Thursday, December 08, 2016

Runners' OCD

I've always been an OCD kind of person, always following certains pattern and always a bit slow to adapt to changed surroundings. That has advantages and disadvantages; if you needed a creative person on your team I was unlikely to fill that role but if you needed someone who just got on with things I was bound to shine.

Running suited me down to the ground as a sport. I might not have the fast twitch fibres to make it as a sprinter, or even to be able to outsprint a rival on the line, but the training day in day out just came to me naturally. Get up in the morning, every morning, no matter the weather, no problem. Come up with a plan on how to handle distance running and still be able to get to work every time, no problem.

Stick to it - absolutely no problem. I've read, several times, that the average person can hold their interest in a particular subject for 6 months. That's fine if you want to tick running a marathon off your bucket list but if you want to get good at running, really good, you better be prepared to spend the next 10 years of your life making this a priority.

I was made for that kind of stuff.

In the same vein as I have followed my path to international standard I am now following the same pattern when recovering from overtraining, Run 3/4/5 miles or 35/45 minutes a day, okay, no problem. I just get on with it.

From today on I can push it a bit further, to 6 miles. I immediately got a bit carried away and ran a bit too fast, but as long as I can recover from day to day I'm good. Since I'm feeling pretty good these days I think I got away with it. If I'm a good boy, Santa will bring me an extra mile for Christmas. Woohoo!
6 Dec
4 miles, 34:44, 8:39 pace, HR 149
7 Dec
4.1 miles, 35:50, 8:43 pace, HR 146
8 Dec
6.1 miles, 50:00, 8:15 pace, HR 150

1 comment:

  1. I'd be praying for fewer miles for Christmas if I'd had such a year ;-) You're right about the OCD factor/persistence/doggedness gene playing a big roll in distance running. I think that's why many naturally talented young runners give it away when they discover that talent only takes you so far.

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