When we first took up running in 2001, I made all the classic mistakes: too fast, too far, too soon. The end result? ITB syndrome. I went from one physio to the next and finally one casually mentioned that my one leg is longer than the other. The said leg presumably is taking all the hammering resulting in ITB problems. No other explanation was given at the time. Continue reading
In my humble opinion, this also applies to running events. If you have to miss a run due to some or other ailment, the opportunity would have passed and you would never ever forget that moment when you had to make the regrettable decision.
Yesterday, before discarding our 2013 year-planner (that had been stuck on the bathroom door for the past year), we decided, with some reservations, to add up the numbers and get an idea of our running/walking “accomplishments” of 2013.
I’m putting accomplishments in inverted commas because 2013 must have been more or less our worst running year since we first took up the habit at the turn of the century. Despite our best intentions, and numerous attempts to get back into some training schedule, our running just never got off the ground, and until the last quarter of the year we pretty much never managed to get beyond the breakdown phase of our training. Continue reading
The marathon – most fabled of all running events.
As most of you will know, the marathon, a long distance running event of 42.195 kilometers, was instituted to commemorate the fabled and heroic run of the Greek soldier-messenger Pheidippides, from the Battle of Marathon (hence the name) to Athens.
The story goes that brave Pheidippides ran the entire distance without stopping, exclaiming ‘We have won!’ when he finally reached his destination, and then promptly collapsed and died.
Thinking about it now, a couple of things could’ve contributed to his fate. He may have been over- or undertrained. Continue reading
Miniature music players have taken over. The ipod, and a mass of ipod-like devices, have become a ubiquitous part of running culture – clothing manufacturers are even styling running clothes so that your ultra-hip little music player fits nicely into some funky ‘i-pocket’. (Take a chance, take a chance, take-a take-a chance-chance!) As a result, running with music has never been more popular, and runners the world over have their personal customised playlists to keep them trotting along. (Beat boy! Beat boy! hit that perfect beat, boy!) Continue reading
Jog around the Blog 