Going Backwards - Depeche Mode

Which way are you going?

‘The course has been set, we're digging our own hole’ – Gore

Do you ever feel like you’re ‘Going Backwards’ with your training and racing? It’s the major downfall of any athlete and one I see posted time and time again on Facebook – the modern day ‘Announcement Forum’ for ‘Doom and Gloom’ rather than ‘Success’. In fact, anyone else’s success only goes to deepen the mood, especially if they’ve succeeded where you’ve failed.

I believe the problem comes from the line between training and racing becoming blurred and every run being run at 85% Maximum Heart Rate, where although training times quickly tumble they will only gone on to plateau, as will race times before ‘Going Backwards’…

The prolonged effect on individual’s marathon times speaks volumes. The 4-hour barrier is one that the enthusiastic beginner always wants to break. I had that goal myself and it didn’t take long to knock chunks off my marathon PB as I was running the correct balance of Long Slow Distance, Intervals and Speed sessions without over racing in between. My 4-hour marathon soon become sub 3.45 and even sub 3.30 when I was training following a proper training plan until I hit my PB on my 15^th Marathon. From there, I started running Ultras, took my foot off the pace and didn’t match it again until my 113^th three years later after a huge amount of LSD training.

So, what happened?

It’s simple, like me, folk just want to race all the time, get the glory, feel the buzz and make their mark at the detriment to their health and well-being and personal bests. How much or how little they’ve trained is the last consideration when the ‘Race Entry’ button is being pressed...

It’s like a musician or singer that just wants to perform and never wants to play the scales or do the practice that it takes to go and perform at the highest level. It’s sad as we all have the ability within to go faster, higher and stronger just like the Olympic motto heralds.

So, why don’t we?

It’s because it’s too darned easy to be ‘Average’ rather than ‘Awesome’ and play safe. If you’ve ever really pushed yourself and given everything you’ve got, you’ll have the knowledge of just how much effort and pain it took to get there. Getting to that point again and then having to surpass those efforts become so daunting that we play straight into the arms of our own ‘Comfort Factor’ and take it just that little bit easier every time we run and the ‘Going Backwards’ principle kicks in.

If you look at any 24-hour athlete’s performance and you’ll see how much their distances can fluctuate year-on-year. Their first race can sometimes be their PB and it’s interesting how much their mental attitude affects their results. This genre of racing really tests ‘appetite’ as well as ‘ability’. The start line is a particularly daunting place and it’s obvious very early on if people’s attitude has been ‘Going Backwards’ rather than forwards. 

So, what’s the answer?

I always advise a ‘Time Out’ when things don’t seem to be going right. A break is a good thing and if all your ‘Get up and go has got up and gone’, well you’re not going to find it by entering loads of races. It’s actually a good time to work out why you run. What you enjoy about it. What you really enjoyed about it when you first started, you know when your times were tumbling every time you ran.

You probably relied on less technology, had a keener eye on your diet and had less of a blinkered approach to where your limits of endurance really were. Let’s face it back then, you simply didn’t know.

So, here’s hope…

I have a challenge for you. How about pressing your ‘Reset Button’ and go back into training and see just how fast you can get in 12-Weeks. You’ll be surprised if instead of knocking out boring old 9 minute miles, you follow one of my bespoke training plans and become the ‘Elite’ version of your yourself you’ve always dreamt of being.

I mean, who wants to be ‘Going Backwards?’

Rory Coleman - rory@rorycoleman.co.uk

1,001 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

Location: Cardiff, Wales