Big thanks to Martyn Jones of the Strugglin' Runner who has produced a fantastic GUEST POST- the first- for The Running Geek! I urge you to read it in its entirety as it really speaks sense and highlights things many of us have been through as well.
He can be found on twitter @strugglinrunner and his own
Positive Failure Through Running
Hey there, @StrugglinRunner here with a guest blog post! Steven kindly asked if I’d
write something, so here it is.
write something, so here it is.
For those that don’t know me, I’m a guy in my 40’s, 6ft 2 and slightly overweight. I did
Couch to 5k programme three years ago, but never took it further once I finished it.
This was due to slightly disastrous career choices, job hopping, too much commuting
and the dark days of winter and general apathy. I only did a few runs each month for
the next two years, no perceivable consistency, and slowly went back to no runs at all.
Couch to 5k programme three years ago, but never took it further once I finished it.
This was due to slightly disastrous career choices, job hopping, too much commuting
and the dark days of winter and general apathy. I only did a few runs each month for
the next two years, no perceivable consistency, and slowly went back to no runs at all.
Then in November 2018, for a number of reasons, I had a compelling urge to get back
out there and continue where the Couch to 5k left off. This year so far I have ticked off
two of my original 2016 goals, do a 5k race & a 10k race. Now I’m in the middle of
training for a half marathon. It’s been a great year of running so far, although slightly
marred by calf pain.
out there and continue where the Couch to 5k left off. This year so far I have ticked off
two of my original 2016 goals, do a 5k race & a 10k race. Now I’m in the middle of
training for a half marathon. It’s been a great year of running so far, although slightly
marred by calf pain.
With that out the way, what’s the deal with the title of this post, Positive Failure Through
Running? Well I have learnt to acknowledge and respect failure, and embrace it as a
force for good and I have learnt some of that through my experiences with running
over the past three years.
Running? Well I have learnt to acknowledge and respect failure, and embrace it as a
force for good and I have learnt some of that through my experiences with running
over the past three years.
But sidetracking for a moment, my first real experience of positive failure came not
from running, but from drumming. I’m a drummer in a couple of bands, I pride myself
on being a solid timekeeper, a pretty good drummer. Not brilliant, not amazing, not flashy,
but totally good enough to be solid and anchor the band, to play for the songs. At one
gig, it was Christmas time, lots of office parties in town seemed to spill into the pub we
were playing, it was packed and hot.It was a great atmosphere for a gig, people drinking
and dancing and singing along to the cover songs we were playing. It was all going well
until I got some less than stellar feedback from the crowd, I had made a couple of mistakes
through the night, nothing big, dropped a snare hit here or there, but towards the end of
the gig I saw one guy in the crowd point to me, do an ‘air drums’ impression, then literally
give a disgusted look to his friend and a very distinct thumbs down. I was mortified. He
may not have really meant what I took from it. That doesn’t matter, in my mind I had seen
what I had seen.
from running, but from drumming. I’m a drummer in a couple of bands, I pride myself
on being a solid timekeeper, a pretty good drummer. Not brilliant, not amazing, not flashy,
but totally good enough to be solid and anchor the band, to play for the songs. At one
gig, it was Christmas time, lots of office parties in town seemed to spill into the pub we
were playing, it was packed and hot.It was a great atmosphere for a gig, people drinking
and dancing and singing along to the cover songs we were playing. It was all going well
until I got some less than stellar feedback from the crowd, I had made a couple of mistakes
through the night, nothing big, dropped a snare hit here or there, but towards the end of
the gig I saw one guy in the crowd point to me, do an ‘air drums’ impression, then literally
give a disgusted look to his friend and a very distinct thumbs down. I was mortified. He
may not have really meant what I took from it. That doesn’t matter, in my mind I had seen
what I had seen.
The show must go on, and gladly this occurrence happened near the end of our set.
But I felt crushed. There’s a fail right there, in a packed pub, playing in front of people
and seeing that. But that failure was one of the best things that ever happened to my
drumming, it forced me to look at my own playing, focus on my weaknesses, and knuckle
down with the practice time to improve. And improve I did, massively. In the 6 months
after that gig my drumming had improved so much that the guys in the bands I was
playing with noticed, I knew it, and my confidence grew, and it was all good. I didn’t
want to experience that feeling at a gig again, and was making damn sure I did all I
could to prevent it.
But I felt crushed. There’s a fail right there, in a packed pub, playing in front of people
and seeing that. But that failure was one of the best things that ever happened to my
drumming, it forced me to look at my own playing, focus on my weaknesses, and knuckle
down with the practice time to improve. And improve I did, massively. In the 6 months
after that gig my drumming had improved so much that the guys in the bands I was
playing with noticed, I knew it, and my confidence grew, and it was all good. I didn’t
want to experience that feeling at a gig again, and was making damn sure I did all I
could to prevent it.
So how about running failure? For me running has been at times felt like a constant
barrage of failure. The difficult, self grounding workout sessions, the nagging sensation
that I am not cut out for this “what are you doing?….you are not a runner” voice in my
head as I step out of the house at 6am to lurch round my usual circuit huffing and
heaving. Usually I tend to quell the voices once I am past 1 or 2 k, but they often persist.
My inner voice has a tendency to be quite harsh at times!
barrage of failure. The difficult, self grounding workout sessions, the nagging sensation
that I am not cut out for this “what are you doing?….you are not a runner” voice in my
head as I step out of the house at 6am to lurch round my usual circuit huffing and
heaving. Usually I tend to quell the voices once I am past 1 or 2 k, but they often persist.
My inner voice has a tendency to be quite harsh at times!
The constant calf pain I have had since starting up in December feels like a massive
fail, although I now have it under control and understand what I need to do, and how
I got here, while in the depths of semi-injury runners despair I just felt like a failure.
“You can’t even jog round the village without screwing yourself up”, the voices informed
me. Nice.
fail, although I now have it under control and understand what I need to do, and how
I got here, while in the depths of semi-injury runners despair I just felt like a failure.
“You can’t even jog round the village without screwing yourself up”, the voices informed
me. Nice.
But like the drumming scenario above, I have benefited so much from my running fails.
It has made me stop, reassess what I am doing, how I am doing it. It’s made me research
running, instead of blindly going out there and ending up in injury land I have spent hours
reading articles, watching physiotherapy videos, doing extra exercises, learning as much
as I could from people with far more experience than I have. My determination seems
to go into overdrive when I feel under pressure and at risk of total failure.
It has made me stop, reassess what I am doing, how I am doing it. It’s made me research
running, instead of blindly going out there and ending up in injury land I have spent hours
reading articles, watching physiotherapy videos, doing extra exercises, learning as much
as I could from people with far more experience than I have. My determination seems
to go into overdrive when I feel under pressure and at risk of total failure.
Why did the calf pain start? Because I made the biggest beginning runner mistake ever,
I failed to take it easy, I just went for it. Nov 2018 - 0k, then Dec 2018 - 57k. That’s where
the calf pain started. For some people they may be able to handle that. For my body that’s
had 20 years of desk based office work, it was just too much. Fail. And I paid the price with
extended layoff in Feb & March this year. Look at the graph, a very stupid way of easing
into a physically punishing pastime like running. And in May too, my first 5k, I thrashed my
way around the course, searing calf pain ensued and I took at least a week out after that.
Beginner fail number 2 - not pacing correctly for a race!
I failed to take it easy, I just went for it. Nov 2018 - 0k, then Dec 2018 - 57k. That’s where
the calf pain started. For some people they may be able to handle that. For my body that’s
had 20 years of desk based office work, it was just too much. Fail. And I paid the price with
extended layoff in Feb & March this year. Look at the graph, a very stupid way of easing
into a physically punishing pastime like running. And in May too, my first 5k, I thrashed my
way around the course, searing calf pain ensued and I took at least a week out after that.
Beginner fail number 2 - not pacing correctly for a race!
(by the way, things with the calfs are much better now, I have learnt how to take it easy
and slow down. Stop chasing the PB’s on my phone’s running app).
and slow down. Stop chasing the PB’s on my phone’s running app).
But through all my searching for answers, and my stubbornness I have learnt so much.
I’ve learnt so much about myself, my body, about patience and persistence. And through
searching for answers I joined twitter. After reading lots of running blogs and finding inspiration
there I started blogging myself. I found the @ukrunchat twitter group, and a whole community
of runners. Without the running fails I’m not sure if I would be gearing up for my first half
marathon. Maybe I’d have just gotten bored and given up, with apathy like I did back in
2016. I almost relish the difficulty and risk of failure. If it was easy, what would the point be?
I’ve learnt so much about myself, my body, about patience and persistence. And through
searching for answers I joined twitter. After reading lots of running blogs and finding inspiration
there I started blogging myself. I found the @ukrunchat twitter group, and a whole community
of runners. Without the running fails I’m not sure if I would be gearing up for my first half
marathon. Maybe I’d have just gotten bored and given up, with apathy like I did back in
2016. I almost relish the difficulty and risk of failure. If it was easy, what would the point be?
This isn’t me in the pic here, because this guy seems to have good technique!
What I have also noticed, after reading so many blog posts and articles the past 6
months, is that the subject of running & failure seems to go hand in hand, or at least
they exist as very close neighbours. A couple of additional pieces on the link between
running and failure written by more qualified people can be found below. The mental aspect
of running is something that I am starting to find fascinating.
months, is that the subject of running & failure seems to go hand in hand, or at least
they exist as very close neighbours. A couple of additional pieces on the link between
running and failure written by more qualified people can be found below. The mental aspect
of running is something that I am starting to find fascinating.
But for now, thanks again to Steven here at http://www.runninggeekblog.blogspot.com
for letting me do a guest blog. You can find me on twitter @strugglinrunner and my own
blog can be found at https://strugglinrunner.wordpress.com. I’m out for an 11k training run
this Sunday morning, 7:30am sharp! I am really looking forward to just being out there!
for letting me do a guest blog. You can find me on twitter @strugglinrunner and my own
blog can be found at https://strugglinrunner.wordpress.com. I’m out for an 11k training run
this Sunday morning, 7:30am sharp! I am really looking forward to just being out there!
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