Is there really a difference between successful runners and good runners? Perhaps it comes down to how we define each. Well, successful runners are those who achieve their goals. So who are good runners?

There are successful entrepreneurs who, by high correlation, are financially successful too, but are all of them good ones? For example what about those whose product-lines generate too much green-house gases, or those who try to get away with oil spills in the ocean? Do you still call them good entrepreneurs?

The scope of damage is different at running. It is limited to the individual and is actually self-damage if there is any wrong practice but it is somehow similar to the entrepreneur’s case by adjusting the scopes and making some assumptions too meaning if every individual is a planet, they can be successful in achieving their goals but they might use their resources too much. They have to make sure their training regimen is a sustainable one.

A good runner is in fact like a responsible person on a planet who follows the guidelines to avoid harming the planet while striving to achieve his or her goals. Growth with care.

To name a few of these guidelines in such a short blog post:

• Recovery is as important as training if not even more important. Consider easy days after tough days, or easy weeks following tough ones. A tip for those who are too active, there are rules around double workouts. Check out this blog post by Jason Fitzgerald.
• If you are a long distance runner, do not [over] use small muscles in your legs for propulsion. They are mainly for shock absorption.
• Shoes do not make you a good runner, they just help you get into running more quickly. Do not rely on shoes too much. Developed strength in your legs/feet is gold, I rank the best strength gained from shoes as bronze in comparison.
• Never stop learning, keep your inside child highly active. Learn new sports, new dance moves, new languages, or new stunts. Trust me, adopting new coordination is harder than losing weight or puffing up muscles and learning coordination at sports is how you can make more effective changes.

Good luck!

It has been a while I have not written a blog post, was too busy training for a half marathon race which I did last Sunday the 15th. Was hoping to run it in sub 90 minutes but from my training I could tell I was still behind that dream. I did it in 94:58. Check it out here https://secure.tiktok.biz/results/view/sydneyhalfmarathon/2016/03415

Am happy about it, mainly because it was my first race in Pose method of running. Regarding pace, I would say “keep calm and be patient!”. Going too fast too soon ends up in trouble.

Interesting to say but during the race I had a few discoveries on a couple of things. I wrote a memory note and took my focus back to the race straight away.

The main one was the challenge with sub-conscious mind. It kept foreseeing 10km down the path and picturing me falling apart because I was trying to go slightly faster than my planned race pace. Maybe I was going faster but it was downhills and I was testing my special downhills running technique one more time during a real race. It worked really well but the feeling of high speed made my sub-conscious mind too worried. What I did was I took my focus back to the present time, checked my form and technique, managed to bring my breath-rate low to help my heart rate, and so on.

I checked my GPS watch often at the beginning of the race to adjust my feeling of my pace with my actual one. I know it pretty well when I train but would be reassuring to check it during the race. Although this helped, it made my sub-conscious mind “conscious” of the risks I was taking to gain a bit of edge during the race. What I did was stop looking at my watch from 16km mark to almost the end of the race. I went by my feeling and pushed to the extent that I felt would certainly take me 5km very fast; kind of trusting the experience I gained from all my past training and races I  had done.

If you have ever had this challenge with the back of your head telling you to stop and wonder how to overcome it, here might be some helpful tips from my own experience:

Check your current pace, is it much higher than what you normally train? if yes, check your perception of the level of intensity, if it is too hard you should slow down, if you feel strong keep going by that for a little bit more then check again. Once your pace feels under control, check your techniques to make sure you are in the framework of efficient running:

• Are you sure you are NOT pushing off the ground?
• Are you landing under your hips?
• Are you shortening your stride length on downhills and uphills?
• Are your toes and knees pointing straight forward?
• Are your elbows going back and forth on a straight line along yours sides?
• Are you standing tall? Check if you are not bending too much from waist and/or knees. Are your shoulders away from your neck and your neck tall too?

All the above points are about efficiency and saving energy at running. Just because you are running according to the planned pace it does not mean you are doing it efficiently. You have to check your technique and stay in the framework of efficient running, or your current technique will catch you down the track. 

Your sub-conscience mind always fears the worst and we all know fear is in our head, not outside.

Next time you do your running workout add a meditation practice into the workout. If you want some ideas have a look at this post of mine: Running, Meditation and Daydreaming and good luck.