11 truths of running endurance

Needless to say these fortune cookie bits of advice by Lisa apply to everything - not just endurance running. Enjoy!

11 truths of running endurance

By AdventureLisa on Jan 03, 2013 in Featured, Training

I love fortune cookies. It’s the frivolous words of wisdom and positive prophesies that I enjoy more than the cookie itself. While preparing a special treat for a night-time, orienteering-like navigation event that I organise I went in search of pearls; those wise words that motivate and inspire and say it like it is. These are my favourites.

1.       Ask yourself: ‘Can I give more?’. The answer is usually: ‘Yes’.

I’m not much in favour of running ‘til I puke, but there’s something to be said for finishing a race having given it everything.

2.       Relish bad training runs. Without them it’s difficult to appreciate the good ones.

I dread those chest heaving and legs dragging runs. They make an appearance when I spend too many hours for days on end at my computer; when I’m not eating right and not hydrating sufficiently and when I’m not running at least four times a week. Eliminating the causal factors is an easy solution to making more sessions good. Right?

3.       Believe that you can run farther or faster because you can.

I have a ‘rule’ for ultras. If it is up, walk. If it is flat or down, run. At the 2005 Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica I hit the 52-odd kilometer stage running, literally. As the route ran North to South along the beach, it was all flat. I had to run it all – according to my rules. And I did. The whole way. Bar maybe one kilometer of slight climb on a dirt road. In doing so I reached new personal best for distance in one chunk. In adventure racing I see this over and over again – racers achieving personal records for distance across the disciplines. Yes, you can. And this leads me on to the next gem…

4.       Running won’t kill you, you’ll pass out first!

Sports scientist Ross Tucker wrote a series of articles on fatigue on The Sports Scientists blog (www.sportsscientists.com) some years ago. In short, according to Tucker, fatigue (or the slowing down of pace) results from the regulation of performance to balance all the body’s physiological systems, which happens BEFORE any physiological failure can occur. So, in theory, I’d conclude that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

5.       Every day is a good day when you run.

30 minutes. That’s all you need. When you’re cranky, tired, irritable or down-in-the-dumps, a run tints the World rosy again.

6.       Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running.

Event after event, packing and unpacking, weekends that are anything but restful and recuperative and week days of squeezed-in training to prepare for these weekend activities… This cycle, although fun, can demolish that love for your sport, regardless of discipline. Back off to find and keep that joy.

7.       To be the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering.

Substitute “runner” for biker, paddler, adventure racer, orienteer, kayaker, mountaineer… You may not have tomorrow.

8.       We are all runners, some just run faster than others.

Regarding adventure racing I often hear, “I’m not fit enough”. I usually answer, “Some run Comrades in 5:30 and others in 10 hours. There’s fit and there’s fast. You don’t need to be fast to reach the finish.”

9.       Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.

There are only two reasons for pulling out of a race.

One: when you’re badly injured or severely ill. Just being ill is not good enough reason. Remember that over a multiday adventure race you can easily rest in the shade of a tree for a few hours or even overnight. It’s amazing what a few hours of rest, food and hydration can do to improve your situation. You will regret it later if you pull out, let your team down and then wake up in the morning feeling like a million bucks.

Two: when you’re so far behind the field that the race director ends your race and gives you a lift to the finish. These are the only times. Everything else is an excuse, not a reason.

 10.   Everything you need is already inside.

Forget fancy-pants, top-of-the-range gear and apparel. These don’t get you up hills or through tough kilometers. You do.

 11.  And finally, a lesson I have to re-learn all too often: “Any day that you are too busy to run is a day that you are too busy”. 

‘Nuff said.

Author: Lisa de Speville | Originally published in Go Multi Magazine, May/June 2012

Nature’s Little Barometers

 When I was out walking early this morning I noticed a steady stream of little white butterflies heading east. As the day has progressed this stream, has turned into a torrent and butterflies have been buzzing (do butterflies buzz??) past my windows all day. I love seeing these little creatures at this time of the year and I bore Lisa senseless by chirping (year after year after year) that nature’s Little Barometers are on the move and it is going to rain really hard.

Why do I call the white butterflies nature’s little barometers? Well, years ago one of my older cousins told me that when the air pressure drops the butterflies hatch; and when the air pressure drops it usually rains.

However, I thought that maybe I should check this on the internet and I have to confess that I can’t find any reference to the air pressure and hatching butterflies – or I just haven’t looked in the right place. But it does make sense doesn’t it? White butterflies = Highveld rainy season.

I did find this little snippet about them:

The white butterflies in South Africa (mainly Brown-veined Whites, Belenois aurota aurota, left) originate in the Kalahari and in other arid regions of the Northern Cape.  During some years, they have a massive population explosion where the numbers get so big that they eat all the leaves of the available food plants.  If the adults stayed in that area, there would not be any food left for their larvae so they move off towards the east, and lay their eggs as they go along.  They basically keep on flying until they die, but in many cases they actually reach the Indian ocean and are often still seen flying into the sea.

End of Year

Apart from wishes for peace and goodwill to all man kind there are a few other wishes I wish for.

Politics in SA:

I have just read Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly. It is an excellent read and nice to have a bit of an update of the history of that era. A comment the writer made really stuck with me and is pertinent apropos Mangaung :

‘He (Kennedy) behaves like the president of the United Sates; a man who long ago stopped defining himself by party affiliation.’ 20 months into his presidency, at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I wish for a president to behave like a president of South Africa.

My Political Language:

These days I refer to politicians as ‘those M*@#$  F**&%s'. Judging the looks I get, I should possibly tone it down a bit and refer to them as 'those silly sausages'....but what the hell.

I wish people would appreciate a bit of good old fashioned swearing on occasion.

The Mayan Doomsday Calender:

Why do people believe this rubbish – the end of the world is about to happen tomorrow?  This is something for movies and SciFi thrillers only.

I wish people would focus on something a bit more constructive and creative.

365 Days Is Not Enough:

I am convinced there is a bunch of mad scientists at CERN cranking up that particle accelerator, thus making time go faster. (this is almost as bad as the Mayan stuff *grin*) Do you also feel that 365 days this year is not enough?

I wish time would slow down just a tad (or throw the mad scientists into the accelerator)

French Camino Walk:

Despite my thoughts a few weeks ago that I would walk only half the French Camino (because of time away) I have now thought what the hell, I will just do the whole thing.

I wish for the time (6 weeks) to do the whole French Camino.

All My New Year Resolutions:

Some on the list are bit difficult but there is nothing there that unachievable.

I wish (and hope) that I achieve them all in 2013.

Last But Not Least:

My very best wishes to you for a wonderful Christmas season and lots of happiness, wealth and good health for 2013.

The Duvet Effect

The Duvet Effect happens when you buy a new duvet cover.

You put it on the bed then take a look around to check how good it looks in the room. And horror of horrors, all of a sudden the curtains look dreadful and are pulled from the rails, the walls are painted and the carpet replaced. Because you have some paint left over, the passage gets painted, then the other bedrooms, then the carpets are ripped up and replaced with wooden flooring, the light fittings are changed, new bathroom suites installed, kitchen demolished and you even consider buying a new car. All because you spent R450.00 on a new duvet cover from Mr Price.

I have just gone, and am going, through this. I had the interior of my house repainted this week. It was sorely needed and something I have been putting off for ages, years in fact! I can’t stand the disruption; I can’t stand taking down all the pictures, curtains, stacking everything in the middle of the room. This really affects me – I was fussing over Bracken and Lisa pointed out that she was fine – it was me who was getting more and more ruffled and neurotic. The handy man Shane, who is charge of this painting operation, is also working his way through a long list of household repairs and maintenance items as well. He is back on Monday to touch up some of the paint issues and complete the repairs and everything is messy, messy, messy!

But to get back to the Duvet Effect. Yip, you guessed it. Blinds and curtains have found their way to the rubbish bin area, stuff is being chucked out left, right and centre, new frames being quoted for on pictures, I am about to rip out some light fittings, new curtains have been purchased, new furniture being considered and so it goes on.

I would seriously suggest that any quote you get for painting/repairs/a new duvet cover is multiplied by 10 and divide by .25; you might then be close to what it is actually going to cost you.

An Amazing Christmas Present

Lisa gave me the most amazing Christmas present this year. And she says it will over the next 10 years worth of Christmas, birthday and mothers day presents but I am feeling that it was well worth it.

I have been on a 5 day detox diet. The really super thing about this is that Brittany, the young lady who dreams up the menus for the detox, makes the food and delivers it to you every day. You get breakfast, snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner…all neatly packaged and each meal throughout the week is something completely different, extremely tasty and a nice surprise because you don’t know what you are getting until it arrives.

I could live like this for ever...

But here’s the thing – it is all veggie and all raw. Yes, all raw. Nothing is cooked and the blend of vegetables, nuts and seeds is quite amazing – you feel as if you are eating a brand new type of vegetable and you don’t feel like you are just eating veg and raw veg at that. Delicious and fresh tastes abound.

I felt a bit peckish on the second day but after that I was fine. Apparently it is the high nutrition content of the food that keeps you from not feeling hungry.

If you are interested in this detox diet you can contact Brittany through her website: http://joziuncooked.wordpress.com/ . The website by the way is quite a treat as well. Lots of interesting recipes etc. So if you are bored with same old, same old veg it is worth having a look at what you can do to jazz things up. (her email is joziuncooked@gmail.com)

This is a sample of a couple of the menus.

Habits and other things

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

Writing, like exercise is something you have to get into the habit of doing. If not everyday, you need to write, run or walk consistently. The point is: if you don’t write or exercise regularly you get out of the habit.

I have gotten out of the habit of writing. And writing is something I enjoy doing tremendously. I have put a lot of things have been put on the backburner, filed away for another day and there have been such very infrequent blogs. Likewise my exercise program has gone for a ball of chalk.

So before I get trapped in the NYR trap I have set my goals now, this month, before 1 January comes around.

I have made my list of blogs to be written and outlined the small little book to be written about Bracken. I have my plan in place.

I also have my plan in place for another pilgrimage next year – in September/October 2013 I will be heading for Le Puy in France to do the first part of the French Camino. It is about 800km from Le Puy to the Spanish border where the Spanish Camino begins. In a couple of years time I will start in Geneva and walk to Le Puy thus completing this entire route.

I understand that this section of the French Camino is really pretty and quite a ‘foodie’ experience – something to look forward to indeed. Nothing like a plan to get the exercise regimen on track and nothing like a journey to look forward to.

Choosing your Partner

I haven’t done a blog for ages. And now sitting here in front of a blank screen is a little daunting. You may well ask why I have written and can tell you it is not because of lack of material. I have list a mile long, well I have a long list and this might well be the problem – where do you start. It is also a little like exercising – when you don’t get out on the road for a while it is hard to get back into the habit. If you don’t use the writing part of the brain it gets stale and lazy – out of the habit!

We had a hugely successful FEAT evening on Thursday – the theatre was buzzing with excitement and the speakers told their amazing stories that leave you wanting to pack your backpack and head off somewhere. And that is the whole idea of FEAT..to showcase our amazing adventurers and inspire people to follow their dreams. www.FEATSA.co.za

Those talks have inspired the topic of this blog: Choosing your Partner. 

The adventurers who spoke stressed the importance of choosing your adventure partner very carefully. Why? Well you want someone you can rely on, that will be there when the chips are down, who will just get on with it when the going gets tough; who wont just sit down and say ‘I am not moving another inch’ or ‘I feel ill today so I can’t do anything’ or ‘I’m going home, had enough’. They also spoke about a sense of humour and commitment. They also spoke about sharing the same dream and sense of adventure. And I am sure that some frank talking goes into making sure the expectations are aligned. This is what makes for a successful adventure/expedition.

So I had a quiet chuckle to myself when I was thinking this over and wondered why on earth we don’t apply the same criteria when we go about choosing life or business partners? All the above adventure criteria apply to the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with and more importantly, to share the bank account with. I believe we just don’t do enough homework in these departments and  nor do we listen to that inner voice telling us to be careful or question, that something is out of kilter and doesn't add up. 

I wrote a blog ages ago about the business partner who is having an affair. How do you view this guy/gal if they are lying and deceiving the people closest to them (wife/hubby, kids) with not too much thought for the consequences – and this is your business partner? And what about your love partner who doesn't deliver on promises, makes excuses for non-commitment or other things, treats you like shit badly, ignores your family and friends, lies, cheats and is evasive, is just a tad dishonest, and so on and so on. (You can see I am trying to be non-sexist here!)

The funny thing is you stick around with the crummy business partner or love interest – why? You hope they will change, you don’t want to hurt their feelings and in the case of the philandering business partner – you think he/she would never treat you like that. Don’t you think this sounds stupid?  

Would you choose this person to sail around Cape Horn with you?