As a runner I keep an excel spreadsheet recording distance and race times. I have this from post my second Comrades campaign in 2009, so currently just over 7 years. My excel sheet is just about recording distance but my mate Jon, who is an accountant by the way, has taken it to a new level and his also has times so he can work out average pace etc. It is a thing of beauty with pivot tables everywhere. All these excel sheets are now really defunct as GPS watches and Strava combined to allow runners to store all their runs online and have all the data at their fingertips. Combine this with a software package like training peaks and what you can produce is incredible.

This morning while I ran my ‘old faithful’ 10k for the 144th time (thanks for that Strava.) and started to think about how a ‘normal’ week for me has morphed from 50k as I started my journey in 2009 to nearly 200k last week. I remember thinking 100k was a massive number and one I would never aspire to (at the time Jon would be running that distance regularly, we all though he was mad!) Over the years as I have ran more and more chasing new PB’s the ‘norm’ has risen culminating in the last 3 weeks running twice a day and 100 miles becoming the new ‘normal week’. Is this sustainable,  probably not but the real issue is I am still loving my running and now consider a two run day normal. So what is next, three times a week, 250k a week total ? I know these sort of numbers are achievable by professional athletes but not us ‘normal’ (am I still normal?) runners.  There has been a number of days recently where I could have ran 3 times but on principal stopped myself, I do not want three times a week becoming the new ‘norm’!!

So back to my ‘what is normal question’? Is it normal to run 14 times a week and over 100 miles? No, not really, and not in the running community at large if the truth be told. There are many different levels of runner who participate for so many different reasons, be it weight loss, general wellness, happiness, for the love of running, to improve their racing times, to spend quality time alone with their thoughts, the reasons are endless. For each one there is a ‘normal’ week of running. This may be one 10k a week, a few jogs around the local park, moving up to 2-3 runs a week and then eventually all the way to twice a day. I have moved through these levels and I am as excited about my next run as I was about my last. Addicted, hell yeah but I feel in a good way. Only problem is would all addicts say the same thing. ?

I’ve attached a good article by Nicole Radziszewski , founder of Mama’s Gotta Move  ( http://www.mamasgottamove.com/ ) to highlight this addiction that is running…

Jenny Shepherd, 39, had always run to deal with stress. But when postpartum depression struck after the birth of her third child in 2011, Shepherd ramped up her coping strategy. The more she ran, the more she depended on it—to the point where taking a day off left her feeling anxious and depressed.

“I’d squeeze in the miles whenever I could. Even if I felt tired, I’d rather suffer through an uncomfortable workout than deal with the guilt of not doing it,” says Shepherd, of Oak Park, Illinois.

This past January, Shepherd committed to a 200-mile challenge through her running group, and ran herself into an ankle injury and a boot. When the boot came off, Shepherd’s doctor gave her clearance to run one mile. She ran four. “I couldn’t seem to stop myself,” she says.

There’s a fine line between being a dedicated athlete and being addicted to running, but experts have come to recognize exercise addiction as a legitimate problem—akin to alcoholism, binge eating, and other addictive disorders.

Shepherd’s story illustrates some of the telltale signs, one of which is running through injury, says Heather Hausenblas, Ph.D, a health psychologist at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida., who has studied exercise addiction for more than 20 years. “When you are injured, are you able to stop and take time off to heal? People who are addicted cannot—or if they do, they experience withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, depression and trouble sleeping.”

“Another sign is that running becomes all-consuming,” says Hausenblas. “Someone who is addicted will give up all other activities in their life—family, friends, work—to get their runs in.”

“The Truth About Exercise Addiction” by Katherine Schreiber and Hausenblas (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, February 2015) elaborates on the signs of exercise addiction and offers insight into the risk factors and treatment. The book includes the Exercise Dependence Scale, which Hausenblas helped develop. The scale looks at seven factors to determine if an individual is addicted to exercise:

Withdrawal effects:

• Do you experience withdrawal symptoms when you stop?
• Continuance: Do you continue to exercise despite recurring problems?
• Tolerance: Do you feel a need to always do more to achieve the same effect?
• Lack of control: Are you unable to control your exercise habits?
• Reduction in other activities: Are you spending less time doing other things?
• Time: Is exercise consuming all of your time?
• Intention effect: Do you exercise more than you intend?

Based on scale responses, an estimated 25 percent of runners suffer from exercise addiction, compared to about 0.3 percent of the population in general, Hausenblas says.

Why is this number so much higher for runners? For one, it’s socially acceptable. “It’s okay to say, ‘I’ve got to do my 16-mile run today because I’m training for a marathon,’” says Hausenblas. “You get praise for doing it. It’s valued in our society.”

There is also something to be said about endorphins, which have been linked to improved mood. “People who are exercise-dependent need this, or their mood is strongly affected,” Hausenblas says. While various forms of exercise result in an endorphin boost, it tends to be greater with running and other forms of cardio.

For the nonexerciser—and even for someone who is exercise dependent–addiction to running might not seem like such a bad thing. But the consequences can be serious.

Physically, these include an increased risk of injury, exhaustion, and even cardiac damage, says Emilio Landolfi, Ph.D, a kinesiologist at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, Canada, who has researched exercise addiction. While these are similar to the effects of overtraining, a person who is exercise dependent would likely continue to exercise when overtraining symptoms begin to appear. “Consequently, the damage is potentially much greater in the exercise addict versus the overtrained athlete,” Landolfi says.

If you believe you are addicted to running or exercise in general, Hausenblas advises keeping a diary of your workouts. Set reasonable goals to gradually decrease your mileage or time spent exercising, and talk to a close friend to hold you accountable. If you still can’t stop, seek professional help.

If you have a friend who shows signs of exercise dependence, carefully bring the issue to her attention, says Hausenblas. Make sure she is aware exercise addiction is a real condition. Don’t accuse her of being addicted, but instead use “I” statements to express how her behavior makes you feel.

For more advice on dealing with exercise addiction, check out “The Truth About Exercise Addiction.”

As I move towards my third 100 mile (160k) week I must admit to looking forward to the next block of training which is more race focused, with 5 races in 6 weekends. This will allow me to drop some of the double days (currently on a 18 out of the last 19 days doubling up streak) and concentrate more on shorter faster tempo/threshold runs. I have enjoyed the last 8-10 weeks of high distance running, and even the last 3 weeks of constant double up days, but it is time to drop the mileage.

As a runner with a job, 3 Daughters, Wife, dog, budgie and many goldfish juggling my time these last 3 weeks has proved challenging. I run every lunchtime and then either before work (which means you’re tired in the evening) or after work (which means family life suffers). Running high mileage can be done but you have to sacrifice a few things including any thought of a social life (which is fine), sleep (which is not fine!), TV (I gave Foxtel away !!) and some family time.  Also it means you cut corners on some important aspects including stretching or maybe even diet as you are time constrained.  On the up side you feel invigorated and your body does adjust to the second run as long as its kept nice and easy; and as I’ve said before the second run has no real objectives bar time on feet so you can really ‘chill’ and just enjoy the freedom of running,

I can see why the Kenyan runners do very little bar run, eat and neither sleep or relax. The extra time recovering would certainly aid the extra running but for us mere mortals we have no time for that extra ‘power nap’ or just sitting around with your feet up taking in the world…. this is why we as normal runners find the double up workload eventually unachievable.

No worries, a few more days and then maybe a day off before a 10k race I have planned a week Sunday before a half marathon the next weekend, a weekend off before another half and then a 5k before the Masters Worlds Marathon November 6th. Looking forward to getting on the old racing bib because nothing fires you up more than competition. It’ll make the last 8-10 weeks worth every minute….

Finally running double days always reminds me of one of my favourite Sebastian Coe quotes about running a double up day on Christmas Day because of his rivalry with Steve Ovett .

“It was a harsh winter (harsh enough to bring down a government) but I ran 12 miles on Christmas morning. It was a hard session and I got home, showered and felt pretty happy with what I had done.
Later that afternoon, sitting back after Christmas lunch, I began to feel uneasy but was not quite sure why. Suddenly it dawned on me. I thought: “I bet [Steve] Ovett’s out there doing his second training session of the day.” I put the kit back on, faced the snow and ice and did a second training session. I ran several miles, including some hill work.
Not long ago, over supper in Melbourne, I told him the story. He laughed. ‘Did you only go out twice that day?’ he asked.”

Starting to feel the fatigue in the legs recently and today was a tad warmer than it’s been of late. Must start to get use to the heat as I know it’s coming like a freight train ! In Perth the average temperature is 18 and in summer 35+ days are common. Not a big fan of the heat when it comes to running in it so I always suffer in Perth’s scorching summers. Today was 20 and for the first time in quite a while it felt warm. I started slowly and ran by myself for 7k before meeting my mate Jon. We then ran together for 8k putting the world to rights and just generally chatting about ‘stuff’. Before I knew it my 10k run had turned into 15k and the time had slipped away.  Funny men ain’t known for chatting but when we run in groups we’ll happily chirp away for hours, or maybe that’s just me. ? Anyway the point of this post is running alone can sometimes be what you need but generally a bit of company helps; especially on those long runs on the weekend.  I would also recommend a running group if you’re starting out as like minded people enjoying (suffering) together will encourage you to keep turning up and improving. If the group has a shared goal, like a marathon, this bond is even stronger and you’re more likely to succeed with a bit of peer pressure.

Finally if you are feeling unmotivated a call out to a friend can sometimes be what you need to get you ‘out there’……

I’ve been running in Kings Park for 16 years but always find new and interesting trails or parts of the park I haven’t visited for some time. Like all things in life we get caught in ruts and do the same old thing day in, day out. Running is similar and you can map out the week of runs which can then turn into months and eventually years of running the same runs. This lunchtime I just went out with the premise of not actually having a plan or destination, just find some new trails. This I did and had a great run. My 10K turned into a 11.5k but whose counting. Hardly looked at the Garmin, hardly.

So whats the point of this post. Sometimes you just need to go for a run, no objective, no distance and no destination, just run for the sheer joy of running, puts a smile  on my face just typing it. Tomorrow though it’s back on, structure, pressure, numbers and probably some pain. Wouldn’t have it any other way….

Legs are feeling ‘goosed’ and I know I’m now walking the tightrope of injury and distance benefit gain. Due to No3Daughter deciding we should swap beds at 1am last night it made deciding to get up and go for a run all that more difficult. As I discussed yesterday the conditions were calm but cold so once I put on the skins and wind-cheater I was off in the dark. Best part about an early morning run is you get to see a sunrise and that alone makes the effort of getting out of bed worth it. No matter how many times you see a sunrise or sunset they are all special. Maybe it’s because as I near 50 I realise that my days of viewing these are limited. Hell, I could be over half way to the finish and this is one race where I will not be increasing my pace. 

Skins were yet again useful for keeping the legs warm initially but also helping in taking some of the fatigue out of the legs which , in my view, is certainly helping keep calf knots or strains away. We’ll see….

I must admit to wearing my Skins on my second runs in the evenings. I find they just help keep my legs ‘tight’, if that’s the right word. I went through a stage when I first got them (in 2010) of wearing them for all long runs and even in races. I even wore them in a 10k once, what was I thinking ? I remember starting a few debates on cool running back in the day on how much of an advantage I thought they gave you in a marathon. ( http://www.coolrunning.com.au ) My 4-5 minutes was met with much debate at the time. I suppose what made me stop wearing them was no professional athlete ever worn them. After that they became my ‘recovery’ apparel and the odd long run when it was cold.

Now in their sixth year there are holes in all sort of places, which is why I always wear shorts over them. (and I believe this is a must at all times!!) but they still server to protect tired legs and I stand by my statement that they are worth a few minutes in a marathon, in a similar way a light pair of trainers can make a big difference if you can get away with wearing them.

The calf socks seem to be very ‘in’ currently in the triathlon world, must have something to do with the extra strain those athletes put on their legs because of the cycling and swimming ? Not sure but they certainly seem to be a ‘go-to’ piece of apparel for the triathletes. I have a pair and again if I do feel a calf knot coming on these socks seem to keep injuries at bay. All good then.

The one final comment regarding skins (or any compression tights) is they must never, ever be white. There was the time my good friend Dr. Geoff Reynolds embarrassed a state when he ran for WA in the Melbourne Marathon, beside me, in WA colours wearing white skins. This is akin to bowling underarm and Athletics WA has never really recovered. Worse, we both made the Marathon Booklet for that year; I’m surprised we were let back in WA airspace.

I’ve found a photo of the start. Please remember what is seen cannot be unseen. Me and Geoffa are wearing the WA State Colours as in 2010 the Melbourne Marathon was the State Championships. The only time I was so close to the African winners, the first 10m.!

Lunchtime run and we’re faced with a headwind straight from hell. After a brief discussion we all decide to run away into Kings Park and hide on some trails out of the wind. Makes me wonder how I’d clock the K’s in a climate not so ‘runner friendly’. I’ve mentioned a few times that I consider Perth to have the friendliest runner climate globally. Three seasons of the year it’s perfect all day,  while in Summer you get to get up nice and early and still get great temperatures while hiding from the heat for the rest of the day.

We’re also blessed with great trails, hundreds of kilometres of great shared bike paths (though cyclists can sometimes get confused with the ‘shared’ bit of that quote), great parks built for running and lots and lots of space.  All makes for some great running.

Could I run twice a day in a British Winter ? I suppose with the right protection, clothing wise, it would still be just as satisfying. An excuse for a whole new wardrobe of running attire, but for the moment I’ll stick with my singlet, shorts and suntan cream.

My Wife takes No 3 Daughter to a party, no 2 Daughter fancies a power nap and no 1 Daughter is relaxing with her laptop. Oh well, might as well sneak out for a relaxing 10k. One of the benefits of the girls growing up is Karen and I are getting our lives back which means more running for me. Actually it’s probably just me getting my life back as Karen still seems to be busy as. So the lesson here is if you can find 45 minutes you can get out there….