Golden rule number 6 is baseline everything. This involves a Garmin  ( http://www.garmin.com.au ) or any other device that records distance, pace, heart rate, steps, temperature etc. I have mentioned before that over the last few years I have become a Strava tragic ( http://www.strava.com ) . I cannot run without the resulting data being uploaded as soon as possible afterwards. Strava, although predominately still cycling software, has been embraced by the running community and has turned itself into the Facebook of running. Over time it has added the ability to add photos, comments and now you can even tag fellow runners and add groups. I envisage soon the interface will start to morph more and more into a social media type look. In Australia it has been taken the place of CoolRunning which use to be the go-to site of choice for runners, which is a pity as I use to love that site. ( http://www.coolrunning.com.au ) i did manage to get to a 1000 posts before it really stopped being the place to go. I’m hoping it can reinvent itself but Stava has become so widely accepted it will be hard to dislodge.

So baseline, what does that mean and what is the benefit ? In the ‘good old days’ before GPS watches and the Internet (Yes, once there was no internet !) a runner would keep a diary of distance (normally estimated) but pace and heart rate or cadence was unmeasurable. Once GPS watches and the internet came along all this changed. Now the data you produce from the GPS watch can be uploaded to a variety of software tools in the internet and all sorts of reports produced. Training peaks ( https://www.trainingpeaks.com ) is a good example of whats available.

So what is the benefit ? If you don’t baseline how do you know when you improve ? All this data is useful to show how week on week, month on month, you are improving. That may be running the same pace at a lower heart rate, or average pace increasing for known runs or just keeping tracks of your PB’s and race times. Software takes out all the guess work and the watches themselves give you so much information, real time, there is no hiding from a bad run or instant gratification from a good one.

I remember back in the day running marathons with a stop watch and the mental arithmetic needed to work out splits and target times as you reached a K marker, which was normally in the wrong position anyway. Not knowing what pace you had just run or were running at the time and always leaving it late due to either bad maths or optimistic finishing pace. Happy days. Always made the last 10k of a marathon a surprise. These days you can set your watch for a certain pace and even ‘virtual partners’ to race against. No surprises, instant feedback. Sometimes I miss the challenge of that last 10k when you can finally work out what you need to run and still have no real idea if you are going to make it until you round the last corner and see the finish line…. maybe one day I’ll dust down the stop watch and go ‘old school’….. who am I kidding ?

I thought it was time I started to go through my Top Golden Rules for improving your running and staying uninjured. The first rule is the most important, probably the most overlooked and  the one that if you get it wrong can do the most damage. A good foundation is pivotal to running success and this means starting slowly and building up distance week by week before you add pace. Everybody has a starting point, be it a 100m walk in the park that turns into a 200m the next day or a 10k recovery run after an injury which then becomes a 11k in a few days time. It’s all about a slowly, slowly approach. There is the old adage you shouldn’t add more than 10% a week but I feel this has become a bit ‘old school’ and it’s more important to build up by feel.

Get this stage right and good foundations, like in so many environments can be built on them without the whole lot falling down. So, slowly, slowly; build up the distance until you are happy and confident enough to add some pace. This will be different for each individual and there’s no distance or time period that I can offer really. I will say it’s probably impossible to do too much, slowly. Where as it is certainly possible to go too fast too early, resulting in an injury.

One of my favourite authors Matt Fitzgerald advocate the 80%/20% rule which translates as 80% easy running, 20% at pace. I try to follow this split myself most weeks and it seems to work. The 80% easy is a lot ‘easier’ on the body and also , I find, more relaxing and enjoyable as you are running to feel not your Garmin GPS watch. Initially the 20% at pace doesn’t need to be that quicker than your normal pace but something to get the heart beating a little harder. Over time pace will come.

That’s a lot of typing, time for a photo. This one is by one of my favourite Perth Photographers and runner Paul Harrison. Very talented. This photo is of the view from Matilda Bay as you run towards Perth,  a run I’m lucky enough to do once or twice a week minimum.

Right here they are, the rules I abide to and will help you achieve your goal when it comes to running marathons, or any distance really. I’ll spend time on each in more detail but for the moment I’ve set them out in a list below.

1. Run Further. Add distance, not speed.
2. Run Faster. This is about adding pace after you have got your foundation after rule 1.
3. Don’t get injured. This is the hardest rule to obey as you always want to do more of rule 1 and 2 which can result in an injury. (I even hate typing the word!)
4. Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition… Did I mention nutrition. It’s all about the proper fuel.
5. Weight. So important, use to believe because I ran 100k+ a week I could eat what I wanted. Not true.
6. Baseline, document and evaluate everything. If it isn’t on www.strava.com it didn’t happen. Once you set a goal you have to be able to know how far you have come to achieving this, small steps but constant feedback. So buy a Garmin and start recording , everything !!!
7. Sleep. So underestimated but the bodies way of refuelling and preparing for the next day of running. Common sense but so often ignored.
8. Consistency. No point running 100k one week and then nothing. Marathon fitness is built up over time and this works hand in hand with rule number 1.
9. It’s all in the mind. After 32k a marathon is down to mental strength and the ability to persuade your body you can still perform at your desired pace without falling to fatigue, which is the minds way of protecting itself. Never underestimate the power of the mind in long distance racing.

Feel I should be able to find 1 more rule. It’s always 10 rules right ? I wonder what happened over the years to all good rules number 11 which never made the cut.