How To Be A Better Runner

How do you become a better runner?

Stay injury-free and improve on your weaknesses, is the simplified answer.

How do you stay injury-free?

By training within your limits (we have more physical limitations as compared to our mental ones), you can keep serious injuries at bay. Mild injuries may be unavoidable when you step up on intensity, prior to a race. Thus, my promotion of 'Run Less, Run Faster' is pertinent, if you are already plagued by persistent niggles and soreness. 

Your build-up to the race needs to be sensible and realistic. Give yourself SMART Goals, and be mindful of how well you can prepare. Thus, in your off-season you would do better to focus on lower-intensity, fat-utilising, pace. I recommend lower-heartrate running, swimming and cycling to enhance your 'aerobic engine'. Drink Bullet Coffee (or coconut-oil infused beverages before training on an empty-stomach) to engage your body's ability to tap into your endurance system.

Get quality sleep to recover fully and reduce stress. Eat 'clean' to assist your body to assimilate new body tissues. Eat all major food groups, and eliminate food that cause you allergies. Consume more antioxidants, protect and nurture your gut flora (bacteria), and be well-hydrated. Go 80:20 with your nutrition/meals, and treat yourself,occasionally, to some 'comfort food'. I am a fan of craft-beers after hard training, and appreciate indulging in my sweet tooth. Your fitness will assist you in your day-to-day activities; not just for racing and earning PBs. Focus on building an organic machinery that enhances your life, and promotes your sporting lifestyle.

Training-wise, be smart and enlist assistance in ensuring you optimise your efforts and structural abilities: running-gait, footwear, core-strength, muscular-strength, balance and proprioception, joint-health, and muscular weakness (critical point of incidence). Diagnose your abilities and do a SWOT analysis, and tap on your collective potential and work on reducing your weaknesses. Race occasionally, so as to familiarise with your race-pace (5km, 10km, 21km and marathon).

More of these will be covered in my new Ebook.

Measuring and Maintaining Highs & Lows

There’s lots of talk about time: in the long haul or in the short-term. Investment consultants and gurus are confusing us with terminology and jargon that sound more impressive than expressive. In a time of great confusion and uncertainty, clarity and simplicity are key considerations when leading and influencing minds and hearts.

Last year's Mount Faber Run result.

In most of what we do, risk is involved. There are implications and consequences for each decision we make in a relationship. How do you assess risks? How do you maintain your sense of professionalism in your business? How do ‘reset’ when you get ‘upset’? How do you ‘time out’ when you experience ‘down time’? Who do you trust during ‘down-turns’ of the economy? That is why regular measurements and calibrations are relevant. Yesterday's 10K race showed an improvement of two minutes, which was deeply satisfying despite missing a podium placing by two spots. So, relative scores via ranking, personal timing, and annual positions are measures of progress or diminishing performance. 

Same race, one year later: An improvement of two minutes.

In running, when we get winded we need to slow down. That is why ‘keeping to your pace’ is so important in training and racing. Once physical fatigue sets in, we will want to ward it off for as long as we can so as to complete the race. Measuring and using recent data can be vital to our peak performance. We consume nutritional aids or take naps, so that we can ward off mental fatigue when we write or present papers or research data. Thus, pacing is as important as creating a sense of balance and perspective in our lives. Actively balancing our priorities is a skill and awareness we need to develop, so that we do not lose sight of the fact that we are living our lives, and need to engage our foresight and insight.

Leadership Lessons: Which kinds of measurements do you take regularly? How do you know when you re making progress in a project? What do you do when the ‘alarm bells’ ring? Which contingencies do engage when are falling behind, or faltering?