Break the Routine

Running when away traveling used to be one of my great stress relievers. Pre-pandemic, it was not unusual for me to be away from home at least one if not two weeks a month, but with the growth in use of video calling platforms such as Zoom and Teams, travel has been more limited for me in recent years. But when I do travel, I still always pack my running stuff.

But using running as a tool for relieving stress remains one of the main reasons why I run, regardless of where I am. That opportunity to get out in the fresh air, with friends or alone, and to have time to process what is going on in my head is important for me. Not that I have big dramas going on in my life right now, but I always view running time as “my time”. It is something I am doing for myself, to help myself, and to benefit myself, not just today but in the future too.

This week, for what seemed like the first time in ages, I went out for a run in the evening on my own and the weather was gorgeous. Now I am not a fan of running in the heat, but a pleasant Spring evening with the light nights stretching out ahead is a great time to get out. This Spring does seem to have been an extension of winter for so long now, that to be able to lace up and run in the evening sunshine seems to have been a very long time coming.

Such a beautiful night

With the temperature not too hot, I am extremely lucky to live on the edge of the city so I can quickly be in the countryside and enjoy some nice trails and quiet roads. It is such a benefit to be able to do this, taking me away from whatever is going on at work and giving me time to clear my head in the fresh air. I saw someone post a quote that “if you cannot find a solution to your problem during a four hour run then a solution is not coming”, and I think that pretty much sums it up. It is an opportunity for clarity.

It can also be an opportunity to deal with jetlag, as I made use of this usually unwanted gift during a recent work trip. I was fortunate enough to visit New York and Burlington, near Boston, the week before last. With it being a very hectic, but short trip – fly out Monday, fly home Thursday night – this meant I had little desire to adjust to the US time zone and took the chance for some early morning running.

“The city that never sleeps has it’s quieter moments”

Manhattan in New York, and Times Square in particular, are among the busiest places I have ever been, but you find when you run at 6.30am that even the city that never sleeps has its quieter moments and you can run quite comfortably without having to worry about dodging through major crowds along the way.

When I was in Burlington – which is where my company is located – it was another early morning few miles before the day began when I ran from the hotel up to our office and back again. Running in the morning before work is not usually something I do at home, but when I am away, I find it is the only time when I can guarantee that I will be able to get out, so I try and take the chance if I can. Far from tiring me out ahead of the day, I do find a morning run gives me more energy and sets me up for whatever might lie ahead.

Outside Avid HQ in Burlington

Returning from the US, you might think I would fancy a rest, but before the trip to New York was arranged, I had already planned a race that just happened to coincide with my return – in fact it was one of the main reasons why I had to come back on the Thursday night.

Having done the Aberdeen Airport Runway Run a couple of times previously, when I saw there was a runway run at Dundee Airport – which is about seventy miles from where we live – then I was keen to give it a try. An event for charity, it was never a big target for me, but a nice relaxed five kilometres was ideal as I ran it with our daughter, Hope, on a course that took in a loop around the actual runway itself before running down where the planes land before returning halfway back up the other side and to the finish at the terminal building.

I really enjoyed the race, as it was something a bit different from the normal 5k event, and also it involved zero stress. Time was not a priority for this one.

My next target race is in two weeks, with a local 10km at a small town outside of Aberdeen, again in aid of a local charity. I am going to spend the summer trying to up my pace a little I think and trying to push myself a bit harder over the shorter distances. I am not aiming for any PBs or anything like that, but I would like to regain a bit of the pace which has very much taken a back seat during my marathon training from last summer through to this Spring.

“I love the atmosphere of a race”

I also think I will try and do some more local races, perhaps one a month, over the summer to give me that little test. I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I do love the atmosphere of a race, the build up at the start and the support at the end, so with that in mind, I will use these to give things a bit of a go.

But most of all, I want to continue just running for the enjoyment of running, whether with friends like this morning with Susan and Maxine (and Scout, see below) or on my own.

A city centre stop on the way to the beach

The races are not there to put me under any pressure or to force me to challenge myself, they are there to do something different, to break the routine. Like when I run when I am traveling, it is not because I have to, it is because I want to. And I want to for all of the benefits which running brings.

Adapt

When running, or planning for a race, there is a great phrase which is “control the controllables”. Basically put, focus on the things which you can influence and ignore all of the other things which are going on which you have no way of changing or making any difference to. The greatest of these “uncontrollables” in my book, is the weather. Whatever the weather is, that is what it is going to be on the day of the race.

For races which I have done, there have been some where the weather was ideal for me – cool, even a bit damp, not much in the way of wind – and some where the weather has been the total opposite – warm, humid, hot even. I would say that my preference for the weather for the race is what I would call a “nothing” kind of a day. Not too hot, not too cold, not too windy, not too wet. A day when nothing is really happening weather wise. I guess you could also call this the Goldilocks type of weather for a race – when it is “just right”.

But the reality is, with most races taking place through Spring, Summer and Autumn, then you are going to get lots of days when it is not “just right” and being able to cope with that when it comes along as a vital skill when it comes to racing. Ideally, through the training for any race, you come across days when the weather is not to your preference and that gives you the opportunity to test yourself in those conditions.

“feeling like a boil in the bag chicken”

Some previous training runs stick out for me, for example. I recall training for the Manchester Marathon a couple of years back, which was due to happen in Spring but got moved to October. Training through the summer for that race involved one morning where, as I left the house, it began to rain quite heavily. I nipped back in, put on a waterproof jacket and headed out. A couple of miles in the rain eased, the clouds began to clear, the humidity went way up and I then spent the rest of the run (which was about seventeen or eighteen miles I think) feeling like I was a boil in the bag chicken. Less than ideal.

The flip side of that was a winter run, when, though I was properly layered up – long-sleeved base layer, t-shirt and waterproof jacket – the wind was so bitingly cold that after about twelve miles in I was wishing I had a jumper on as well as I was absolutely frozen at that stage. That was one of these runs where the hot shower at the end of it was the highlight, never mind the miles which had gone into getting there.

“every run is a learning experience”

I am sure we all have stories of runs like these, where things have not worked out as we would have hoped, but every run is a learning experience and with this kind of knowledge, then going into a race, you have an idea of what you might be facing.

I have to say that, for my training for Rotterdam Marathon this year, while the weather did not really play ball – I ran in sleet, ice, rain, snow and occasional cold winter sunshine – it was good preparation for the actual race and on the day the weather was almost Scottish. Rain overnight, drizzle on the way to the start line and in general a grey, overcast day, with just a bit of a breeze to contend with. Really not bad at all.

“I really suffered”

One of the key reasons I had signed up for Rotterdam was my desire to run a Spring marathon, training through the winter, as opposed to an Autumn marathon, training through the summer. The Venice marathon, which I ran in October last year and you can read about my experience here, was warm and humid on the day itself and I really suffered in those final few miles.

But my point of writing about this – yes there is a point to this – is that while you cannot control the weather, what you can control is your approach to the race itself, you just need to be aware of the conditions which you are facing and make adaptations to your plans. I have gone into races with a plan to try for a certain time and then realised early on that the conditions were going to have a negative impact on my attempt and as such I had to adjust my pace.

“early miles… risk coming back to bite you”

The challenge is to recognise this at the time. It is easy to get swept along in the early stages, where the running feels easy and the early miles drift by, almost without you noticing, but those easy feeling early miles, where you are perhaps running a bit ahead of your goal pace (or in the worst cases a lot ahead of your goal pace) risk coming back to bite you much, much later on, particularly over the longer distances of a half or full marathon.

My fastest marathon time remains in Barcelona in 2019 – but even there I went in with an ambition to go much quicker than I did on the day. As the sun rose up over the Catalan city as I was waiting at the start line and the early morning chill which I had walked through to get there quickly faded into the distance, it was clear to me that this was not the day to blast all out. When I got to about nine miles and saw this runner being helped to the side of the road by the medical staff, and then at fifteen miles when we all had to go to one half of the road to let an ambulance by, this was really driven home that the decision I had made within the first five kilometres of running to ease things up a bit had been the correct one.

“easy to wish the conditions were different”

Now all of this does not mean that I gave up trying, of course not. It just meant that I adapted what I was attempting to do to meet the conditions I was facing at that time. On another day, things could be totally different, but race day is THE day. It is the only day the race is going to happen, the only day that you are going to be on the course, so while it may be to easy to wish the conditions were different, that is not going to help you get round.

In Scotland this year, the weather through Spring has been pretty poor, continuing with cold temperatures, sometimes damp conditions, the occasional foggy day, and the very rare day of sunshine. My run this morning with my friend Jeanette, was the first time in months where the sun actually broke through the clouds, the heat shot up and in the final few miles of our twelve mile run, I felt like I was baking a bit again. It is almost as if we have gone from winter straight to summer and bypassed Spring altogether.

Beside Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen

This was a good reminder of the impact which conditions can have and how important it is to take them into consideration, but not to let them dominate everything about the race. While it is not something which you can control, there are lots of things which you can control and adjust to handle the conditions better.

You can decide what to wear. You can decide how much to drink (I run with a drink but often take on more water from the water stations in a long race). You can decide on your pace. You can decide, in the race if it is sunny, to run in the shade if any is available (this can make a big difference). If there is water on the course, you can pour it over yourself to cool down or take a sponge and wet it to cool down. While a lot of what I am talking about here relates to races in the heat, there are, of course, similar things you can do to combat wet and cold races too.

Earlier in the week, I had run with my friend Gavin as he was visiting the city and this was an early morning run down at the beach in Aberdeen which started in the rain. While these two runs were only a few days apart the conditions were fundamentally different, I guess that is the joy of running in a place where there is no such thing as bad weather, there is only the wrong choice of clothes.

Great to run with Gavin this week

Running is not all about racing, of course, but if you do choose to take on the challenge of a race, it is all about focusing on the things which are in your gift to influence. While you cannot – and indeed should not – discount the weather, you certainly cannot do anything about it. All you can do is prepare as best you can for what lies ahead, and then be flexible about your approach on the day itself. Remember, finish lines, not finish times are what are really important. And there is no better feeling than crossing that finish line and getting that medal – knowing that you have done the best you can do in the circumstances of the day.

Nothing

I have achieved my major running goal for the year. The big target is gone. The sole focus of my running for the last four months is done. No need for the regular midweek hill sessions. No need for the early Saturday starts. No need for the preparation of breakfast and looking out the gels and drinks so they are ready for the morning run. In fact, no real need to do anything running wise. So, what now then?

Well for the first week after the Rotterdam Marathon the answer to that question was do nothing. You cannot underestimate how much a marathon takes out of you. Not just physically but also emotionally. I have found that my running brain is a bit scrambled after a marathon. The temptation to analyse the race is very strong, to go over each part and to consider and contemplate what I did and how it went can be quite overwhelming.

But the reality is that the race is gone, and while analysing it can be a positive experience from which you can learn for the future, there is certainly no point in delving into the minutiae of it all. I have written many times before that I am a hobby runner – though I probably take it a bit more seriously than that – so it is best to leave the race be. On the day, I did the best I could. I know that in my heart and in my head, so while I have replayed parts of it in the weeks since, I have always tried to focus on the positives and to take them forward with me.

“the really long runs are gone now”

After a week of no running, it was nice to get back out again with friends and I have settled back into a routine of regular running once more, but with one major difference. The really long runs are gone now for a while. I always consider any run above fifteen miles as being “in the big miles” and I have no desire to get back there too soon. For now, it is about running for enjoyment, but with no particular goal.

A good example of that was last weekend when I was down visiting family in Falkirk and I took the chance to get out and run to The Kelpies, on a four mile Sunday morning run on my own. They are seriously impressive to see close up, and this, of course, was part of the route for the Falkirk Half Marathon which I ran at the tail end of last year and have signed up for again this year for the race in November.

The Kelpies are placed at the start of the Forth and Clyde canal and so the route to them took my down the canal path, though I went back a different route to run a loop rather than a straight out and back course. While my other runs following Rotterdam had been relatively gentle, as this was over a really flat course it felt quite nice to attempt to inject a bit of pace into my running once more.

Building up my pace now is something which I would like to put a little bit of focus on over the coming months. I really feel that, having run two marathons six months apart, that I have been marathon training for the best part of a year. First in the build up over the summer to the Venice Marathon in October, then, after injury in December, from January through to April for Rotterdam. The focus for this training really has all been about endurance, so maybe I will push myself a bit harder to build up speed for a bit for a change.

“be food to yourself once it is over”

But returning to what I said earlier, this is also a chance to take the pressure off and enjoy things a bit more. Away from running, I have certainly made sure that I have rewarded myself for getting through another marathon. What I mean by that is that I have been eating and drinking well. I think it is really important to ensure that everything you do is in balance. Now this does not mean that I am some guru who is out measuring how much fuel goes into his body or anything like that, I just mean that after a marathon (or whatever target you set yourself) for goodness sake be good to yourself once it is over. Eat the food. Drink the drinks. Have a long lie and do not feel guilty about not running. This is what makes sure I retain my enthusiasm for the next run, rather than just going from one race to another without a break.

“a sense of emptiness”

The other thing to say is that I have also felt a bit down in the immediate aftermath. Not because of anything to do with the race, but there can be a sense of emptiness after a marathon. There is a recognised phase that people can go through after a big race – some people refer to it as post-marathon blues – and I can definitely identify with that. There were days after the race where I spent time feeling a bit sorry for myself, questioning whether it was worth all the effort and is it worth going back to running again now that the big target for the year is out of the way.

But luckily I found, having had that break for a little bit that going back to running with some gentle runs, plus the support of my friends and the JogScotland group that my enthusiasm soon returned and I am now back in a good running routine once again.

One thing which sustained me through a lot of my marathon training was the support of friends, so I was glad to be able to repay a little bit of that this week, as I, and another friend Susan, joined our friend Jeanette on her final long run ahead of the Edinburgh Marathon in a few weeks’ time. I planned to run about half marathon distance with her, which I was really pleased that I managed to do, before they both carried on and we went our separate ways after a pit stop at my sister in law’s house on the day of the King’s Coronation (hence the napkin!).

A Half Marathon effort was enough for me!

What I would like to do from now on is to run at least a half marathon once a month for the next few months, but that would be as far as I would want to go. Most of the rest of my running would likely be usually around the 10km mark or shorter, with perhaps the occasional longer run thrown in. Having stuck to the rigours of a plan in the build up to Rotterdam, I am happy to say there is no plan I am going to be following any time soon.

And I guess that is the point of this. Running does not have to follow a set plan, it just has to follow what you want to do and what you are capable of doing. I am extremely lucky to be in the position to run at all, and I want to enjoy that experience with friends as much as I can. Having had that down period after the race, now it is just about the enjoyment of it. A five km run with Susan again and our friend Cara this morning was evidence of that.

Grey skies but smiles all round

I do have a couple of other events coming up, but in both cases I am going into them with no goal, no plan, no target. I am going into them purely for the fun and enjoyment which running has brought into my life. And if there is a t-shirt and a bit of bling at the end of them too, then all the better. Running is not all about marathons, or halfs, or 10kms. It is not all about races. It is about having fun, the benefits it brings to health and mental well being. And sometimes not running is all about that as well. Do what works for you.