Ageless Running

As I was running a long loop through the trails last weekend, I felt much the same as I did running the Finger Lakes Trails 25 years ago. To me,nothing has changed mentally or physically.
I thought back to what Jack Foster once said regarding his running and getting older, I paraphrase: " I feel  I'm running as fast as ever but my watch says something different." In case you didn't know, in 1974 Jack set a master's world record in the marathon at age 41 with a time of 2:11:10
The following quote by Dr.George Sheehan(author of the classic book Running and Being) puts into words what I was thinking as I ran:
 "My fight is not with age. Running has won the battle for me. Running is my fountain of youth,my elixir of life. It will keep me young forever. When I run,I know there is no need to grow old. I know that my running,my play,will conquer time."
So true.

On Physiological Testing and the Runner

I was reading awhile back where physiological testing was being done on some elite U.S. distance runners. The hope was that it would yield info that would highlight strengths, as well as the areas that needed to be worked on in order for the athletes to achieve optimal performance.
Decades ago former world record holder in the marathon(for 12 years),Derek Clayton, offered the following in response to what he thought about the extensive testing he had completed under the supervision of exercise physiologist Dr. David Costill.
According to Clayton, his test results were mostly unremarkable for a world record holder.He commented that he was happy that he hadn't been tested early in his career and been given those findings.
 He said: "Being tested would have eliminated the elements of the unknown. It would set limits that may only exist on machines that measure physiology rather than psychology.It is what a runner thinks he or she can do that creates success."
So true!
Derek closes with this statement that all of us should keep in mind, "Natural ability and determination are must haves,however, of all factors involved in distance running,I would say that the most important is determination."
Where most give up,successful runners and champions persevere.

Manfred Steffny: Regarding the Marathoner

As we are now into the fall marathon season, what follows is a description by German marathoner and author Manfred Steffny into what the sometimes forgotten benefits of being a marathon runner are,or for some,should be.
Too often the mental,physical and spiritual benefits of our training are overlooked due to our preoccupation with achieving excellence.Steffney writes:

"Civilization,hand-in-hand with its readily available poisons, is robbing man of innumerable physical perceptions: of the sensation and internal feelings through limbs and organs. Nowadays we are aware of our insides only when they begin to hurt yet the body is man's greatest resource. The marathoner has his body well under control. This gives him a decided advantage in his life. He knows how much he can do physically, and in many ways he's able to transfer his athletic abilities into the occupational or private sphere.

He becomes skeptical about blind acceptance of the automation of our lives and he is wide awake to assaults on the enviroment. The marathoner is aware that his car can take him quickly into beautiful running country,but he also knows that the auto is the reason he doesn't like to run around his own block.

The marathon runner counts his capital not in houses and cars,but in the reserves of his own body. Rising health care costs tell even the man who's nailed fast to the dollar that he is wisest to let overtime and penny-pinching go in favor of investing a few hours in his body."

The above,written in 1977, reaffirms many of the truths taught by Percy Cerutty.

For those of us who live for the run, we should never forget them.

Planning Our Training, Something To Consider

As we plan our training it is important to keep a few things in mind.
The great running coach Bill Bowerman articulates so well what we need to do as we formulate the plan and set our running goals.
He says: "I think a person can make the most of his running experience if he is enjoying it, if he has a plan, if his objectives that are realistic and if he carries on over an extended period of time. If he becomes tired of running,he should lay off for awhile.If he's still tired of it after that,maybe he ought to look for another activity."
Cerutty wrote, in so many words, that our training should not become like work.
To me, and I am sure most of you, running is a release from every day events and pressures. The last thing we need to do is add running and racing to our list of potentially stressful activities.

It's a sad thing when an athlete follows a training schedule that takes all the joy out of running. I'm sure most of us at one time or another have experienced this. Hopefully,with time, we come to realize that we can have it both ways, achieve optimal fitness without losing our enjoyment of the sport.

On a related note,too many people sabotage their running by not making changes to their training despite being repeatedly injured.

Be realistic in your planning, by doing so you can break the cycle of setting goals that you either give up on or don't come close to achieving.

Final Interview, Arthur Lydiard

I hesitate to say that the following is the final interview Arthur did before he died because it seemed as if he was continuously doing interviews.
With that said, it would not be a stretch to say it was one of his last ones. I've singled out portions of the interview that contain information I hope is unfamiliar to most readers. I'll put my "two cents" in here and there.

A reader has suggested to me recently that I should not assume that in this day and age every runner knows who Arthur Lydiard was. Quite simply, he formulated the basic fundamentals of distance training. They are time tested and rock solid principles.

He also coached many champions and world record holders. I would highly recommend that you read his bio on the Wikipedia page if you don't who Arthur is. It's brief but you'll get the picture as they say.

The interviewer begins by asking: How much stretching should a distance runner do?

Arthur: "You should do some,particularly when you do faster training.However,if you do lots of hill running or cross-country running,your muscles will be stretched."

A few thoughts come to mind regarding the above. If you are one who desires peak conditioning and/or racing excellence,you are making a serious mistake if you exclude cross-country and hill running from your training regimen.The benefits are irrefutable.

As an aside, I have known many runners who won't do cross-country or the hills because they:

#1. don't want to bother finding or travelling to a locale to do that type of training.

#2.the uneven footing and terrain are uncomfortable when compared to the roads.

As far as stretching? Personally speaking,I agree with Lydiard, it's need and benefits are overrated.There was a time decades ago when stretching was considered essential to a runner's ability to continue running injury free.All types of stretching routines,yoga workouts,etc., were being endlessly promoted in books and magazines. Sometime after, articles came out stating that runners were often doing themselves more harm than good by stretching improperly.

The reality is, for most, when beginning a run, you can warm or stimulate the muscles by doing some walking, followed by a period of easy jogging after which you start your workout. You should finish a workout by jogging slowly, then walking and ending it with a few basic stretches(quad and calf) familiar to most every runner.

If you talk to those in the running community whom I call the "old-timers", you will rarely find one who has found it necessary to spend too much time stretching.

Another interesting subject Arthur addresses, how many quality marathons a runner will be able to run? This subject was brought up because it was once believed,and may still be for that matter,that every serious marathoner(emphasis on serious)  has only a handful of excellent marathons "in him." Arthur responds to this school of thought. The interviews asks:

One elite marathoner said to me that he thinks there might only be about five good marathons in the body. Is there a limit an elite athlete should race at the marathon distance?

Arthur:"That's alot of rubbish. You can run more than that. That's the question of recovery. With so much money involved in marathon running today,some elite runners have run a marathon,picked up a check and moved on to the next marathon to get paid again without adequate recovery. That shortened their career. But, if you're careful about recovery,you can keep on running marathons and keep improving."

The above goes for us mere mortals too. I've known many runners who have started running road races less than two weeks after racing a marathon. As I've said before,just because your body may be able to tolerate doing so,doesn't mean you should or that it's good for you.

Interviewer:What is the most important component to marathon training?

Arthur: "The most important thing in running a marathon is muscular endurance.If you want to run a good marathon,you've got to do long runs.If you are a serious runner,it helps to go as far as 30 miles in preparation."

I guess the key words here would be,a seasoned runner, as well as a serious runner.It only makes sense that you'd have to have put in the time and the miles before going out for a 30 mile jaunt. Lydiard also advocated,for novices and those who were gaining in experience, running for a certain amount of time as opposed to counting miles.

I call it time out on your feet. I have found that in preparing for a marathon,that by going out for a run interspersed with some walking breaks for a total of 4 hours has been very effective. I should add that previous to this I had done some 20+ mile runs. Once again, you work up to that over time.

I close with some words by the Master that sums up what is needed to train successfully:

"If you want to be a successful runner,you have to consider everything.You have to take a long view and train on all aspects of development(anaerobic,aerobic,etc.) through a systematic program. It's a lot of hard work for five,six or seven years. There's no secret formula. There's no shortcut to success."

Athletes who aspire to achieve running excellence recognize that hard work is a part of the process,however,for those of us who live for the run,that work is a labor of love.

Frank Shorter on a Forgotten Aspect of Aging and Training

I think by now we all realize that with age we have  to make some changes in our training.When we should do so differs from individual to individual.For myself, I noticed that beginning at age 45 I didn't recover as quickly from hard workouts and races as I once did.

I'm sure everyone realizes that less intensity and more recovery time is necessary as we age.

In the following, Frank Shorter talks about an aspect of ageing and training that isn't often brought up but is essential to recognize and deal with if we are to minimize the negative effects of getting older.The aspect he is referring to is the loss of muscle mass.

Frank says: "I think that athletes believe if they maintain the same body weight, they maintain the same conditioning.For instance,although my weight hasn't changed in 17 years,tests showed my body fat had gone up 4 percent. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you body fat goes up 4 percent and you weigh the same,there are many pounds of muscle that are no longer there. Based on that alone,I think logic would indicate that the more of that muscle one can maintain,or get back in my case,the more it will help.

Obviously,the loss of muscle mass will have a significant impact on your performance. That's why I do a 30 minute weight routine several times a week to build and maintain muscle."

Shorter then brings up this interesting point:

"As you get older and still maintain the same daily goal as to how much training you'll do,you lock into a certain amount that you feel is a day's exercise.If you maintain that amount from age 30 to 45 and you've been losing muscle mass,in essence you've been slightly overtraining as you age. You're aiming to reach your daily quota but you've had less strength to do it.Consequently,you're going to be taxed more and obviously it will take you more time to recover."

If the above isn't an incentive to do regular weight training I don't know what is.

For many,it's easy to tell yourself that lots of running will take care of everything but in truth it won't. I know that I often have to force myself to do the weight workouts but recognize that if I don't do them then I won't reap the full benefits of all the running I do.

Athletes, Doctors and Medicine

I should begin by saying that I spent close to 36 years in the healthcare field. During this time I was employed in many different capacities within the areas of medicine and mostly psychiatry.It would be a huge understatement to say that things have changed over the decades.
What follows,in no particular order, is some advice  I would give to athletes in regards to their health,medicine and seeking medical treatment. Forgive me if some of what you are about to read is already familiar to you.
To begin,prevention is always the key,meaning,you want to do all you can to avoid going to the doctor or taking medication. Obviously, I am not discouraging physicals and diagnostic tests,they are an essential part of assessing your health and wellness.What I'm referring to here is reducing or eliminating risk factors that could eventually lead to you  needing medical treatment.Things like poor diet,overeating,smoking,and excessive alcohol consumption over the years will take a toll on everyone.
I recently heard a health practioner say that up to the age of 40 the body can tolerate many abuses inflicted upon it but after that age it will start to break down.I would also add that for athletes who train hard,compete and have been doing so for years have to be very careful to give adequate time to rest and recover.
You must not over race.Years ago when I was into the ultra scene,I would read about these runners who would emerge out of nowhere and run some incredible races,many within a relatively short period of time.You'd read how this athlete did a 24 hour race one weekend and a month later was in the top ten at the Leadville 100. Then within a couple of years after, you'd never hear from them again except to read that they were struggling with some type of chronic injury,blood disorder or muscle wasting.The body can tolerate tremendous amounts of abuse for only so long.
Concerning doctors:I can't tell you the number of runners I've known who've gone to a doctor for an issue that was obviously related to overuse.For example,the runner who wanted to increase his mileage but did it too quickly and started to develop knee problems. What is a physician going to do for him in this case? He's going to tell him what any runner should know,rest,ice in the beginning,motrin as needed,assess your training and make the necessary adjustments.
And while we're on the subject of doctors,are there any of you out there who still go to one who thinks running is basically bad for you or that doing more that 12 miles a week is folly? If you are, why? Decades ago it was commonplace for docs to warn the masses that running would ruin your joints,cartilage,etc. With that said,here's what I look for in a physician:
1.Does he listen to my concerns and at least act concerned?
2.Does he respect the fact that I try to take control of my health by exercising, taking vitamins and eating a certain way?
3.Does he take the time to explain why he is ordering certain tests?
4.Does he explain how he has come to a certain diagnosis?
5.Does he address ways of preventing problems?
6.Does he recommend follow-up care and interventions?
Now to the subject of medicine.
I have found that in my years as medication nurse that there is an action and a reaction to all meds.
It is always the desire that the effects of taking a med resolve the problem while the reaction(side effect) to it is minimal.
For instance,lets look at the seemingly innocuous drug motrin(Ibuprofen).Runners like myself popped them as if they were vitamins in order to deal with muscle and joint pain.Motrin works.The problem with it is when taken long term it causes stomach problems,is not good for the kidneys,and perhaps worst of all,causes an increase in blood pressure and can contribute to heart problems.
So am I advocating never taking motrin? No,but I am advocating looking for other ways first to relieve the problem.
I recall that after very long runs or races I would soak in a tub of cold water.My muscle soreness was never a problem after I did this.
Thinking along these lines goes for other drugs too.Cholesterol drugs,blood pressure drugs,drugs for adult onset diabetes;if you make certain lifestyle changes your need for medication for these disorders and others are greatly reduced.
The key in medical treatment and medication should be,look to eliminate the cause of the problem,don't just treat the symptom.Taking control of your health requires a desire to think,study,and a willingness to monitor and assess yourself and your training.
Who knows how you feel physically better than yourself?
Take control,be in control!