Jogging Tip

Archive for the ‘Marathon Training’ Category

Officials of the London Marathon think this year could be a record in terms of heat on the day of the race. It is expected that the anticipated 23C could break the record temperature of 21C recorded in 1996.

This is great news for me because it means that I can blame the weather for not being able to finish the marathon due to extreme heat. In fact it is a great warning for me, so I best not even start, after all people die on days like these while not even exercising. Can’t take a chance at my age. Actually I haven’t trained or entered the London Marathon. I am just imagining a possible scenario here.

We love to blame events, the weather, other people, the car broke down, the trains didn’t run on time. Millions of blaming excuses. I’m sure you can think of many many more that you have fished out at the appropriate moment to avoid admitting that you messed up, bombed out, didn’t deliver, let somebody down, let yourself down and many more reasons.

I know that I have often used the blaming game to avoid facing my responsibilities towards myself. Because the biggest problem with the blaming game is that it hurts you more than anybody else. You see nobody really cares whether the car broke down and that’s why you are late to your appointment, or you didn’t make it to the birth of your child in time, or you missed something else of importance. Other people will inevitably shrug it off. The person with the guilt trip is you. You beat yourself up about what you have not delivered. And you think that what will make you feel better is if you blame something or somebody else. You also think that others will think better of you if you had some kind of serious excuse that allows you to blame an external event for not being able to deliver.

We get used to blaming. Because not only does blaming stop us from delivering on the little events in our life, it also stops us with the big issues. We don’t move on with our careers because we had a bad experience with a previous boss, we don’t try our hand at a business because we couldn’t get a loan for a motor vehicle, so we are now not going to approach a bank to apply for a business loan. You will have many that you can find in your own vocabulary of blame examples. Our greatest ones are blaming our parents, families, the school we went to, the teachers, the janitor and the list goes on. Even the young disturbed person who shot and killed 32 young people and then himself at Virginia Tech just recently, had a list of people, organisations, arbitrary members of society whom he blamed for his deadly deed. His blaming efforts are obviously extreme. And possibly you couldn’t even be able to identify with this example. When you put blame, nobody gets killed. Fair enough, but possibly, to a lesser degree your life was stopped in its tracks due to the blaming exercises and it meant that you couldn’t move on and grow to be the individual which you were meant to be.

Many years ago, during a week-end retreat, I took part in an exercise to help me with my self-development. I had to write down a list of things and people I blamed. Then next to these people or things, I had to write why I blamed them or resented them – which is really another way of blaming somebody, and then next to that the number of years I had carried that grudge or resentment. It was quite a scary exercise. And the next part of the exercise was to look at this list again and evaluate how these resentments had kept me back from living my life to the fullest. That was an even bigger shock. Try it yourself sometime. Start with something that happened to you in school such as your best friend copied your work and submitted it. She got an excellent result and you were punished for copying somebody’s work. This is obviously just an example. Find your own, and then work out how many years you carried a grudge and what did it stop you from achieving in the years thereafter.

Moving forward in your life means stopping the blaming game, leaving the grudges behind, and burying the grudges. If you are unhappy with your life, feeling that you could be achieving more, disenchanted, wondering what went wrong and many more of those feelings that make you discontent, then have a look at the blaming you do.

Yet in all these things Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 37-39 KJV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I will be confident in who I am. I?m not going to go around pretending, wishing I were someone else, trying to fit into everybody?s mold. I am free to run my own race. Joel Olsteen

The race, the dreaded 440 yard dash, was about to start and our team didn?t have anyone to compete. The coach was racing around looking for someone who was willing to take the challenge. I was into field events like the pole vault, the discus, and shot put. I was not a runner and I sure did not have the stamina or training it would take to run the 440. However, the coach wanted someone to enter so I agree to give it a shot. I was convinced I had a chance. After all, my older brother was a track star and he excelled at the 440 and so could I.

The judge announced, ?Runners to your mark.? I was ready. I could win this race. My blood was pumping and I was ready to catapult out of the blocks. ?Get set,? the judge, shouted and the gun went off. I was out of the blocks in a flash. My head was down, my arms were churning, and I was leading the pack. Around the first turn, I was fine, down the straightaway I was still ahead of all the other, more experienced runners. I was going around the last curve when it happened. My head said I was fine but my muscles locked up. I was completely shocked at the feeling of powerlessness in my legs, arms, and chest. I fell to the side of the track and panted as if I were going to die. I had never been so completely exhausted in my life. Finally, I rolled over, got to my feet, and stumbled towards the finish line. I was dead last but I did finish the race. Never again would I ever try to run a 400-yard dash.

Through the years, I have thought of this race many times. Even though I lost this race, I learned many lessons from this event that happen over 40 years ago. One thing, among the many, I learned I must prepare for the long run in life.

Life is a race. Life is not a sprint; life is a marathon race, an adventure, a journey. If you are planning on success in this journey or race, you must be prepared. Believe me the distant race like the 440 requires preparation and so does life. During the course of my life, the arrows from Satan have wounded me repeatedly. Yet, wounded and mangled I always knew I was a child of God. I never did forget that moment in time in Del City, Oklahoma, on bent knees I ask Jesus to come into my heart. I made my preparation that day for life. To say life has been hard is an understatement. For me, life has been a series of trails and tribulation yet because of my belief system and Gods never failing love I am still running.

Let me challenge you to prepare for life. I know it sounds simple, just receive Jesus and all will be fine and dandy. Oh no, that is not what I mean at all. Just because you become a Christian doesn?t mean life is easy. In fact, I think I have suffered more because of my faith than anything. The truth is, because of Christ I have been able to turn to God for help. He was faithful to lift me up and set my feet back on the path. If I can do it, run the distance race of life, so can you. It is never to late to make preparations for life by receiving Jesus as your coach.

Marathon runners still stranded – Guardian Unlimited
More than a thousand marathon runners stranded by floods in the Lake District remain unaccounted for, police said. Police and local mountain rescue teams are still trying to locate many of the 2,500 competitors in the Original Mountain Marathon. The

Original Mountain Marathon runners rescued from freezing gale – News.com.au
Gales 700 marathon runners, some suffering hypothermia, have been rescued after being trapped by Arctic winds and flooding in northern England. 700 runners compete in marathon Arctic gale ends race, sparks rescue Several suffer hypothermia

One of my “before I die” goals was to run a marathon. At the age of 38, I decided to go for it. Never having run much before, I began with just one mile and added a mile each weekend. The first time I ran three miles I was exhausted, but exhilarated. Before I knew it I was up to 10 miles for my long run and doing three “baby” runs during the week.

I was doing great on my training schedule until the fall. Work and parenting commitments demanded more of my time, and I fell far behind. I felt sure I would never be ready in time. Discouraged and overwhelmed, I was tempted to give up. My children and their friends wouldn’t let me. Each weekend they would gather around me and ask me how many miles I was up to now. They were invested in my success and offered to keep me company and carry my water for me on my training runs. I had become a powerful role model and the choice was mine whether I wanted to model perseverance or failure. I decided to start fresh. I backed down and did an easy eight-mile run, just to build up my confidence. Then I added two miles each weekend, instead of the usual one mile, and before I knew it I was ready for an 18-mile pre-marathon training race. The morning of the race arrived and we had the worst rain and windstorm we had seen in years. My husband turned off the alarm and said, “Surely, no one will be running in this weather.”

He couldn’t have been more wrong. The race was packed. After all, anyone who has worked for ten months to get up to 18 miles is not going to let a little wind and rain stop them. I completed the race in last place; but it felt like first place. I now knew I had the confidence to go the distance and that I was going to finish the marathon, even if I had to crawl over the finish line.

The day of the marathon it was, 26.2 miles, do or die. One of the smartest things I did was to have friends running with me the entire way. One friend would run for 6 miles and another would run for the next three miles. We had such a fabulous time. Crossing that finish line, with my friends and family cheering me on, was one of the highlights of my life. The joy and power I felt was indescribable. I realized that training for a marathon is a metaphor for life. The best way to reach a big goal is to be surrounded by support and bite it off a little at a time. If you fall behind, don’t quit. Just start in again, build up your confidence, and then keep moving forward step by step.

When I finished the marathon, I was a different person than when I began. The marathon not only improve my fitness level, it improved my confidence. I dream bigger now. I know that if I just take it a step at a time, I can complete anything I set my mind to.

There’s a lot of hype today on the importance of quality running shoes and for good reason too if you run on a regular basis. However, it wasn’t always like that and even today we have barefoot marathon runners across the world, but most of these are tribal people who live their lives barefooted anyway.

Some of you reading this may remember a remarkable athlete called Zola Budd, the white South African distance runner. Young Zola burst on the world running scene in 1983 when she was just 16 years of age as she smashed the world 5,000m record. Zola would always run in bare feet and her explanation was simply that she found it more comfortable.

But that was then and this is now and we know a fair bit more about the long-term damaging effects of running without proper foot support and cushioning than we did just a couple of decades ago. In fact today’s weekend joggers and runners are spending literally hundreds of dollars to buy advanced technology for their feet and those serious about marathon running will spend as much as they need to on protective footwear.

But however much you pay for your marathon shoes, don’t even think of running a full marathon until you have broken them in for at least 100 miles. Don’t let that initial comfort and support fool you as they really do need to be broken in. Although running shoes are pretty much an individual choice, one should always take time to find the right fitting shoe that will take the stress and strain out of your race.

It may well be tempting to opt for a flat-lightweight-trendy looking pair of running shoes but be warned if you are a novice as they may give out on you before the end of the race depending on the brand and how you run. If in doubt, seek professional advice from the sports store assistant.

The kind of race you are running and your experience will determine the type of shoe you choose. You will likely have to decide between lightweight flats which are better for speed, or a heavier shoe which gives more support. Remember, running a good marathon is as much mental as physical although it may not seem it when your legs feel like jelly and you shoes like lead.

If you are a competitive runner or you just run for fun, selecting the correct type of shoe is crucial for the long term support and protection of your limbs and ligaments. Good footwear and foot care will mean that you should be able to run for many happy years ahead.