Or so a close friend of mine used to tell me every time I complained as the road went upwards and I ran out of gears... Anyway, I'm talking about the OMM (that's the KIMM for the older audience) which was in the news recently.. 1300 mountain runners are missing! Well, not quite.. they were in their tents and they knew where they were.. they just couldn't contact the organisers (A friend told me this very weekend at the Dunnerdale fell race that they were trying to call the organisers to report that they were safe and the lines were blocked by the media calling the organisers.. I waited for the news report on Sunday.. 1300 mountain runners re-appear! but it didn't happen. So the debate began... police said that it should not have been allowed and competitors said that that's why they did it... It was worse that the Howgills!! and that was bloody awful!! No doubt many a proud story will be told in future years.. I was there at Borrowdale in 2008!! That's where I think it's quite sad that high risk taking activities are being reduced to a standstill by health and safety guidelines and ask again has it gone too far? As a race organiser the threat of being sued is increasingly present in your mind, the odd thing is, most of the competitors think it's ridiculous also so where is this going wrong!?
I have noticed from my coaching activities that the age at which athletes are able to handle large quantities of training seems to be on the rise. People are reaching their thirties before they can are physically and mentally strong enough to train hard (n.b. does not include all people - huge generalisation on my behalf!) and I have a theory as to why this is occurring:
1. People only have responsibility later in life, they study longer, travel a bit and buy houses / settle into full time work at an older age.. this means that they don't have to grow up as fast. Not wanting to sound like a moaning Northerner.. but my dad left school at 14 and worked as a blacksmith from that age.. that's just how it was.
Why is it that during ultra-distance running events it's always the 65 year old who wanders up the the checkpoint after 75 miles of running looking like he is out for a stroll.. "Aye.. just give us a cheese sarnie and I'll be fine.. I had a pork pie at 20 miles". The younger athletes who should be able to handle the 'physical challenge' much better are wilting.. perhaps the key term in understanding this phenomenon is 'physical challenge'.. how much is mental and how much is physical and how much are they both linked? I'd suggest more than we think.
2. Risk has been taken out of just about everything, people don't make their own judgement and don't face dangerous challenges and therefore lose the associated experiences. What exactly is a hard training session? Generally the answer is dictated by your experiences.. If you have ran in the worst possible conditions for 2days without stopping, you are probably not phased by a marathon. Your experiences and the challenges you deal with make you the person you are and dictate how you handle the things thrown at you.. If you can say every time "we've been in worse situations than this" you are quids in..
3. I strongly believe that points number 1 and number 2 strongly dictates the kicking all Europeans seem to get from African distance runners, physiological differences aside..
Training can be a chore which requires commitment, dedication and drive, especially when the weather is as bad as those experience make you who you are.. remember:
"If it doesn't stretch outside the recognised boundaries of health and safety legislation.. you can be pretty sure that it's not going to kill you"
Here endeth theenduranceblog and the ramblings of an ageing man...
