Drugs

Chris Wardlaw leading a race in his prime.

Drugs are a topical subject at present, in the news, and for me personally.

Asafa Powell and Tyson Gaye have just failed drug tests and won't be running in the upcoming World Championships.

Personally, I have been struggling with respiratory problems for a couple of years and had my latest medical appointment yesterday.  I had been using a prescribed asthma medication, Symbicort, and have now been switched by my doctor to Seretide.  Following a few recent respiratory issues, my doctor had also prescribed Prednisolone for a limited period.  However, as is my habit, I Googled the medications prescribed for me before taking them and discovered that a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) is needed for Prednisolone if competing in sport.  Symbicort and Seretide are permitted, though the former must not be used excessively (700% more than prescribed).  I didn't bother filling the Prednisolone prescription.

Some argue that performance enhancing drugs should not be banned so that there is a level playing field for all athletes.  I think this is a flawed argument.  I believe there would be a race to the bottom and many vulnerable athletes would suffer permanent damage, and possibly death.  There are already celebrated cases of cyclists and runners dying in mysterious circumstances, possibly associated with the use of performance enhancing drugs.

A related question is the appropriate definition of performance enhancing.  An argument, made by a great Australian runner and coach, Chris Wardlaw, with whom I used to occasionally train and play golf in my younger days, was that anything that enabled an athlete to train harder, especially when injured, was a performance enhancing drug.  His view was that an important determinant of an athlete's competitiveness was the amount of training they were able to absorb.  If medical intervention was required to allow an athlete to continue to train or train harder, such as taking anti-inflammatories (even over-the-counter), because of a muscle tear, or similar, then Chris argued the anti-inflammatory was a performance enhancing drug.  I always thought Chris had a valid point, though it might be hard to draw the line.  For instance, what about knee surgery that ultimately gets an athlete running again, when otherwise, their career would be over?

I spent a lot of time mulling over Chris's argument, and agonising over my own occasional use of prescribed anti-inflammatory medications as I became a more serious runner.  I wanted to be ethically squeaky clean, but also thought the line Chris wanted to draw was too draconian and perhaps too blurry.  Ultimately, I came to the view that any drug or medical procedure that would make no difference to the performance of a healthy fully-trained athlete, was not performance enhancing.  This seems to be the principle underlying the WADA prohibited list as well.

I walked another 5km this morning, and will do the same tomorrow and start jogging a little on Friday.  There is still some minor discomfort in my right arch and I'm certainly not confident that I'm over the injury.  Fingers crossed!

Side benefits

My running career started a long time ago.  First win, in
a low-key school's race in London's Richmond Park (1967)

Yet more walking for exercise this morning.  Just 5km around the streets of Copa and still some discomfort in my right arch, so not particularly encouraging.  I risked a 50m jog at the end of the walk and there was no real problem, so I'm still planning to resume jogging later this week.

While attending to some desktop chores today, I watched a DVD called It's Not That Hard, produced by an ultra-running friend, Ana.  It featured interviews with many Australian Ultra-runners I know, each of them explaining what they get out of trail ultra-running.  Many of the comments struck a chord with me.  Of course, long-distance running has the obvious benefit of improving health and well-being (except when you get injured!), but it also provides great lessons for life.

Knowing that you can accomplish physical feats and be significantly healthier than your demographic, through the application of planning, preparation and discipline, gives you a belief in your abilities that extends beyond running.  It has given me the confidence to take on formidable challenges in my private life and career knowing that if I apply the same principles I will most likely be successful.

The earliest race certificate in my
running file.

Another lesson has been that the more you train, the better you will get.  With respect to running, your body adapts to make you a more efficient and accomplished runner.  Your muscles build and fine-tune, your posture changes, your stride length increases and your cardio-vascular system becomes more efficient.  I know that my heart size and lung capacity are in the top few percent for my demographic, whilst my pulse rate and blood pressure match those of athletes many years younger.  Adaption, through repetition has even helped me overcome injuries.  Everybody has physical idiosyncrasies, some inherited and some through injury.  I believe that my body has dealt with past serious chronic injuries through subconsciously adapting my running style to reduce the impact on those injuries.  For example, my feet have splayed over time to deal with chronic Achilles injuries by marginally shortening the length the tendons need to stretch while running.  Training, repetition and adaptation have also benefited me outside of running - in work tasks, household chores, and such things as public speaking.

Most of the time, the planning and preparation is as rewarding as is success in the goal event.  All runners I know, savour much of the training that they do and the environments in which they run.  I have many more happy memories of training runs than I do of races.  Nothing beats the feeling of running well along a bush trail or strongly up a hill or with a group of friends.  It's important to enjoy these good times and not to be solely focussed on a target event, which may not always be as rewarding as hoped.  This "smell the roses" approach has increasingly influenced my life outside of running.  Retiring from work as soon as I thought I could afford it was, perhaps, the biggest instance.  (Not that I didn't enjoy my work, but there were many things on my bucket list.)  We all know people who have been suddenly struck down with serious illness, or worse.  There's a balance, of course, but I have definitely become an advocate of "live for today" as opposed to saving yourself for a luxurious retirement.

Maybe most importantly of all, dealing with the derailment of best laid race plans in my running career, has helped me build the skills and experience to deal with the vicissitudes of life.  Over a running career you learn that such calamities loom large at the time, but just become bad memories in retrospect.  Everything is cyclical in running, and in life.  There are cycles within cycles, and bad days are followed by good days, bad months by good months, and so on.  Perhaps the biggest lesson from running for me has been to keep things in perspective and have faith that you will get over those bad times and have more good times.

Milford Track

Milford Track

As planned, I only walked 2km again today.  For some inexplicable reason, I felt a bit more optimistic that I would be back running soon.  Maybe it's because I now have even more incentive to succeed in my dream of running another sub-3:00 marathon (see yesterday's Post), or maybe it's because my right foot is feeling more serviceable.  I have found in the past that sometimes you can just sense when a soft tissue injury has repaired, and I'm hoping that is the case this time.

I will be driving down to Melbourne (1,000km) later in the week to visit family for five days, so will plan to walk as my training up to departure, and then resume some light jogging while in Melbourne.

Given there's not much training to talk about today, I thought I would relate the story of my attempt to run the length of the famous Milford Track in New Zealand when I was younger, fitter, and arguably, more naïve.

In January 1979, my then wife and I vacationed in New Zealand with four other couples associated with the Kew Camberwell athletic club.  We hired a minivan for the month and toured both islands, staying in campsites.  The males were all serious runners, as was my wife, and running became an integral part of the trip with us heading out to run trails or roads most days, as well as competing in several races.  At the time I was training hard, running well and looking for interesting long runs to do at every opportunity.

Our travels took us to the tourist town of Te Anau in the South Island, the jumping off point for the boat trip to the Milford Track trailhead at Glade House.  The 54km Milford Track was famous for its rugged beauty, and I harboured an ambition to run its length in a single day.  There were, however, two serious obstacles.  Firstly, traffic on the track was already carefully managed and I could not get on the boat unless I was equipped for the four-day hike and had hut bookings.  Secondly, the Track ended at Sandfly Point on Milford Sound from where the last boat to the village of Milford Sound (accessible by road), departed at 4:00pm (from memory).  If I failed to make the boat, I would have to rough it for the night.



Looking to Glade House, and the start of the Milford Track
from Dore Pass

My fitness was such that I was confident I could comfortably run the 54km along the iconic trail in less than 5 hours and I pored over tourist brochures and maps trying to work out a way I could make the attempt without inconveniencing my friends.  The latter were keen to drive up to Milford Sound anyway, and perhaps go on a boat cruise.  I finally concluded that my best chance lay in them dropping me off at the Dore Pass Trailhead on their way to Milford Sound and from there I would run the 10.5km to Glade House, and the start of the Milford Track, via the 1390m Dore Pass.

I was dropped off at 8:30am, giving me about 7.5 hours to get to Sandfly Point and the boat.  I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and carrying a rainjacket.  For nutrition I had a packet of jelly beans, and for other contingencies, a $50 note.  My friends were going to Milford Sound and would wait for the last boat from Sandfly Point.  If I was not on it, they were going to return to Te Anau and I was going to get a bus or hitch-hike back there from Milford Sound the next day.

I set off confidently at a good pace, but the 1000m climb in just 6km along a goat track to Dore Pass really slowed me down.  It took 2.5 hours, leaving me just 5 hours to descend 1300m to Glade House, and then complete the Milford Track.  The chances of making it in time to catch the boat were slim, at best, and I very reluctantly decided to return to the road and run towards Milford Sound, hopefully meeting my friends as they drove back to Te Anau.  It took less than 90 minutes to retrace my steps and then I began to run steadily towards Milford Sound. There was some traffic, but no settlements en route, and I just plugged away, gradually climbing through forests and past lakes to the more exposed higher altitudes.  Initially, I had thoughts of running all of the way to Milford Sound, 45km away, but as the jelly beans ran out and the morning's toil up Dore Pass caught up with me, this seemed less likely.  As it turned out, the Homer Tunnel - 1.2km long, unlit and narrow - halted my progress after about 30km around 4pm.  It seemed too dangerous to transit on foot, so I stopped and found a place where I could sit and see every vehicle exiting the tunnel.  I could not afford to miss my friends, and they later joked they found me lying across the road blocking all traffic when they emerged from the tunnel around 6pm.

I still haven't traversed the Milford Track or seen Milford Sound, but they're on my list!

Motivation

Clipping from The Gazette, Montreal,
Monday, May 31, 1982.

The last couple of weeks have been very frustrating, as discussed in previous posts.  I seemed to be on track with my training program and hopeful of achieving the sub-3:00 marathon performance I was hoping for this coming October in Melbourne, then got injured.  It doesn't seem serious, but is slow to heal and the Melbourne Marathon looks doubtful and my motivation has been low.

One of my golfing buddies, Dave, sent me an email on Friday suggesting I think about going for the greatest spans between marathon wins, as perhaps an easier option.  He included a clipping about American, Benji Durden, having won the Nutmeg Marathon in Connecticut (3:56) in May of this year, 36 years after his first marathon win, the longest span on record.  Dave's aware of my quest for another sub-3:00 marathon and was suggesting that perhaps Benji's new record might be more feasible (given his winning time).  I actually met Benji, a much better-performed marathon runner than me, at the 1982 Montreal International Marathon where I was part of an Australian team.  He won in 2:13, whilst I was 46th in 2:29!  It was interesting to get Dave's email and learn that I might finally be able to beat Benji, 31 years later.  I never actually won that many marathons (plenty of 2nds, for some reason), and the first was in 1979, so Benji's record looks safe.



Finishing the 1982 Montreal International
(46th, 2:29....not one of my better runs!)

However, on researching Benji's performances, I came across the Association of Road Racing Statisticians website which provides a wealth of information about road racing.  After some further searching, I found their Marathon Trivia section and then a page titled Longest Time Spans Between First and Last Sub-X Marathons.  With that, I found my motivation to get fit and pursue my sub-3:00!
The current best is 39 years, with another 11 runners with 34 years or better.  If I did manage to run a sub-3:00 marathon in the next year, my span would be 43 years, well ahead of the pack, and the kind of challenge that really gets me out of bed in the morning.

On a more sobering note, I walked a little over 2km this morning and could still feel that things aren't quite right in my troublesome arch.  However, there was no real pain and I will repeat the exercise tomorrow.

In search of information

Despite not planning to run, or even walk very much, I rose very early and joined the throng building on the Terrigal waterfront at 5:30am for the 6:00am Trotters' run.  It was cold and I was wearing jeans and multiple layers, making it obvious to everybody that I wasn't going to be running.  As usual, there was lots of animated conversation, and people were sympathetic to my plight.  At 6am, the place cleared and I plugged in my earphones and wandered off for a gentle stroll along the waterfront and through the shopping precinct listening to the latest audio version of The Economist (published Friday nights), while the sun gradually coloured the eastern sky and silhouetted the fishing boats heading out to sea.  I really really wanted to go for a run, but there's just enough sensitivity in my right arch to convince me that there still may be a problem and running could potentially set me back.



Comparison of planned and actual marathon training outcomes

Later in the day, as I despaired of my chances of running strongly again within a few months, I devoted some time to analysing how much training I had done compared to plan, and how my marathon preparations had gone in a previous era.

Most of my working life was spent managing and analysing data and information, and I have a passion for numbers.  So, it's not surprising that I have diaries for fifteen of my prime running years in which I planned and analysed my training from many aspects.  One of my base measures was the seven-day running mileage total and I took a look at the twenty weeks leading up to my best marathon time in 1979, and compared it to the twenty weeks leading up to this year's Melbourne Marathon.

Not surprisingly, when in full training, I was averaging more than twice the mileage.  However, perhaps the most valuable information was that in the lead-up to that race in 1979 I lost significant training time to a quadriceps tear and a serious bout of tonsillitis, and had a few very poor race performances along the way.

The lesson for me is not to lose faith in my ability as I encounter obstacles, lose training time, or perform badly.  I have often said that potential is defined by your best performances (and training), not your worst.

Commuting

I had a few chores to do in the area today, and after dropping my car off for a service, was walking to the bus station when I saw a runner with a familiar style approaching me.  It was Terrigal Trotters club-mate, Kev, on his way to work.  Coincidentally, last night when I was driving into the Thursday evening track session, I saw him running home from work.



Melbourne's Tan Track

If you can manage it, this is the best way for someone with a full-time job and other commitments, to fit in their training.  Of course, you generally need to have a shower at work, although one of my more notorious former club-mates, another Kev, was famous for running to work and then just applying talcum powder to selected spots, before putting on his working clothes.  He was in sales!

You also generally need to live close enough to run both ways, although some other former club-mates ran part of the way and then caught a train for the rest, often climbing into packed commuter carriages sweating profusely in their running gear.

Some of my favourite running memories are of running to and from work when I was a serious athlete.  Whilst living in London in the mid-1970s, I frequently ran to or from work (and occasionally both ways), a distance of about 10 miles.  My route took me from south-east London through Brixton, which in those days was a bit of a ghetto, then across the Thames past Victoria Station and the back of Buckingham Palace before a last glorious section through Hyde Park to my workplace near Bond Street.  Forty years later, I still have vivid memories of that regular run.



Melbourne's Yarra Bike Path

Later, I ran to and from work for many years in Melbourne, and was lucky enough to have regular routes that followed the Yarra River, crossed inner-city parklands, circumnavigated the famous Tan track, and passed by the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.  I well remember bounding past and through queues of jammed commuting cars, getting the occasional wave or toot from someone I knew (most memorably a few times from my hero, Ron Clarke).  For a number of those years I frequently met up with another club-mate, Geoff, for part of the journey home and I know we still both savour the memory of those days.  We were in our athletic prime, and used to "fly" home along the Yarra bike track on balmy evenings, finished with the day's work, discussing running, world affairs and our plans for the weekend.  It was a great way to fit training into our busy lives.  (Incidentally, Geoff nearly missed the birth of his only child when he forgot the time and how far it was back to the hospital on the critical evening.)

Training-wise, out of necessity, I did more walking today than for the past few.  My right arch is sensitive, but I wouldn't call it painful.  Still a few more quiet days to go before I resume any running.  It's very frustrating.

Downtime

Another quiet day on the exercise front.  I didn't even go for a walk after the morning track session at The Haven.  There are still occasional traces of pain in my right arch when I walk, but certainly not bad enough to prevent me running if I wanted too.  I just have to tell myself that these few days, and perhaps weeks, will pass quickly enough and I will be glad I didn't try and rush back too early.  That's the theory, anyway.



Three failed attempts to break the record for riding solo
and unsupported around Australia occupied injury time
(2007, 2008 and 2009).

When running plays as large a part in your life as it has in mine, the absence of running leaves a large void that is easily filled with self-pity and eating.  Back in my prime, when I was running 200+ kilometres a week, these voids were even larger and sometimes longer.  I soon learned that the best way of managing them was to fill the space with meaningful activity and see them as an opportunity.  If other activities I enjoyed were still possible, such as hiking, bike-riding or kayaking, then I would pursue those.  If I could give myself some kind of challenge, then even better.  When studying, it was a chance to complete assignments.  In a worst-case scenario, it might mean some long-delayed DIY work around the house or gardening.


I completed the 250km River Murray Red Cross
Canoe Marathon twice while unable to run (circa 1980).

This week, I have spent a lot of time on detailed planning for my next adventure (since retiring, I've tried to have at least one adventure each year).  Two options I'm considering involve hiking part, or all, of two famous long-distance trails.  One is the 3,000 kilometre Te Araroa Trail which runs the length of New Zealand and the other is the 4,200 kilometre Pacific Crest Trail which follows the crest of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges from Mexico to Canada in the western US .  Both are on my "bucket list".  However, before committing I want to have a good idea of the terrain, gear I will need, the distance between resupply options, likely weather, best timing, and so on.  I enjoy the research, and it gives me something positive to think about, and anticipate, at a time when frustrated by my inability to run.

Another running anecdote

No training to report for today.  Instead, a day spent trying to detect pain in my arch whenever I walked around.  There's barely anything to note, but I'll stick with the plan to leave it for another few days before walking any distance.

I thought I would share another old running anecdote.  Below is an article I wrote that appeared in the June 1986 Victorian Marathon Club Newsletter about an event I had run while travelling in the US.

_____________________________________________________________

ST VALENTINE'S DAY DEBACLE

After an hour's drive in gale-force winds and heavy showers we arrived at the apartment in Sunset, the suburb next to Golden Gate Park, where Australian friends Martin and Veronica were staying, and then we all journeyed by tram into downtown San Francisco.  We arrived at the Hyatt Regency hotel on the Embarcadero 45 minutes before the scheduled 6:00pm race start and entered (with the exception of Veronica) for the St Valentine's Day Striders Fun Run.




Out for a jog in San Francisco more recently.

We were looking forward to competing on the four mile heart-shaped course through the downtown area - particularly Martin who had recently performed well as a guest in the Canadian World Cross Country Trial (where he distinguished himself by running the last half with his gloves stuffed down the front of his jocks, after deciding that frostbitten hands were preferable to risking the family lineage) - but wondered how the organisers were going to police the course.  Not only was it Friday night peak hour, but also the start of a long weekend and it was going to be dark.

In the Race Director’s preamble he informed us that this was a “stride”, not a “race”, and those running too fast would find that they beat the marshals to the corners (of which there were fourteen) – sigh!  Our sentiments were obviously shared by other “runners” among the 100 entries, who included Laurie Binder, former winner of Sydney’s City to Surf, but not by other “striders” who included people dressed in street clothes and even in oilskins.




The crowded streets of downtown San Francisco where the
1986 St Valentines Day Run was held
(I can't remember the route).

The route was complicated so the three of us each grabbed a map to carry.  The course began by crossing the busy six-lane Embarcadero.  A couple of officials (they were the last I saw for a long time) pushed the pedestrian crossing button, dashed out into the road waving at the traffic to stop, and signalled the starter to begin the race.  Miraculously, nobody died at this first obstacle, but the traffic had another excellent opportunity as the participants strung out along the gloomy main road running with their backs to the oncoming cars.  Martin was fortunate (and fit) and found himself sharing the lead with two runners who knew where they were going.  I was less fortunate (and less fit), and being 100 metres off the pace, lost sight of them in the dark and finally had to slow at an intersection to wait for the following bunch.  When they arrived, I discovered they knew as much as me, but were less well-equipped – no maps.  From that point, I was the “Pied Piper”, leading with my map, and shouting “Right on Powell”, “Left on Taylor”, etc., as we dashed across intersections and roads, dodging cars and cable-cars – it was becoming good fun.

Many runners got lost or cut the course short.  Barb saw one runner miss a turn and continue towards the Pacific.  The organisers kindly included some of San Francisco’s steepest hills as well as a flight of over 100 steps and the race finished down the precipitous California Street, with cross-roads every 100 metres – no sprint finishes.  Martin, Barb and I all found ourselves just running in with whoever we happened to be with at the time.  The Finish was “low key” to say the least.  We turned the corner into Justin Herman Plaza, saw an official standing there all on his own, asked him where the finish line was, and were informed we had just crossed it.

Later, some refreshments were provided and a draw held for some nice prizes.  A unique and amusing experience was capped for the evening when I won a bottle of champagne and two fine crystal glasses.

Three days lost

Training for a marathon has seemed a distant fantasy for the past three days.



Crossing the line in the 1982 Boston Marathon
(49th in 2:22:39)

I woke early on Sunday morning with a severe headache followed by bouts of vomiting and dry retching and twelve hours later, at Sharon's insistence, was in the local hospital's Emergency Department on a drip having various tests and a brain scan.  The tests failed to show anything untoward and they eventually sent me home with instructions to return if there was no improvement.  I spent the next 36 hours in bed sleeping and dozing.  My headache gradually abated as my ability to keep down fluids and food gradually returned.  There was no thought of any exercise.

Today, although still feeling a bit spaced out, I have returned to the world of the living and am eating and drinking normally.  I'm hoping my ailment was just some kind of 48-hour bug I picked up, though the hospital tests didn't identify any viruses.  I decided not to exercise today either, and will now have missed three complete days.  The downtime seems to have been the catalyst for a more realistic assessment of my marathon training plan.  There was still some specific pain in my right arch when I got up this morning and I have decided I would be smarter to continue resting it than to resume jogging this week as intended.



Showing off my Boston Marathon medal after
the post-race presentation (it is engraved
Top 10, though awarded to each of the top
50 in recognition of the growth in numbers).

I know I am vacillating on the rehabilitation plan, but I am starting to recognise that there's less than 14 weeks to the Melbourne Marathon and my chances of a sub-3 are diminishing with each day that passes when I cannot train properly.  The pressure to resume training too quickly comes from the approaching Melbourne Marathon deadline and the reality is that Melbourne race is not the only race around.  Although I'm getting older as every day passes, there's no real reason why I should run slower in, say, January 2014, than in October 2013.  It's more a function of the length of the injury-free training lead up, than of age.

So, for now, I'm not even going to walk any distance until I feel the right arch is better.  If I'm lucky enough to be running pain-free by the end of next week, then I'm still a chance to be fit enough to run well in Melbourne.  If not, I'll just have to postpone my ambition for a couple of months and hope I get a better training lead-up.

First World problems

Mixing with runners, when you can't run yourself because of injury, can be challenging.  There were times in my running prime when I found it too demoralising and avoided social interaction with running friends.  Not only was it hard to hear them enthusing about their own running, but they were also very empathetic, asking questions and offering suggestions, when I just didn't want to think or talk about it.

Nowadays,  it doesn't seem to matter quite as much.  Maybe I have become more mature, or maybe my running ambitions are not as lofty.  For whatever reason, even if I can't run because of injury, I still generally drag myself out of bed at an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning to join my fellow Terrigal Trotters.  If I can, when they head out for the scheduled run at 6am, I head out for an hour's walk so that I'm getting at least a little exercise, and won't feel quite so guilty when I tuck into my traditional post-run muffin and milkshake.

Matcham Valley

I miss the anticipation, the friendly competition and the sense of well-being associated with post-run fatigue.  And this morning, I also missed out on one of my favourite runs, Matcham Valley, which includes two beautiful local valleys and some good road running.  However, I do enjoy the company of my fellow runners, and more importantly, I appreciate the perspective that mixing with them brings to my own situation.  I am not the only one with a problem.

Two runners this morning had to be picked up by car because of injuries they sustained and another cut the run short and walked back because of injury.  Post-run, I chatted with one runner whose chances of running an excellent time in the Gold Coast Marathon tomorrow had evaporated with an injury sustained two months ago, and another who recently underwent cancer-related surgery and is still receiving chemotherapy.  To top it off, we heard that one of the Club's celebrated octogenarians suffered a serious heart attack during the week.

My running injury is very much a "First World problem".  I may be currently frustrated, but I know I have been exceptionally lucky during my running life and mixing with other runners (and non-runners) helps limit the self-indulgent introspection to which I can become prone, and perhaps did in the past.

I did manage to walk 6km this morning, but still with low-level pain in my right arch.  Despite pledging to myself that I would not resume running until the pain was gone, I am now thinking about walking and jogging tomorrow morning just to see how it goes.  I'll make a final decision when I get up tomorrow morning.

Fourth of July adventure

Kids playing on Copa beach this morning.

My training for today was again another 6km walk around the hills of Copa, this time in warm and sunny conditions.  It was a beautiful day and holidaying kids were playing on a sand cliff on the beach.  My right arch was a little painful, but certainly tolerable, and it would be very tempting to resume running if I could be sure the pain wouldn't worsen.

Most years, when July 4th passes, I think back to the times I have been in the US on that date.  Usually, the day was marked with family picnics and fireworks on balmy evenings at the local high school, but one, in particular, sticks in my mind.

In the mid-1990s, on the July 4th weekend, my family was on its way back to St Louis, where we lived at the time, from a touring vacation in our small campervan through Utah and Colorado.  During the two-week trip, I had kept up my running and I persuaded my then wife to let me run a trail from the western side of the Great Divide to the eastern side in Rocky Mountains National Park while she drove our campervan round to meet me.



Flattop Mountain (at left) on a better day.

It had been a late winter and I was not sure which trails were open, so we called into the National Parks Kawuneeche Visitor Centre where I enquired, somewhat obliquely, about the trail from Green Mountain Trailhead across Flattop Mountain (12,324ft) to Bear Lake.  I did not let on that I was planning to run it, in case they prohibited me from doing so.  The ranger wasn’t much help and didn’t know what conditions were like, nor whether any rangers had hiked the trail yet this season.  Not a good start, but I was reluctant to scupper the idea as the opportunity might not arise again.

We drove to the Trailhead, where spice was added to the venture by the display of several posters listing details, including pictures, of hikers missing in the area I was about to enter.  I set off in shorts and a T-shirt with a rain-jacket tied around my waist and a map in my hand for the 16 mile run, which included 3,000ft of ascent and descent.  The weather was fine and the early running through pine forests, across alpine meadows and past cascading streams was magical.

After about five miles, I began to encounter some snow on the trail, although it was still quite runnable.  More worrying, though, were the ominous clouds gathering on the mountain ahead, accompanied by flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.  As I crossed Tonahutu Creek using a snowbridge, I saw two climbers, roped together and wearing all of the gear, descending the snowy slope ahead of me.  I waited for them to reach me and discussed the route of the unseen trail (hidden beneath the snow slope).  They had aborted their ascent of Flattop Mountain because of the thunderstorms forming on the upper slopes, but I felt committed to continue.  The climbers were not impressed, and one said he felt compelled to tell me that he considered me ill-equipped to proceed.  I thanked him for his input, put on my rain-jacket, for it was now getting quite cold, and headed off up the slope towards a gap in some trees ahead where I surmised the trail passed.  Where the climbers had been slowly post-holing down the slope in the deep snow because of the weight they were carrying, I was light enough not to break through the snow crust, and quickly ascended and crossed the snow slope.



My route across Flattop Mountain

Then began a steady ascent, above the tree-line, to the summit of the aptly-named Flattop Mountain.  Nearer the summit, the winds were fierce and visibility near zero in the heavy cloud and sleet.  It was impossible to see the trail, but fortunately there were stone cairns to follow across the plateau-like mountain top.  Sadly, it was not possible to see from one cairn to the next, so my pattern became to head off into the wind and fog in the direction I thought correct, but to return to the cairn after a hundred metres or so if I could not find the next cairn.  I would then set out in a slightly different direction and repeat the process until I did spy the next cairn.  I was bitterly cold and quite anxious, especially when a couple of my direction-finding runs found me at the edge of a seemingly bottomless precipice, but I remained methodical and careful, repeatedly telling myself that I was OK.  I was still capable of running and my brain was still working.

The three miles across the mountain top seemed to take forever, but actually took about an hour.  Finally, the trail began to descend and became easier to follow.  I was very cold and flew down the last four miles of steep switch-backing trail to Bear Lake in about 25 minutes, dreaming of some dry warm clothes and shelter.  Sadly, my wife’s journey with our two young kids in the under-powered campervan had been similarly epic.  Driving sleet and gale-force winds slowed all road traffic to a crawl and it took her five and a half hours to negotiate 45 miles of road in the appalling conditions with our young son asking whether “Daddy was going to die?”.

I ended up spending nearly two hours shivering in my shorts and rain-jacket in the car park, where there was no shelter, waiting for her arrival and wondering what had happened before she finally turned up and we were all happily reunited.

The edge of the mental envelope

It was an early start as usual for the 6am Thursday track session at The Haven in Terrigal, on a crisp and cold morning.  There was a good turn-out and it was pleasing to see so many of the runners showing improvement.  Running is a very honest sport, and barring injury, improvement is directly proportional to the effort invested.



On my way to 2:31 and 2nd place in the 1976 VMC Marathon

We were chatting after the session and I voiced my opinion that improvement will continue to come if the runner keeps nudging the edge of the envelope, both physically and mentally.  It is easy for runners to settle into a routine where they are fit and healthy, but don't push themselves to realise their full potential (of course, this is absolutely fine if running is primarily for the purpose of maintaining good health).

Improved physical ability through harder training is, perhaps, easier to achieve than the mental self-belief needed to fully realise running potential.  The latter does come partially from confidence that you have done the training necessary to run your best times.  However, even then, your performances can be constrained by  the boundaries you set yourself, often unconsciously.  You can think that you are performing at your limit, but in reality, you are not.

My Hamilton Marathon
race number

This was certainly the case in my running career.  For most of the early 1970s I was training hard, running marathons in the 2:30 to 2:40 range, and believing that improvement would come in minor increments, if I was lucky.  Then, in June 1976, I ran a marginal Personal Best time of 2:31 in the Victorian Marathon Club (VMC) Championship for second place behind a visiting New Zealander.  My prize, as the first VMC member to finish, was a trip to run in the Hamilton Marathon in New Zealand in October 1976.  I was over the moon with this prize, my biggest reward to date.  I can still remember walking along the beach near where we were staying after the race feeling a great sense of exhilaration and anticipation. I dreamed of breaking 2:30 in Hamilton, which had a reputation as a fast course.



Barely legible 1976 Hamilton Marathon results

As it turned out, the Hamilton Marathon changed my life.  I ran 2:22, a personal best by nine minutes, to finish in sixth place in a fast field.  I think I just got sucked along and then solid training kicked in over the last half where I gained eight places.  I could not believe my time, and still have doubts that the course was accurate.  A few fellow Australians in the race also ran their personal best times that day, but so far as I know, I'm the only one who ever improved on their Hamilton 1976 time.  However, for me the breakthrough was more mental than physical.  I had probably been capable of running that time for a few years, but had never done it, nor believed I could do it.  Suddenly, I believed I was a 2:20 marathon runner instead of a 2:30 marathon runner and that belief carried me to faster times, and not only in the marathon.

Of course, I have subsequently wondered whether I should have been a 2:15 or 2:10 marathon runner, but there's evidence I lacked the basic speed necessary.  I never broke 4 minutes for the 1500m or 2 minutes for 800m, despite plenty of attempts.  Then again........

After the session I walked a little over 6km as my training for the day.  I could still feel pain in my right arch but am moving a little more freely.

Adjusting for age and gender

Not much training to report again today.  I walked the same 6km course as yesterday, on a crisp and sunny morning.  The arch pain was barely perceptible when I walked on the outside of the right foot, but there were occasions during the day when I stepped awkwardly, for some reason, and felt sharper pain.  The plan remains to continue the daily walk until Sunday and then maybe jog a little.



Age wasn't an issue during the 1983 Victorian Marathon
Championship (4th place in 2:22:12)

Later in the day, I devoted some time to calculating the finishing scores for various annual running competitions held this year for members of Terrigal Trotters (I am the backup calculator).  Our competitions run from July to June and most are based on points scored using a system developed for the World Masters Athletics organisation.  The system assigns points to a performance based on the age and gender of the athlete.  To gain 1000 points the performance has to be virtually the world's best for that age and gender.  Lesser performances are assigned points based on their relationship to the world's best performance.  Calculators are available on the web (an example can be found here), and you can also download a table of all the factors for use in spreadsheets and other software.  This is what I have done for the Terrigal Trotters calculations.

It's a great system for clubs, such as Terrigal Trotters, whose members are mostly past their athletic prime.  It creates a level playing field for all of the runners in the club and gives something for old blokes like me to get excited and competitive about.

A sub-3 hour marathon for someone my age would earn 875 points, and I have in my mind the need to be capable of a performance earning 900 points to give me a buffer.  Coincidentally, or perhaps not, my best ever marathon time of 2:19:06 when I was aged 29, would have earned me 900 points, so a symmetry exists.

The highest points I have earned for an event in the past year were 846, so it's evident that, assuming I can resume training properly in three weeks time, not only do I have to get back to my recent fitness, but I have to take myself to a new level.

Shoes

Yesterday, I took delivery of some new Nike Pegasus shoes I had purchased online and christened one pair with a 6km walk around Copa this morning, including some steep hills and steps.

I wore the new shoes in the hope that their cushioning and arch support would be better than my current Pegasus shoes.  I could feel the arch support pressing on the painful area of my right foot, suggesting that it was, perhaps, offering more support than my older shoes.  Consciously walking on the outside of the foot almost eliminated the pain and I remain hopeful that I might be able to jog lightly, pain-free, on Sunday.

When runners consult me about injuries, I often suggest they try wearing different shoes to see if that makes a difference.  Even if they are the same brand, slight manufacturing variations and differing levels of wear can make a difference.  I have been wedded to Nike Pegasus and its forerunners for many years and am now reluctant to change brands for fear of creating new injuries.  However, I don't think there's anything special about them - it's more the devil you know versus the devil you don't.



Taking a break while hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1986

Like many runners who started in the 1960s and 1970s, some of my earliest shoes were cheap Korean and Japanese imports bought primarily because they were light and cheap.  Later I graduated to some of the early Tiger models which met the same criteria.  I think that, when you are young, your body is more adaptable and forgiving, so you can get away with less support and cushioning in your shoes.  Someone once told me that there are fat pads in our feet which provide cushioning and that these break down as you get older.  This is consistent with my own experience.  For instance, back in 1986, at the age of 35, I hiked the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail up the east coast of the U.S., mostly in a pair of New Balance running shoes.  Despite carrying a pack that averaged 20 kilograms, I had few foot-related problems.  When I resumed my long-distance hiking career a few years ago, wearing running shoes, I experienced severe pain in the soles of my feet after a few days.  After switching to good quality hiking boots, offering support and cushioning, I have had no foot problems.

Although I favour Nike, I think that there are many excellent running shoes out there these days.  In my earlier career, apart from Tiger, I also wore Brooks, New Balance and Adidas for extended periods and found them all good.  Every individual is different, and every individual needs to experiment with different shoes until they find the brand and model that suits them best.  Sometimes, if injuries persist, orthotics might be needed.