It won’t be too long before those of us that are planning to run a marathon in the autumn will be starting out on our latest training plan. 16, 18 or even 20 weeks where running takes over all aspects of your life (or more accurately consumes your life, your family’s life, your friends, colleagues and even random strangers who may stray into your marathon training DMs).

For most, data will feature prominently. 18 weeks. 4, 5 or 6 runs a week. 20, 30, 40 or maybe in excess of 50 miles a week. Easy pace. Tempo pace. Threshold pace. Cadence between 160-180 bpm. Zone 2, Zone 4 or Zone 5. Heart rate, heart rate variability and VO2 max. RPE 4 versus RPE 8.

And if you’re really ‘geeky’ – vertical oscillation, form power and leg spring stiffness (please don’t ask as I just found these on my Garmin watch).

Numbers, numbers and more numbers. And it’s easy to understand why numbers and data dominate. It’s because data provides a clear way of demonstrating progress. Stronger, faster, longer are all deemed relevant measures which can be recorded, reviewed and replayed over and over again as training progresses and the countdown to race day marches on.

This approach is fully understood and is a staple ingredient of any decent performance management system. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”.

True, or is it?

This is where I go ‘off-piste’ and offer a slightly alternative approach that tries to bring some balance into your training and life (I’m assuming that most of you reading this are NOT professional athletes, at least not yet 🤣).

Firstly, let me applaud you if you can get through a gruelling training block so focused that life doesn’t get in the way (at best) or knocks you completely off your stride (at worst).

And here is the crux of my argument. Embrace the subjective. Search out the unquantifiable, and relish in a little disorganisation.

Getting to the start line is a sacrifice for sure but it shouldn’t be such a sacrifice that simple pleasures, time out with the family, play time with the kids, a good old natter and catch up with old school friends, or a lazy afternoon Netflix bingeing are put on hold.

The non-quantifiable, by definition, will not feature in your plan. But the non-quantifiable will inform and affect your overall readiness for race day. The non-quantifiable will be an important aspect of your non-running well-being and wellness. The non-quantifiable will help you relax, de-stress and recover from the long run miles. The non-quantifiable will help you be a better, well-rounded human being

So be ready to put aside the plan once the run is done. Stop the clock, remove the watch and turn off your Strava notifications.

And enjoy your best self – now and on race day.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Over the weekend past I was able to enjoy two very different events . On Saturday I took part in parkrun in Brighton to celebrate birthdays and milestone achievements. On Sunday I marshalled at Nuclear Races (part of the OCR family) in Essex.

By the time I collapsed on the sofa with a cold beer on Sunday evening I had time to reflect on two very different but similar experiences.

Parkrun is a free event. OCR races are quite expensive. Parkrun happens every Saturday (and every Sunday if you’re a junior). OCRs are scheduled a few times a year and there’s often a ballot or waiting to take part in some of the most popular events.

Parkrun has a communal start for all ages and abilities. OCR races have ‘waves’ galore – competitive, gender-based, for solos and for teams, for families and rookies, and that’s probably not an exhaustive list.

Parkrun sometimes gets cancelled if the course is waterlogged. Waterlogged courses and obstacles are absolutely essential for a hardcore OCR experience.

And to just witness from afar the difference between the two type of ‘races’ seems vast.

But… that’s not really the point.

Both events encourage regular Jane’s and Joe’s to set themselves personal challenges. Both events bring family and friends together for that shared experience. Both events generate a bucket load of mutual support out on course.

And both events provide somewhere and something you can call “your tribe”.

Social connections are vital for our wellbeing, contributing to feelings of happiness and fulfilment. Engaging with others who share common interests fosters a sense of camaraderie, boosts self-esteem, and creates a positive social support system, which is crucial for maintaining good mental health.

Here in the UK we are celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week. If you’re struggling it can be difficult, maybe seemingly impossible, to step outside of your anxieties and search for the safety and comfort of being part of something bigger.

But if you can find that strength it could be more valuable to your well-being than any amount of medication.

You may have found your tribe and be able to immerse yourself in those good vibes when things don’t feel so good. You may still be looking for your tribe – don’t worry it is out there for you – so keep looking and try different things.

For me – running is my tribe and come Saturday an early start c5am, a 3 hour coach journey, a 5k shuffle, followed by breakfast with 120 fellow Fordy’s will be my next ‘tribe’ experience. I can’t wait.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Most of the time running is a solo sport. On race day it’s you against the elements, your internal voice and the course because 99.999% of us are not competing to win, we are only competing against ourselves.

And most runners I know train largely on their own. If you’re seeking to run at least three, maybe four and sometimes in excess of five days a week a big chunk of those runs will be solo.

For most of us there’s not a lot we can do about that. Maybe get soooooo good we regularly end up at a training camp with fellow GB athletes whilst we all take part in ‘warm weather’ training. Er, probably not gonna happen.

So what other options do we have?

You may be a member of an established local athletics club who host Tuesday Night Track Sessions. This will give you an element of group togetherness.

But track sessions are often focused on speed work – and with speed work comes SPEED! And speed needs recovery (also known as lying down trying not to vomit after your eleventy billionth 200m repeat). Therefore as a rule I’d not recommend track speed sessions if your emphasis is on community.

This is where the group run comes into its own. But be warned there are several different types of group run and it’s easy to be caught out.

Stay away from Group Runs where the introduction involves you having to decide which pacing group you’re gonna run with. Anything that starts with “and we will all run at an easy 4.15 km/mile” is really a speed session in disguise for most of us. Stay well away.

I’m also noticing a new form of group run according to my social media feed. It’s the ‘hip and trendy’ group run, normally at night, normally with a massive sound system, and normally with no one over the age of 21. Now don’t get me wrong I’m super excited to see the youth stepping away from binge drinking on a Friday night in favour of wellness and well-being. It is to be applauded.

However, I feel excluded. Not specifically based on age but because the soundtrack to these sessions sounds so alien and I won’t be able to ‘singalonga’ as we all cruise along the South Bank.

So what’s left. Well, it has to be the ‘chatty’ group run. And this is where I feel the ‘best fit’ for me.

The Chatty Run, also know as a social run, should be for all abilities. Yes, this does mean you will have some faster runners and some slower runners.

But a well organised social run will allow the faster runners to clock off some extra mileage by regular tracking back and ‘looping’ to stay with the main pack. For the slower runners, sometimes it’s good to push yourself out of your comfort zone or regular pace and see where your fitness or levels are at. Often running in a group that is slightly (and I mean slightly) faster than you will help you improve over time.

Once the group finds its rhythm for that evening, on that run, then the social bonding, networking and being part of a community with shared values takes over from pace or distance. Good social runs should never last to long – there purpose is not to build endurance – but they should help build connections.

A chatty catch up with Jill or John who you haven’t spoken to since parkrun 5 weeks ago will tick a lot of boxes. Quite often boxes you didn’t realise needing ticking.

And this is why including a Group Run should always be part of your training plan or running objectives. I can only speak from personal experience but it’s the social connections that help me be an active member of the running community.

Now, some of you will always prefer to pound the pavements alone or appreciate the solitude of the trails but once in a while give a group run ago. You may be surprised!

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

The results are in for the first London Dessert Half Marathon and officially it was fun. Yes, it measured long and, whereas most races have runners ‘drop out’ we had runners ‘drop in’.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about then I shall explain. Yesterday about a dozen members of Fordy Runs Running Club met up in North London and ran. Not only did we run about 14 miles, we also stopped at 15 different cake shops and pattisieries around central London – making sure we tasted the goodies before moving on.

It was an unconventional run for sure, and our pace was definitely leisurely ( I recorded a 22 minute mile in and around Spitalfields Market) but it was also jam packed (see how I used a cake-related pun) with fun and laughter.

You will see lots of social media posts about “the only reason I run is so I can enjoy cake” and I guess we ticked that box today. But the cake was also just a means to an end.

Some of us ran because we genuinely enjoy cake. Some of us ran because we wanted time on feet. Some of us ran because we enjoy the social side of events like yesterday. And all of those views are valid.

It also became apparent early on that our crazy, little running adventure had social and community benefits too. (I really love the law of unintended consequences).

Many of our chosen cake locations were local, independent businesses. At each one they were genuinely interested to understand why a dozen sweaty runners had descended on their shop. Consequently, social media handles and insta tags were shared. And cash was exchanged for baked goods.

Other customers (who had already voted for cake by being at the same shop at the same time) were interested to find out about us, what were we doing and what was our why. Community was being shared. And we may have even recruited some new members along the way.

We ran across another group of social runners (you can tell a social running group because we all have tunes 🎶🎶🎶) who were doing something similar but involving kebabs – yes you read that correct. Ideas were shared and Strava will be stalked (that’s a good thing in this context).

Post run discussions have focused on the best pastries, alternative routes and spreading the message that cake and running can combine for a fun few hours.

Now I have to admit I’m more of a savoury person – and I managed to sneak in a little cheese savoury in china town. And the plan for the London Dessert Run – The Cheese Edition is already underway.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

For many of us who run regularly we often have an ‘A’ race and/ or a ‘B’ race that features prominently in our race calendar. These are the races where we plan to peak just at the right time, maybe with the aim of chasing a new personal best.

As a English Athletics Coach I also understand the importance of selecting a training plan that works and complements your non-running life ( I may have to explain what that means so message me separately 🤣🤣🤣).

So in theory 16 weeks out from your chosen race you’ll have a good idea of what runs and when. When to take it easy, when to take it to threshold, when to seek out some hills, etc, etc. And if your lucky enough to have your own coach you will probably review and tweak this plan on a regular basis.

All sound good and familiar?

And then there is FOMO – the fear of missing out – which has the potential to strike at any point and derail all that hard work.

It happens when you least expect it. It happens innocuously, often with the words of someone else “has anyone else run [insert race] before?” But when it happens it’s destined to strike you down and empty your wallet.

Normally, it starts as a trickle “yes I ran it in 2023” “it was fast and flat” and “the medal was awesome”.

Then that trickle turns into a steady stream of “interested” and “maybe” before turning into “going”. Now you’re starting to sweat on how many bibs are still available, whether the Early Bird price will end in 5 minutes, and whether hotel prices will soar faster than a Centerparcs webpage refresh when next years school holidays are announced.

FOMO is contagious, it spreads rapidly amongst communities and the source or enabler is often someone who you call a friend, maybe even your best running buddy.

So what should you do? How can you resist? Should you even try?

The answer really depends on why you run.

If you are competitive then FOMO will mess with you, screw with you, and then leave you in a cold sweat before you return to your training plan and focus on the 9 mile easy run scheduled for THAT day in July. You resisted, your plan remains in tact and ‘pure’. But that easy run has just got a whole load harder.

The alternative is to ‘lean in’ and embrace the FOMO. You can always tag on some easy miles after the finish (and you will probably have a banana to keep you company). The easy run may be a little faster than sceduled but now you’ve had a fun, easy run. Whereas that easy run was gonna be lots of lonely miles at least you’ve had company, maybe even a cheer squad to motivate you today.

FOMO is real. We have all suffered from it. We can’t anticipate when it may surface, and we can’t tell how long it will last.

So don’t take all the joy out of your training. Schedule in some FOMO days. And when it does happen, for it surely will, revisit the plan and make adjustments.

There will always be another ‘A’ race.

But when I’ve run my final race I fully expect those FOMO days to be the ones that stand out in my memory miles because I ran those miles as part of my tribe.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

A regular complaint I hear often is that Facebook (FB) know about it even before you’ve thought about it, and then spend the next 6 months spamming you with adverts and spurious posts.

But on occasions FB, and in particular it’s ‘memories’ function can be useful, and today is one of the occasions.

According to ‘memories’, two years ago today around 30 members of my running club (Fordy Runs Running Club) assembled in 4 different UK airports and flew to Dublin, trotted and bussed their way to parkrun, had breakfast on O’Connell Street and then flew home again. Simples! Extreme parkrun – episode one – had launched.

Now technically, extreme parkrun, as a concept, was born 3 months prior, in Costa Coffee, on Maldon High Street, Essex, UK, where a few Fordy’s celebrated parkrun with coffee and cake. A discussion thus took place about how cool it would be to leave home one morning, attend parkrun, impress all your followers with Strava Art from some foreign land, all before returning home for supper with the family. France wasn’t an option because of the legacy of covid at the time but Dublin was definitely a ‘goer’.

Fast forward 2 years and the final plans are taking shape for episode VII (we have overtaken the Harry Potter series I think but we still have some way to go to outdo Star Wars) and our next trip to Yarborough Leisure Centre.

Y’bro may not sound as exotic as Dublin but if you know your parkrun protocols the letter Y is a precious commodity so we go where necessary. And in doing so we will arrive with over 120 participants (that we know about) this time including around 90 for a post parkrun breakfast – yes we have booked a table in advance.

Extreme parkruns are no different to any normal parkrun – its still only 5K, it’s still a timed event with tail walkers and marshals, dogs still need to be on a short lead and under elevens need to run with an adult.

But extreme parkruns demonstrate the power of community (not that normal parkruns don’t achieve this every single Saturday) in a way that extends beyond the act of running.

We gather together at 4am to jump on a bus looking forward to a choice of a plain or chocolate croissant. We all join the toilet Q and wait politely for the one cubicle to become vacant when we arrive at our destination. We all listen quietly to the first timers briefing (which now regularly exceeds 100 strong runners just from Fordy Runs RC). We all run or walk (obviously) and queue to scan our barcode. We all discuss parkrun breakfast plans. We all head back to the bus, after some post run ‘entertainment’ 🍻🍻🍻. And we all settle down for the Bus Bingo as we head back home.

And what’s most important no one stops to discuss their gun time, their average pace, their negative splits or pretty much anything else about the actual run. For on extreme parkrun days the act of running is a mere incidental to the main event – which is being embraced and feeling part of the tribe.

And that’s why with each new episode of extreme parkrun our numbers grow – we don’t even need to declare where we are going, and we fill the coach with runners. The FOMO starts early and we now have to declare in advance when bus seat tickets are going on sale (think Glastonbury presale).

It’s a bit crazy really that, when there are over 400 parkruns across the UK, we now have club members booking their annual leave six months in advance to make sure they can make the next date and that one location.

Yes it creates a lot of admin (thank you Carolyn and Hayden) but it also creates a bucket load of fun.

Now where shall we go for episode VIII…

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Yesterday was London Marathon (LM) day. It’s also the one day of the year when tube passengers actually choose to speak to each other 🤣

If you’re a participant you have your own little bubble to function within . Breakfast routine, travel to Greenwich, bag drop and toilet queues – all these things mean you’re blissfully unaware of how the day is unfolding around you.

And as a LM volunteer I had the privilege of helping to help the 50,000 runners get to the start as stress free as possible. Okay I may have been a little forceful with some about the tying of the bag knots but I hope it was done in a kind and courteous manner.

Soon after 10am the race begins and for each runner thereafter their focus changes again as it all becomes about pace, cadence, gels, water stops, chafing, portaloos and ticking of the 40,000 plus steps they will take to the finish.

I’ve been privileged to run London twice now and in each occassion you know you’re taking part in a special day. You know the huge crowds are willing you on. You know there is a massive infrastructure operating (mostly silently behind the scenes) but you don’t sense how much and how big.

Because for the next 3, 4 or more hours you’re so focused you only really sense your immediate surroundings and this keeps changing faster than a chameleon at an acid rave.

So yesterday was an opportunity for me to see LM a little differently. Yes, I was part of that infrastructure and for most runners and supporters I was one of thousands of purple clad officials – each with a specific role or job to do. But I was also alert and alive to how the rest of the world interacts around the details of the race, the route and the procession from Greenwich to the Mall.

It’s a cliche and it’s been written before and will be written more eloquently by others but LM brings out the best in humanity, in ways that most other collective events or experiences don’t.

Yes, Cup Final day is special if your team lifts the trophy. But Cup Final day is just a nuisance if your affected by the associated road closures. And this is where LM is so very different.

As a consequence of the race being so heavily geared towards charities and charity runners it genuinely brings together people from all walks of life, all generations, cultures and religions for a few hours. It also draws people together in a way that means you stand in the crowd waiting for ‘your’ runner to spot you, wave and maybe head over for a hug. But you also spend all those preceding minutes and even hours, rooting for your neighbour, hoping they get spotted and get that hug too.

And the triumph, the smiles , the pain and the pathos are collectively shared amongst the crowds as runner after runner passes by – each with their own specific and personal journey to be shared once the medal is hung around their neck. We ‘the collective’ will never hear those stories but we ‘the collective’ have played a small, important and immeasurable part in each of those stories.

That is the magic of LM day.

Don’t get me wrong, watching the elites is breathtaking as we struggle to comprehend how they can run that fast, for that long , without looking like it’s an effort.

But let’s be honest the ‘real race’ doesn’t really start until at least an hour in – and the ‘real race’ continues to unfold way beyond the time that the podium winners have been anointed and celebrated.

And that is why the ‘real race’ will capture the hearts and minds of the world on a single spring Sunday morning in April in London.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al