Running with the Elite #1

I have titled this post somewhat optimistically; I may never get the chance to go and train with an elite runner ever again, but in this crazy sport you never know. 

Think about it for a minute: if you were a keen football ("soccer" to my friends acroos the pond) player / fan you couldn't send a quick email over to Lionel Messi and ask to join him for a training session if he was travelling locally.  Even in the wonderful world of running where you can run in the same race on the same roads at the same time as the Paula Radcliffes and Haille Gebresellasies of the world, it would be very unlikely that they'd let you pop over for a training session.  But in the small but rapidly growing pond of ultra running we seem to have this unusual privilege for a little while longer...

I was continuing in my quest to try and catch up on the past episodes of the wonderful podcast that is Talk Ultra and in one of the first few episodes there was a mention of Nick Clark's blog.  For those who don't follow ultra running so keenly, Nick Clark is one of the top 100M trail runners out there.  The Anton Krupickas and Geoff Roes of the ultra world are more well-known but at the "big dance" (the Western States 100) there is nobody who has been more consistent in recent years. Anton and Geoff raced spectacularly to 1st and 2nd in 2010, ever immortalised by the outstanding documentary "Unbreakable", with a dehydrated Kilian Jornet behind them in 3rd.  Just seconds behind Kilian in 4th (having caught and passed him shortly before the finish, only for Kilian to surge again) was a barely mentioned Nick Clark.  Kilian returned to win in 2011, Geoff dropped out, Anton never made the start line and Nick improved to 3rd.  Just 3 weeks later he also placed 3rd at the ridiculously tough Hardrock 100.  When the course records were shattered in 2012 (Tim Olsen getting the men's, Ellie Greenwood the women's and Dave Mackey the Masters/Veterans), Kilian, Anton and Geoff were not there, but Nick was 3rd again.  Add in a win on another grand slam 100M trail race (Wasaach 100 in 2010) and, even without all the other multiple wins and podium placings at significant races, you have one of the greats in the sport today.

So, anyway, when I heard mention of Nick's blog, I looked it up and was surprised to see pictures of him racing our nearest Park Run in Whitstable.  Although he is based in Colorado, he is actually a Brit who married an American and returns at Christmas to visit his family in Canterbury.  A polite email or two later, with reassurances of my running ability and that I wouldn't slow him down too much on a shorter, easy run, he had kindly agreed to run with me the following morning.  Needless to say I was as excited as a kid at Christmas!

Nick was a great guy and very welcoming.  We ran an easy 10M on the trail down to Whitstable and back and from the first few metres I asked a multitude of questions and delighted in hearing all the wisdom he had to share. We talked about the sport, the elite runners, how to train, nutrition, his sponsorship (Pearl Izumi), his racing plans, the future of the sport and my summer ultra plans.

It was one of those occasions where time just flies past way too quickly: I was shocked when it was time to turn and head back.  I learnt more in that short run than hours of perusing all the available information on the internet would have garnered; such is the way with spending time in the company of an expert who is passionate in his expertise.

But more than anything I came away from our brief meeting with great confidence.  He assured me of all I was doing right, corrected a couple of things I was about to do not-so-right and spoke confidently of what I might accomplish in my first ultras this coming summer.

No doubt I could have picked up most of the information he gave me from a decent book or on the web, but none of that can substitute for the kind of interaction we had on the trail that day.  And the spring in my step, the growing optimism and the determination to train to the best of my potential that have developed in the days since are priceless.

Thanks, Nick!

Introducing Hadd

Having relaunched the blog yesterday on my birthday, it seems appropriate to continue by introducing one of the most significant influences on my running thinking on his birthday. Or rather what would have been his birthday, for this year is the first one since his passing last summer.

They say you always remember where you were when something significant happens, though that's not normally true for me, but I will always remember where I was when I got the awful, gut wrenching news that Hadd had passed away at a ridiculously early age.

John "Hadd" Walsh cheers home the other runners at the first Malta Marathon

John Walsh was a running coach / guru originally from Scotland who lived in Malta with his wife, accomplished marathon runner, Carol. He was the founder and organiser of the Malta Marathon.  But for the bulk of the time that I was in contact with him I did not even know his name; to me, and to many like me, he was simply "Hadd".  That was his login name on the infamous Let's Run message board.  His posting there stood out from the crowd - he knew his physiology and he also had the character and mystique typical of the best coaches; there was certainly something very Lydiardesque about him as a person, as well as with his approach to training.  His insight was nothing short of profound - not simply in regards to training theory but also, if not more so, with his practical applications to individuals.

There was a little gang of us that got together on a private forum where "Hadd" would advise us in our running, but it was so much more than that: he connected so firmly with us and understood us so well despite never having met us (at least not initially).  He was so generous to us with his time, with his affections, with himself; this cannot be overstated - a man of his greatness had no business associating with us (none of us were running greats) let alone assisting us.  And so we adored him. As it has been said, "Hadd has a fatal flaw; he cannot see someone doing something badly – yet with all their heart – and not want to do something to help." And that certainly applied to me; he once said to me, "I will do all I can. If I ask for 100% during training and the race, I believe the athlete has every right to expect the same from me in setting their training. Although this is all online and we've never met and all that jazz, I never take any runner's hopes and dreams lightly."

Gang founder "Jay" pointed out after his death that, despite the fact that we all knew who he was by then, nobody "outed" him.  That was a measure of the respect we all had for him.  And I hope he was fond of us too - he certainly loved us in deed.  And what an adventure it was!  The progress made by "Pete", a Canadian masters runner, was a highlight, as were some great times put down by our star runner "CD".  Friends were made, lessons were learned; runners ran faster, people grew.  Characters abounded like "Woody" who even came across the Atlantic for a visit, "Flagpole" who got his own "special place" and "JONeill" who got to know Hadd better than any of us.  But we were all richly blessed for knowing him.

"Woody" comes to visit - with me and Lydia

So what did he preach?  What was his training philosophy?  Well, it certainly can't all be wrapped up in a single post (and I hope and pray that one day somebody gets all his ideas, thoughts, principles and methods down in a book), but certainly the introduction that we all had to his approach was what came to be known as "Phase 1".  You can read that HERE.

This is of course just the beginning of what we learnt from him.  On occasion he was criticised by a few who misunderstood and thought that "Phase 1" was the entirety of his approach, which of course it was not.  Seeing how, post Phase 1, he would advise a predominately fast twitch runner like "Pete" compared to a classic slow twitcher like "CD" was amazingly insightful; there was much discussion on these principles and I think his genius was seen there as much as anywhere else in his training approach.

There is so much more that I want to say about what I learned from Hadd and he will be mentioned and referenced here time and again, no doubt.  If you are intrigued and want more now, you can read a brief bio HERE and his tribute thread at Let's Run. And if you go to the Let's Run message board  and search for "Hadd" you will have enough gems to delight you for days!

Oh, and one thing that was very clear if you conversed with him even a little bit: he really loved his wife and he got huge delight out of working hard to serve her as well as he could as her coach (as well as her husband).

John and Carol Walsh

And why "Hadd" as a moniker? Apparently it means "nobody"... What a guy!

"Keep on Running" Relaunch

  

So, my name is Anthony Forsyth and today I turn 40!  In running terms that makes me a "veteran", well, at least here in the UK;  in the States I am now a "master"! Sounds great, but it just means I am getting old.  Anyway, it seems as good a day as any to restart this blog.

My first marathon - Iceland 2010

Previously I had been blogging here at "Keep on Running" and, like so many other running bloggers, had just been posting up my training.  It had been going pretty well too.  But by the time I had jumped into my first marathon in Reykjavik in August 2010, deciding to enter literally half an hour before registration closed thus requiring a final run to get there in time, I had bored myself sufficiently not to even bother with a race report (I came 2nd in 2:44:51 with almost no specific preparation other than running a lot).



It's not that my running bored me per se, just that it was a lot of effort to keep it up when there were only a few people interested.  After all, I knew what had happened before writing it down!  Training blogs can get a bit like that when that's all there is to write and read.

So, why the restart?  Well, it occurred to me that I do enjoy wittering on about running and that most people that enjoy running also enjoy wittering on about running; we can be passionate peeps us runners!  We are never happier than when chatting away about our own training, but there is plenty more that we discuss: nutrition, shoes, injuries, kit, mileage, races, etc.  And one thing I am rarely ever short of is an opinion on anything running related; you may not agree with it, and I may well be wrong, but I usually have a view and it is, more often than not, well considered.

And as I thought about it some more, I realised that, even though I do read some training blogs of other runners on occasion, what I would prefer to read is a more eclectic blog - and there are several good ones out there.  So, in no particular order, here is some of what you can expect to see here at "Keep on Running" in the not too distant future:

• Training discussion - always reading, thinking, discussing, learning and trying stuff in the ol' "experiment of one"; this is the heart of running discussion.  From middle distance theory (because I am not going to be practising it), to marathons (I will run a good one one day) and ultras (this year...) we will discuss the "how to do it" of training. And it will definitely involve many a mention of high mileage...

• Kit discussion and reviews -  I have some very specific ideas here that have been forged through the years regarding kit choices for different events and circumstances.  It's a big deal here in the world of running.

• Race discussion and reviews - it is amazing to me how good and how, well, not good, certain races can be.  So I don't want to just post up my race reports (though the precious few that there will be will surely be posted), but rather talk about races, organisation, chip timing, cross country, clubs and what not too.

• Shoe discussion and reviews - I have been a converted "minimalist" for about 8 years now.  Not as hardcore as I used to be, but I will defend the cause.  I may not be a Vibram Five Finger freak (though I do own some and use them on occasion), but they are less strange to me than the "boots" that pass as running shoes for the masses.  There are some great options out there right now for us minimalists as the rest of the world catches up with us and I am excited to share them.  If you are not yet a minimalist (or don't even know what that means), then I will be informing you of the benefits and encouraging you to make the change.

• Injuries - they happen and they suck. We don't like to talk about them until we have them; when we do we can't shut up about them.  I'll try and keep an appropriate balance - discuss them more than desired when they are absent and try not to go OTT when they crash the party.

• Introductions and Interviews - there are people in the running world who you need to meet.  Some of them blog, some don't, but they all have a lot to share. Some may be more well-known, some accomplished, many neither, but all with much we can learn from.  I'm looking forward to telling all who read this blog about the many people in the running world that excite and/or interest me.

Tim racing cross country this winter

•  Family training - so I will talk about my training on occasion too - not a complete training diary, maybe a monthly update or something; I'm not entirely sure yet.  But my kids (five) and my wife all run and (if they allow me to) I'd like to put up a few posts about what they are up to as well.  In particular, my son Timothy (who has just turned 15) is very serious about his running - he beat me for the first time last year and will probably whip me frequently this year.

• Nutrition - as someone who has spent much of his adult life obese, nutrition is a topic that interests me greatly.  I have much I want to say on nutritional theory for runners, but also there will be topics such as eating on the run for ultras, runners' relationships with food, gels and energy drinks, refuelling, and perhaps even a few recipes. Yum!

• Books and articles - I love reading about running and, if you are reading a running blog, you probably do too.  I have quite a collection of running books and will be reviewing many of them (some the bad as well as the good) as well as linking to important articles.

• News - The running world has its own headlines.  My job here will not be to keep you in touch with the important news as it happens (other sites do that much better), but I will be discussing certain running stories that interest me as they happen.  Two or three current stories have ramifications and implications that I want to get off my chest.

Not that this blog will be limited to the above categories; I am sure there is much more running related ruminating that will flow from my brain to the blog with precious little filtering.  In fact, if the blog is much like my running reading, thinking and discussing, there will be something for almost everyone.  Well, everyone who runs.

So, for now, keep on running...