Me and my mate Michelle were amongst the 10,000 odd folk who took part in the HBF Run for a Reason in Perth on Sunday. Kudos to HBF on a great event, by the way. It WAS actually fun and I know for the fact that if it wasn’t for the intermittent Samba bands and school girl cheer leaders along the route I for one wouldn’t have made it.
You see, without putting too fine a point on it, it was not my greatest run. It was up there with the worst runs of all time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about running, it’s that some days you feel like you have wings on your feet, other days, 10kgs of lead. On Sunday, I was about as fleet footed as a concrete bollard.
I have run two half marathons, done the City to Surf three times and ridden my horse three hours Cross Country in 36 degree heat. Physically, I consider myself pretty tough. I seriously didn’t expect any difficulties from 15km.
While chatting to Langer over breakfast this morning, I wondered aloud why this could be the case, as I had done all my training etc.
Langer (a chiropractor) pointed out that one of his patients is an ultra-marathon runner, and this mad-man…err…athlete believes that as a runner of any distance, you’ve got to expect to have SOME pain and know how to deal with it when it arrives.
B.I.N.G.O people. Legs 11, two fat ladies and all that gear.
You know what? People go into business ALL the time and don’t expect to have challenges, people issues, client dramas whatever. It’s part of the deal. Just like having your ITBs screaming at you over 15kms is, as a runner, sometimes part of the deal. Expecting the waters to always be like a mill pond is as crazy as expecting double denim to be accepted in polite company outside of Canada.
I’m not advocating that everyone become Emo style merchants of doom. The world doesn’t need so many bad hair cuts. But! Having a realistic expectation of what kind of pain you’re in for, and how to mitigate it, will always place you in a stronger position when the time comes.
So back to the run. Big ups to my mate Michelle for running in memory of her mum, and running 14kms for the first time ever. What a gal, what a friend. The world needs more people like you darlin’.
