I’ve mentioned both these topics before but they are important enough to warrant another post as in the last few days I have seen for myself how these two runners traits manifest themselves. First on Sunday after our long run we were all blown away when,  at the cafe afterwards over the obligatory pancakes and coffee , Jon’s order turned up and it was a fruit salad. There was a hush around the table before some light hearted banter about Jon’s last minute effort to ditch weight for the upcoming Australia Day Ultra. (http://australiadayultra.com ) I must admit I feel Jon is probably leaving it a bit late but the sacrifice was there and although he made a good effort in disguising his disappointment it was obvious to all.

Runners need to make sacrifices almost daily to ‘be the best they can be’. Every meal needs to be planned , organised, researched and digested. This can be a daily battle if we are thrust out with our comfort zone. This happened to me recently when I was on a family holiday and had to visit restaurants and then faced with menus not designed with health and well being in mind. I had to scour the menu and find the meal that, in my view, would do the least about of damage to my body. On both occasions I was saved by Salmon and mash potato with dill sauce and asparagus, which I think is a ‘super food‘, apparently. ? The garlic bread was justifiable as it contained carbs and as runners we love carbs. Sweet was a definite no-no as the portions were far too big and I remember thinking I would have to go long the next day in an attempt to cancel out some of the calories I would be digesting.

You wonder why most runners have no social life. I personally am just about tea total , though will admit to one glass of red wine over the festive period. Note,  I did run a record week on Christmas week which is probably sad but made me feel good about myself. I suppose this really is a case of only a runner knows the feeling. ?

What sacrifices do I make. I have a sweet tooth and as you’ll see in most posts my running can sometimes seem like an excuse to eat pancakes at Clancy’s in City Beach or Muffins at Yelo in Trigg. (I highly recommend both by the way.) I can semi-justify both of these are being ‘running friendly’  in the fact that they can aid the recovery process and we normally eat these after a run. (Never tried before a run but after my Christmas Day nightmare when I ran a few hours after a full Sunday Roast I suspect it really would be a bad idea. It seems cyclists are the only true athletes who can stop in the middle of a ride, drink soya light-frappacinos in lycra and then continue as if nothing has happened? Go figure ?) Tea and biscuits are another weakness of mine and only eaten as a treat after a marathon. I have been known to destroy a packet of dark chocolate digestives with a good cuppa’ but insist on running a marathon first. Again sacrifices, a runner can never really let themselves go and enjoy the ‘good things in life’ , these ‘good things‘ are different things to different people but as runners we are all in the same boat when we are usually denied them. Otherwise I suppose it wouldn’t be a sacrifice. ?

Another important runners trait is routine. I bumped into Nic Harman this morning at the traffic lights, I invited Nic along to our Thursday morning Yelo progressive run. (We could probably keep up with Nic for the first 4-5k until he would have got bored with our pace and turned on the afterburners!) Nic turned down my invitation as he had a tempo session Thursday evening and would need to be fresh for that . (Truth be told a 14k progressive with myself and the BK posse would not test young Nic and I’d be surprised if he managed to move to third gear.)  Either way the point of this story is the routine is there and it is not to be wavered from, even being tempted by Yelo muffins and my company would now sway Nic. (Maybe he doesn’t like muffin’s, what other reason could it be ?)

So is all this sacrifice and routine worth it ? You lose most of your non-running friends, your wife will start to organise a social life alone and her friends will start to see her as single with no ‘significant other’, you’ll be first to rise for your morning run with the sunrise and also first to bed after reading the 9 year old her bedtime story. Alcohol and restaurants will become no-no’s and weight will be a constant niggling voice in the back of your mind as you move towards the sweet stall or hover in the chocolate isle at your local deli. Routine dictates you wake every morning, no matter how fatigued, and stumble out of bed and up to the top of your street before turning on the GPS function on your watch and heading off on anther 10k to go with the previous hundreds you’ve already completed and knowing there are probably thousands still to do.

Is it all worth it ? Of course it is. When you get one of those runs when it all comes together and you make a time you thought  beyond you everything pales into insignificance. Sacrifice and routine are just two pieces of the jigsaw that make up the whole picture and when it all comes together it can be a wondrous thing to behold.

Finally, if nothing else, it allows us runners to eat pancakes and the odd muffin to aid recovery and that in itself is enough for me, the rest is a bonus.