to be said for knowing the area and your surroundings. Finding a good running route is always difficult.
The number of times I start exploring rural paths with the constant stop start as I run into dead ends after 600 meters and have to turn back, find myself on a bridle way and ankle deep on horse shit or get to some private estate and have to run away from chasing dogs. Hardly running with flow.
I finally find a loop that kind of works but then spend half the holiday running endless laps of a very short loop just because I know how to get back. After a few runs of multiple loops I’m quite bored and it feels a bit pointless as the main aim is to enjoy a relaxing run.
By the time I finally find a nice scenic longer route it’s right at the end of the holiday so I only get to enjoy it once or twice which is quite annoying.
During that inevitable discovery cycle I don’t really get to run with any other intention than to get out a bit and keep it ticking. No need for focusing too much on anything.
And then there’s the pace. The pace seems to be, somehow, surprisingly quick. It’s not that I try to rush the run but I guess the combination of wanting to minimise the time I spend away from family time and the fact that my legs are inevitably rested, I find myself doing easy runs at some inexplicable fast pace and even pushing to some handy near marathon race pace for no other reason that it just feeling good.
A good friend of mine has a theory on the “holiday pace” phenomenon. He reckons we’re subconsciously rushing to get back as we don’t know or trust what we may encounter. When I think back to times I’ve run in cities (work trips mostly) where I’m not used to running in it’s true that it has not been a leisurely jog but more of a “get it done” kind of run. Especially when I find myself in rough areas of big cities.
One other aspect of the holiday running experience that’s puzzling is actually finding the right time to run. One would think that, having no “every day” commitments to worry about, getting out for an easy run would be a formality but somehow finding the right time to run becomes harder than deciphering quantum physics theories.
I can’t do too early as I, inevitably, start getting up later and later from the potential late nights and occasional glass (or bottle) of wine ;-)
I can’t then do from midday to early afternoon as the sun is beating down at a billion degrees feeling like a ton of bricks and would need about 16 gallons of water and 34 salt tablets just to scramble my way back to the pool without suffering from early signs of heat stroke and hallucinations.
So inevitably I ended up doing most of my runs around 5–6pm just so I could have a final dip in the pool before closing time. Talk about first world problems eh!
Anyway, so I’m back. Now I have 2 weeks of re-adapting to the routine and the mileage before I start marathon training on September 3rd. I will try to throw in some 10k specific sessions this week (hopefully) with one eye on the Ladywell 10,000 on September 2nd but the high hopes or expectations I had about that race before I went away somehow don’t feel so important or strong now. We’ll see how the next few days go.
I have also been approached by the Beckenham half marathon organisers to officially be one of their pacers on September 23rd which I have accepted in principle. If it does materialise I will have to find a way to use that as part of a larger session to get some kind of training benefit as I would be giving up a marathon quality session.
I do, however, like the idea of officially pacing a race. Hopefully that goes ahead and get more gigs like that in the future. I checked at home and my wife would be fine with me pacing at the Honolulu marathon should they pay for travel and accommodation… what a team player!
