Teach Yourself How to Run: Part Eight [Boxing Day Families]

During my runs I do a lot of thinking about where I am going in life and business, and how I will manage to get there. On Boxing Day I decided to run my normal route through a golf course and along a disused rail embankment. Usually I pass the odd group of golfers, a man walking a dog and perhaps dodge a mountain bike or two.

Not this time though. In parts, It was like a veritable traffic jam - the majority of my route was heavy with families out having their pre-boxing day lunch walk. 

Whilst running past the walkers headed in my own direction, I noticed that I picked up pace and would sling shot past them. I had experienced this phenomenon before, but on Boxing Day this was particularly noticeable as I found myself running out of energy fast. Once fully passed the family groups, I allowed myself to slow down and conserve energy, only to increase my pace again once another group came into view. 

Gradually I realised that this has been my behaviour whilst running for most of my life. It appeared that it was easy for me to increase my pace whilst I had a target in my sights. Upon passing them, be they walkers, bikers or indeed runners during a race, I only continued at that pace for a short distance afterwards. Then I returned to my 'forever' pace. Conserving energy until the next tantalising target came into view. I would then plan how fast to approach them and how long afterwards I would maintain a top running pace in order to wear them down mentally and physically.

This all became a vivid realisation to me during that run. What's worse, is that I think I have been applying the same strategy throughout my life too. And I can't afford to do that anymore if I want to achieve something cool.

My fear is.... that I won't learn how to change my mindset, and to run at my free spirited pace when I'm not chasing someone else's tail, or when I feel that no one else is looking. It appears that I have been cheating myself at running for most of my life.

I set goals and I reach them, and I guess competitiveness is in my blood. Oddly as it may seem, it is this that is ultimately limiting my horizons. 

With that bomb-shell, I am going to wish you all a very prosperous and happy new year. May you achieve everything that you set your sights on - and more besides.

Engine[er]

Teach Yourself How to Run: Part Seven [Dream a little]

Is there a good time to work, and a good time to play so that you get the most out of the effort that you put in? I thought there was.

I consider myself very lucky. I have been able to identify time and time again what it is that drives me to do certain things... and therefore repeat or decide not to repeat as necessary. Failure is an integral part of that equation, and as I have stated before, physically failing is not your only route to failure here. You can learn from others mistakes too.

THIS REALISATION WILL NOT MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO ADAPT. It makes for an interesting internal dialogue though.

Out running this morning, I found the going tough. I don't like mornings. Even whilst doing something I love.

Recently a friend of mine said she had read that having high or low energy levels during certain times of the day are a myth. It was suggested that we are capable of being mindful and changing our habits at will.

So I am testing this theory with my running. I like to run in the late afternoon. Morning is poison to me. Therefore I initiated a change which will hopefully prove or disprove the theory.

Like I said, today was tough. So tough that I wanted to cut the run short. I didn't, but it was internally considered with extreme prejudice. As it turns out I ran incredibly slow and laboured lots. I was confused and upset that my will wasn't strong enough to snap me out of the funk. I dug deep and considered that I wasn't as strong as I thought I was. This was not doing my confidence any good...

As my mind continually broke the experience down further, a particular music track began to play on my MP3 player.... and my legs became lighter. I ran around a corner to be faced with a powerful symbol of why running has meant so much to me over the years. The reason why I do what I do. It was there hung in the sky, orangey blue.

The view of the sun was magnificent. It just edged over a silhouetted house. My body and legs were energised and the music kept me trotting along nicely.

OK, the sun was only a symbol. The real reason for the energy boost was that I am visual and rhythm orientated. Running has been great way to view awesome sunsets and sunrises with my favourite tunes playing in my ears. It occurred to me that maybe we are all pretty similar. Visual learners.

The ability to visualise our challenges and think our way past them is very powerful indeed. To learn a lesson in high definition must also be a great advantage to students too.

To that end I will share with you a secret of mine.

I visualise my path ahead in unison with the music which is played in my ears during a run. I draw lines of comparison to the beats I hear and connect them with the life trials I face. This helps me see patterns and plan a strategy to move forward. Remotely.

The closest 'popular' example of this which I can think of is imagining that YOU are James Bond when you have just seen one of his feature films. For a short time after the cinema experience, you are James Bond. Every car you see drive by contains a spy who wants to learn your secrets... It takes all your willpower just to stop yourself from hiding round corners with a hand shaped Walther PPK. I'm pretty sure that these kinds of thoughts occur to most of us. But we do little with them.

What I was hoping to do for you today was to perhaps inspire a little change in you. Whether it is simply pulling on a pair of running shoes, going for a run and drinking up your creativity with an awesome self stylised soundtrack beating in your ears. Or making you realise that there are many hidden benefits to simply having dreams, and making them happen.

Learning lessons is of no use to anyone unless you can decipher their essence and relay it to others who also need the support.


Engine[er]

Teach Yourself How To Run: Part Six [Zombie Armies]

Running without a stopwatch.

This is not the only method I use to 'mix' up my running patterns. My interest in running does wane from time to time - especially when I begin to treat it too seriously.

So I switch off the timer, and I open my eyes to imagine more. Not worrying about the seconds and minutes ticking away as I gather up more tarmac and muddy lanes really does change the landscape.

Here's what I was thinking about on my last run....

As I finished passing over a disused rail bridge near Welwyn Garden City, on my 5 mile jogging route, the view of some beautiful autumnally orange trees opened up to allow me a glimpse one of the surrounding sun bleached fields to my right.

The freshly harvested field puckered up slightly and then dipped into a low valley, before rising again just as harshly and then on into the front of a large copse of trees on top of a hill. It was like a crown of bronzed foliage resting on a well manicured head of dirty blonde stubble. Quite stunning. I thought - if I was being attacked by a zombie army, then that would be a great place to hold out and sniper their heads off, one by one. Now don't ask why I suddenly come up with that, but my mind decided that I wasn't finished with this fantasy quite yet...

My eyes tracked left to what looked like a farm house nestled in a ring of trees, only slightly lower in elevation. Nicely set back to view the killing fields from the second floor bedroom window - the 'dead ground' in front of the copse. I thought - this would be a great place to raise and protect a family if indeed we had to fight off swathes of brain eating zombies night and day. I noticed a tall hedge which led up the side of the valley to the ring of protective trees around the farm house. It formed a secluded path right up to the front door!! A perfectly protected route to attack the house from. If I were a zombie, who had an ounce of sense (zombies from 'I am Legend' probably), then my line of attack would definitely be THAT hedge line. Damn. I quickly counter imagined another spot to lay in wait, this time parallel to the valley...  from there, I can see the zombie hordes protected line of advance. WHAT HAVE I DONE?! I suddenly realised that I had forgotten the golden rule of zombie hunting. Use close quarters weapons which spread destruction over a wide area! More kills, less ammo. For example a shot gun or a flame-thrower could do very well. Why was I happy laying in wait, in a copse and valley, cutting myself off from my family? They would get over run within minutes, and all because I was too busy trying to be clever. I realised that I had over thought the problem.

You may be thinking that I either just had a minor stroke whilst I was running, or at the very least, something strange happened to me. Neither are true.

This little cameo adventure happened in my head in almost exactly 12 seconds. The time it took me to run past the opening. In that time I had imagined a world where zombies crawled over rural Hertfordshire, looking for fresh meat. I had imagined that a tree copse was a great look out post and a perfect place lay in wait. From there I could protect my non-existent family who were held up in a farm house I didn't own... I managed to squeeze off a few shot gun rounds in my head too. A mans got to to what a mans got to do. I even had imagined the music I wanted playing as I discovered my family who had been brutally murdered by zombie jerks. Junky Fight by Lias Gerrard, as found on the Layer Cake sound track. Awesome.

Once I passed the opening in the trees and the view changed, I tried to urge myself to bookmark my little adventure for later... I did, and because of it I probably forgot some other incredible adventure that I had day dreamed. It's true, I probably forgot something very important - but I got to fight zombies. Good trade-off.

Now... isn't that a great way to spend 35 minutes of your day? During exercise and in particular running, we are all able to think more creatively and with incredible clarity*,  this is only ONE of the many advantages to taking up running . My business is constantly benefiting from my running and my little day dreams. In fact, I decided to quit my job and start my own business off the back of a running adventure, on that same run I imagined what my future may hold. I am still chasing those dreams today. I imagine getting what I want, I imagine what I might do when I have it, I imagine winning, and winning and winning. From time to time, I imagine losing too (as above), but I always imagine a way to use this to my advantage. I do not need to make as many mistakes as others in reality, because I am constantly failing and winning in my imagination. Running is what gives me that priceless advantage. You cannot afford to miss out on it - trust me. I have probably lived and died many different lives and existences during my exercise, learning a different lesson from each encounter.

And you thought that all I did was run, when I run....


Engine[er]

A snap shot of the copse described above. You can just see the farm house top left.

Creativity Go-Go juice. It runs out.

Have you ever sat staring, dumbstruck at a problem for what seemed to be hours? Tempting you to believe that there is no way out of it, and this time you would have to admit defeat. Your energy reservoir is looking pretty low... or is it that your 'energy' has signified to you that a change of direction is about to happen, whether you like it or not.

I have come to the conclusion that there seems to be a finite amount of time that you can utilise creative energy and enthusiasm until it becomes yet another form of energy. You have a limited time to tap into it before all your positive thoughts start mutating into something less productive, like frustration, fear or BOREDOM.

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
― Albert Einstein

Before I started my own business venture, if I challenged myself during the week to run fast, and to achieve a 25 minute pace over my 4 mile route, then I did it in a month of trying.

Since then I have been cruising, and finding it really difficult to motivate myself to achieve that time again. Infact I have been languising between 26 and 27minutes... the horror!

I am no unhappier, and my energy levels seem pretty stable, but it's just that I don't appear to have enough 'force' to help push down my running times like I was just 3 months ago. I came to the realisation that my powers of focus and effort had a very real limit, and changed form: bad-times. Conversely, good-times also.

I could very well have gone through years of stretching my energy levels right up until a complete burnout before I knew that this valuable resource had a finite quantity or needed recharging from time to time. As I have now experienced this 'loss' first hand, it allows me to make plans, predict energy limits and become even more focused. Spreading myself so thinly across many different tasks has been holding me back!! Time to concentrate my efforts more closely.

"The No. 1 cause of burnout is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing results. You need to do something different...." -Steve Kaczmarski

You will possibly know of someone that endlessly procrastinates. That person maybe you. All that wasted energy is such a shame! Dumping horrendous amounts of time into tasks and never quite managing to complete all of them. It is as frustrating for those watching as it is for those in the middle it. BUT do they really get anything less done? I can only talk from personal experience, but the energy just doesn't simply dissolve into nothing. This 'energy', it gets absorbed into another task, or becomes the thought behind another task. Continuously being recycled into your life.

Fear not, you can see and predict when it is about to happen because free thinking has to be effortless. Once you feel resistance then your task becomes more work than play. Best to keep ideas fresh and uncluttered by making records of what it is that you are doing, so that you can come back to it once the energy has come around in a full circle once again.

This is at the heart of how I can keep using my time in some kind of productive fashion. I offer this advice up as a potential way to all those who find themselves crippled under heaps of work, or never seem to find the time to do what it is that they are supposed to be doing. Buy a little black book. Fill it with ideas and positional logs on where you are with life's little challenges. (Note: Use the A7 version, it fits in all your pockets and has an understated quality. I love my A7 pad). Refer back to it and use it when you feel your creative energies are beginning to transmogrify... turn them into something useful, and don't be scared. Unpredictable are your energies (yoda), and their nature is to flow continuously like a river through your mind. Cautionary note. If you were bathing in a river, you would naturally want to know who or what it was that could contaminate the water upstream from you. The same goes for allowing others into you mind. Be open, but also allow for a certain amount of exclusivity of your precious attention.

Let me know if you have any success at doing this.


Engine[er]

Teach Yourself How To Run: Part Five

I understand that if you have been following my ad-hock running lessons, that you may have already realised that finding time for training is very hard work. Recap - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4.

You are going to find that life will generally crop up from time to time and divert your attention from grabbing your weekly fix of jogging. It happens. If you are sensing some sarcasm in my writing tone then...bingo - you got me!! I'm not one to harass people, so I'll be brief. You need to begin your lessons again - please refer to the previous posts above. Done.

OK! For those of you who have managed to stay with me to date and given my lessons a go... let's give you another one of my observations to practice.

I had noticed a few years back that during my runs, when I am struggling and in the back of my mind I feel slow... I tend to run close, very close to the edge of the path or trail, virtually hugging a hedge, wall or tree line. It makes me feel like I am running faster - when I am not. So, if you are just starting out and want to feel like you are running quick (for fun), try running real close to a fence. Alternatively, if you want to test your resolve - run away from the edge and physically pick up you pace for a little.

We want to be together!

Huge reminder: try not to time your runs for now. You have years of running against a clock ahead of you... let's not spoil the fun for now because your mind can play games on you ;-)

That's all I can offer you for Lesson 5, so please post up your comments and let me know how you are going!


Engine[er]

Teach Yourself How To Run: Part Three

Hi, and welcome back to my free lessons on how to put one foot in front of the other fast enough to be called running. Or jogging.

I have been getting quite a lot of running in recently and it has given me plenty of time to think of what I might talk to you about next. Todays lesson follows on nicely from the last session, and how to beat those mind controlling gremlins. YOU CAN DO THIS! It is easy.

Start with dampening down your lazy urges. Running along my normal route just last week, I reached a short sharp hilly lane ( I call it the 'gut freeze'), this horrendously steep lane is neatly halved by a kissing gate. On an average day I would run up to the gate and launch myself to the side and onto the adjacent fence, effectively jumping over the gate. It keeps me moving and makes me feel good. But last week as I began the climb up the lane.. I had this gut wrenching, nagging thought that I was too tired to jump over the fence, and that I would play it safe and walk through the gate. Just as I approached the gate I forced myself to change my mind. I upturned my belief that I was tired and made the jump.

Sailing through the air and landing on the other side I really felt empowered by doing this and realised that I had taken on a mini mind challenge... and beat it. When I run I continuously attempt to do the same thing but in slightly different ways... you try this. It may be that simply not stopping is your goal for your runs, but make sure that it is a challenge. Another challenge is when you take a turning on your run and you are faced with a tiny short cut across the grass instead of following the path... FORCE YOURSELF to follow the path around. You will know that you have done something special - because it will just happen to you, your gut will shrink and then BAM! You take on the challenge.  For me, I knew that I my change of mind made a big difference to me because the pit of my stomach cringed and heavily resisted the gate jump... I had changed my mind against all the odds.

This is what running does for you. You can see challenges, and obstacles - but they only represent another way to test your resolve, fitness and need to win. This is an exciting skill and mindset to experience - and trust me, you will need this in your life if you decide to run or start up your own business.

Tell me all about your experiences please...

Engine[er]

Teach Yourself How to Run: Part Two

Last Sunday I decided to go for a run in the early evening. The heavens opened just as I began jogging off... and it was sensory bliss. The rain drops were huge and warm to the touch, and as they streaked past they landed on the hot tarmac beneath my feet and radiated upwards the aroma of hot bitumen. The clouds were massively contrasted against one another - but I didn't hang around long enough to see if a rainbow would make a break for the sky.

If you know anything about addictions - then you may know a little bit about triggers too. These small instances (triggers) are what makes certain addictions so powerful. You change your routine, and you reduce the chance that a trigger may coax you back to doing whatever it is that you are trying to give up. Running for me is an addiction which has lasted many years and I am driven back time and time again by memories like last Sundays. Memories also like last winter when I was running down a normally busy lane in the snow, the sky pitch black and because of the snow - it was devoid of vehicle traffic. I felt as though I was running through a Tron landscape. Glowing lanes and trees lighting the path infront of me. That memory will stay with me for ever and help keep my passion to run alive.

For you to run, enjoy the experience and to seek it out for many years to come - you have to begin to build these same kinds of associations, just as you do for all the other things that you love to do in life. Think of your favourite pass-time, specifically one which you may spend on your own (or just away from everyday life events). Churn it over in your mind and understand what it is about that activity that has a hold on you and your life. If you suddenly got an urge to fry up some pancakes because you love the smell of lemon... and it reminds you of when you were a kid on Shrove-Tuesday... then you are hitting the sweet spot.

In order for you to keep the running activity desireable... your task is to create a posi-trigger, but not just a passing fancy... a real, solid, life hook which gives you the drive. This will take time and believe me when you begin to struggle mentally, they negative aspects of running will rampage through your head and try to take hold well before the positive ones. I refer you to Thomas Jefferson and "anything worth having is worth the hard work".

Hopefully by now you have gotten out for a run since my last post - reflecting upon what it is to challenge your body and mind in these ways. Attempt not to over do it for starters, and try to wash past bad experiences out of your system as you run. Next time I'll talk about the REAL power of suggestion and how this can affect not only your performance - but how you recover mentally.

Engine[er]

Teach yourself how to run, Part One.

Because this has taken me so long, I'd like to apologise to all those who I promised to write a masterclass on how to run... well we all know how to run really - don't we? What I mean is, give tips and inside knowledge with regard to training and motivation.

Ooo I love this new Blogger post page... it saves automatically for me!

Anyway - here goes. One thing you must get into your head right now, and please forever mull it over whilst you are pummeling the pavements, the lanes and inevitably your knees, is that you have limitations. I do not mean to be nasty, but I quite obviosuly have not subscribed to the belief that you can do anything you put your mind to [physically]... so don't think that donning your running gear for the first time since you left school will magically make you 'fit as a fiddle'. Your enthusiastic move to join the joggers gang will not remove all those metal blocks which may have been stiffling your desire to grow mentally BUT... but, this is a great place to stage a come back.

You may be thinking, "all i wanted was a few tricks on how to make running easier for me!"... but stay with me - I will try to explain. Running well and enjoying yourself doing it is like anything worth having in this world - bloody hard work. This is your first and primary objective, you are to train oneself to enjoy running by positive reinforcement. Don't worry, there are some cool things that you can do to help yourself.

Firstly, drop the watch, or the timer - remove the aspect of clock watching and concentrate on how the training makes you feel before, during and after. Remove the clock and you remove the anticipation of possibly failing to make the time that you think that you deserve. Trust me, we all think this way arfter running for a few weeks. You are looking for ways to prove to yourself that you are achieving a better performance. Well there are better ways than simply timing yourself.

Kit. Buy kit that feels comfortable! Not rocket science. Buy trainers that fit and keep your feet warm/ventillated/dry - or whatever floats your boat. Aim to feel good, not look good. Bright red faces and sweating like piggies looks raw.... even if you are wearing the latest Gore-tech running gear.

Next on the list is group running. I must admit that I never tried this. I love running with a partner or on my own.  I find the thought of running in the midst of runners who are wide rangining in ability and fitness - quite disruptive. Running is hard enough without macho alpha males or overly competitive semi-pros trying to break your spirit with their achievements. Group running for me is a good way to find someone on par with you, someone who runs at the same times as you and the same frequency. I would consider group running a kind of match making exercise... I may get some flak for that comment ;-)

Once you have a route planned, and if you want my advice, do not choose a run less than 2miles and more than 4miles to begin with. Use distance as a measure of success. Note; running and stopping and running and stopping for 4miles is not a success! The whole idea behind running is that you start running and do not stop until you have completed the distance originally intended. THIS IS KEY!! Running is mental fortitude and can be torture for the ill prepared, if you start out and allow yourself to be beaten - you will always have that excuse to stop again and again. Injuries are different, do not run with injuries.

Your first run. The pace is likely to be erratic. You may not be able to find your 'forever pace' for a good number of runs - so take it slow and relax. Your target is to run the circuit without stopping so that you can do the same thing every other day without compounding any injuires or soreness. During the run you need to think about what you are doing. Aim to run straight and with some level of consisitency, also take time to think about where you want to be in say 6months. Do you want to be running the same route? Would you prefer to be hitting up a lush forest path with a treasured running partner, enjoying the sights and smells? Could it be that with every stride (not step, stepping is WALKING) you are imagining your legs becoming more energised and fitter. Tightening muscles, fat burning and your strong lungs pushing bad air out and sucking freash clean air in... it is important to imagine. During your every-day duties you will never have the opportunity to think as clearly or with as much awarness as you are capable with a fresh and nimble runners mind. Try music to inspire yourself into imagining your future or great aspects or your past that you would love to experience again.

That's it for now. I have much more to say on the subject and will be imparting as much of my experiences of running with you all over the next few weeks. In the meantime, go for a chilled out run - take some music, or enjoy a good chat with a running partner. Feel good.

Engine[er]