You know you've got to get moving. You resolve to park the car a few blocks from work, take the stairs and hit the gym after work. But a few weeks pass and before you know it parking spots start opening up right in front of the building, the elevator is already in the lobby, and you've worked late every night that week. It's not that you don't know how to get fit, you just can't seem to stay motivated. We all know people who are religious with their workouts. So, what's their secret?

We asked fitness experts and regular Joes alike how they stick with their routine. These methods keep them moving; maybe one will work for you.

Embarrass Yourself
Make a mark on your calendar every time you make it to the gym or park. Seeing your motivation, (or lack thereof) in black and white helps keep you going. Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent, authors of Fitness for Dummies, Second Edition (IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 2000) suggest "whether you write your goals on the side of your shoe or in your training diary, glancing at them on a daily basis will help keep you focused and motivated. Some people tape their goals to their bathroom mirror or refrigerators." Do whatever works to make you remember what you promised yourself.

Join a Plan That Wouldn't Have You for a Member
So you're not Steffi Graf. That doesn't mean you can't join a tennis team. Richard Cotton, chief exercise physiologist for MyExercisePlan.com, says "joining a club, team, or finding an exercise partner…provides a support system and someone to simply share the experience with. Often times just knowing someone will be asking you 'How's it going?' can be the difference between exercise success and failure."

Love Thy Neighbor and Love Thyself
You can't leave a neighbor standing on the corner checking her watch. She knows where you live. Miriam Nelson, Director of the Center for Physical Fitness at Tufts University, and the author of Strong Women Stay Young and Strong Women Stay Slim (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1999) says, "When I make a date with a neighbor to go for a run I keep it, and we have a great time." She also plans a regular appointment with her neighbors. "Saturday mornings several of my neighbors come over and we lift weights together; it's a great way to start the weekend," she says.

Challenge Yourself
Working towards an event — like a 5K walk or run, or an overnight bike trip to a faraway bed and breakfast — keeps you on track. Every time you exercise you'll be closer to meeting your goal. "The minute you mail in your entry fee, you'll have a whole new sense of purpose. And the feeling of accomplishment you get from completing your event is like nothing else," say Schlosberg and Neporent.

Dance, Dance, Dance
"Music is a fantastic motivator," says Michael Olajide, Jr., a former professional boxer and inventor of Aerobox workout routines. "It can push you to do more and to exercise longer, even longer than you planned." Who doesn't get a surge of energy every time they hear their favorite tune? Plus, it's the perfect excuse to get that new CD.

Don't Count the Miles
"Do not workout to burn calories or lose weight," says Emme, plus-size model, author, and columnist. "There are more important things than burning calories taking place during your workout. Newfound self esteem and stress reduction are just two positive aspects of many that come to mind." If you're always focusing on burning off your morning doughnut, of course exercise seems like a chore. Try exercising for the sake of your health, not your body.

Find the Fun
Forget about the "no pain, no gain" attitude. "The mind, body and soul connection is very important here, don't forget to have fun," says Emme. Pick an activity you've always loved, like biking or walking outdoors. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely you'll stick with it.

Make It a Family Affair
"When I go for a run I entice one of my kids to go with me — he or she goes on their bike and I run. It's a great way to be together with my kids," says Miriam Nelson. Who better to egg you on than the ones who love you best.

Learn to Love Lycra
"Buying snazzy new workout shorts or comfy new cross-trainers can really get you fired up to work out, " say Schlosberg and Neporent. Once you realize how much better the right equipment makes a workout, you'll be loving your sports bra as much as soccer star Brandi Chastain.

Dive for "Dollars"
Money is the ultimate motivator. Put a dollar in a jar every time you make it to the gym. At the end of a month, treat yourself to a massage. You'll be at the gym more often than the trainers.

It's About Time
"My mood motivates me to work out, so timing is everything," says Kathy Kaehler, personal trainer and author. If you aren't up for a workout don't feel guilty about postponing. On the other hand, exercise has been known to improve a bad mood. Work out your aggressions in the gym instead of at home or work.

Running in general boosts a runner’s immunity. However, due to additional stress, i.e work, emotional, running under the wrong conditions, etc, running may result in a negative response (compromised immunity). Runners do get flu / colds due to a lowered resistance, and using extra energy to run will reduce the body’s ability to fight off viruses and bacteria, thus worsening the illness. Here follows a few simple guidelines that can be followed when you feel under the weather:

“I hope I make it”, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to come in before the cut-off”, “I want to do it, but I’m not sure”, “I’ll have to see if I…”, “Maybe, perhaps…” etc. etc. All these vague, unsure, self-protecting, excuse-making sentences say just one thing; Doubt!… Doubt in your own abilities, doubt in your own training… Doubt  that locks around your legs like 20 kg stone blocks!… Yes, Doubt keeps you back!

So, how to overcome it? Start your own psychological skills training program! Start this week… Start today… Start now!!

Why a psychological – or mental skills training program?

The psychological aspects are the most important yet the most neglected in our approach to sport… (Thomas Tutko and Umberto Tosi).

Developing and using mental skills is the best way I know for any athlete to become mentally stronger and to feel more confident and in control while training and competing. Whether you’re an elite runner or run to stay fit and healthy, 16 or 60 years of age… it helps to improve your times, to create a deeper belief in your own abilities, to overcome nervousness and anxiety and to handle pressure, disappointments and setbacks in a much more positive way!

It even helps you to be much more goal directed, motivated and enthusiastic about your running!!

Your mental training is as important as your physical and technical training… and we all know that on race-day the mental plays the biggest / most important part… having a mental edge can also give you physical edge… because the mind controls the body!!

Mental skills need to be practiced regularly. It takes time and practice to become a master of your own mind. So make it a habit. It also asks for a tremendous amount of self-discipline and commitment!

STEP 1: If you want things to be different in your running, you’ll have to start to think differently, talk differently and act differently!

Remember, you are what you think you are and you can only achieve what you think you can do! Never underestimate the power of your own mind!

STEP 2: Set goals… realistic, specific, a bit challenging, but your own personal goals.

Discuss your goals with your training partner, coach and / or personal trainer because the more you talk and think about it the more it becomes a reality to you.

On these “Off-days”:

STEP 3: Run and train with desire, commitment and enjoyment.

“In sport commitment is essential” (Robert Nideffer)

Start now to develop an image of ‘a top-performer’ and work on your own “winning attitude”… use your positive self-talk and goals and put a mental picture to it.

Put in the performance that you are capable of and feel good about it!

STEP 4: Imagery… the most important mental skill

Imagery is the mental process of ‘see, feel, hear, smell and taste’… a powerful mental technique to enhance performance and build confidence. Yes, this is the way to program your mind for what you want to let happen.

Imagery requires commitment and regular practice… it should be part of your daily training program.

± 15-20 minute sessions of active imagery per day in the week or two before a specific race will do (no need to sit and visualize for hours!). Always thinking about being successful, seeing the positive picture / running that positive ‘movie’ through your mind and feeling your body respond, smelling the muscle rub, tasting your energy drink, hearing the crowd cheering you on, hanging that medal around your neck!!

When to do imagery?

STEP 5: Relaxation Training

If you want to run a great race… relax your body muscles, relax your mind (let go the worries) and enjoy what you are doing!

Effective relaxation techniques for runners:

Controlled breathing:

As you run:

Progressive muscle relaxation:
(Based on Jacobson’s Progressive Relaxation Technique)

STEP 6: Pre-Race Preperation

Remember: Every thought you think, every word you say, and every emotion you feel in the last ±10 minutes before the start of the race, can have a major effect upon your performance and results!

The Value of regular Self-evaluation / Reviewing

Materialism

What we need we already have.
Athletics in general, but road running in particular is an activity that needs little by way of equipment or facilities. This is the one aspect of the sport that makes it such a powerful agent for change. When I realise that I have everything within for my own happiness and success, I do not need anything form outside. It is only then that I begin to run, then I begin to live.

Often times I raise a laugh or two at the expense of my fellow athletes, the cyclists. Where, I muse, do athletes wear their underpants on the outside of their clothes, and no one laughs at them? Here is a sport that is splendid with the right paraphernalia. The equipment is more than just expensive, it’s outrageous. The clothing, the accessories and spares make this a materialistic expression of note, dahlink.

In the mornings, I see whole pelatons of riders decked out like a human canon-ball in the circus. Cycling is obviously a serious business, for no-one talks or laughs. There is a steady focus ahead as they glide past us scraggy bunch of runners. “Morning” we yell. Silence, save the buzzing if chain and cog. “Fine thanks and you” some runner wag yells out and we all burst out laughing. It didn’t even break their hypnotic stare forwards.

I hear howls coming from many quarters, what about our shoes, do you know how much a pair of running shoes cost? Ah, yes I do. And that is not the point here, for I have seen people run races bare-foot. In the townships, there are not many expensive pairs of running shoes, there are second-hand pairs, hand-me-downs. Here, there are a lot of runners that are bare-footed, fuelled only by the dream of becoming an Olympian one-day.

Amby Burfoot recalls that he has known runners that believed they could go faster, if only they could find the perfect pair of shoes. “The perfect fit, the perfect lightness, the perfect high-tech features. But” he recalls, “I have never known a runner who actually improved after getting a new pair of shoes. Only dedication, consistency, passion and hard training can make you faster”.

Sadly we have created for ourselves a highly materialistic focus in our world. We are inundated with advertising that tries to convince us that we can improve our performance. All we need to do is simply buy this or that product. Worse, we have not only become materialistic, but lazy. Consider the magazine cover that will give us five easy ways to get fitter, faster, thinner or richer. All empty promises. We are bombarded daily with the temptations to find the easy way out. 

Of course, the real answers lie within, and the best solutions are achieved from personal resolve, not a fancy pair of running shoes. I sometimes am fortunate enough to spy Bruce Fordyce running around my neighbourhood. Here the multiple winner of the Comrades Marathon, world record holder and most talented distance athlete South Africa, is seen in a tatty t-shirt and a very old pair of running shoes. “Howzit!!” he yells as he runs past. 
I cannot help it, but once again feel the power of turning away from materialistic temptation, and concentrating on the essentials. I remind myself that I do not want much around me and that I already have everything I need for my happiness and success. I don’t have to reach outward to grab at anything for that. All I must do is look inward and make good use of my own personal resources.

“The importance or the unimportance of the self cannot be exaggerated’ Reginold Blyth.

Learn From A Bad Run

You learn nothing form a good run. When you hit the wall, when you are forced to bail, rejoice.

If only it were possible, if only I could do it. If every time I went out on a run, I could break my previous record. That would be an amazing achievement; I would simply get faster and faster and there would be no limit. This unfortunately is not the case, I do have limits, I am fallible and I do get injured. It is in these moments, I find my real strength.

In any field of endeavour, show me the winners. Show me those who have never known defeat or failure, and I am sure to be looking at a novice. In my younger days of running I would go out as hard and as fast as I could, and most times each run was better than the last. When I ran a time-trial, I clipped a second or two off my previous best. My first marathon was painful but it was sweet, and there was nothing that could stop me. It was time for my first real running lesson.

Brimming with confidence, and sufficient rest, I entered my second marathon. I set about taking off half-an-hour from my first attempt, and ran off at the start accordingly. I did not want to waste time on hydration, so I gave the watering tables a miss. I also thought that it would be a good idea to get to halfway with at least 15 minutes in hand. This plan, although foolhardy, was going well just before halfway, and I was unstoppable. That was when the fatigue and the nausea hit, and I was forced to abandon the race. I was devastated, I had failed and worse, I was in the bailer’s bus.

Weeks of soul-searching went on after that. I was humiliated, and my running mates thought it was funny. It did force me to analyse my approach to the sport however. It forced me to read about training and performance. So began the real journey of my running. I did become stronger, and ran many better races. Because of that one bad marathon, I am more knowledgeable and now I have a perspective.

As I get older and slower, my running has even more meaning than when I was younger. Performance my well still be important given its proper context, now days I seem to have many more bad runs than good. Given that you learn nothing from a good run, I am probably the most knowledgeable runner this side of Tim Noakes. That being so, I am appreciative of running in the morning, and what it means to be fit. 

In this life it seems that there is little time for the losers. We are unforgiving of ourselves when things go wrong. We fire corporate executives at will because of poor performance and show little patience or tolerance with a national coach of any sporting code. But I say that often-times this is when the most valuable lessons are being handed out. I once knew of a chief executive who would not employ a manager unless that person had at least one business failure in his or her career. Wise practice or foolhardy? Wise practice in my book. 

David Mallet leaves off this week – “Who hath not known ill fortune, never knew himself, or his own virtue”

Running Is Not A Race

As South Africans we are more sensitive to the race issue than anyone else on earth. We have been witness to a miracle of goodwill and reconciliation for almost a decade and thanks to events like the Soweto Marathon and to some of my friends who live there, I feel wholly a proud South African.

We have come a long way as a nation, and as runners we have, dare I say, led the way in some instances. The year 1989, Bruce Fordyce had opted to sit the Comrades Marathon out, thus leaving the field wide open for many talented hopefuls. Willie Mtolo had all the credentials of a winner and the pedigree of a great athlete. There was a Titanic struggle between the rabbit and the tortoise, and on that day Tortoise prevailed. The big deal in that race was that Sam Tshabalala was the first black man to have ever won the Comrades Marathon. 

Sam was rightly hailed as a special hero, and gave inspiration and hope to a nation. In many instances it was more about the fact that Sam was black, and not so much that he won the greatest ultra marathon in the world. In 1989 South Africa was in a different political place, and most were still excluded from a normal society. Under these circumstances we could be forgiven for making such an icon of Sam Tshabalala. 

Life has moved on in our fair land, and so has our thinking. When a diminutive runner from South Africa won the marathon event in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. Josia Thugwane became to mean so much more than just a black South African athlete, a national hero and icon. Josiah was our ‘boykie’, Josiah was a South African and we all could stand proud. True, the warriors of the World Cup Rugby did it for us in 1995, but here was an individual, and he did it for us. There was talk about Josiah’s colour, but he was not singled out in the way Sam was.

The sporting barriers came down in South Africa and this paved the way for many talented international athletes to come here. This had good side effects as well as bad. The Comrades Marathon, our national treasure, and the benchmark we measure our national pride by had been passed from our hands and placed firmly in the grip of a Russian contingent we never even knew existed. Would a South African ever win the Comrades Marathon again? - We groaned. Enter a policeman from Mafekeng – the 2001 Comrades was a time to restore some South African pride.

Andrew Kelehe will always be remembered for his fine win, and the fact that he was the third black South African to win the race will be of little consequence. Running has in small measure helped to heal old wounds and to build a nation. Andrew restored our pride as a nation, and one evening when he stood before a crowded room of Comrades novices, you could hear a pin drop. He spoke with a clear voice and he spoke with the authority of a Comrades winner. In that room, at that moment I knew the only real difference between Andrew and myself was that he has won the Comrades Marathon and I never did.

We try to stumble forward on this thorny issue, this race issue. I am convinced that if we sought out the things that are similar in our lives, rather than the things that make us different, we would live happier and more productively. Distance running is a good teacher of race relations, for the road is no respecter of race, colour, creed, religion or sex, those things, like our answers to pain a fatigue, we must find within ourselves.

Running As A Lifestyle

There is more than enough evidence to show that exercise is good for us. There is a lot of research that proves conclusively that running is a very good medium of exercise to significantly improve our health and our sense of well-being.

Last week the inaugural JPMorgan road race took place in Jozi, and if this is an indicator, the state of corporate health in South Africa is in pretty good shape. So is road running.

There is no doubt that road running is changing in our fair land. The traditional running and marathon clubs are stagnating at best; at worst they are loosing ground and closing their doors. The numbers of registered runners are slowly declining, and those that remain in the structured side of running are getting older, greyer and heavier. 

Races are finding it difficult to attract the right kind of sponsorship, and several big, well-organised races are in jeopardy. Ten years ago there were half the number of events that there are today, and medals were awarded only to Comrades and Two Oceans finishers. In those days tracksuit badges were given out for all other races.

In the face of this, how then can anyone feel optimistic? Simply by looking about and observing. All shoe companies are currently reporting buoyant sales, not only in lifestyle shoes but also in technical models. The same could be said for the stores that sell these shoes. People are running, and that is a fact. They are choosing to be a lot more recreational about their sport, and they are doing it for fun.

This is also supported by the growth of sales of temporary licences at races. People are entering the odd race, but don’t want to be tied into the more permanent aspects of running. That is why races such as JPMorgan are so important at this time. Shorter distances, bigger parties and lots of goodies are what runners are demanding. Does this put a race like Comrades in an awkward position? Perhaps not.

Comrades will always have enormous hero appeal. It is a race that calls to our highest running aspirations. For in truth, if we can run a Comrades, we can do anything. But there is life after the Old Road, and it is vibrant, and fun and varied. People are mixing up their running with some swimming and with cycling. All people who are interested in keeping running alive in South Africa had best take note of these trends and keep pace with a fast changing sport.

Some Very Good Reasons To Run

It is the endorphins that do it every time. There is always a sense of well-being amongst runners, no-matter what the armchair critics say, running is good for you.

In my line of work, it is a given that I will meet at least one person a day who will tell me how bad running is for you. “I mean, a guy actually died at Comrades this year. You see that’s why I don’t want to run, I don’t want to die. And besides what do you think of when you run? Running is boring.”

So here I sit, across a desk and I am getting this lecture from an overweight lass who is busy smoking, she has two telephones under her chin and she is yelling at her secretary to bring her an ashtray. She is younger than me but you wouldn’t have guessed it.

I think of the cold mornings when I meet with a small but hardy band of fellow runners, I think of our jokes and the light hearted banter that takes place while we trot along. The only smoke present is when our warm breath hits the morning chill. This is what life is all about; this is a moment to savor. Pretty soon the sun will come up and we will be treated to yet another moment of sheer bliss.

There is no doubt that as you become fitter and better trained you change. This year I witnessed this change at the Comrades Panel Talks, held at Rand Afrikaans University. Early on in the programme I made a promise to the audience; “you will not view life in the same way ever again if you follow the programme and finish the race.” The uncertainty was palpable in the lecture theater that night. 

I recall the last lecture just before Comrades; yes there was excitement in the air, that was to be expected. But there was something else, a quiet confidence, a calmness and an inner strength. Under all the bubble and noise there was a tangible silence that is easily sensed by fellow runners. Clearly I was beginning to make good on my promise, and when I talk to those runners after the race, the promise is good.

Distance running seems to do that. It knocks off a lot of the rough edges; it rounds a person off and gives a definite sense of well-being. There are times when I feel elated, even when I am hurting and I am tired. And so our running group rounds a corner, chatting and laughing and someone lets out a loud fart. We all burst out laughing and sprint to the top of the hill, steam rising from our breath as we yell “morning” to fellow runners coming in the opposite direction.

I look across the desk at this poor girl, now looking for her lighter, yelling once again for coffee, an ashtray and fumbling with a ringing cell-phone. “What do I think of when I run? Hell, I don’t know, I just run”

Biteable Bits

How does an ordinary person do an extraordinary thing? 

How would you eat an elephant? The answer: one forkful at a time. 

There is a concept that we teach at the Comrades Panel Talks. Biteable bits and chewable chunks. I do not believe that this simple yet devastatingly potent principal is the reserve of the Comrades runner alone. I believe it can be applied by anyone.

Very often the Comrades is used to epitomize the highest achievement in running. How then do we relate to the person who finds even a run around the block as daunting as the Big One? The task of exercising is as daunting to both. The principal applied is exactly the same.

If we can just break up the task into smaller pieces, manageable pieces, the entire task becomes a lot easier to complete. This is true of our training as well as the race. Nothing is more frightening at the start of Comrades than when you run past a marker board that says “85 km to go” (They count them backwards in that race for the uninitiated) It is a scary prospect, so you don’t even look at the boards; you rather look at the next landmark 15km away. That is manageable, that I can do. Just 15km then I will take stock and move on from there.

My eye caught a ‘Forum’ request from a novice wondering about tackling Comrades 2001. If I start now can I do it next year? How many ask this question, many I think. The starting point of this, I boldly suggest, is the clear understanding of the ‘biteable bits, chewable chunks’ principal. This is the stuff that heroes and legends are made of.

So where do we begin? Get the habits right, learn to run regularly, learn to run at least three to five times a week, once on the weekend. Don’t worry about distance. In fact that will come a long way down the road, not now. And if Comrades is just not your bag, still, get the habits right, that is the bitable bit for now. Just get up and run. Make it part of your daily and weekly routine. 

Many tell me they don’t have the time to run, what with a busy schedule and the kids and all. Well that is the first chewable chunk – find the time, wake up early and organise all around you so that you can create the habit of running regularly. Once this has been conquered, we will go onto more heroic things, but for now, get the disciplines right.

With all our daily tasks, the principal holds and it is still true, take biteable bits and chewable chunks and any task, no matter how difficult can be done. To conclude I turn to the wise and sagely to find inspiration and it is to the Bard, Shakespeare that I refer now: 

“To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first”

You Get What You Train For

You get what you train for, that’s a fact. Zatopek understood this simple principal, that’s why he was the Olympic champion he was.

The training principals now days are becoming more and more complex. There is cross training, diets and a host of trainers and coaches and as many theories. There is so much scientific knowledge, so much known about the human body and how to achieve optimum performance. What does that mean to me and my performance? 

I am a simple person, and the way to improvement is, and should always be simple. If you want to run faster, then run faster. That’s all well and good, but that’s a bit trite, a bit clichéd somewhat hackneyed even. But it’s true. 

Certainly to improve your speed, you must learn to run faster. That means you will be getting tired sooner, so you will want to run shorter distances. I am a Comrades donkey, and that’s how I run. A five-kilometer time trial is a daunting prospect, scary even, but I know that this is the place to come to if I want to find my speed.

At first my lungs were bursting and my legs were sore, it was not comfortable. The body is a wonderful thing and, given a little time and some application, little by little there were small improvements. I was getting a little faster. I was beginning to adapt. 

The same holds true if you want to become a strong hill climber. Want to run hills? then go and run hills. Want to run ultra races? Go and do some long, very long desistance running. 

Very often we don’t analyze the race we are going into. Very often we are not clear about our goals, or even what is involved in getting to those goals. Take for example a runner who is a consistent 10-hour finisher at Comrades. Now there is a new medal, a Bill Rowan. To get this new, coveted medal, we need to get that runner to finish the race more than an hour faster. How will this be achieved?

Clearly our Rowan hopeful must learn to do a number of things differently. The hopeful must learn to run faster, that is for sure. The hopeful must also learn to run faster for longer distances, and if the race finished in Martizburg, the hopeful will also begin to strengthen the legs in some hill climbing sessions. With dedication, with application, it is difficult to say whether this runner will succeed or not, but the chances are now far greater than before.

This is not just a running problem; this is a problem in our daily lives. Very often we want a different outcome. A faster race, a better job, a more successful life. This we can have, but the simple truth still holds, we get what we train for. If you want a different outcome, change the training.

Emil Zatopek won the 10 000m in the 1948 London games. Helsinki was an entirely different matter. He became the first, perhaps the only man in Olympic history to ever win three long-distsnce events, the 5 000m the 10 000m and the marathon. His secret to this towering achievement was a simple philosophy.

“When I was young, I was too slow. I thought why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I must lean to run fast by practicing to run fast. ..If I can run 100 meters twenty times, that is two kilometers. “

Want To Start Running?

Want to start running? Think of yourself as a motorcar.

So here I run with a group of novice runners, all of them are stronger than me, all are younger. Which one, I wonder will get injured first? It will be the one who fails to understand the law of the motorcar.

This week I hope my more experienced friends will indulge me, for we are going back to basics. The runner’s body you see is indeed like a motorcar, made up of engine and made up of chassis. The engine is the heart, lungs and muscles. The chassis is the connective tissue, cartilage and bone structure.

As the novice starts to train, given three months of regular exercise, miraculous changes will occur. One day, almost out of the blue, you will have a fantastic run. All of a sudden it will all click into place, and you will start to feel great. And give or take a few weeks, it is at the three-month mark that all this begins to happen. This, I suggest is the most dangerous period in your entire running career.

Let me explain, your engine has adapted, the heart, lungs and muscles have come along fine and you are now a lot stronger than when you started out three months ago. The big problem is your chassis is nowhere near strong enough to support such a strong engine. Imagine a great big V-8 engine in a little skedonk of a chassis. Something is going to give. It usually does. And it usually happens around month three to six, mark my words. That is when we can expect the first injury.

So what do we do? How does one cope with this? The answer lies in understanding the next important step. The chassis usually takes about 18 months to two years to adapt, so all of the training done in the early stages of a running career must account for this. The training is geared to strengthening the chassis and not the engine. What does this mean in practical terms? It means a conservative approach, preferably on grass on a field.

I hear howls coming from the keen novices, but mark my words; a conservative and gentle start now will pay dividends later on. A month on grass, easy runs on the road after that with rest days in-between will yield the right result in the long run, so to speak. So what is the formula then? Work to strengthen the chassis first, worry about the engine later. Often times the engine will follow anyway.

And a word from the wise this week come from Plato – “ beginning is the most important part of the work” 

Running Faster

If you want to run faster, you must run faster

This may sound absurd, but it is true. Shorter and faster is the key to finding your speed. While the Comrades Marathon is a great race, it does nothing for you at the sharp end of a time-trial.

Sometimes runners seem to loose their way. How many times have I been asked if cycling will improve a runner’s ability? Will swimming help? Perhaps some gym? The answer is simple, no not really. The best thing for running is running. If you want to become a strong hill climber, go do hills. Lots of them and do them frequently.

For many of us, the thought of improvement is daunting. It means we will have to live outside a comfort zone for a while, to achieve something we really want. But that is the harsh fact of life. If you want to soar like an eagle, it makes little sense to train with the turkeys. Go find some eagles and soar a little there, even if you fail a bit. Far better doing that than setting yourself up for the business end of Christmas lunch.

The things we want to achieve in life do require application. It is important to be positive about the things that need doing to achieve success. It is no good dabbling in sideshows, when what you want are riches. Do the stuff that brings riches and don’t waste time. Want a good, rounded and successful life? It may sound a little simple, but engage your mind and your actions in the right activities that achieve success.

So back to running then, if you want to run faster, you have to run faster

That is the plain and simple truth. Shorter and faster. Olympic hero Emil Zatopek makes this training philosophy very clear. “When I was young, I was too slow. I thought, why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I must learn to run a hundred metres very fast. People said ‘Emil, you are crazy, you are training be a sprinter. You have no chance.’ I said ‘Yes, but if I run one hundred metres twenty times, that is two kilometres and that is no longer a sprint’.”

In Helsinki in 1952, Zatopek won the 5 000m, 10 000m and the marathon. In all of these races he set new Olympic records. For speed work he became my mentor.

Commitment is the Key

I have stood in front of a crowd of runners and made a promise. There is only one ingredient that will keep my promise – Commitment 

Do the training as we give it to you and run the race as we tell you to and you will succeed. But, sign this first, it’s the commitment card.

Many runners want to succeed; many wish they could run better than they are at the moment. Many are interested in improving; few it seems are committed to improvement. 

At the start of the Comrades Panel Talks Don Oliver and I stage-manage the first talk. We take a big risk, for we tell an expectant crowd not to come back to the next talk unless they are willing to sign the commitment card. Serious stuff indeed, but we know that a committed runner is a successful runner. 

This commitment can only be in place when there is a very clear picture of what it is you want. This has to be well defined and even written down in a diary. While a goal like – to get fit and loose some weight is good, I suggest a goal with more definition is the essence of success. I wish to finish (say) the Castle Lite Gun Run in under two hours this year is worthy, well defined and a goal I can commit to. 

Now comes the interesting part, I write down that I am 100% committed to finishing this race in the stated time and I sign it. This is a contract between me and myself. I am shameless about my goal, about what I want to achieve and I tell the world. I tell my friends, my family and all at work. Now there is no turning back.

Take this a step further, make out a copy of the commitment card and stick it on your mirror as a daily reminder. Carry it around with you, and pull it out whenever the going gets tough. Whenever you are tempted to stay in bed for that extra half hour in the morning, pull out your commitment card, show it to your partner and leap out of bed, for you have business to attend to, running business.

As in running, so too in the hurly-burly of life, commitment is the key that unlocks the door to many of our desires. If we want to succeed in anything, it is commitment that will give us the success. 

It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high”

When We Train The Body

When we train the body, we merely plod along in our own mediocrity, when we train body and mind, we truly begin to run.

The most compelling running picture I have seen is a black and white shot taken in 1954. It is a photograph of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile barrier at Oxford where he was studying to be a doctor. 

At that time there was a clutch of talented athletes who were knocking on the door, hoping to be the first to pull off this important milestone, Arne Anderson, Gunder Haegg, Wes Santee and John Landy. None could achieve it, the barrier seemed so close and yet it eluded all. 

Haegg singled out Banister as the athlete who would most likely do it: “he uses his brains as much as he uses his legs. I’ve always thought the four minute mile more of a psychological problem than a test of endurance”. 

And so on 6 May 1954, at Oxford’s Iffley Road track, history was made, Roger Bannister broke the barrier, and opened the way for others to succeed. If one has to look at results today, an athlete who merely breaks the four minute mile oftentimes comes last.

Afterwards Bannister wrote this: “Though physiology may indicate respiratory and circulatory limits to muscular effort, psychological and other factors beyond the ken of physiology set the razor’s edge of defeat or victory and determine how closely an athlete approaches the absolute limits of performance”

Space here does not allow for all the mental training principals followed by Bannister and others who have achieved at high level, but it is worthwhile to note some of the most valuable ones;

Concentration on a single goal during training. – The Comrades runner understands this more than most, especially during the last month of training. This principal presupposes that a runner has a very clear and defined goal. The goal is achievable and is committed to writing.

Put more effort into racing than into training – This comes down to ‘big match temperament’ Bannister said that he needed to release more energy in four minutes, than that spent in half-a-hour’s training.

Have a detailed competitive plan – Knowledge of the course, a detailed pacing chart with times at important mile-stones, a thorough check of equipment, shoes and a study of weather all make up for a confident and relaxed start.

Mental preparation – For a week before the race, spend time thinking about the big day, see the course in your mind, see yourself achieving your goal. Bannister did exactly this; his body would grow nervous and tremble as he ran the race over and over in his mind. Then he would calm himself and go to sleep.

Don’t let problems upset – If your plan is detailed, and you are focused on the outcome, the fact that a watering table has no refreshment is of little consequence. People are rude and bump you, marshals are incompetent, and your stomach wants to work. This is all of little matter, for the plan is detailed, the goal is clear and you have seen the outcome. Now it is time to put in the effort, this is what you have come here for.

Calm and relaxed – To help with this one, keep as much of your surroundings and your habits as familiar as possible. If sleeping in a strange hotel, take you pillows from home, the familiar smells and feeling is comforting. Seek solitude, stay away form the hype and plan to keep relaxed. Arrive at the start early and not in a panic. Bannister used to go for long walks before competition, ‘seeking the mental calm I needed’.

Our mental state is important to our performance on and off the road, and it was Buddha who said ‘we are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”

Visualization

Visualization is a powerful tool that can lead runners to their goals 

Using mind techniques for running is a lot simpler than many believe. The first principal to understand is that it is not a substitute for good, hard, solid physical training. The second principal is that it must become part of your training, and it must be practiced regularly to have any impact.

Like most runners I was so scared for my first Comrades. But I had been fortunate to have read and learned a little about the art of visualization. In those days, it was only the weird, space-cadet types that would get into this. I unashamedly was one anyway, so I started to visualize.

The day before the race I went to the stadium and stood outside. I looked up the road where we would be coming in from ‘Maritzburg. I stood and looked around me and shut my eyes. I became aware of my breathing and I calmed my mind. I began to be aware of the sounds of a cheering crowd, I could smell the braais. I stood there and felt my own pain and fatigue. I looked at the trees outside the stadium and noted their cool shade. I tried to absorb every detail. 

Slowly I walked into the stadium between the barriers, on the grass where I would run the next day. I paused to listen to the PA blaring, I could hear the music playing and the stadium was full. Spectators and athletes were hanging on the barricades, shouting. They were banging on anything that made a noise and I could feel their energy and their excitement.

So there I was, in my own silent world, walking around Kingsmead Stadium on the day before the race. I stood under the finish banner and shut my eyes. I cleared my mind and saw this all happening to me. “This is where I shall be tomorrow,” I told myself. I was calm and silent, and in my mind I saw the clock, it was 9:00:00. I did not cross the finish line on that day, that was the business of tomorrow. But I walked back to the car and drove back to the hotel. That night I slept like a baby. I was wrong about one thing on the day of the race. When next I stood on the finish line under the clock, it read 8:39:14. This was real, this was race-day, it happened just the way my mind saw it. 

So then, what about visualization, is it mystical? Lynch and Scott in their book, ‘Running Within” explain that it is a learned skill, that needs to be practiced in a relaxed state. They go on to explain that it is an integral facet of the total training programme. The mind therefore is trained like any other muscle. If you want to become a strong and fast 10 km runner, you wouldn’t think of running only once a month, expecting results. So too, if you want a strong mind, you need to train mentally on a consistent basis.

In closing, this week I turn to the wisdom of the Zen Master Ch’an Master Yuantong: “When the task is done beforehand, then it is easy”

Having a Clear Plan

Having a clear plan and then executing it is the best way to succeed.

There are many who are looking at next year’s calendar already. Many are beginning to lay the foundations for successful running in 2001. Those runners who are plotting and planning now will find great success by this time next year.

It all starts with the odd phone call, then two or three and then a deluge. Many fellow runners are phoning at this time just to find out if the fixtures list is ready for the next running year. Just by the way, it is not completely ready, but that is not our story here. 

It is a good idea to plan your running year ahead and it is a good idea to have that plan as detailed as possible. Many, I know are going to have a crack at the Comrades Marathon in 2001. Some of these runners will have one medal already, and inspired by the great achievement this year, will attempt the ‘down’ run. There are some runners who were simply inspired by the event, the courage and determination shown on the television. Now they too want to find that hero-person inside of themselves and they too will run next year’s down run.

Runners come in many shapes, sizes and talents and there are many, couch-potatoes no less, that are runners, only they just don’t know it yet. They want to find fitness and health and are not motivated by the heroic deed of running a Comrades. Their heroic deed is just to complete a 10 km race by next November. That, for some, for many, is just as worthy a goal as the Big “C”. What is most important in all of this is that you must have a plan. It is most important to set a goal and then stick to it. 

More than just setting the goal, it is vital to work out the finer details. There must be a clear and workable way on how to get there. The steps along the way, the races along the way must be clear and well expressed. It may sound a bit obvious, but you must plan your 10 km race, then your half and so on, before you can reach the goal of Comrades. Clarity of purpose is important here as well as the details on how to get there.

The one ingredient that is necessary to make all of this work is commitment. It is important to write down this goal, to express it clearly, and to be passionate about the outcome. Moreover, once written down and the commitment made; it is time to go public about it. Tell all who will care to listen, put it out there for all to see. That way there is no backing out. That is the way of success.

So, you say then, hey, what about your goals for 2001. Well, I do not think I could take the damage of the down Comrades, but here goes: I am fully committed to run the following races in 2001 – Columbus Loskop, Old Mutual Two Oceans, The City to City Ultra and the Tough One. Never mind the other races in between used as training, but that my friends, is my schedule for next year. Now its time to nail your colours to the mast, paste yours on the “Forum” for all to see.

Feel the passion when you have direction, commit yourself unreservedly and give your running a full go next year.
I turn to philosopher Seneca this week “ When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind” 

Five Essential Characteristics

The five essential characteristics of an accomplished runner.

Each one of us is a champion, each one is a winner. This is true of our sport, more so than any other. When I dare to think this way, I think of the makeup of the truly accomplished runner. I recognize that each of us is unique, each has different talents, abilities and many of our running achievements will never hit the newspaper headlines, let alone the gossip column of the club magazine. From the Olympian to my humble achievement there is no gulf but rather a small bridge, for we are alike. There are five essential characteristics that we all share as runners. That is what makes us accomplished in our sport, that is what sets us apart.

The first and perhaps most important characteristic is balance. As runners we are sometimes more obsessive than most to the unschooled outside observer. Our sleeping habits, our eating habits and indeed our bowel movements become the subject of much scrutiny. Sometimes training 14 times a week, twice a day every day of the week seems like the only sane thing to do to improve. An injury, even minor, is a calamity that can take on Biblical proportions. The accomplished runner understands that to achieve deep, long-term contentment, it makes sense to find the balance point. In running, then, as in life, moderation is the key. 

The second is patience. Injuries are a part of the sport, as too are colds, flu and minor setbacks. The accomplished runner understands this, understands the meaning of the long run. It is a brave decision to make, given that you have flu on the night of that important race, to bale. The wise and accomplished runner will never arrive at the start of a race, hoping to hobble through. The accomplished runner is patient, ever patient and will think, “next year will be my year’. Life is a marathon after all, we must pace ourselves accordingly.

Thirdly, there is respect. How many go charging out at the gun, only to be tamed by the distance and the terrain. The race, if not properly understood can overwhelm both body and mind. But there is a mutual respect between runners as well. When each of us passes that magical point in the race where we are on our feet and running, and we are beyond pain and fatigue, we see our fellow human being in a new and respectful light. The elite athlete passes through this passage, so does the back marker. Each has respect for the other, each is an athlete.

The fourth is made up of the stuff of the third, it is humility. It is almost a given that you will drop out of a race, trip on a cat’s eye in the road and cut your hands. Eventually a runner will face the disastrous day, and will be found wanting. What is important here is the positive force of humility. For the accomplished runner can get up after a stumble, muster some dignity and pride and start running again. The accomplished runner understands that everyone stumbles at one time or another, its life; it’s the human condition.

The fifth characteristic is ‘vasbyt’. Bruce Fordyce suggests that a runner requires lashings of ‘vasbyt’ to finish the Comrades Marathon. He is right; all accomplished runners require this quality. It is a toughness that is quiet, rater than brutish. It is a runner’s ability to stand on his or her own. To resist pain and to keep focused on the task at hand. This is the last, but not the least of the five characteristics of an accomplished runner. 

‘The same personality – independent, introverted, single-minded, self reliant, self confident, distrusting – that enabled me to excel as an athlete in full health, hindered me when I became an athlete in pain’ Frank Shorter.

The Courageous Runner

The courageous runner is not the biggest, strongest and the toughest – it is oftentimes the exact opposite.

I have been the fortunate witness to many acts of great courage on the road. Sometimes it is the brave soul, who simply pulls on her shoes and runs out of the kitchen door, leaving her beloved family to cope without her for half an hour in the day. Sometimes it is a man, blind and sightless, who takes on the challenge of the Comrades Marathon, and, overcoming overwhelming odds, claims a physical and spiritual victory that many less fortunate cannot understand.

One moment stands out in the 2000 Comrades Marathon, it was a moment of such clarity that I know I will never be the same again because of it. I was in the company of a novice runner, Riaan, and we had done fairly well to that point. We raced to Drummond to be on time, and in steady and disciplined fashion we tackled the face of Inchanga and we were not found lacking in strength or skill. On the back-end of Inchanga, however, we were in crisis. “I have never been so scared in all my life” declared Riaan. I studied him carefully, “So am I” I had to admit. Clearly, we were a couple of runners in a crisis here.

The Chinese character for our word crisis has two distinct meanings. On the one hand it means danger, but it also means opportunity. For us both there was great opportunity to learn something of value, if ever we were to take something from this race, it was here and now. On the back end of that infamous hill, the lesson about courage was being taught. Now that there is a little distance in time and space between that event, it is easier to put the meaning of courage into perspective. 

I scoured the bookshops for writers that put this important ingredient into running. Jerry Lynch and Warren Scott do exactly that, in their book “Running Within”. They give six simple steps to becoming more courageous, six steps to help regain perspective.

For us to approach both our running and our lives with a sense of mastery, it is our consistent physical and mental training that will get us there. All the effects are cumulative. We must see the opportunity in every situation, and we must give ourselves the time, however long, to come into our own. Patience, perseverance and courage will take us there. 

To conclude therefore I turn to C.S. Lewis for my quote this week: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

The Four Stage of a Road Runner

As we spend time running, we change and develop, the novice runner is very different from the more experienced athlete.

As I stand at the start of a race, there is always a feeling of nervous tension. People chat, fidget or stare into space. Here I become the casual observer and see runners in different stages of development. I believe there are four distinct stages we go through, four levels of growth.

Observe first the novice runner. Perhaps the most obvious sign is the temporary license, and casual T-shirt. This is a person who is still very keen, still very excited. The running bug has just bitten, and it’s all so new. The novice runner’s mind is open to almost anything, and learning about the sport is a joy. This is a person who meticulously keeps a daily logbook. Every badge, every medal, every finish of every race is prized and is cherished. This love affair with running lasts for about two to three years, but it is a good place to be.

As a runner moves on into the next stage, there have been a few injuries along the way. This stage is perhaps the one that brings the most growth. Observe this person at the start of the race, and you see a well-worn pair of shoes. The casual T-shirt is replaced with new club colours. Here, perhaps the runner has completed a few marathons and even a Comrades or two. Because of some unexpected injuries, the mind is still open, but wary of excessive training methods. This person is now personal friends with at least one physiotherapist. Only the important medals are finding their way onto the mantle-shelf. This runner has been part of the sport four to six years, and a logbook is kept only for the major races.

Before the runner can become experienced, there is a right of passage that he or she must travel. Perhaps the hardest stage to be in is the third. For here a runner becomes complete. There comes a stage in most long distance races where we all want to quit. The fact that we don’t makes the difference between a jogger and a runner. In this hard stage, the runner must deal with him or her self, and overcome mighty odds. Observe this runner, shoes now completely shoddy. The club colours are faded so is the license number. This runner has done five or more Comrades and the big decision is – do I go on and do my tenth? Injuries are not really a problem here, for this runner is road-hard, and is knowledgeable. Medals, save the precious Comrades and Two Oceans are kept in a kit bag at the back of a cupboard. This runner has been on the road for seven to ten years. 

Finally, the experienced runner. Usually older than most. Observe the faded colours, but also the little green patch proudly sewn on, it is a race number in perpetuity. Ten Comrades Marathons or more. This runner has passed through the tough third section and has gone on to achieve most running goals. Here we reach mastery, for running has become a way of life, and being here in the moment is the only real goal. No medal is important, no logbook is kept and every well thumbed book on the subject is somewhere on the bookshelf. This person knows every race, has experienced every injury and now is ready to become a runner.

So, which stage are you at? It matters not. Each of us has the potential for mastery. Running is a simple, and uncomplicated way to achieve it. And the time we make for it and the passage we travel through it makes all the difference. 

I know this should be a weekly column, but believe me, there is a book coming out that will be worth this small aggravation. Watch this space!!! 

So from Thomas Mann this week – “Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.”

Look Easy at the Start

It is always so easy to look good at the start of a distance race. The trick is to look good at the end.

How often do we see it happening? How many times do runners squander their precious running energy in the early stages of the race, only to look like a shell-shocked battalion at the finish line? Worse still, to bale the race.

As with so much written in the past, running is the great parable of life. Success in the final stages of the race requires focus, discipline even restraint in the early stages. To approach the finish line of a marathon with strength requires more than just a little luck.

South Africa is blessed with the greatest Ultra Marathon in the world, the Comrades Marathon, and yet sadly we cannot seem to grasp the simple truths that distance running teach us. Witness the proliferation of casinos all over the country, all with promises of “the good life” and an easy way out. The placing of such establishments can be likened to a mad sprint for the first five kilometres of a very long race. We will all look good in those five kay’s, but will be found wanting later in the day. There is no substitute for hard work and productive capacity; no get rich quick scheme can buy out solid investment.

It seems that so many want to find the easy way out, to find the five easy steps to health, love and riches. There are no five easy steps, and no short cuts, it is all a myth. Marathon success is built on a daily routine, often very boring. It is built on consistent actions and dedication. To look good at the end of a marathon requires simple, do-able actions, but they must be applied regularly. The casino psychology cannot work if you are looking for a strong marathon finish.

Distance athletes of any discipline understand this only too well, and in the end are the happiest of people, are the most wholesome of folk. An accomplished athlete comes into his or her own only in the later stages of a project or task. Here, it is not only the race, but also work, family and relationships. The principal is all the same, to finish well in the long haul, it always requires a special mind-set up-front.

And yet our media is abundant with promises of the easy way out. Have it all – now, all on easy terms with no deposit. The media invites us to sprint madly for the five-kay mark, do not think for one minute this is a 90 km race. Many do not want to think of the consequences thereafter, as long as, for one brief, shining moment, we can have our face on TV.

Each time the sport comes back at us and has important lessons to teach. Go out slowly in the early stages, conserve your energy and don’t squander your best opportunity on setting a new record to the halfway mark. Few athletes are remembered for that distinction. Bruce Fordyce had the remarkable capacity to concentrate and work the hardest in the last ten kilometres of the Comrades Marathon, not the first ten. That is why he is the champion. 

Excessive anything is not wise at the start of a long race, better show restraint. The saying of the wise is appropriate now as it was then, “Nothing in excess.”
Inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and variously ascribed to the Seven Wise Men.

The Value of Goals

Goals in themselves are not important. Even the achievement of a goal, taken in isolation is meaningless. Only when we begin to understand that goal setting in our running serves as a beacon that illuminates our path to fitness, wellness and wholeness, then we begin to understand the process of setting goals.

This does not mean to say the attainment of a goal has no value. We need goals to serve us as beacons that give us something to strive for. We need beacons that are near-by and we need beacons that are far way, we need short-term and long-term goals. It is in this process of setting, reaching and then passing a goal that we begin to grow and flourish. The achievement of any running medal is not the goal itself. It is a body that is fit, a mind that is sharp and a spirit that is free. This is the real goal.

So where are we now? Or where are we going? In order to set worthwhile and worthy goals, the first step is to evaluate our ability. This is a crucial step, for if we are not realistic at the outset, we will only taste the bitter fruits of disappointment, frustration and disillusionment.

The start of this journey is to set realistic, yet challenging short-term goals. This way you are likely to achieve these goals more frequently, reinforcing the message that you are a winner and that you can accomplish your goals. This will ignite the fires of courage, confidence, motivation and commitment in you. You can then begin to cultivate a fearless approach for greater things. It is said that what you can conceive, you can achieve. True. If you can see something happening, something possible, then it is time to stop, focus and give it your attention. If you fail to achieve your new goal right away, don’t despair or give in. Patience and persistence will enable you to get there as long as the training process is fun and the goals are worthy.

The next important step is to incorporate your running goals into your life’s objectives. We are not merely people who run, we are husbands and wives. We are parents and we run businesses and work for employers. We are churchgoers and we have a social life. It is important to weave into the fabric of our busy lives the strands that make up our running. We are whole people

Thirdly, we must be patient and persistent. It is in this way that goals will be realised. Patience, they say is a virtue. How virtuous many of us must be that have waited at the closed gates of reward with the patience of a saint. Many times a debilitating injury will put us out of the sport while we heal. If re-entry into racing is too early, the injury will persist and we will battle indefinitely. With patience, and with that alone, does the healing process really work.

And of persistence, if we can get up just one more time than we fall, we will see it through to success. This is a process of trial and error. Two steps forward, one step back will eventually get us to our destination. Many give up on the threshold of a breakthrough. Persistence is the way to success; it is the coward who goes home early.
Fourthly, embrace your setbacks. Trial and error implies a system with built-in failure. Setbacks must be expected; this is a natural consequence of taking a risk and trying to improve. I say you learn nothing from a good run. It is when we blowout and are found wanting, that we are forced to re-evaluate our training. Then we become better, stronger and more accomplished runners. 

Finally, visualise and affirm your goals. If you can see your goal, feel what it is like to reach it, then it is yours. Play out the success in detail in your mind, all the while telling yourself that you deserve this. “The longer I run the stronger I get” is what I tell myself. I am on the way to achieving my goals, I am a success. I close my eyes, breathe deeply and set off on another run that is a goal of mine.

So this is the start of a new week – set your goals well, be fearless. In the words of Henry David Thoreau – “In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high”

The Journey

It is the journey that’s important, not the destination

A few, not many, mark you, complained about not receiving their medals at the end of the Comrades Marathon this year.

Once an athlete went to the home of a well-respected coach, and while he was there he picked up a delicate, irreplaceable, crystal trophy and was admiring it. While doing so, he accidentally dropped it and, there it lay on the floor, shattered.

The coach, with Zen like wisdom, reassured the young athlete that the treasure was not to be found in the trophy; rather in the joy of winning it. It was the preparation, the training and running the race itself that had its own reward. 

I read our own Runnersguide Forum column and I spoke to fellow runners who ran the Comrades Marathon this year, but failed to make the cut-off time. Almost without exception the message is the same. What a wonderful day. To most the medal was secondary, almost meaningless.

For running to have any meaning, it is necessary to have goals in mind, worthy goals that stir the passion and fire the imagination. There is no argument about that. That there should be a destination to our journey, there is no doubt.

I suggest there is something of greater value beyond the finish line, something more than a mere medal. Running, I suggest is the reward in itself. For many it is the memory of the training, the daily banter with fellow runners, the overwhelming sense of occasion, which will remain the most enduring aspect of a big race. It is not the medal, shield or trophy.

As with running, so in life. The Zen masters tell us to ‘be here now’. Sometimes we are so pre-occupied with the hill we are battling with, with the runners around us, with our stopwatches that we fail to recognize the simple beauty of our sport. So what that I never got my medal at the finish of Comrades? That I suggest is irrelevant. I have a head full of memories; I have met the most unbelievable people, nice people, brave people. I am tanned, I am fit and I am healthy. I also believe that because I can finish a race like Comrades, I can do anything with my life. The final destination may well have been a little package in the post from the Comrades Marathon Association, but that is not the end of it. The journey has only begun.

Women's Running

It takes a lot of guts to run up Poly Shortts, It takes more guts for a woman to run out of the kitchen.

There are interesting statistics coming out of the research I conduct annually into running trends. Consider the following; proportionally the biggest entry of novices at Comrades were women. When I look at the new runners coming into the sport, they are predominantly younger than the average and they are female.

This is a very welcome trend, and it will make running a richer sport for it. But life was not always so simple for women. The Comrades Marathon right up till the mid-seventies considered women too frail to take part in the race. Of course there was the odd brave woman who did take part but they were never encouraged. Always they missed out on the coveted medal and were not an official part of the celebration.

Performances are there for all to see, and women have more than proven themselves in ultra distance running. We don’t have to look up to Frith Van Der Merwe to draw our inspiration, although her times and ability are nothing short of astounding. It is the ordinary woman that is making her mark; it is the mother of children, the organiser of the lift club that is the real inspiration.

For many, if you are a woman, life has no off duty time. And for many, the balance of homemaker, parent and lover, wife and business partner is a fine and delicate one and given all of that; how does one find the time to train? 

The guys will often say, “Ag, you just sommer find the time” but it is not always that easy. Or is it? Is it possible that in all our lives, our busy lives, that we are driven by our passions and our goals. What should stop us from realizing our dreams, if our dreams are important to us? Is it right that a woman in her later years who wished to find Comrades glory for herself but didn’t because her husband objected? Whose fault is that? Is that a worthy excuse not to run?

There are many novice runners on the road who are women, many who have found the courage. For many the most daunting obstacle is not the 1,8km of Poly Shortts, it is the 3 metres out the kitchen door.

Battling With Motivation

When battling with motivation – look back, look forward and look to the wise. 

I wonder how many people, runners, ordinary folk there are that are struggling with their motivation to run.

This is a place I do not want to be. The excitement of the big race is over. The medal is hanging on the wall and I don’t feel the same about my running as I did in May. It’s all over, now someone has to clean up after the party and I have a hangover. Worse, I am now more of a man since finishing the race, about 3 kilogrammes more.

To make matters worse it is winter, it’s dark outside and its cold. What is strange is that it never seemed to bother me before the BIG C. Now my interest in the weather and the early morning temperatures in particular seems all-consuming.

This clearly is a time to take stock, a time for reflection. For indeed if I don’t want to run, at least I can reflect. I would often run to the top a hill while training and stop at the top and look back. This is a good exercise to do, for it is only once you are at the top, you can get an appreciation of what you have done. You get perspective of the hill, your ability and given some of the hills, just how darn tough you really are.

And so I look back now and think that my running has been a really good thing for me. I have come a long way and well, I am a bit fitter than my contemporaries. Notwithstanding the post Comrades blues, on reflection the years I have spent running have been good; have been fun and definitely worthwhile.

So I look forward and ponder my running future, Comrades? Again? I’m not ready to ponder that much, I have a job of work to do and a family to attend to. So I will ponder just to the end of the month and take it from there. I know if I can just get back into the habit of getting up early and running out the kitchen door for a week all will be well. This is not the mighty runner and conqueror of hills last seen in mid June, true, but it is where I am and this is how I’ll deal with it. Baby steps, just baby steps.

And where do I draw my inspiration? I turn to Brutus Hamilton. For he had this to say about distance running: “It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal are the happiest men. When you see 20 or 30 (thousand) line up for a distance race in some meet, don’t pity them, don’t feel sorry for them. Better envy them instead”. 

So where to from here? Tomorrow morning I run out the kitchen door at 05h30, care to join me?

Keeping Balance

It is only when I begin to balance my running with all other aspects of my life that I begin to be an accomplished athlete.

One of the funny things about running is that you can become hooked, seriously hooked. Yes, running is good for you; of that there is no doubt. There is big danger in this, for if it is to the exclusion of all other things, then we are nothing, not even good runners.

Our lives are not lived in easily defined compartments, but we must recognize that there is a life beyond running. We have families and they must be important to us. We have jobs; careers and we need to make a living. We are emotional beings, we are thinking creatures with spiritual knowledge, and we are part of a society that waits our contribution.

So it is with many roles, with many needs and so many demands that are made on me, that I must find my running self. How then is this balance achieved? The start of this is to recognize that we have many facets to our lives and that we need clear direction in each important facet.

To achieve balance, it is important to set aside daily or weekly time for each important aspect and to have a vision for each. Have a perspective of the importance for life as a whole, and place running into that perspective. Once this is done, we are in a much better position to master our lives and to master our sport. 

Often times uninformed non-runners will ask the question, “So, you run? What is it you are running away from?” When I have my running in perspective and I have balance in my life, where I know just where running does fit in to my life, I am prepared for the answer – “it is not what I am running from that is important, it is what I am running to”. This is because I have vision for my life and running is only a part, albeit an important part.

When training for that all-important event you sometimes have to put in more than the average, this balance then gets knocked out of kilter. But again, because you have a view of balance, you know this will be only temporary and you can make the necessary deals with the important people in your life. Deals with your family and friends, deals with your employers and business associates. This is a step beyond merely running, this is a step to life mastery. If responsibly done, and with vision, you will be able to gain the necessary lee-way to focus yourself on the big race and you will keep all others around you sympathetic to your cause.

And so it is the quest for balance that is important, this is a way that keeps perspective and gives running a wider and deeper meaning to the rest of our lives. It is Pythagoras, the Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician that we turn to this week:

“Choose always the way that seems the best, however rough it may be. Custom will soon render it easy and agreeable”..

Running, Like Life, Is Not A Spectator Sport

The people who are the happiest are the people who are most involved. They are the people who will have much to say, much more to contribute than most and they will live the fullest lives.

There are many who will stand with arms folded and will watch life as it happens. This oftentimes happens because of the apparent risks of getting involved. Involvement is a risky business. There is an irony in this however, for what is more risky, is watching life go by from the stands.

The late George Sheehan put it so well; he says that it is easy for the weakest of us to participate as runners, but that it will take the strongest of us to become spectators. “It is only the hardiest of us that can survive the perils of inertia, inactivity and immobility. Only the most resilient that can cope with the squandering of time, the deterioration of fitness, the loss of creativity, the frustration of emotions, and the dulling of moral sense that can afflict the dedicated spectator”.

The seated spectator is not a thinker or even a doer; the seated spectator is simply a knower. Thus unlike the runner, who at any level of competence is left open to seek the truth, the spectator has closed the ring. Thinking has become rigid knowing. The spectator of any sport, unlike the participant, is enclosed in bias, partisanship and prejudice. The spectator will cease to grow.

I am blessed with two teenage daughters. When I explain to them that a courting suitor will only be asked one question; what sport do you play? Of course my question is loaded with irony. And it demands a straight answer. When I ask: what sport do you play, the question is irrelevant, The answer also has everything to do with the lad being a participant, and has everything to do with him being a spectator. All I really want to know of my prospective son-in-law is this; spectator or participant? 

Sheehan goes further “ Because the spectator cannot experience what a runner is experiencing, that spectator is seldom a good looser. The emphasis on winning is therefore much more of a problem for the spectator than the athlete.” In the spectator’ s growth the detached onlooker has the most need to deal with emotion. For indeed that spectator has everything that a runner wants but cannot get. All the fun of winning and of participation, of the despair of loosing, all that is lost on our gray and detached spectator. 

The loosing fan, with little healthy outlet has much to release emotionally, has much to express. So the umpire, the stadium, the unfairness of life and indeed the team has much to answer for in this deprived circumstance. And so it is easier to dry out the drunk, to take the junkie off drugs or to encourage the heavy smoker to kick the habit than it is to live with a sports fan during a long and consistent loosing streak.

The spectator is nothing more or less than part of a crowd, a mob, and yes, even a herd. A spectator descends then to the shallow end of our gene pool. For there it is safe. There you will not drown in life’s challenge. 

Blaise Pascall says this “ The heart has its reasons that the mind knows nothing of” 
True. - In life as in sport, become a spectator and from there, everything is downhill! See you on the road!!

Humility

Distance running is a good sport – the one value it can teach us is humility.

Life is a great teacher; many of its lessons have more to do with finding ourselves and knowing who we are. Often times we learn nothing from a good run, for if we ran better each time we set out, we would never understand our limits.

The long distance races bring about many profound changes in the second half of the course. It is here that early exuberance and excessive behavior is paid for dearly. It is always easy to look good at the start of an ultra; the real trick is to look good at the finish. The one quality that is required to accomplish this seemingly difficult task is modesty.

When I am at my wits end, and I am struggling with mind and body, it is time to take stock, for it is here that distance running has its most profound lessons. Here the runner is stripped bare of the superficial privileges that society bestows on us. Here the issues of race, gender and wealth are but naught, compared to dealing with myself and my fellow runner. 

Witness the character of a distance runner, and you find a quiet knowingness. This is so because for each, he must pass a stern test of mind, body and spirit. In lesser sports one must prevail over an outside opponent. This opponent is one you must be either quicker than, more dexterous than or smarter than. For the runner, the opponent lies within. When you come face to face with yourself in this way, it is difficult to come away from the experience unmoved.

Witness the heroic acts on the Comrades route, witness the selfless act of passing a drink to a fellow when both are beyond the fatigue levels normal mortals would not dare to go. People become people, we find room for our humanity to expand and grow. The managing director of a national corporation will gladly pass a drink to the sweeper, the union guy, and he will be at peace. 

So in the cold shadow of Polly Shortts, I find myself. I see my self in a context of the ego that must always prove a point. The ego that always needs to be right, no mater what the cost, always where the means justifies the ends, even at the expense of my own humanity. So I come here to this cold place on Comrades day to loose myself, and I emerge on the other side of the hill a little wiser. 

It is when we become self-absorbed, and then it is time to go for a long run. This is not to say that we should not be proud of our achievements. To find real honour and real glory, it is important be humble and to give recognition to the greatness of those around us. Greatness for all of us is a give and take proposition. 

And so it is to Joseph Campbell I turn, and this he says: “If you realize what the real problem is – losing yourself – you realize that this, itself is the ultimate trial.

Running With The Ancients

Running, because of its simplicity is a sacred sport. 

The ground we run on is indeed holy ground that is rich with the truths life has to teach. We have as runners, the privileged opportunity to confront our fears, feel our fatigue and to experience our failures. We also can find the courage we need, we can know our victory and we can understand our greatness.

In its most basic and simplest terms, running is the most natural thing for humans to do. Were we not hunter-gatherers eons ago? When we found our prey stronger and swifter of foot than ourselves, did we not resolve, by instinct to work together and to chase our quarry and tire it out? We did indeed; we were made for distance running. It was our only real weapon in the wild. 

Times have changed, but we as a species have not, we are still built as that ancient hunter-gather of the Great Plains. Each time we go out for a run, we unconsciously reconnect to that ancient instinct within ourselves. There are many noble qualities in that part of us, and it is not surprising that runners display those noble qualities in their character.

Take self-knowledge. As that ancient being, did we not have to know the terrain we were to run on? Did we not have to understand our quarry’s abilities as well as our own? This especially so if we were to be victorious in the hunt. This same quality is displayed in us as runners. Running teaches us about our own bodies and its limitations. Is it not also true that we must learn about the terrain and our competitors before we can show success in our quest for our own victory?

What of our perseverance, our persistence and our endurance? It is these very qualities that made us successful in the hunt; it is those same qualities that make us successful as distance runners. It is our consistency in these areas that make us great runners.

Our courage then, is as it is now, for we knew that to run our quarry down would take an enormous amount out of us, but we did it anyway, that was a brave, some may argue, foolish act. When we embark on a long run, and we plan to go beyond our limits, is this not also an act of courage? It is – each time we run we demonstrate our fearlessness. 

Finally when we returned from the hunt empty handed and defeated, it taught us modesty, even humility. We came against the odds this day, and it was not our day. This is true of us even today, in this modern world. Sometimes we have a great run, feel victorious, some days we return empty handed, with only one certainty – tomorrow I shall rise up and run again. This gives us perspective, this keeps us modest and even humble, and this is what makes every runner great.

So in conclusion, we see that we are not far from the journey traveled by our ancient cousins, and it is indeed a noble journey, a simple journey. “The Way is not far from man; if we take the Way as something superhuman, beyond man, this is not the real Way” – Confucius.

Hard Run

Yesterday I went out to deliberately hit the wall –and it felt so good.

I have to admit that I have been out of sorts for the past couple of weeks. Nothing unusual I guess. My dear, sweet wife gave all our wedding jewelry away to a complete stranger. True, it was at gunpoint, but is that an excuse? There were two deaths in the family, one a great guy, my father-in-law, the other a great cat. It was all getting to me, it was nothing more or less, than living in this rich and glorious pageant we call Gauteng life, but it left me feeling sad and depressed.

So I did what any runner would do, go for a long, hard run. In Johannesburg we are blessed with a number of testing hills, not least of them is Northcliff Hill. Its real name of this notorious hill is Asvoelskop – “Vultures Head” for the benefit of our overseas guests. On the summit is a water tower. And just below in the shadow, is a small stone wall. 

We are sometimes a quirky, eccentric lot, and for me, to run up this monstrous hill, to hit that small stone wall and to give out a loud, uncompromising bellow is a way of reaffirming the goodness the sport has to offer. It is difficult you see, to run to that place, to go through all of that ritual and then to stand on the top of that hill, to survey Johannesburg sprawled out in all of its splendor on a Sunday morning, and not to come from Asvoelskop in a good mood. 

I was in the company of a few running friends, we talked as we ran. We all lamented the extra weight and loss of fitness since December. In the previous year, some of us had run Comrades, some the London Marathon, all were looking for a renewal in our running goals. There was only one cure for this, go hit the wall. We all struggled in the heat to make it to the top, but once we came down, we sat sweating profusely outside a café enjoying a cold Coke. There was not one of us that was not glad we hit the wall, we all felt a sense of renewal, we were all back on the road again. 

Often times when we struggle with our lives, when we struggle with ourselves, everything suffers. When we have a tough time at work or at home, we stop running. This is perhaps the last thing we should do, for it is our running that gives us that special inner feeling of well-being. It is our running that gives us the balance. When life becomes more complex by the minute, it is time to get running. Its simplicity and its uncompromising manner is the only sure and steady thing we can rely on. 

So, what is it that ails you? Soon it will be the Pirates Half Marathon. This race takes you over the top of Asvoelskop. Do you really want to find renewal in your running? Come and join me on the heartbreaker and lets go hit the wall together.

This week I end with a Swahili Warrior song – “Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle”

Sound Of Feet On Tar

The sound of my feet hitting the tar while running – it is the natural sound of my inner silence.

A canoeist once told me that the fundamental difference between his kind and a runner is all in the mental approach. A canoeist, he told me “spaces out” and is aware of the world around him. Aware of the water, the rapids and just the beauty around. A runner on the other hand “spaces in”. A runner, he argues, goes within and is barely aware of the surroundings and of the outer world.

This argument may well be true, certainly at the end of a long, hard race, most runners find themselves mentally going within, in search of that inner strength that makes all the difference in the long run. Often when I am on a routine training run, I find I take my office work with me and I think. I run along oblivious of my surroundings, but there is a peacefulness, for there are no telephones, no people making demands on my time, I run to be with myself and to listen.

This is a blissful time for me, for this is when I think, this is when I write. I work out the complicated stuff on the run and make it simple. This is a time when a lot of the important letters get written, this is a time when proposals are finished off and it is a time of creation. I also plan my races and look for new training routes. All this is done by “spacing in” This is only possible however, if I can listen to myself. This is a skill that slowly develops, only after a few years of running, but learning to listen to yourself is an important component of success.

There is a link between decision making and listening. It is not surprising that many business courses and seminars are devoted to effective listening skills. This is true in developing negotiation skills; this is also true in any customer care programme. We have lost the subtle skill of listening to others. In our politics and in our sport, it is constantly a source of amazement to me how much we like to talk and how little we like to listen. It was only when both parties were prepared to listen that true reconciliation took place between Athletics South Africa and Comrades Marathon Association.

More important than listening to others, real growth takes place when we listen to ourselves. It is a strange irony that such an outwardly physical activity should produce such profound inwardly mental and spiritual benefits. If you take time, slow down and listen inwardly, it is amazing that the thoughts that run strong, and run true through your unconscious mind while training, will run equally strong and true in the rest of your daily lives.

So, it is author Joyce Carol Oates’ turn this week. She once said: “Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think what it might be. In running, the mind flees with the body, the mysterious effervescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms”

That One Moment In Time

That one moment in time, it is only one second in length, but it will last a lifetime and expresses the infinite.

Do you remember what it was like to finish your first race, your first marathon or even your first Comrades? It was a moment so pure, so delicious with potential. Even today I can shut my eyes and recall that moment back in 1986. Kingsmead Stadium it was, May 31 at 14h39 in the afternoon. I keep that second with me. It was when I crossed the finish line at Comrades as a novice. It was a moment that changed me forever.

As I sat at this month’s Comrades Panel Meeting, I found my mind wondering back to that moment. The speaker was none other than the son of Dr. Piet Koornhof. Dr. Gerhard Koornhof looks a lot like his father, and the reason he is speaking to the packed audience is because he was last year’s novice finisher. He is a highly articulate, very good speaker, a man who gets right to the heart. As a member of Parliament, he must be a formidable member of the opposition.

Gerhard explains that moment so eloquently, “All that training, two years worth. All of that fatigue and pain. The entire obsession that you and your family have endured. All of that, and the whole day of the race, the crowds the sounds and the smells. You take all of that, and it all ends in one second as you stand under the finish banner.” He looks into the audience with twinkling eyes, you can hear a pin drop. “It was at that moment I really understood the purpose of my life”

When it all comes together, the time, the space and the situation and it all feels so right, it is that special moment. Often those really special moments are very far and few between. Sometimes a graduation, a wedding or honey-moon brings on this special instant. I am positive every human being has experienced such purity of time and space at least once in a life time.

We as runners are really privileged, for we can bring about this state of being on almost every training run and every race. The one real requirement to have such moments is to be here in the moment – now!! Another speaker at the Panel Talks is the TV presenter, Arnold Geerds. He asks the question “Where are we?”.. silence, “Where are we?” answer from the audience “Here” “What time is it?” ..silence, “What time is it?” answer from the audience “Now” And so we shout at Arnold, “We are Here and Now”. Running is funny that way, it does things to people. It helps us to have those special moments in time almost unconsciously.

So, it is “Here” and “Now” that we come to savor this delicious moment. We must give our all to this, and this alone. We cannot change what is past and gone, and the future?? What of that? I turn to Albert Camus this week .. “Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present”

Dancing

When I am truly free in my running, I no longer run – I dance.

At the beginning of my running, many of the clinical, physical aspects of the sport were very important. The time I took over a certain distance, my body weight and my fat content. My time-trial time was a constant worry and an obsession. The competitive edge was all consuming, my running buddies, were my rivals. When I discovered the real way to run, all this changed.

One of the greatest gifts that running has to offer is a very uncomplicated way of brining body, mind and spirit into one place at the same time. This is more like a dance than like a race. I am lucky to have a daughter that does dance, and when I watch, I sometimes become transfixed as she expresses herself in such a perfect way. The music, the lighting the timing and her movement must all be there in one place in a space and time to make any sense of it. 

When our running reaches the same plain, we make of our running an art. It is when there is that fine blend of the environment, our physical exertion and a mind that is tranquil that running has its real meaning. As Jerry Lynch said it in his book – Running Within “ You are the choreographer, the dancer, and the music all rolled into one. With this mind-set, your races become much more than a competitive opportunity. The race ultimately becomes an excuse to dance with the terrain: with nature; with your buddy; with your physical, mental and spiritual self.

This union has greater lessons that we sometimes even wish to acknowledge. When we dance our run in such a way, the outcome is not important. It is good enough that we run, for that is enough. Here there is no place here for a P.B., Here, a qualifying time is not an important concept, much less a cut-off time for a medal. I run here, and now. That is the only reward. If any had to ask me for that ultimate high in running, it would be found on Chapman’s Peak, on the Two Oceans Marathon. It was here that I understood this dance of the race for the first time. The sheer beauty, towering cliffs above me, the sea far below. I felt and understood the sense of occasion and for the first time I understood me. 

So I learned something special from my teenaged dancer, for there is a harmony and a union in what you do as a runner, in all that you do in a busy life, you harmonize, you dance. And when I silence the critical chatter in my mind, and I still my own negativity, I become a willing partner in the harmonious dance of the body, the mind and the spirit.

Jerry Lynch uses some affirmations that underline the dance-run way: 

• Focus on the movement, on the flow. Dance on, dancing runner.
• Now is the moment, enjoy my run.
• I am the dancer and the dance.
• I look for ways to become completely absorbed in the details of my run.

The Wise Teach Us Much About Running, They Teach More About Life

“Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible” – William Shakespeare.

Will I be the person I wish to be? Will I achieve all the goals of my life? I am sure that in the long run I will. Some of the things set before me are impossible to achieve, many of the tasks are hard, but I run, you see, and therefore I am not afraid to strive with things impossible.

The most important goal in my life is to be all the person I can be, given the circumstances at the time. It is seldom that the circumstances in our lives are what we ask for - much less perfect. This is true also of us as runners. Have we not wished to be faster, lighter and stronger? Sometimes the Powers That Be have blessed us with bodies that are not perfect running machines, we have large frames and weak hearts, but we run. That is enough.

The late George Sheehan – physician, philosopher and writer put it thus; “The more I run, the more I want to run, and the more I live a life conditioned and influenced and fashioned by my running. And the more I run, the more certain I am that I am heading for my real goal: to become the person I am”.

What kind of life do we wish for? One that is comfortable and safe, one where we are not challenged? No, certainly not, never! Is there a runner that wishes for the safe comfort of a light jog? Well yes sometimes it may be so, but when we push a little, test a little and go to the edge we grow and develop. This is true of life as it is in our running. 

Remember when the great runner came here and threw down the gauntlet several years ago as a novice to Comrades. Alberto Salazar came here and handed out a running lesson our local boys would remember for a long time. This running legend had this wisdom for us fellows of the road: “I’d rather run a gutsy race, pushing all the way and lose, than run a conservative race only for a win”.

Running is so simple and yet so profound an activity. It puts us in touch with mind, body, spirit and ourselves. There are times when we will stumble and falter. Injury is part of the deal, setbacks too. We get sick, and as we age, we get slower. As the natural consequences take hold, we are often times faced with defeat. Sometimes of our own making, sometimes not, here we turn to the great Chinese philosopher – Confucius; “Our greatest glory is not never falling, but in rising every time we fall”

So, in closing this lesson in pocket book philosophy, it is George Sheehan who I give the final say, for runners, no matter how fast or slow are artists of a special kind. “The true runner is a very fortunate person. He has found something in him that is just perfect”.

Play the Game!

Consider the Comrades runner at this time of the year. No one is more focused, no one is more dedicated, no one more serious, no one is more of a pain than the Comrades runner at this time of the year.

The essence of good running and the essence of a good life can be found in the play. Paradoxically, the seriousness of the situation can be made trivial only when we learn to play the game, that is when we see things in a proper context, that is when we can relax and that is when we will succeed.

Is life a serious matter or is life a joke? Life - is it mystery or is it riddle? Any with a sense of humor can see that life is riddle and the best part of the strange irony of life is that we find the essence of it in play, not in death.

George Sheehan says it so well: “You can have peace without the world, if you opt for death, or the world with out peace if you decide for doing, and having and achieving. Only in play can you have both.”

So I look at the committed runner, that brave warrior of the road, and I wonder at the seriousness of the endeavor. Here is a person who will put body, mind and spirit through an enormous amount. In a month’s time, that moment of truth will be here and all that a person stands for will be tested, sternly. This is important an endeavor as any, and my thoughts on it are this; it is not important at all.

To fully appreciate running, we must understand simultaneously the utter importance of our endeavor and at once the insignificance of it all. Everything is important, and yet nothing is important. A true paradox of things, but for us to have a proper grasp of life, we must embrace this paradox and live it. 

This way of thinking is not the copyright, propriety domain of running. Lesser sports, where one opponent or team must conquer another understand this principal. Territory is defended with every ounce of strength and determination, and then once the whistle blows, we embrace our opponents and delight in the game that just took place.

So the Comrades runner nowadays is the troublesome pain. The finely tuned athlete needs time for solitude and peace. Baloney! Now you can play, even to the ends in Kingsmead. For in play it is true you can totally commit yourself to that life goal and in a few short hours on the Old Road, it will be completely forgotten.

George Sheehan sums up thus: “Play is where life lives, where the game is the game. At its borders, we slip into heresy, become serious, lose our sense of humor, and fail to see the incongruities of everything we hold to be important. Right and wrong become problematical. Money, power, position become ends. The game becomes winning. And we loose the good life and the good things that play provides”