tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455022564688608372024-03-04T21:46:57.886-08:00The Sound Of RunningThe Sound Of Running is the running blog of Marcus Ryder it accompanies the audio diary; audioboo.fm/TheSoundOfRunning . It charts the thoughts, musings and life of a keen amateur runner who is trying to figure out why he runs and why he loves it.
Warning: this blog will not make you a faster runner, slimmer or fitter. But hopefully it will make you think.Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-22837052884208299942019-10-12T21:51:00.001-07:002019-10-12T22:09:31.521-07:00Running and Pollution in Beijing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />My phone beeps and I look down and I see I have a received a text from a running coach Tian Hai Yuan although he usually goes by the name “Bill” when talking to non-Chinese people. <br /><br />“The message reads: “This Sunday – marathon in Zhengzhou, speed train 4 hours from Beijing . You want to run?”<br /><br />I receive these types of messages at least once a month, to run marathons across China in exotic – and not so exotic places – all expenses paid.<br /><br />No I am not an elite athlete – I am just your common or garden journalist who likes to do a bit of running in his spare time. But I do have one special quality when it comes to marathons in China - I have a foreign passport. <br /><br />Let me explain.<br /><br />There is a revolution taking place in China. The country is undergoing massive developments, faster and deeper than any other country has in history. Almost every aspect of China has seen radical change over the past 40 years from massive reductions in poverty to the largest middle class in the world.<br /><br />In the past five years, running in China has exploded – largely catering to this booming middleclass.<br /><br />It is hard to get official numbers, but it is estimated that China hosted more than 1,500 marathons in 2018, 100 times the number of just five years ago – and that number keeps growing.<br /><br />China also has 102 cities with populations of more than a million, most of which you have probably never heard of, but they all have ambitions to be famous and stand out from the crowd. Many of these large unknown cities think a massive city marathon may be the secret to achieving fame and global recognition.<br /><br />And that is where my foreign passport is worth its weight in gold.<br /><br />You see race organizers are desperate to attract as many different nationalities as possible to take part in their events to make them appear as international as possible. <br /><br />Bill, who sent me the text, is a middle man between the foreign runners and the race organisers. I met him while running around the world famous Temple of Heaven in Beijing one Sunday morning a few years ago. He is constantly scouting for foreign runners who he can take from race to race and receive a small fee from the grateful marathons.<br /><br />In many ways these are the best of times to be a runner in China. <br /><br />However there is one massive drawback: pollution.<br /><br />The very same factors that have led to the largest middleclass in history have also caused one of the worst pollution problems in the world. <br /><br />And I experience the issue on an almost daily basis as a runner.<br /><br />Before I go for my morning run I have to check an app on my phone which gives me the current pollution level. An AQI, or Air Quality Index of 0-50 is officially OK according to the US embassy, 50 to 100 is “Acceptable”, 100 to 150 “should limit prolonged outdoor exertion” and anything over 150 “everyone may begin to experience health effects”. I take a rather cavalier approach and run if the levels are under 200, most fellow runners I know draw the line at 150.<br /><br />In 2014 pollution levels at the Beijing marathon peaked at over 400 micrograms per cubic meter according to the US embassy. And pictures of runners in thick smog were broadcast across the world in what many considered to be a public relations disaster for China. <br /><br />However the year before that infamous marathon the Chinese government started to implemented some drastic anti-pollution measures such as fining the worst polluting factories, imposing output controls on steel and aluminum smelters and setting nationwide caps on coal use, in Beijing for example the goal was to reduce coal consumption by 50% between 2013 and 2018. <br /><br />According to an independent study by the University of Leeds published in October 2018 the policies seem to be working. Between 2015 and 2017 there was a 20% drop in particulate pollution. <br /><br />Of course as a runner I didn’t need to see all the report to know things are getting better. I literally feel it every time I run a 10k<br /><br />So has China solved its pollution problem?<br /><br />Just as one swallow does not make a summer many environmentalists are warning that one good year of lower pollution figures does not mean the issue has been solved. Last year in particular China was fortunate enough to have a set of weather conditions which helped lower the pollution levels. Cold fronts from Siberia brought cleaner air which not only dispersed the pollution but served to disrupt the high pressure that helps trap polluted air close to the ground. <br /><br />And now in the words of everyone’s favorite fantasy drama TV series “winter is coming”. Or to be more precise November the 15th. <br /><br />The majority of central heating is controlled by the government – even domestic heating – and in Beijing it is turned on, on the 15th November and lasts until the 15th March. If there is going to be a bad pollution these are always the worst months.<br /><br />Or another way to measure it – how many races will I be able to run this year?Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-30170330233174251902015-03-13T08:57:00.002-07:002015-03-13T08:57:50.599-07:00Running Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Running away made me love where I am.<br />
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Seven years ago I moved to Scotland from London for work. It was a good career move but I wasn't happy.<br />
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I am a Londoner, I love London and my wife was still living and working in London. For the first three years Glasgow was where I worked and London was where I lived. On a Friday I would jump on the 7pm flight from Glasgow to Gatwick. On a Sunday night I would climb aboard the sleeper train at Euston at 11.45pm and wake up in Glasgow ready to start the working week.<br />
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The whole point was to try and maximise my time in London and minimise my time in Scotland.<br />
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Things changed marginally when my wife was able to get a job in Glasgow and moved up to be with me but I still wanted to be in London. My outlook on life was; "I have a great job up in Scotland but I just wish I could move it down south". Whenever I laid out the positives and negatives of spending a weekend in Glasgow versus a weekend in London, London won every time. My wife's presence only ameliorated the negatives of being in Glasgow.<br />
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The fact was outside of work I didn't have a reason to be in Glasgow. Friends and family and social events I was familiar with were all in London. I had a million reasons to be in London every weekend and none to be north of Watford - let alone north of Hadrian's Wall.<br />
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Then I started to run.<br />
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It was Hannah, my wife, who first suggested we train together to run our first marathon. It meant every weekend we would go on a long run together.<br />
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I began to look forward to our long runs. Over 13 miles of quality time between just me and my wife. (I've written before about how much I <a href="http://thesoundofrunning.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/valentines-day-running.html" target="_blank">love running with my wife</a>).<br />
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Then as the training started to get more intense going down to London meant I would be too tired do all the running I was meant to be doing, not just on the weekend by also during the week. (Try doing a 8km run after you've just got off a sleeper train).<br />
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Slowly but surely I not only had a reason to be in Glasgow but I started to resent going down south. London would eat into me marathon preparation.<br />
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Then something even more remarkable happened, I discovered Scotland's beauty. The beautiful canals, countryside and parks. Scotland has some of the most amazing running routes in the world.<br />
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Glasgow was no longer a "waiting place" between my trips back to London, it became a place I enjoyed.<br />
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Finally I started to look at what else I could do in Scotland on the weekend "between runs".<br />
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The shift was imperceptible, similar to how your running improves over time, but one day I woke up and realised I didn't want to go down to London.<br />
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I wanted to stay home.<br />
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And home was Scotland.<br />
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(The picture today is of me running the Cumbernauld 10k, in the background you can see my wife with a big smile on her face. We are both enjoying our home - Scotland) Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-11992541213830615642015-03-10T05:41:00.002-07:002015-03-10T05:41:51.494-07:00Old Gifted And Black<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I achieved my greatest sporting success over thirty
years ago at the age of 11. The occasion was the borough school athletics
championship. On that hot summer’s day I won the 100m sprint, the long jump and
- in a piece of inspired running my old school friends still talk about - I
came from fourth place in the final leg of the 4x100m relay to bring the baton
home in first place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Due to the points I racked up, my school that year won
the athletic championship for the first time in its history. In recognition I
was allowed to take home the championship shield for a week. My mother still
has a picture on her mantelpiece of me holding the inter-school trophy above my
head dwarfing my pre-teenager self.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">On that day in the summer of 1982 I was sure I was the
fastest boy in my school. I was also the only black boy in my school. And at
that young age I had bought into the racial stereotype: black people are more
athletic. In an incredibly unscientific experiment, by winning those races, I had
become living “proof” of this stereotype.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Yet it’s that same stereotype that held me back from
taking up running for a long time when I was grown up.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">For most stereotypes to really take hold, they often
require the people being stereotyped to be partially complicit in the
prejudice. To partially believe it themselves.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">An example of this was demonstrated in a seminal
experiment where American college students were given the task of completing a
round of crazy golf. At first the participants were told the task was an
experiment in analytical skills and lateral thinking. When they were told this
the white students performed better than the black students. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The experiment was then repeated with another set of
students and this time they were told it measured their natural athletic
ability. The second time the black students performed better.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">We all too often buy into our own stereotypes and then
- for better or worse - act accordingly.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The trouble is as a black person this stereotype meant
I used to think athletics was about being gifted, being “super-human” and
definitely about winning. It’s a stereotype many black people buy into. And for
good reason. It can offer comfort when life grinds you down in so many other
ways.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">However, mass participation running is the antithesis
of all of these things.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Distance running is definitely not about being
“super-human”. It’s about discovering your very human limits and trying to
extend them just that little bit further. No matter how gifted you are
initially as an athlete, I’ve discovered that most “gifts” seem to run out at
mile 20 of a marathon. And as for winning, with most city marathons having over
30,000 participants, it’s obvious that 99% of people don’t enter to win.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">To really enjoy running, a lot of black people -
myself included - have to relearn what sport is all about and face some
uncomfortable truths about ourselves. I’ve had to breakdown beliefs I
subconsciously held from the age of 11. I am not “super-human” nor particularly
gifted nor am I going to win any of the races I enter. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Instead, for me, distance running has been about
self-discovery. I have discovered aspects to my character and physical limits I
never knew before I started running. I’ve discovered a new way to enjoy sport
that has nothing to do with winning or proving myself better than other people.
But most importantly, as a black person, it’s given me mental strength in the
rest of my life during those moments when I feel like the only level playing
field out there is in sport.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">At the beginning of this piece I wrote that my
greatest sporting success came when I was 11. That is really the old me
talking. In truth my greatest sporting success came just a few months ago at
the Frankfurt marathon. The race did not go well and I didn’t even get a PB. As
for winning, I seriously have no idea what place I came - I stopped counting
beyond 3,000. But the reason it was my greatest sporting success is because I
completed it despite being injured and having to stop at mile 19. Ironically, in
those last 7 miles I lived up to all the stereotypes: I was “super-human”, I
drew on every gift nature had given me and when I crossed the finish line I was
a winner. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">And
that is a truth all of us can experience regardless of our race.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">(This article was first published in my favourite magazine of running writing "Like The Wind" and I would highly recommend people buying a copy online at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333330154419px;">http://www.likethewindmagazine.com/ . The picture is of me at 11 and is still on proud display in my mum's living room)</span></span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-55021450073108583952015-02-17T00:41:00.005-08:002015-02-17T00:41:45.751-08:00Running In Church<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Internal photo" height="278" src="http://www.southwark.anglican.org/images/where/parishes/027bm_i.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day I introduced my wife to the joys of the ParkRun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those who don't know ParkRuns are 5km timed races that happen across the whole of the UK at the same time every Saturday morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They were first set up in 2008 and there are now hundreds of them up and down the country. They are completely voluntary, attract thousands of runners every week and are completely free to take part.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After her inaugural ParkRun my wife and I went with a few of the runners to a nearby cafe and chatted over coffee and pastries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was on the way back that my better half pointed out the obvious that was staring me in the face:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We've just been to church!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She then proceeded to explain how the ParkRuns are the perfect substitute for church as organised religion attendances seem to be falling in the UK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the similarities she pointed out:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the ParkRun you have people volunteering to make a better society. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A congregation (or group of runners) come together once a week and go through a set of rituals (running 5km along the same course). </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of the race you have a small chip that you queue up to give to a time keeper. The whole process is very reminiscent of taking Holly Communion where you queue up to show you are a true believer.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a small chance that you will experience 'spiritual bliss' or a feeling of real well being. Some might call it the Holly Spirit others might call it the runner's high.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And at the end of the ceremony / race you break bread with your fellow believers / runners.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not sure that the ParkRun is my new religion. But what I do know is that we live in an age where people are often more sceptical than ever of not only god but of the motives of our fellow human beings. Running and the ParkRuns brings out the trust I have in my fellow man and definitely makes my weeks a little more bearable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever can achieve that is a good thing and I dutifully thank god for that (whether that is the one in the sky or the guy running beside me in a pair of Nike Flyknits - I'm just not sure yet)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of the St Katherine Church in Bermondsey, south east London, where I got married)</span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-28168590299694711382015-02-09T01:24:00.003-08:002015-02-09T04:55:52.785-08:00Halfway Up a Mountain<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Last weekend I found myself halfway up a mountain with a man who had been in knife fights, served two prison sentences for serious assault and had been sectioned after being </span><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;">diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2010</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It all started a few days earlier when I joined a running club in Glasgow. We were doing a particularly hard session of 1km intervals with 90 second recoveries. One of my fellow runners turned to me in the recovery 90 second phase looked at me and said, “I know you”. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did not recognise him at all and I was sure he was wrong but he quickly provided proof.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You run along the canal in the morning don’t you? I see you sprinting along there sometimes”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was right of course but I still didn't recognise him but it was the start of a conversation which ended with us agreeing to going on a long run together that following weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The amazing thing about running with someone is that the meditative nature of putting one foot in front of the other often lowers inhibitions and you end up talking about far more personal things then you would normally (I've written about this phenomenon before). Before long I discovered that my new running partner had lost more than 100 pounds since he started running and that is when the penny dropped. Of course I knew him. I knew him as the overweight guy who ran along the canal. I knew him as the fat guy who had even raced against me in an impromptu race for fun up a hill as I had passed him on a morning run - and when we’d got to the top of the hill we’d both gone our separate ways smiling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we ran together last weekend he looked like a different man but as we talked I soon discovered running had not just changed his physical appearance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">My fellow runner had a troubled past. He opened up to me about his time in prison for serious assault and knife fighting. We discussed drug and alcohol abuse. The custody battle for his two year old daughter and his battle with mental illness. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all this there was one constant theme: Running had changed his life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running had changed his weight. Running had given his life a new focus away from drink and drugs. But most importantly he told me running helped him to “live in the moment” - it was living in the moment that enabled him not be stressed about tomorrow and manage his mental health issues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was in the spirit of “living in the moment” that he suggested we change our running route. Instead of running along the canal for ten miles and then running back he pointed to a small set of snow capped mountains in the distance; “Let’s run to the top of those hills”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">40 minutes later I found myself halfway up the mountain looking out across Glasgow with my new running partner. It was beautiful and one of the best running experiences I had ever had.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running has not only changed my running partner's life it has changed my life too. I might not have had the same dramatic issues he has but running helps me cope with the stresses and strains of life. It has given me new insight into who I am and what I am capable of and it has given me new experiences. What I learnt half-way up a mountain is that if I let it, running will continue to change my life in ways I had never expected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The picture today is of two people running up the Kilpatrick hills. the same "mountain" I ran up) </span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-4261264812507048482015-02-02T09:10:00.002-08:002015-02-02T09:10:28.019-08:00The joy of running slowly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is our obsession with speed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a runner I constantly want to run faster and faster, get a new Personal Best (PB) time for the marathon, half marathon or 10k. I want to get to where ever I am I going quicker and earlier. But is that always the best approach and ironically my running - and life - experiences seem to tell me the exact opposite is often the case.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently visited my sister-in-law and her beautiful two year-old daughter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister-in-law is an incredibly proud mother (which is only natural) and was talking about the different areas that my niece is ahead for her age - different motor skills and language skills etc. It is true that she is incredibly talented for her age but I started to question whether our we've all become obsessed with achieving things quicker and earlier. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a runner I am all too aware of this obsession with speed. Running quicker, finishing earlier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if I look back at my life speed rarely matters in the long run and has very rarely made me happy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't start to talk until I was five years-old. Yes you read that right - I hardly said a word until I was five and definitely string any sentences together before then. Unlike most people I can actually remember when I first started talking - and as my father has always joked - I "haven't shut-up since" (at least I hope it is a joke).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am by any definition a late developer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not just in speaking that I started late. I'm now 6ft 2inches tall but for a long time in my childhood I was one of the smallest kids at school, (my brother used to actually pray for me to grow). And going to an all boys school from the age of 11 to 18 I didn't even know that girls existed until I went to university - I am a late developer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started running late in life. I was over 40 before I ran my first marathon, but three years on I'm about to run my ninth marathon in London this April. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started speaking when I was five, I started running when I was forty. But who cares? Does it matter? I frequently take part in public speaking now and I often place in the top three for my age at (smaller) running events. Starting late has not hindered my enjoyment or my achievements in any way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My wife also runs. She runs far slower than I do but she enjoys the races she's taken part in just as much as I do. In many ways she enjoys them more than I do. Many the time we have finished a race and she will talk to me about how beautiful the scenery of the run was and all I can talk about is the running vest of the person in front of me that I was fixated on. One of my favourite races I have ever taken part in is the South Downs half marathon last summer just outside Brighton - it was also the slowest half marathon I have ever done. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Paradoxically running has taught me that the race is not always for the swift. Life has taught me first is not always best. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I hope my niece continues to grow and showcase her amazing talents. But I also hope that one day when she is a lot older she'll discover what I've only just discovered; the best things in life can take time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">(The picture today is of my beautiful niece who is not running slowly!)</span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-80528529796840117752015-02-02T08:51:00.001-08:002015-02-02T08:51:39.442-08:00Running and mourning<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0d5aa827-372c-2b84-0046-2c344d366b46"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2013 the Boston marathon was the target of an infamous terrorist attack. The Boston bombing seriously injured 29 people and killed three, creating headlines around the world.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Boston bombing was a terrible event but like so many news stories it was something that didn’t really touch me - all the pain and suffering was mediated either through some kind of screen or news print. I was not personally affected. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All that changed a year later.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2014 I run the Boston marathon and one person died. He died thousands of miles from the Boston but for me his death will always be linked to the marathon.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Tuesday 22nd April my mobile phone started ringing at 3.50am in the morning. I had just run the marathon the day before and my body was still in pain. On the other side of the phone line was a colleague from work and I knew instantly something was wrong. Back in the UK it was still only ten to nine.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just going to say it" was all the warning I got by way of preamble. "We think Jay is dead - drowned in Barbados". Just typing this conversation still makes my lip quiver. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am an executive producer for the BBC and Jay was one of my documentary directors. He was in Barbados for a wedding but he was also directing a film for me about the 1986 Commonwealth Games. One of the interviewees happened to live in the Barbados and so the day before he had shot an interview with him. Work done the following day he had gone back to enjoying his holiday. My understanding is that he swam out to sea and simply never returned.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The phone call gave me an small insight into how the families and friends of the victims of the Boston bombing must have felt the previous year. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew logically that Jay must be dead. At that point he had been missing for over 12 hours and although rare it is not unknown for freak currents in the Caribbean Sea to take even the strongest swimmers. But without concrete evidence I still clung on to hope. I wondered how long the bereaved relatives of the Boston bombings held on to their hope? I thought about the runners and spectators who taken to hospital and survived and wondered how long loved ones must have worried that they were dead.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Four deaths - three due to a terrorist attack, one caused by drowning. On the face of it completely unrelated. In my world as close as close could be.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the work call it slowly dawned on me; at the very same time I was running the Boston marathon Jay was fighting for his life. The day earlier I had been so proud of my physical achievement of running the marathon in 3 hours and 1 minute. All of a sudden it seemed pointless. Almost pitiful. How could I take pride in my own physical achievement when a friend had faced a real struggle? A struggle far greater than any marathon.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost a year later I still struggle to answer that question. But I think I have got closer to an answer.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consistently when writing about my marathon running I realise that in so many ways running is all about our own mortality. We are physical beings. We are flesh and blood. We are all subject to decay and eventual death. As I get older running helps me to confront this reality in a controlled and safe environment. Running enables me to celebrate my physical body every time I lace up my running shoes, while at the same time making me acutely aware that my physical body has very real limitations.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am now training for my next annual Spring marathon. Occasionally while on my long weekend runs I think of Jay and the Boston marathon. But now instead of seeing them as contradictions I see them as part of the same thing. I run to remind myself of what it means to be alive, I run to enable me to stare into the abyss that is death and not be scared.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The picture today is of a memorial to the three people who were killed by the Boston bombing. In April I will be running the London Marathon in memory of Jay)</span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-9826295048926016452015-01-29T09:12:00.000-08:002015-01-29T09:12:02.032-08:00Political marathons<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="213" src="http://www.oneblogmanyvoices.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/flag.jpg" width="320" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I haven’t blogged for almost a year - The blog was the victim of possibly the hardest marathon year of my life.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-1b9c8f9c-369e-dc9f-1407-b0f7a999a4c1" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year I trained for two marathons at the same time and I had to put a few things on hold. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One marathon was of the common or garden 26.2 miles variety. To be precise it was the Frankfurt Marathon on 26th October 2014.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other marathon was the Scottish Independence Referendum held on the 18th September 2014.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would not have been able to complete the political marathon without training for the running first.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am a senior editor for BBC Scotland News. That means that I had a major role in covering the referendum for the BBC. Regardless of what you thought of the referendum, whether Scotland should be independent or how well the BBC covered it I think there is one thing that everyone can agree upon: It was the biggest political event of a generation and covering it was a virtual marathon. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started covering the referendum from the start of 2014 but from April it moved up a gear with a minimum of 13 hour days, five days a week, with several weekends thrown in for good measure - bank holidays were a distant fond memory.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the workload might have been immense it was combined with a degree of pressure and stress I had never experienced before. The political scrutiny and audience criticism was ever present. Both campaigns seemed to go through every second of our coverage with a fine tooth-comb for signs of bias on one side or another. Veteran political journalists from the BBC and other news agencies would come up from London and would be shocked at the environment we were working in.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The referendum was such an important vote that I actually think the increased scrutiny was warranted. But it meant journalists like myself were subject to a degree of mental and physical pressure over a sustained period time that was difficult to manage.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under this marathon stress I knew there was only one way to cope - run a real marathon.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running is the best way I know of coping with stress. When the pressure feels unbearable there is nothing like fartlek training to bring relief. When the task in front of you seems impossible a long twenty mile run in the Scottish countryside can bring perspective to any situation. And when you feel you are universally hated (as often seemed the case from both the “Yes” and “No” campaigns) the sense of achievement of completing a 10km tempo run before you get into work is priceless.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running gave me perspective at possibly the most crucial time in my working life. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realised that depending on the result I would not be able to book any leave for at least two weeks after the vote. Therefore the Frankfurt marathon scheduled a month after the referendum vote seemed ideal. I also wanted to get away from the UK - Irrespective of the result I knew wanted to get away from England and Scotland.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Training for the marathon meant that at least five times a week I was forced to think about something other than the referendum. Also I was concentrating on the fact that there was a life and things to achieve beyond the referendum. And finally it made me realise that there was life outside of work.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the 26th October I ran the Frankfurt marathon. I completed it in a time of 3 hours and 21 minutes (my second slowest marathon time ever). But without it I know I would have never been able to complete my political marathon on the 18th September.</span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-52710595890563223262014-03-25T08:39:00.003-07:002014-03-25T08:39:44.564-07:00Running, Birthdays and Ageing <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SoSh42ai0iI7apSr7XpTOvv-Up4KQVPLMmyACjSWOcqY8WX-Knk8v71bq6fvqGJ-d-2cnqNPby2gzFh2fbf8DjwMujyOlXbbyvDlxKyaZdzVqoCCtX_NRiHbidX9LZv6Rex9Mjx-tWme/s1600/20140302-214600-600x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SoSh42ai0iI7apSr7XpTOvv-Up4KQVPLMmyACjSWOcqY8WX-Knk8v71bq6fvqGJ-d-2cnqNPby2gzFh2fbf8DjwMujyOlXbbyvDlxKyaZdzVqoCCtX_NRiHbidX9LZv6Rex9Mjx-tWme/s1600/20140302-214600-600x300.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was my birthday a few days ago.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the last ten years my birthdays seem to fall into a regular pattern:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A week or two of anticipation, a day of celebration, followed by a fortnight of introspection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am currently in the introspection phase.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am coping with this introspection by running more and once again returning to the fundamental question of “why do I run?”. I find I can ask that question a million times and each time come up with a different answer. Every time the different answer helps illuminate the current existential dilemma I am grappling with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the ripe (possibly over-ripe) age of 43 I am definitely an adult. By almost any definition I am in fact middle-aged. And yet I do not feel middle aged and sometimes I don’t even feel like an adult. I have a relatively high powered job – a job with ‘grown-up responsibilities’ that only an adult could do. And yet still the same I do not feel like an adult.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are times I embrace adulthood and feel I am a fully paid up member to the mature club while other times I feel I am a 20 something impostor dressing up in a 40 something’s body.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my eyes my father is an adult, and to me always has been. The same for my mother. When I was at school my teachers were adults. A lot of my older colleagues I think of as adults and some of the younger ones as well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am inconsistent with my definition of the term. I know a ‘grown up’ when I speak to one but not every 30 something or 40 something seems to be a grown up (even some people in their 50′s seem to miss the mark)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how does the fundamental question of “Why do I run?” help me make sense of these shifting sands of adulthood and my internal contradictions?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I now think that one of the main reasons that I run is that it connects me with my physical body. In so much of my daily life I do not think about my physical body unless something is wrong with it (an illness or ache and pain) and if I don’t run I do never push my body to its limits.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running gives me a vitality and a sense of power that I love and cherish. A physical sense of power I used to feel effortlessly when I was a teenage and in my twenties which I now have to work at.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it is this sense of power that holds the key to my self-infantilisation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In so many aspects of modern life youth seems to be honored to the point of deification. Youth is power.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my father was young (he was born in the late 1930′s) adulthood was power. Youth was something to pass through to get to power, influence and respect. Now so many aspects of adulthood just seem to hold out the prospect of irrelevance.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Physically my running gives me power and is one of the reasons I love doing it. The fear is giving up running would mean surrendering to the inevitable physical forces of aging and decay. In the same way fully embracing adulthood could be seen as surrendering my youth. A youth that my colleagues and peers value so highly.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if running gives me a sense of power and it is a lose of power that I fear with age and irrelevance then my running also gives me comfort. Running possibly shows me the way forward as I inevitably continue to age.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I define myself as a runner, it is an intrinsic part of my identity, and yet I only started running seriously a few years ago.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running has exposed a new world to me and aspects to my character that I never knew existed before. I am definitely an adult runner – the one time I have received an award for distance running it was in the over 40′s category. In many ways I am happier to embrace adulthood in my running than almost any other aspect of my life.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that the sense of power I get from running is not about clinging on to a sense of youthfulness beyond its sell by date. Running for me is about pushing boundaries and bringing new experiences into my life. That sense of ‘newness’ can sometimes be confused with youth. As youth is when everything is new and we can’t help but push boundaries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But running has taught me that I can do that at any age. If I can embrace the new I can equally embrace adulthood. It is the new which is powerful and hopefully age will give me wisdom of how best to harness it.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know what I think I might just be through the introspection phase of my birthday this year!</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of my “best for age” acceptance form for the London marathon – now I couldn’t do that if I was still in my twenties)</span></span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-89999498736997483802014-02-24T10:30:00.000-08:002014-02-24T10:30:16.707-08:00Sugar Free Running<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbMmZtGshtWzJ-5TbxIv-RzQr3108TwXjMxQNInYuyHhRejXW9jvJc0Io6U-p6AJEb9HF1e-KsR0hu9XMTBP0YQFYkZ6WZD_YmSZea3hCd9odgOyNR-FTQvkhJ9_Nn0Fk55DWOM2oFgCu/s1600/choco.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbMmZtGshtWzJ-5TbxIv-RzQr3108TwXjMxQNInYuyHhRejXW9jvJc0Io6U-p6AJEb9HF1e-KsR0hu9XMTBP0YQFYkZ6WZD_YmSZea3hCd9odgOyNR-FTQvkhJ9_Nn0Fk55DWOM2oFgCu/s1600/choco.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A New Year and a new trend to follow. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9987825/Sweet-poison-why-sugar-is-ruining-our-health.html" target="_blank">Newspapers</a> and <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129540.500-sugar-on-trial-what-you-really-need-to-know.html" target="_blank">popular science publications</a> have recently been waxing lyrical about the "evils of sugar" </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have been officially “sugar free” since the 1<sup>st</sup>
January 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That means no refined sugar in my food, no “sweet” foods made
up of simple carbohydrates – like honey or maple syrup and drastically reducing
my fruit intake (I miss mangoes the most) – oh and definitely no fruit juices!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are two questions I guess I need to answer in this
running blog:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Is it difficult?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>How is it affecting my
running?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>GOING COLD TURKEY</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">First of all I find it incredibly hard to do. Giving up
sugar has been one of the most difficult challenges I have ever given myself
and continues to be difficult. I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate.
Confectionary is both a comfort when I’m stressed and it gives me energy when I’m at work.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first problem is the energy level one. As far back as I
can remember I have survived on sugar going from one energy hit to another through the day. Some of them have been “healthier”
hits of fruit while others have been donuts and chocolate bars. But sugar – in
one form or another has been my crutch. And so when I gave up sugar I found my
energy levels crashing all the time and nothing to pick me up. At this point I
should also say I have limited myself to one coffee in the morning as I quickly
realised I would just be able to get through the sugar deficit by replacing it
with a caffeine overload. (Replacing one addiction for another is not the answer)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It took my body just over a week to adjust. I was definitely
not my best at work and at the end of each day I would just collapse and sleep.
I would recommend anyone doing this should make sure they have a work period
that isn’t too demanding. My energy levels are now great throughout the day.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While the physical need for sugar has gone the craving is as
strong as ever (if not more so). I look longingly at chocolate and would love a
slice of cake. I eat natural peanut butter to get through some of my weaker
moments. Knowing my weaknesses I have also consciously given up bread, as a
marathon runner I need my complex carbohydrates – oats, brown rice, wholemeal
pasta – but if I allowed myself bread I know I would just get all the sugar I’m
missing from bread.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>DOES IT MAKE YOU A BETTER RUNNER?</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But is it worth it I hear all the runners ask? Does it make
you a better and faster runner?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The answer is a resounding “yes”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">First of all the weight has just dropped off. I have lost
3kg (6.6lbs in American money) in just over six weeks and I started off as a relatively
athletic guy (188cm 76kg). I’m lighter on my feet and I can feel that lightness
when I run.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">More importantly on my longer runs I used to fuel them on a
combination of caffeine and sugar. I would have an espresso twenty minutes
before a run and a handful of jelly babies just before I set off (popping jelly
babies along the way). This would be great for the first 10k as I headed off on
a sugar caffeine high and popping gels or candy along the way. After 10k my energy levels would eventually crash
as my body was used to receiving a sugar hit every time my body was under
stress in normal life.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now I’m teaching my body to function without constant sugar hits
it isn’t expecting one after an hour and my longer runs have been a
lot better. To be honest I won’t really know until I do my next marathon but I’m
feeling stronger in my training runs.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WHY AM I WRITING THIS?</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I try not to write about training and the actual mechanics
of running too much in this blog and so that begs the question why I am
breaking my rule and writing about diet, exercise and how to be a better
runner. The fact is as we head into the cold dog days of winter that are better
known as February my resolve is weakening. I can feel my sugar cravings getting
stronger and the novelty of being sugar free is wearing thin just as the
demands and stresses of work are growing. A combination that would usually have
me reaching for the sugary treats. By writing this blog post I am hoping that the peer pressure, and associated shame if I renage on my very public declaration of what I am doing will keep me on the striaght and narrow. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Being the best runner I
can be is a challenge. It is a challenge I rise to four to five times a week when
I lace up my running shoes Over the last month I’ve discovered to be a good runner my diet
is also a challenge. What I put in
my stomach can matter just as much as the miles I clock up.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(The picture today is of a giant 1lb Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cup it has over 3,000 calories - or to put it another way the same amount of energy of running an entire marathon!) </span></span></span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-39377849085506657412014-02-14T06:42:00.000-08:002014-02-14T06:42:54.317-08:00Valentines Day Running<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Valentine’s to every runner out there today on this day of love.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-287e89ac-266c-8138-c3e8-ab2d6849649f" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK I know all the arguments that Valentines Day is just a capitalist invention to commodify one of the most precious emotions we experience. But considering we live in a capitalist society and every other aspect of my life seems to be for sale I will ignore those arguments and continue this blog post in earnest. (And for the cynics amongst you I would recommend reading <a href="http://blogs.artinfo.com/secrethistoryofart/2012/02/14/5-minute-history-of-valentines-day/" target="_blank">this blog post</a> - after mine of course!)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought on this ‘special’ day I would write a non-cynical ode to my two loves; my beautiful wife and running.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have always run. At school I was on the athletics team and during the summer term I would run the glamour events of 100m and 200m - and love it. During the winter I would represent the school at regional cross country races and hate every muddy minute of it. From the age of about 15 I left competitive running behind me but it was still the best exercise I knew and would regularly go for runs around the local park. I thought they were ‘long runs’ but looking back on it they were never longer than 6 - 8km.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoyed running but I definitely wouldn’t describe my relationship with running as one of “love”, it was something I did occasionally like going to the gym or shooting hoops. The “love” would come when I met my wife to be - Hannah. Someone who I fell in love with almost instantly (and is possibly the only time that has happened in my life).</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are few activities that I do that I don’t invite my wife to join me in. That doesn’t mean we do everything together but the invitation is always there (she tried watching <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battlestar-Galactica-Complete-Series-Blu-ray/dp/B0027UY8B8" target="_blank">Battlestar Galactica</a> and gave up midway through the second episode - I proceeded to watch the next seven seasons by myself). And so it was only natural that when I went for runs I invited her to join me.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I quickly discovered that running provided the ideal opportunity for <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/spend-quantity-and-quality-time-with-your-spouse" target="_blank">quality time with my wife</a>. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running is a rare opportunity when it is just the two of us. Nearly all other times in our lives it is at least ‘the two of us plus 1’. That ‘plus one’ can be a friend or family member. But the ‘plus one’ could equally be the television, cooking, a newspaper or the dreaded iphone. Running is quite literally the only time when we are focused solely on each other.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My love affair with running really started at this point as it gave me exclusive quality time with my wife. Running also enabled my relationship with my wife to grow even deeper as we listened to each other with no distractions for at least an hour every week.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would have been happy just gently running with Hannah for years to come but she was the one to suggest that we enter a marathon. I hadn’t raced since I was in school and the thought had never occured to me. The long hours of training meant we spent more time together and it also gave us a goal to focus on. A challenge and the eventual triumph as we both completed the <a href="http://www.maratonadorio.com.br/en/" target="_blank">Rio Marathon</a> two years ago only served to bring us even closer together. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I often wonder what would have happened if Hannah hadn’t suggested we do the marathon. I think we would have continued running - but intermittently. Instead crossing that finish line in Rio cemented my love for running.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I now run five times a week (sometimes six) and if men are supposedly meant to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/relationships/10610993/So-how-often-does-he-have-sex-on-his-mind.html" target="_blank">think about sex 34 times a day</a> - that’s a ‘scientific fact’ - then I think about running just as much. On good days my wife plays a part in all those thoughts - well maybe not all the running thoughts but I did say I had two loves at the start.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I will go for my run alone (as my wife is abroad for work) but hopefully she will read this and go for a run as well. Running on separate continents divided by space and time I can’t think of a better way to share our love on this Valentines day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The picture today is of my wife and I sharing a moment of jubilation after we finished the Rio Marathon.) </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-69584862426531761942014-02-10T02:09:00.000-08:002014-02-10T02:09:02.552-08:00Feel The Pain And Do It Anyway<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2IFWJonWDC80M8E4pRGlUNF1D5S1eds7Jz-pTTObcLQ8NYAUkaVvJ0ehNecd2PShXqdxoyxw5ZJDwi9RxZ28IlemTLupiw4W265Q8aF3ydFSLjEDheGYdkfBKJjrQn2UcIwra-WndaAj/s1600/Dorando-Pietri-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2IFWJonWDC80M8E4pRGlUNF1D5S1eds7Jz-pTTObcLQ8NYAUkaVvJ0ehNecd2PShXqdxoyxw5ZJDwi9RxZ28IlemTLupiw4W265Q8aF3ydFSLjEDheGYdkfBKJjrQn2UcIwra-WndaAj/s1600/Dorando-Pietri-007.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running a marathon is painful.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With enough training - if you are fit enough - jogging a marathon
doesn’t have to be painful.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walking 26.2 miles, if you have the time, doesn’t have to be too
arduous at all.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But “running” a marathon is painful, pushing yourself to complete it
as quickly as you can will hurt. I’ve run six marathons and at the end of each
one I find myself quoting Apollo Creed at the end of the first Rocky film
“<a href="http://www.moviefanatic.com/quotes/aint-gonna-be-no-rematch-dont-want-one/">There ain’t gonna be no rematch</a>”. I always think I will never be able to
endure that kind of pain again, nor want to!</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But recently I discovered it is how we deal with pain that makes the
difference between great Olympic endurance athletes and normal civilians like
you and me.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1506102/?page=1"><span style="color: #000099;">a classic 1981 </span><span style="color: #000099;">British Medical Journal </span><span style="color: #000099;">study</span></a> they discovered three important facts that I
think teach us something relevant not just for marathon running but in all
walks of life.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fact 1: Pain Threshold </b>of elite athletes is the same as recreational
athletes and is even the same as most non-athletes. That means the point you
start to “feel pain” is the same for all of us.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fact 2. Pain Endurance</b> is vastly different for athletes compared to
recreational athletes, who in turn are vastly different than ordinary people.
This means elite athletes can endure more pain for longer. They are still
feeling the pain the same way mere mortals but they can take it for more time.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fact 3. Pain Endurance Changes Over Time</b>. At the start of a season
the amount of pain an elite athlete can endure when s/he hasn’t been training
is considerably less than s/he can endure at the height of the season when they
are at their best. </span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find the first two facts fascinating. It means that it is not the
ability not to feel pain that achieves greatness but the ability to suffer for
longer. In the Rocky film, Rocky and Apollo Creed felt pain from the first time
they were punched, it was the ability to keep on going punch after punch that
made the fictional boxers amazing.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it is the third fact that I take the most inspiration from. We
are all able to increase the amount of pain we can withstand with training. We
can all achieve greatness, or at least be better than we are today.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is true not just in running marathons, fictional boxing
matches and all endurance events, but in everything we do.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rarely are the best people at my work the cleverest ones, or the
ones with the best ideas. The best people are the ones who can endure more. The
ones who can go longer. The ones who when you give them the impossible
marathon-esq task just put it on their shoulders and keep on going.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So next time I am out running or doing a job that I think is just
too big and want to give up I’ll try and remember the marathon runners and the
people t work I admire the most. They too would be suffering the same as me but
all I’ve got to do is endure.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/feb/29/50-stunning-olympic-moments">Dorando Pietri</a> - in pain - who famously collapsed in the last 400 meters of the 1908 Olympics Marathon and created one of the most iconic moments in modern marathon history)</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US">
</span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-52979254786981864302014-02-03T01:28:00.001-08:002014-02-03T01:28:48.809-08:00Running To The End Of The Rainbow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8D9FB-WILlyIAluGscLrS5yEf0UNv7pSAEfH0i2MKZ4dtrfU0Pydle-Qq8Ct9WnDbZmANs8WpWVCHcI8X0yvnNfxoTHdJV_DBI1rBJ9WqaOfRG3ykqKxWrd56L4IPyVVD2JmbTXWuxA-/s1600/running-rainbow-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_420061="null" cua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8D9FB-WILlyIAluGscLrS5yEf0UNv7pSAEfH0i2MKZ4dtrfU0Pydle-Qq8Ct9WnDbZmANs8WpWVCHcI8X0yvnNfxoTHdJV_DBI1rBJ9WqaOfRG3ykqKxWrd56L4IPyVVD2JmbTXWuxA-/s1600/running-rainbow-2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day I was introduced to a veteran runner. Our initial conversation was about running but pretty soon it progressed to other aspects of our lives. The veteran runner visits people with dementia and talks to them for two hours. He told me they are often in care homes and receive no visitors and his visit may be the only conversation they have all week outside of professional nurses and care workers giving them instructions.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He then told me two things about his visits that I think might hold the answer as to what I am trying to achieve with my running. First of all the conversations with the people suffering with dementia often “go nowhere” they are full of non-sequesters, random thoughts and streams of consciousness. Second, while the conversations may last up to two hours, invariably fifteen minutes after the conversation has ended the person will not even remember they happened.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way we usually measure achievement my fellow runner’s visits and conversations do not seem to achieve anything; a conversation that often makes no sense that is almost instantly forgotten. He told me this “lack” of achievement is possibly the hardest aspect of his work. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what he has grown to realise is that for two hours in the week the dementia sufferer is connecting to another person and feels engaged in the world. If he didn’t visit them they would either be sat in front of a TV or possibly even in their beds starring at the ceiling trapped in their own minds.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure if my conversation with the veteran runner “achieved” anything but it did make me think.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a runner least once a month I ask myself some form of the the following questions:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What’s the point or my running?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why do I subject myself to the ordeal of running?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why do I regularly get up at 6am on a weekend and run for two to three hours?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why do I regularly forego some of the more fun aspects of life?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why am I punishing myself?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the root of these questions is one simple question - What on earth am I trying to achieve?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am in my forties, I’m reasonably good but I will never be a great runner. I will never be an Olympian. I doubt I will even ever win a race for my age range. Running will never bring me a source of income. It will not help my career in anyway. If I was doing it for health benefits I could reap all the same benefits by running half the amount I do. And finally if I was trying to lose weight I suspect I should concentrate a little more on my diet and a lot less on my split times.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every other activity I undertake with this level of intensity and commitment I have a clear goal in mind to somehow better my life. So what exactly am I trying to achieve by running all the time? </span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact is at its best running is like the conversations my veteran running friend has with the dementia patients. My best runs are not trying to achieve anything. My best runs are not when I am trying to achieve a certain time or working towards an upcoming race. My best runs are when I am simply running to run. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The achievement is the run itself and when the run is done the achievement and goal is over. Just how the dementia conversation’s value is in the act of the conversation itself and when the conversation is over the achievement is over. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All too often the achievements I am pursuing are like the illusionary pot of gold at the end of a rainbow that I am constantly chasing but will never reach.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What running and my veteran running friend’s experience teaches me is often the achievements, purpose and happiness we seek are with us right now if only we learn to live more in the moment.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-83462513358419588222014-01-27T01:16:00.001-08:002014-01-27T01:16:50.703-08:00Quality Vs Quantity - The Runner's Dilemma?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeIeZ06QndFu3cGcLCi6hpwkVQfHg5iwkkF8xsBo3YSxb4ky1Cdqs_ryYObx1_Ee8FiRLMOXw8ELRlzDr0eHfede7lypm_Ftmk2GfCpOf0yv0IGsqP78v0XsGEH7eX6YULZdWkBm5S6Y7/s1600/Discography-John-Coltrane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeIeZ06QndFu3cGcLCi6hpwkVQfHg5iwkkF8xsBo3YSxb4ky1Cdqs_ryYObx1_Ee8FiRLMOXw8ELRlzDr0eHfede7lypm_Ftmk2GfCpOf0yv0IGsqP78v0XsGEH7eX6YULZdWkBm5S6Y7/s1600/Discography-John-Coltrane.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quality versus quantity. Which do you
choose?</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In almost every walk of modern life
the sophisticated, intelligent answer is always "quality".</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I often sit through work meetings
where people wheel out trite phrase such as "we should focus on the
quality not the quantity" as if they have said something new and profound.
And everyone in the meeting nods knowingly.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who aspires to be the "bargain
basement" piling them high and flogging them cheap? Everyone wants to be
that "quality" product that everyone else admires, wants to be and
buy.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My recent marathon training has caused
me to question this accepted wisdom and I'm starting to think it's all about
quantity.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday I ran 30km, on Friday I
ran a fast timed 5km and the day before that I ran a half marathon in training.
According to the running schedule I downloaded from a sports website I am meant
to run between 70 and 80 kilometres every week between now and my marathon in
April, some weeks I'm even meant to run over 90 kilometres. Mo Farah is
famously meant to run 120 miles a week when in training.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A large part of distance running training is
all about quantity.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Far from quality being in opposition
to quantity, the latter is not achievable without the former. Quantity leads to
quality. The more you do anything the better you become and the more likely you
will be able to achieve the best quality.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I know what you're thinking;
there's a difference between "training quantity" and "performance quality".</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my experience the more half
marathons I run in training as close to race conditions as possible the better
my marathon times when I finally race for real. Also when I think about other
examples in life quality seems to be predicated on quantity. Two of the
greatest jazz musicians that ever lived; John Coltrane and Miles Davis were
prolific in their output often producing several albums a year. I doubt they
would have been able to create the masterpieces they created if they hadn't constantly
been performing, recording and honing their skills. (The Spice Girls only ever
recorded three albums - a cheap shot I know but I doubt anyone will be listening
to 2 become 1 in forty years time the way they listen to Coltrane's Love Supreme today).</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So next time I'm in a work
meeting and I start hearing someone talking about doing "less but with
greater impact" or "we want quality not quantity" I think I'll
just start humming "Viva Forever" and ask them if they want to join
me on a work-lunch run.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of just a few of John Coltrane's albums a clear example where quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive)</span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-81949076197513553542014-01-20T01:47:00.000-08:002014-01-20T08:50:14.568-08:00The Art Of Running (or lessons in running by Chris Ofili)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtiv8IDf0KCAw5Dl3pkmsez4DiBel46kqbPzgdBVlkP_b2s6WiJJNMK_j7yNaLfRbH3OgkJXZtUihyphenhyphenEw4y6vwkGAzqig29A6IqfAmsCROCuJC1mHYowI0D_8pXVk6E4OQKw_TjRYsjp4a/s1600/ofili.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtiv8IDf0KCAw5Dl3pkmsez4DiBel46kqbPzgdBVlkP_b2s6WiJJNMK_j7yNaLfRbH3OgkJXZtUihyphenhyphenEw4y6vwkGAzqig29A6IqfAmsCROCuJC1mHYowI0D_8pXVk6E4OQKw_TjRYsjp4a/s1600/ofili.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day I was at an African wedding reception in London and I saw the internationally renowned artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ofili">Chris Ofili</a> there. (Don’t worry that is the end of the name dropping).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was collecting my coat from the cloakroom at the end of the night Chris was also there with his wife collecting their belongings. We'd met a couple of years ago, and after a quick catch up we ended up talking about one of his pictures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2011 he painted a picture that deeply resonated with me; “For The Unknown Runner”. It was a commission as a poster for the London 2012 Olympics and shows a runner on an ancient Greek type vase with the spectators just represented as colourful spots in the background. In Ancient Greece sporting achievement was often depicted on these <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/76169/Ancient-Greek-vase-depicting-Olympic-runners-525-BC">types of vases</a> as well as representing various gods and mythical creatures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I first found out about the picture through twitter and I now have a print of “For The Unknown Runner” hanging in my kitchen. Not a day goes by when I don’t look at it and enjoy it, which is why, at the risk of embarrassing Chris with my love of his work, I told him how much his picture means to me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The primary reason I love it is because it marries two aspects of my identity that often seem mutually exclusive – my black British identity and my running identity. I’ve written previously about the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/jul/03/why-dont-black-people-run-marathons">lack of ordinary fellow black distance runners</a> when I do marathons and other races. As a black British artist Chris Ofili’s work often speaks to my black British identity. For example his piece “<a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ofili-no-woman-no-cry-t07502">No Woman No Cry</a>” is a tribute to Doreen Lawrence and her fight for justice for her murdered son Stephen Lawrence a seminal moment in black British history (as well as race relations as a whole).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so when Ofili turns his hand to painting a runner I feel I no longer have to place these two aspects of my character into different silos. It can be part of black British culture in just the same way as his other work is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The title “For The Unknown Runner” serves to give me further ownership of this beautiful piece of work. At first the title didn’t seem to make sense to me because this was a commission for the London Olympics and Olympian athletes are far from unknown, Ofili has gone on record previously saying that the figure was based on a picture of Usain Bolt possibly the most famous <b><i>known</i></b> athlete in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in a typically egotistical way I now interpret the picture not to be of an Olympian but of myself or everybody who runs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I run a marathon I am running my own private Olympics. To 99.9% of the spectators I am the “unknown runner”, (thanks for cheering me on mum - the 0.1%), and the spectators are nothing more to me than the colourful spots in the pictures background. But in my mind I am running to glory. I am achieving my own super human feat worthy of any Ancient Greek Olympian vase.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I tried to express all this to Chris Ofili, through the haze of a little bit too much wedding reception alcohol, the complexity of all those thoughts ended up as “I love your picture ‘The Unknown Runner’ it really inspires me”. And after graciously thanking me, he explained how he too likes to run and how it really serves to clear his head.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I learn that running can fuel great achievements (such as Ofili's art), but possibly more importantly I learnt I have more in common with one of Britain’s greatest living artists than I ever realised.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of Chris Ofili's "For The Unknown Runner". If you want to see Chris talk about painting the picture there is a great short film <a href="http://vimeo.com/44157535">here</a>. Also thanks to my twitter friend @GoFeetBlog who first told me about the picture)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-55611095355948318002014-01-16T06:20:00.002-08:002014-01-20T05:28:41.224-08:00Running with Buddha<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtaZ59XjjOsnsoIaD-r-Sewp7XGEVElIygFNGM5AHTwS5jFA066aLJBxpKVRiZIBjNVPO0oYxyZkHpCT3hZ3PzNBOGk5buAdVJ8vA4PoeAyjmeBey1ti8i82t1Cq7uZR7OL3x87rkBhly/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtaZ59XjjOsnsoIaD-r-Sewp7XGEVElIygFNGM5AHTwS5jFA066aLJBxpKVRiZIBjNVPO0oYxyZkHpCT3hZ3PzNBOGk5buAdVJ8vA4PoeAyjmeBey1ti8i82t1Cq7uZR7OL3x87rkBhly/s1600/photo.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">When I was in my early twenties I used to teach maths to African-Caribbean children at a Saturday morning supplementary school - the Mandela Free School (it was originally called the Winnie Mandela Free School but that’s another story). The school was a grassroots effort to address some of the <a href="http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Parliamentary%20briefings/EducationWHdebateJune2012.pdf"><span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0px;">failings that the education system</span></a> had in educating young black children, failings that seem to continue to this day. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As a teacher I discovered young children learn best if you give them the information in more than one sensory experience. They learn about fractions far better if they can physically cut up the cake. Lego was a brilliant tool when I was trying to teach them abstract concepts in physics. The technical term for this is “<a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6304995"><span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0px;">multi-sensory learning</span></a>”.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I bring this up because I’m finding that I’m now re-discovering this truth about learning - not with children but about myself. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Running is that extra sensory information.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There are abstract philosophical concepts that I’m either only now beginning to grasp or getting a deeper understanding of because of my marathon running and training. It seems that every time I learn something new about about marathon running I discover parallels with philosophical teachings about life.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Take the concept of of the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_way"><span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0px;">Middle Way</span></a>” in Buddhism. At it’s most basic it is about avoiding extremes - plotting a path of moderation, between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. According to Buddha this was the path of wisdom bringing you to enlightenment.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not being a Buddhist myself I think I understood the idea in theory but it didn’t chime with my reality. I always thought my greatest achievements were achieved through extremes. Pushing myself to my limits. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">For me the “Middle Way” was wonderful if you wanted to have a “nice, calm, serene life”, but not great if you wanted to be the very best you could be.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">That was before I started running marathons.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Achieving your best in the marathon is all about moderation.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">When you are racing it is about not going out too fast nor going off to slowly at the start.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In training it’s realising that any fool can train themselves into the ground but you have to train with moderation. Not adding too many miles in a week but not doing too few. The best marathon runners even recognise they can’t even concentrate too much on running and need to add cross training into the schedule (I currently try and swim or do yoga at least once a week).</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The “Big Push” might be great in a sprint but then you come crashing down. Extremes might seem to work as you cram for an exam but short-term memory does not make you wise in the long run.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Marathon running is life. Time and again it is the physical embodiment of my thinking. It puts the flesh on my abstract philosophical thinking and enriches it.</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The ultimate paradox of marathon running, and life, is when you see someone achieving the impossible and seemingly pushing themselves to the extreme they usually got their through moderation.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The new year - 2014 - is just over two weeks old and I’ve just started my training for the Boston Marathon in April. I have a feeling there will be a few more philosophical insights I’ll be learning as I grind out the miles over the coming months - but always in moderation of course! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(The picture today is of people being the best they can be through moderation at the Cannes Semi-Marathon)</span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-17360292287884683602013-11-26T13:28:00.000-08:002013-11-26T22:42:57.793-08:00Running After Schrödinger's Cat<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAedrDAZqhLMNkAOz8_hNu3MyVCX6u8s1XC3OiQ8bJdgvZiRjpwvvo1b9F0WzgJBUtITcG0W8erGsJ92VJZwQL0_sX05GE8dSt6jI1c0l6Ro44OY09tDPGeXtm7mqjnhoXtkDw2bkdlwKK/s1600/top-5-fun-cat-games2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAedrDAZqhLMNkAOz8_hNu3MyVCX6u8s1XC3OiQ8bJdgvZiRjpwvvo1b9F0WzgJBUtITcG0W8erGsJ92VJZwQL0_sX05GE8dSt6jI1c0l6Ro44OY09tDPGeXtm7mqjnhoXtkDw2bkdlwKK/s320/top-5-fun-cat-games2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week I started training for my next
marathon in four and a half months time. The first month will consist of <a href="http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hill-training/159.html">hill
training</a> and <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/10-essential-strength-exercises-for-runners?page=single">strength
workouts</a> (a lot of stomach and glutes work) and then I'll start my
serious running with three months to go.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find the hill training incredibly hard. I
set a 30-minute hill programme on the treadmill in my local gym that I cannot
complete and every week I try and do an extra minute or an extra hill before I
collapse. The aim is to build up my strength slowly and by the end of six weeks or
so I can finish it.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning I was able to complete
22 minutes of the 30-minute hill programme, by this afternoon my leg muscles
(quads and glutes specifically) were still aching. And that is when I had my
small philosophical break through:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running can explain the theory of
Schrödinger’s cat and quantum physics.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, the confession. I consider myself a
reasonably intelligent guy who can get to grips with most theories and
philosophical concepts in popular culture. I understand “<a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm">Ockham’s Razor</a>” and I
can even bluff my way through a little discussion on Plato and the "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VtKvK_21RQ">Theory of Forms</a>". But when it comes to Schrödinger’s cat in quantum physics I feel like a five year old trying to
drive a car.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those that don’t know Schrödinger’s cat
is a way of illustrating (or disproving, depending on your point of view) the
concept in quantum physics that “a particle exists in all states at once until
observed”. Physicist Erwin Schrödinger created a thought experiment with a cat
in a sealed box with some poison. In theory the cat is both alive <b><i>and</i></b>
dead at the same time as long as the box remains sealed and is only alive <b><i>or</i></b>
dead once the box is opened and you can look into the box. (For a more
comprehensive explanation of the mind experiment click <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/10237347/Schrodingers-Cat-explained.html">here</a>).</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This never made sense to me - that is until
this afternoon and I was feeling my poor aching muscles.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following hill training my muscles are
weaker. For the couple of hours, and possibly even days, after a
particularly grueling work out if I tried to do the same hill training I would be slower and be able to do considerably less than the 22 minutes I have
been able to do so far. But I am also aware that following a hard work out I will
become faster after a while.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This evening as I type this blog post my
leg muscles are like Schrödinger’s cat in the box. I do not know if they are weaker
or stronger than they were 24 hours ago. I don’t know if I would be able to run
less or more than 22 minutes if I stepped on to the treadmill and
attempted my hill programme. I feel my legs are both weaker and stronger at the
same time. It's as if I’ve finally grasped the famous thought experiment
because I’ve taken it out of the classroom and can literally feel it
physically.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next time I go to the gym, I will
discover if my legs are weaker or stronger. I will be the scientist lifting the
lid on the sealed box and finding out if the cat is alive or dead.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of a cute cat I found on the internet... Aside from a vague link to the blog post it is a blatant attempt to attract more readers).</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-84198386940015613832013-10-18T03:09:00.000-07:002013-10-18T03:09:17.857-07:00The Joy of Accidental Yoga<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrhqiWELtFoctKQudSVqmhfucYS0ZUeTbn6VJ5CWkmmWz2Prtig3Yiu_T1vp0D5unEIyG70BY778UatSylDYqTT_MNEqPA6W8rHuoGBgsKn44zlJR9jkCjXzHBPUCdgDnXvpPkQOp2xuS/s1600/stretch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_27450="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrhqiWELtFoctKQudSVqmhfucYS0ZUeTbn6VJ5CWkmmWz2Prtig3Yiu_T1vp0D5unEIyG70BY778UatSylDYqTT_MNEqPA6W8rHuoGBgsKn44zlJR9jkCjXzHBPUCdgDnXvpPkQOp2xuS/s1600/stretch.JPG" esa="true" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I want to like yoga.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I feel it is the kind of activity that a mature, sophisticated cultured man should embrace.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Modern renaissance men are meant to be well travelled, multi-lingual, be able to cook and at least once a week greet the dawn with a Sun Salutation.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But try as I might I have not been able to get into yoga. As someone who is not naturally flexible I do not find it enjoyable in the slightest. And before someone emails me and tells me that the flexibility will come with practice I have been trying to touch my toes all my life and haven't been able to do so since the age of 19!</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I have not been able to enjoy the meditative calm that yoga is meant to provide, the quiet nirvana. Instead yoga has just meant sessions of discomfort and pain that can never be over quick enough.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But a year ago something happened.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I was running in New York in Central Park when all of a sudden I felt a shooting pain in my left knee, the pain eventually went and I was up and running again in a week. When I came back to the UK I went for a sports massage and told the masseur about the incident. She gave me a stretch to do that involved me lying face down on the floor with one leg straight out and the other bent underneath me.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Then a few months later my IT band felt tight and a physiotherapist gave me an exercise involving me lying on my back and then raising my backside to form an arch.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">After that I did the Edinburgh marathon and created small but painful muscle tears in my lower stomach and another physio gave me another set of exercises.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">By the end of this summer after every run I was doing a series of stretches I'd collected along the way. I was finding it a relaxing way to unwind after strenuous exercise and it was bringing me real calm.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But it wasn't until I was doing these stretches after a run with my wife that the penny dropped:</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I was doing yoga and enjoying it.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The first "stretch" I'd learnt after NYC was a variation of the "pigeon pose" according to my wife, then she showed me how my sprinters stretch was a "half warrior", my "arch" stretch was a "bridge". Finally I was practically doing a sun salutation at the start of every session as I reached down to try and touch my toes and my stretch at the end was a "cobra"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I now wonder why I've always hated yoga but found myself accidentally loving it at the same time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">My best guess is I'd always struggled with yoga because I was trying to get the "poses" right and feeling a failure as I couldn't contort my body into the correct forms. But when I'm stretching after I run I am just letting my body do whatever comes naturally. A stretch can feel good, but a pose for an inflexible person like myself can feel like torture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">And then there's the meditative yoga nirvana. As any buddhist I am sure will tell you, no one ever reached nirvana by <strong><em>trying</em></strong> to reach nirvana. By taking away the pressure to reach an inner and higher bliss I actually started to enjoy myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I might not be a yoga master (accidental or otherwise) as the title of this post suggests. But I did accidentally find myself discovering the joys of yoga. Oh and for all the runners reading this post it has made me a better runner as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">(The picture today is of my wife and I doing a sun salutation before a 10k race)</span>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-69780631873638073972013-10-13T00:36:00.000-07:002013-10-13T00:36:15.303-07:00Stop Counting The Miles<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY3KkjnyJc7dtLkl9Oxxykj27n1eLcq5cDGheR2ogn2lTnGr7QF3mc97PUVNmEvfZXwXmaamU0CvVKV0WNw76WmI6OOIGXfyWrwJ-XuZM5Cb9Z2DJgJrYQpBKVmYWi8FlCGQNOuDjMpeq/s1600/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY3KkjnyJc7dtLkl9Oxxykj27n1eLcq5cDGheR2ogn2lTnGr7QF3mc97PUVNmEvfZXwXmaamU0CvVKV0WNw76WmI6OOIGXfyWrwJ-XuZM5Cb9Z2DJgJrYQpBKVmYWi8FlCGQNOuDjMpeq/s320/photo.PNG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I often run with my Iphone strapped to my arm. My phone has an app which monitors how fast and far I run as well as recording my route. Today at the end of my run the app flashed 4,000km.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I don’t always run with my phone so the 4,000km is a low figure - but seeing the Nike app register 4,000km felt like a significant landmark.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">To be honest since showering and getting changed out of my sweaty sporty clothes I'm slightly surprised at the level of satisfaction it gave me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But my running app and my satisfaction at clocking 4,000km points to a wider phenomenon. I am beginning to think that for many of us it is no longer a case of “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am) or even "curro ergo sum" (the runner’s fun take on the famous philosophical pronouncement - I run therefore I am). No, for many of us we are living a quantified life. I measure therefore I am.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If a phenomenon or event is not measured and recorded it is almost as if it didn’t happen. The very act of measurement seems to give an event meaning. Conversely not measuring an event can cause us to question the very validity of a phenomenon. Let me use the example of my running app again:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My running app records the best times I have run for 5k, 10k, half marathon and a marathon. The problem is often this feature of the running app is temperamental. It will often not actually show the best time I have run a distance in and just randomly pick one of the runs I have done over that distance. When I discovered this it really bothered me, I spent far too much time than I care to admit emailing Nike and even talking to the support team on the phone to try and rectify the problem. Why did I care so much? I know exactly what my best times are for each of those distances - I didn’t need my phone to tell me. But it was almost as if I had not run those times if it was not recorded and showing up on my phone!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I know I have actually run further than 4,000km over the last two years but it wasn’t until I saw it on my phone that I felt I’d actually achieved it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not only does the classic "cogito ergo sum" seem insufficient to grasp our modern lives, I feel the famous philosophical question of; “if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound?” is now inadequate. The sound of the tree crashing down no longer exists even if an army of people hear it, if you haven’t measured it's volume on your phone, filmed it and hopefully uploaded it to YouTube.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Running at its best connects me with my inner self and the natural world around me. Running should be pure existential joy where you are experiencing the moment as it happens. Checking my running app after a run and taking satisfaction from its measurement saying “4,000km” couldn’t be further from living in the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The Ancient Romans saw the dangers of trying to measure life as demonstrated by the famous poem by Catullus when he wrote: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then, another thousand, and a second hundred.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then, yet another thousand, and a hundred.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then, when we have counted up many thousands,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Let us shake the abacus,so that no one may know the number,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And become jealous when they see</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I believe the poet is telling us true joy only starts when measurement becomes meaningless.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I will continue to run with my Iphone and running app but I will strive to remember that it is the running that matters not the record of my run. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And like the kisses in Ancient Rome the real joy in running only starts when we “shake the abacus” and measurement ends. </span><br />
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(The photograph speaks for itself - it is a screen shot of my iphone displaying 4,000km)</div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-31361452556630392702013-10-07T02:55:00.000-07:002013-10-08T06:23:59.252-07:00Confessions of a Bored Runner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKcrgB6FxJiharH2FE4O6RQCvSJYhlY_QRjJpqJ3dmuN7gUmqt_aPUs3HeYZsKr05fNEwDpJ3VmwMS7xm3HYVEjJ0mKuIS0gtpHT0hG5PltBJcp0eumU_z0OrKKDwgstTw_gqw6tmOTwT/s1600/SSP_ND_000073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_360223="null" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKcrgB6FxJiharH2FE4O6RQCvSJYhlY_QRjJpqJ3dmuN7gUmqt_aPUs3HeYZsKr05fNEwDpJ3VmwMS7xm3HYVEjJ0mKuIS0gtpHT0hG5PltBJcp0eumU_z0OrKKDwgstTw_gqw6tmOTwT/s1600/SSP_ND_000073.jpg" width="212" xsa="true" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">OK I've said it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I feel I have broken the great taboo in admitting the bleeding obvious. I have some how broken the sacred code between runners that we can't actually say out loud and definitely can't say in front of non-runners!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Running is meant to be euphoric. A long run is meant to give you a runner's high. Running can do everything from relieve stress to cure obesity. I've even read articles posing the question whether running is better than sex, (it isn't by the way).</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But I've never read an article that admits the fact we all know: Often running is boring. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is impossible to do any activity day after day, and often for hours at a time and not be bored.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But rather than run away from the boring truth I believe it is time we embrace it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Western society seems to have a phobia when it comes to boredom. Boredom is something to be avoided at all costs and fought through an armoury of mobile phones, films, radio, video games, music, literature, tablets and of course television. We should never be bored and if we are we should remedy the situation immediately!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But more people are increasingly coming out in praise of boredom.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The state of boredom is now praised by some as a prerequisite for great creativity and insight. It is not until you stop bombarding your brain with stimuli that you can have that great "eureka" moment. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Although I believe this to be true, and find running an incredibly useful time in experiencing creative breakthroughs as my bored mind wanders, I don't think this is really in praise of boredom any more than a racing driver likes to stop because it enables him to refuel his car and then go faster. This is not really praise for boredom, this is more an argument for the utility of boredom to make your life even more interesting in the long run.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As a runner I want us to really appreciate boredom. Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without us embracing boredom, whether that is reading turgid law books to one day become a judge or filing your accounts to grow your business into a multi-national corperation. Running teaches us how to embrace boredom, it's impossible to run a PB marathon time without experiencing boredom through some of your training runs. It's a life lesson for anything we want to achieve. Through great boredom comes great achievement.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But there is also a more philosophical aspect, dare I say spiritual side, of our lives that I believe running boredom connects us with. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Poet and philosopher Joseph Brodsky had much to say on boredom but the one aspect that really strikes a chord with me is when he wrote: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"boredom is your window on the properties of time that one tends to ignore to the likely peril of one's mental equilibrium. It is your window on time's infinity. Once the window opens, don't try and shut it; on the contrary, throw it wide open".</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We invariably fill our lives with distractions so we can avoid facing the reality of time.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Running is one of the few occasions in our lives when we allow ourselves to be bored. One of the few occasions when we allow ourselves to become fully aware of time. In busy lives when every second is meant to be filled with activity. In an age when "work hard, play hard" has become less of a catch phrase and more of a commandment, running and boredom is the ultimate rebellious act. Through running and giving ourselves permission to be bored we connect with the one constant that modernity cannot control - time.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So next time you are on a long run and start to feel bored in the words of Brodsky throw that window wide open and allow yourself to connect with "time's infinity".</span><br />
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(The picture today is of me running a trail half marathon race just outside Brighton UK smiling as I saw the camera - pretending not to be bored) </div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-61535218459142744152013-10-06T14:36:00.002-07:002013-10-06T14:36:54.532-07:00Warsaw Marathon Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel there are other running blogs that do that kind of thing. But I thought I'd make an exception in this case because when I was preparing to run the Warsaw Marathon I couldn't find a single decent review, so here goes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week I ran the Warsaw marathon. It's held on the same weekend as the Berlin marathon and for anyone who has failed to register in time for the prestigious Berlin marathon (as I did) the Warsaw marathon is a great alternative.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race course is relatively flat and run alone broad roads. Warsaw being Poland the weather in the last weekend of September is suitably chilly and when I ran it the sky was a beautifully perfect "marathon grey" exactly what every marathon runner would ask for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drink stations along the race course were not great as they handed out water and sports drink in little cups. I have always found drinking from a cup while running the equivalent of trying to sign my name while riding a bicycle. Luckily I'd read the pre-race literature that came from entering and so I ran with a drinks belt, otherwise I think I would have been seriously dehydrated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also despite my previous PB being 3hours 11mins the organisers had put me in the slowest group at the start. Therefore the first half of the marathon I spent most of the time weaving in and out of people as I overtook them. It wasn't until the second half that the numbers were more spread out and I was running more with my pace peers that I found I could really get into my stride.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not really one to judge a race by crowd support because I zone into my own world while racing. But if crowd support is your thing there are plenty of children to high 5 as you run, live bands playing music and loads of people cheering "BRAWO!" as you run (the Polish language isn't one if my strengths but I figured out what that one meant!). Also on my race number they printed my first name so it was nice to hear people shouting my name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last kilometre is downhill as you run into the national stadium towards the finish line. After 41 kilometres a downhill finish is very welcome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it's not a perfect marathon in the way Amsterdam marathon is, nor does it have the atmosphere of London, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fast marathon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After all is said and done I got a new PB besting my Amsterdam marathon time by more than three minutes with a new time of 3hours 8minutes. So it cant be all bad!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of the race medal - a really nice weighty piece of metal)</span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-61248609948348151162013-09-08T06:30:00.001-07:002013-10-08T06:25:28.229-07:00Runaway Slaves, Marathons and Economics <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">In my youth I always fancied myself as the firebrand revolutionary. Although considering I never really played truant, didn’t get into much trouble at school, never did drugs nor even smoked cigarettes I think this was more in my mind than in reality.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being of Jamaican heritage one revolutionary fantasy that persisted into my twenties though is the idea that if I had lived in the 1700’s or 1800’s I would have been a runaway slave. “I wouldn’t have cut sugar cane or picked cotton for anyone!” or so I used to tell myself. It’s a common enough fantasy of young black men brilliantly illustrated by Eddie Murphy in his seminal 1980's stand-up film “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg3eCHFLoTo"><span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0px;">Delirious</span></a>” (it’s worth a watch before you continue reading)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I am in my 40’s, having read economics at university, I thought I would combine my love of running with a little economic theory and revisit the subject of runaway slaves. (Don’t worry people I won’t be writing about “quantative easing” or "interest rate defaults")</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One branch of economics that has grown in importance in the last twenty years is “Game Theory”. For anyone that has seen the movie “A Beautiful Mind” you will know what I am talking about but for everyone else it’s the idea that we all make choices by trying to figure out what other people might also do. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry it will become obvious with the following example. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So lets’ think about my fantasy of being a runaway slave. Using simple game theory what would actually be the best strategy for a runaway slave to successfully escape his or her servitude?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK let’s play a simple chase game:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all is it better for the rebel slave to run as fast as possible at the start or to run quite slowly?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assuming a runaway slave has an hour before someone realises he has escaped he has an hour’s head start. If he runs as fast as possible he will quickly tire and will begin to slow down after just a short distance. If on the other-hand he starts at a moderate speed he will be able to keep up this pace for far longer and get far further from the slave owner and plantation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His best strategy will depend on what he thinks the slave-master will do – will the slave master go off in pursuit as fast as possible or will the slave master give chase slow and steady? Anyone who has run a 10k race or longer will be able to testify that getting the right pace is everything. Go off too fast and you hit the wall and the slower runners quickly catch up with you and overtake you leaving you gasping. And so the runaway should only run off as quickly as possible if he thinks the slave owner will give pursuit as quickly as possible also, with both of them tiring quite quickly and the slave being able to escape. Otherwise the slow and steady pursuer would always catch the sprinter down the road.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alternatively if the runaway heads off at a steady pace he is betting that his pursuer will do the same. If the pursuer heads off at a sprint he will be able to catch the runaway before he has got far enough away from the plantation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So those are the two alternatives for the potential runaway: Fast and furious vs. slow and steady. So what does game theory tell us he should do? </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe the best strategy for the slave is to run-away as quickly as possible because in all likelihood the slave owner will want to catch the slave as quickly as possible and will also give chase as quickly as possible. In these circumstances the runaway slave will get away and freedom will be his! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">However what I have just described is called a “static game” – a one off event. In reality this game will be “dynamic” meaning it will be played out several times over many years. (In the US it is estimated that approximately 1,000 slaves tried to escape per year in the first half of the 19</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Century). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In a “dynamic game” the slave master will realise that heading off quickly means the runaway gets away. So after the 4</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> or 5</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> slave has successfully got away he will change his strategy and pursue in a slow and steady manner eventually catching up with the tired sprinting slave.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As time progresses the remaining slaves (potential runaways) will realise that sprinting is no longer yielding results and so they too will head off slow and steady. The first lot will get away until the slave owner realises what is happening. At that point the slave owner will start sprinting at the start when giving chase. In this case the slave owner will then catch the runaways who have not got far enough away.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so in my simple game theory model of runaway slaves the number of successful and unsuccessful escape attempts will go in waves as the different runaways fluctuate between the two strategies and there is a time lag between the slave masters catching up (literally and metaphorically) to the new approach.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to check my game theory approach with my wife who is a professional economist as opposed to myself who hasn’t touched an economics book since graduating twenty years ago. She listened to my dynamic game theory argument and after much thought finally offered her judgement:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“You’ve been blinded by your love of running. The slaves shouldn’t runaway at all – I think game theory would dictate that they stay where they are and fight instead”. Spoken like a true revolutionary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Amendment:</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The recent World Championship Men’s Marathon was a brilliant piece of game theory in action. With two kilometres to go the Ugandan runner Stephen Kiprotich was in the lead but Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia was right behind him. Now it is easier for the person on the leader’s shoulder to bide his time and then overtake in the last few hundred meters and sprint to victory, so what was Kiprotich to do?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Kiprotich did what any economist would have told him to do, he started to zig-zag. Following someone’s zig-zagging is incredibly tiring (a lot more tiring for the follower than the leader due to the unexpected changes in direction). So if Desisa had followed a straight line and ignored the zig-zagging he would quickly go into the lead then the Ugandan would be on <b>his</b> shoulder and ready to overtake in the last few hundred meters. Follow the zig-zag and Desisa tires himself out. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It was a masterful piece of game theory by Kiprotich. Whatever option Desisa choice would play to the Ugandan’s advantage. In the end Desisa followed the zig-zagging, became completely tired out and the gold went to the economically minded Stephen Kiprotich. </i></span></span></div>
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Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-91834190968222663562013-08-20T05:05:00.000-07:002013-08-20T06:33:15.920-07:00The Incredible Aluminium Runner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2AQvtTP9kO8D-67czf6sp8voIpuW3mysWQkZFClpi52oozKJPM_Bu1oQCJtLFNlToaNjZv6N6lEF8ijYR8kZsv5XY8S2mR01B_YyPHFuSowducUuc68tGF512UCiyXf_wa9wcBr7H0uS/s1600/aluminum_super_hero2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2AQvtTP9kO8D-67czf6sp8voIpuW3mysWQkZFClpi52oozKJPM_Bu1oQCJtLFNlToaNjZv6N6lEF8ijYR8kZsv5XY8S2mR01B_YyPHFuSowducUuc68tGF512UCiyXf_wa9wcBr7H0uS/s1600/aluminum_super_hero2.jpg" height="320" qsa="true" width="281" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In my quest to become a better runner I have to face reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I am no “Iron-Man”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And at 42 I am definitely not a “Man of Steel”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But I think I might just be an “Aluminium Hero”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A story about Alcoa Inc., the third largest aluminium producer in the world, might just hold the key as to how we can all become better runners, running longer and faster way into our old age.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Like running, aluminium production is nearly always beset with injuries, many people almost view aluminum work related injuries as a necessary evil. It’s similar to the way runners talk about impact injuries, shin splints and runner’s knee as an unfortunate side effect of training. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In 1987 Paul O’Neill became the CEO of Alcoa. When he took over he didn’t talk about profits and shareholder dividends and the type of things a CEO normally talks about. Instead he talked about safety and how safety was going to be his number one priority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Of course everyone thought he was insane and the share price of Alcoa immediately dropped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But it turns out that the best way to create a safer work environment is to make sure workers do the right thing every single time. And of course, if you do it right every single time, if you create the right procedures, then not only is it safer, it's also more efficient. Very quickly after O’Neill took over Alcoa was producing better quality aluminium, for less, with happier injury free workers. Oh and the share price quickly exceeded what it had been when he took over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">All too often as runners we view injury prevention; stretches, ice baths and recovery days etc. the same way many CEO’s view worker safety – an annoying add on that we’d prefer to forget if we could. All too often a runner’s primary focus is on achieving that new Personal Best time (PB) or to run longer than we’ve run before (the CEO’s profits and share price).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But what the story of Alcoa clearly demonstrates is if you put safety at the very centre of what you do you achieve all your goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A well stretched, healthier and rested body will be able to run faster than muscles and tendons on the constant brink of injury. Like Paul O’Neill prioritise safety and everything else will fall into place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">As far as I am aware there is no superhero named after aluminum but from now on all readers of this blog should feel free to call me the “Amazing Aluminium-Man” – putting safety first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(The picture today is pretty self explanatory) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-65379195391530629552013-08-17T00:34:00.001-07:002013-10-08T13:36:39.390-07:00Do You Run Or Do You Race?<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About a year ago I ran my first 10km race – “<a href="http://www.runbritainrankings.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=70270"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">The Cumbernauld 10k</span></a>” - just outside Glasgow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was running as fast as I could, trying to pace myself and aiming for a sub 40 minute time. About midway through the run I felt someone running quite close behind me. With two kilometres to go the race entered a park area where the path narrowed to single file running. I could feel myself tiring and the other runner was now right on my shoulder. Thinking I was actually getting in his way I motioned for him to pass me, but he just stayed behind me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With one kilometre to go I could literally feel his breath on my neck and I knew I was slowing down. I thought to myself; “I’m stopping this guy from getting the best time he could get” so I turned around and said “you can overtake me” and deliberately ran on one side of the narrow path to make room for him, but he just kept running behind me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then with a few hundred meters to go he shifted his running up a gear, overtook me and seemed to sprint to the finish line. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realised later; I was “running” and he was “racing”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of us runners when we enter races - from 5k’s to ultra-marathons - are not actually “racing”, we are “running”. We are running the best we can run, we are running to get a new Personal Best time (PB), we are running to complete a marathon for the first time, we are running to enjoy the personal challenge, we are running to lose weight. In fact there are any number of reasons to run. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we are not doing is “racing”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ask most people where they came in a race and they don’t have a clue (27</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> or 127</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">?). We are running “in parallel” with the people that are running with us, we are not running “against them”. When you are a “runner” you are not trying to beat your fellow runners, for non-runners this might seem a little strange but we are not actually racing them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The man running behind me for most of the Cumbernauld 10k was “racing” me, he wanted to beat me. As a “runner” and not a “racer” I had completely missed the point. Offering him the opportunity to overtake me was as strange to him as it would have been to Ibrahim Jeilan if Mo Farrah made a similar offer at the recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/10/mo-farah-wins-10000m-world-championship?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">10k World Championships</span></a> (for those who don’t know Mo and Jeilan are arch rivals).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I only realised this difference between “running” and “racing” last week when for the first time I crossed the Rubicon and became a “racer”. Again it was at another 10k race – this time the <a href="http://www.runthroughuk.co.uk/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">RunThroughBrixton</span></a> 10k. I entered the 10k as a runner but after one kilometre I found myself in third place, and at that point I became a “racer”. Where I came in the race mattered to me and as it was quite a hilly course I realised a PB was out of the question. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race was on! </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout the race I knew how many people were in front of me and I occasionally looked behind me to see how close the next runner was to me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end I came forth. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I started taking running seriously a few years ago it continues to surprise me and teach me new things about myself. I had not raced since I was 15 and had not taken part in any competitive sport for over twenty years. The experience of competing when I was younger (both winning and losing) taught me valuable life lessons. Now as an adult entering mid-life I wonder what lessons it will hold in store for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The picture today is of Mo Farah "racing" in many ways the opposite of "running").</span><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px;"> </span></span></div>
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Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445502256468860837.post-22888782382653557272013-08-12T11:10:00.000-07:002013-08-12T11:10:39.717-07:00Religion For Runners<b id="docs-internal-guid-32f257d7-73a3-536d-54ee-a929a9181aa6"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-32f257d7-73a3-536d-54ee-a929a9181aa6"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIUUiSAKKaAu0jzpEPZOMBs71HwCJQVOF0cm1Qnrdmxw4sU6SxSJrDYCmmcF0HL-Hj6zlLBhF73w8DE030ybBoOoJgy4CXkQNFj3yPbytOXwpZZOqpYaHYqkriE95dMy4SdUzK2OHX0px/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIUUiSAKKaAu0jzpEPZOMBs71HwCJQVOF0cm1Qnrdmxw4sU6SxSJrDYCmmcF0HL-Hj6zlLBhF73w8DE030ybBoOoJgy4CXkQNFj3yPbytOXwpZZOqpYaHYqkriE95dMy4SdUzK2OHX0px/s1600/photo-1.JPG" height="319" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-32f257d7-73a3-536d-54ee-a929a9181aa6"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes I run well sometimes I don’t.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes I push myself really hard and at the end I look at my GPS watch and find out that I’ve gone slower than average.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes I seem to be able to run with completely ease and clock a new Personal Best time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes my running feels great.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes my running feels terrible.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There often doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. Frustratingly the good runs seem to appear as randomly as the bad runs. I try and decipher patterns and causality. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What did I eat the night before? - or - What did I eat in the morning? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have I been getting enough sleep? - or - Have I been getting too much sleep? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have I been running too much recently and fatigued my legs? - or - Have I not been running enough and I’m losing speed and endurance?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is enough to drive a runner crazy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it's at the point that I just want to give up that I think it is useful for runners to turn to god for help. Or more precisely religion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a beautiful book by the philosopher Alain de Botton called “<a href="http://www.alaindebotton.com/religion.asp">Religion for Atheists</a>”. The book explores some of the central ideas and institutions that have developed predominantly through Judeo-Christian thinking and how they are useful whether one is a believer, agnostic or “god forbid” an atheist. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One chapter titled “Perspective” is particularly pertinent to the dilemma of runners randomly experiencing good and bad runs. The chapter first outlines the Book of Job in the Old Testament. It is the story of a righteous man - Job - who starts off with a beautiful life and great wealth. In a single day he loses all his riches and his children. As if that’s not enough mysterious sores begin to cover his entire body making any movement painful. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Job’s friends try and figure out a cause for why this has happened to him. The friends suggest that Job must have done something very bad indeed because, as one friend puts it, “God does not reject a righteous man”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Job knows he hasn’t sinned and admonishes God for afflicting him. Then Job goes even further and question God’s very existence - not the best thing to do in the Bible.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God finally answers Job with a series of questions:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<i>Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou has understanding...</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?...</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost heaven... ? …</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook... ?</i>" (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/job/38.html">Job Chapter 38</a>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God’s answer to Job is meant to illustrate how little humans understand about the world, the limits to our understanding and instil in Job a sense of awe about the world around us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alain de Botton takes the story of Job and shows us that for millennia people have been struggling with the idea that bad things happen to good people (and often vice versa). Trying to reduce everything to a causal relationship will not help us and invariably flies in the face of our experiences. This is a lesson that religion teaches its followers but is often lost on us when we put on a pair of running shoes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me Job is the runner who has eaten right, who has done all the training, has tapered beautifully just before the marathon and then after months of preparation has run the worse race of their life. We’ve all been there and dare I say it for those of us who continue running it will happen to us again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not just Judeo-Christian theology that has explored this problem. Islam has been able to distil this idea down to a single word: “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insha'Allah">Inshallah</a>” (roughly translating as “God willing”). We can do the best training and preparation in the world but there will always be an unexplainable element that is out of our control. The believers might term this element "God's will" while atheists might call it "randomness". But for either group learning to accept it is one of life's hardest lessons.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So next time I run a bad race or find things not going my way in training instead of getting depressed I might just reacquaint myself with the Book of Job or at the very least console myself with the one bit of Arabic I know: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I will run a PB Inshallah" </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(This blog post is for my friend @richardvadon who asked me on twitter “Why on some days do I run well and some days I’m awful?” Oh and the picture today is of me and my sister-in-law Lucy. We’d both just run a 10k race but Lucy ran a PB and my time was a full minute slower than my PB - I have no explanation why) </span></span></div>
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</b>Marcus Ryderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10444584563093068500noreply@blogger.com0