On Running On: Lessons from 40 Years of Running

By Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins has been a regular runner for over 40 years. During that time he has logged more than 50, 000 miles and he draws upon that experience in presenting 244 entertaining pages.The title and the multiple sub-titles on the front and back covers effectively sum up what is coming inside. Whether a long time runner, a novice, or simply someone who would like to get into running, Collins offers support for one and all. He describes his style as "humorously serious with inclusion of occasional rapid-fire satire, similes, metaphors and wisecracks." Fifteen preview readers helped sharpen the content.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 14, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467823630

Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins is a science and history writer who investigates advanced civilizations in prehistory. He is the co-discoverer of a massive cave complex beneath the Giza plateau, now known as “Collins’ Cave.” The author of several books, including Origins of the Gods and Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods, he regularly appears on radio shows, podcasts, and TV series, including Ancient Aliens, The UnXplained with William Shatner, and Lost Worlds. He lives in Essex, England.

Book preview

ON

RUNNING

ON

LESSONS FROM 4 0 YEARS OF RUNNING

plus

TIPS FOR MASTERING SELF-DISCIPLINE

A SPRIGHTLY AND APROPOS

H A N D B O O K

ANDREW COLLINS

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2009 Andrew Collins. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 3/27/09

ISBN: 978-1-4389-3625-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4389-3624-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-2363-0 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008911544

www.collinsbooks. org

Contents

RUNAROUND

OBSERVATIONS

RUNNING—WHERE AND WHEN

RUNNING TECHNIQUES

BEGINNINGS

GARB AND GEARING-UP

GETTING STARTED

SHOES

SOCKS

CALLUSES AND TOENAILS

STRETCHING

CROSS TRAINING

KNEE SUPPORTS

BODY WEIGHT

ACCIDENTS AND SAFETY

INJURIES

ILLNESSES

LOSS OF WILL

ON THE RUN

RACING

PREPARING FOR RACES

ENDORPHINS, RUNNER’S HIGH AND SECOND WIND

WHY RUNNERS QUIT RUNNING

MILESTONE

WRAPUP

GO

GOLFING

GO

About the Author

I

so

say.

This

book is

a product

of a runner’s

experiences. The

goals of its content

are to help those who

have an interest in running

keep going. Prevention of injury

and the avoidance of accidents, along

with one’s diligent nurturing of willpower,

can boost the chances of running for a lifetime.

And all runners, regardless of experience, should

schedule regular physical examinations by a physician.

Each individual person must, with care, evaluate all advice

provided herein to determine applicability before incorporating.

Andrew Collins

www.collinsbooks.org

THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED

In the Civil War play and movie, Shenandoah, family patriarch Charlie Anderson (played onscreen by James Stewart) offers an unusual and memorable dinner-table prayer:

Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. The food wouldn’t be here—we wouldn’t be eating it—if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel. But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we’re about to eat. Amen.

In like manner I conceived this handbook, designed the format, organized the chapters, composed the text, and circumnavigated the publishing process. For all other help such as editing, providing suggestions, offering general assistance and freeing me to write, seriously now, I thank these indispensable collaborators:

Shirley Collins; Ted, Laura, Fitz, Neils, and Pickens Barringer; Lisa Carver; Joel Collins Jr, Esq; Dr. Fred Hassig; Coach Al Buehler; Dr. Ralph Coonrad; Julie Allen; Dr. Seth Warner; Dr. Trig Brown: Dr. Jim Rich; Lou LaMarche; Lee Bowen; Dr. Jim Nelson; and my near-centenarian dear mother, Anne Pickens Collins.

Truly, this book came to its best fruition as a result of joint efforts. And thank you, Lord, for helping it happen.

COME RUN WITH ME©

Put down your pen

Forget the blog

Come run with me

To distant fog

The pace will raise

Our spirits high

We’ll feel so young

Like days gone by

As sunbeams lift

The misty dawn

Oh, let us keep

On running on

Fred Hassig

April 2008

ON

R U N N I N G

ON

DEALING WITH

INJURIES

ACCIDENTS

LOSS OF WILL

&

BODY WEIGHT

PLUS MANY HOW-TO’S AND DO’S-AND-DON’T’S AIMED AT FACILITATING ONE’S RUNNING FOR A LIFETIME

and

FOR NON-RUNNERS AND THOSE TEMPTED AN INSIDE VIEW OF RUNNING’S MYSTIQUE AND NUANCES OF ITS ATTRACTION

FASHIONING AND MAINTAINING

A ROBUST LIFESTYLE

They shall run, and not be weary

Isaiah 40:31

RUNAROUND

Far to the east of Myrtle Beach, S. C.—approximately two thousand miles offshore—morning is breaking anew. There, brilliant sunrays illuminate bobbing whitecaps dotting vast expanses of desolate ocean. And as happens each and every 24 hours, the streaking dawn will continue its inexorable trek westward across the Atlantic, presently at 951 miles per hour, on schedule this February Saturday to make landfall in about two hours and light up the Grand Strand at 6:59 A. M.

Meanwhile, throughout darkness-shrouded Myrtle Beach, scores of runners have begun arising, peeling away soft pajamas and stylish nighties, replacing them with skimpy running garb. Cool running shoes sit poised as warm feet slip inside, the laces snugged and tied, the bows double-knotted. Then comes the all-important timing chip. Orange juice, wedges of a cinnamon swirl, banana bites, hot coffee, whatever the get-me-up-and-going choices, each item is partaken in turn, after which participants pin numbered bibs to proper position, climb into warm-ups and double check all pre-race preparations.

At about this time, hopefully, Mother Nature’s private bodily workings will happen; spontaneously; completely; and most importantly within the blessed warmth and convenience of familiar facilities. Finally, it’s the car keys—and in some instances a kiss for luck goodbye—and rock on out the door.

Soon, multitudes from all directions are migrating toward BB&T Coastal Field, a modern baseball facility, closed for the season, and absent its patrons of course. People continue drifting through the chilled darkness, some alone, many in packs, all destined for the same nearby rallying point.

And there it is, off in the distance, two lighted archways of woven-together, helium-filled balloons sashaying in the wind, seemingly moving in rhythm to the pulsating cacophony of up-tempo music. Beneath the archways near a major roadway intersection is where at 6:30 A. M. the mad dash of contestants will begin.

Spotlight beacons reach upward through a black sky, aiming to transform rude morning conditions into a more inviting place. And, despite the less than ideal circumstances, all participants and observers must now endure a necessary activity: waiting, just waiting.

Some hover in lines at Porta-Johns®, inching forward amidst sounds of latches working and plastic doors slamming. The cold darkness, the excitement, an urgent need to relieve oneself, all combine, leaving the most anxious—sufferers in fact—to do interesting little staving-off dances. Hurry, please hurry, their unspoken pleadings to the lucky ones ahead of them having cherished precedence in the pecking order.

Later, ceremonial protocols begin. But most of the throng of closely massed participants continue babbling and shuffling, jumping and stretching, paying scant attention to the official program. With race time only minutes away, what’s a person left to do but become fully primed and psyched for the challenge?

Moments after final notes of The Star Spangled Banner have faded, a shot rings out, piercing the pre-dawn darkness, and the human stampede begins.

And so goes a typical racing event. Can’t you just imagine your presence there, perhaps for the first time, or in the case of seasoned runners for an additional time, and being personally involved?

This opening spiel is intended to get all readers—along with editing teammates Fred and Julie and Lisa and Fitz and Ted and Seth and Joel and Al and Jim and Pickens and Ralph and Trig and Laura and Lou and Jim and Lee—fired up about the whole universe of running; or at least fired up about reading about running. Are you ready? Competing distractions asunder?

Come, then, into this long-time-in-progress, personal accounting of forty years of running involvement. Enlightening pearls and special unveilings are only pages away.

Image371.JPG

Finishing the Carolina Marathon-Columbia, SC-1977

OBSERVATIONS

Once upon a time . . . Hello . . . while vacationing yet again in one of Florida’s premier wintertime havens, Fort Lauderdale—definitely a favorite getaway of mine—I took notice of a park’s beachfront sign along my regular running route. This was the sign’s introduction:

WELCOME TO

FORT LAUDERDALE

BEACH

These Regulations are for Your Protection and Safety

The sign’s content went on to list the things one should and should not do there in order to have a safe and enjoyable experience.

That in simple terms is this handbook’s orientation: helping devotees of running keep their experiences safe, proper and enjoyable so all might continue running for a lifetime.

But hold on. Enjoyable? I’m pretty certain enjoyable is, for all intents and purposes, a hugely relative matter, especially among runners who have been caught in the throes of negotiating a marathon’s 26.2-mile test.

I well recall the excitement and hoopla during buildup to race day at the 2003 New York City Marathon, i.e., being in The City again and devouring the pleasures of a leisurely pace (yeah, that’ll be the day); spending two engaging evenings at Broadway plays (sat very close to Joe Torre during Hairspray); touring the runner’s expo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (humongous goings on for a small-towner); lollygagging at Times Square (hey, stayed up past midnight one evening); and Sunday’s countdown to launch at Fort Wadsworth (weird hairstyles galore out there). All of the foreplay was enjoyable stuff.

And then I remember being about twenty miles into the race and not finding a smidgen of love. You see, the day’s weather had started out pleasantly cold, meaning we runners (34,729 finished in 2003) donned jackets and mittens as we waited, most of us up and going since 5 A. M., to light out at midmorning across the 1.4-mile Verrazano-Narrows bridge. It seemed the day’s conditions would be inviting for running.

But before long temperatures were becoming much warmer than would be expected in November in New York, climbing eventuallyinto the seventies. While the nice, mostly-sunny day was great for spectators, it was wicked for those of us who had been training in seasonally cold climes, all bundled up.

Anyway, there I was, deep into race day, tired, unpleasantly warm and facing at the least another hour of running. Geographically, for those of you familiar with the course, up ahead was the bridge leading from The Bronx into Harlem. I was finding it increasingly difficult to continue under rather adverse circumstances, and I was not thinking enjoyment. I did, however, manage to keep trekking even though forced to walk, a lot, like a doggone wimp.

Macho me, you see, had never before flirted with, much less actually DNF-ed (did not finish) a marathon. (Eleven of them entered and finished over a span of 28 previous years.) Heck, I had never even walked before in any length race other than briefly at times to take liquids. And I couldn’t possibly let the neophyte runner, P. Diddy (in his early years, Puff Daddy, and now simply, Diddy) trump a seasoned veteran like me, could I? No. Certainly not.

So, I’m proud to say—courage to the rescue—I did finish New York, delighted at the sight of the race’s famous banner hanging high in Central Park. And during the closing zigs and zags of getting to the finish line just a trace of enjoyment? Not a speck. I was miserable. The pictures of me are pathetic. And what’s worse, afterward, I had to remain in a snail-like mass of humanity for an additional half hour to reclaim my belongings bag.

I then went directly to my hotel (I shared the first available cab with three other runners), got a hot shower (by then I was feeling coldalong with other nagging miseries), crawled deep into the bed covers and begged wife Shirley to scout the neighborhood for a roast beef sandwich and a chocolate milkshake. By the way, if that particular offering typifies their ideas of shakes, New Yorkers have a lot to learn about proper concoction—according to my Southern tastes.

Continuing, my New York experiences that day pretty much exemplify a central thrust of this book: there are obstacles out there, lurking, waiting to remove you from the running roster.

Willpower and determination, basically what I define as the pillars of self-discipline, are ingredients runners must have in order to keep on running on—and as a matter of fact the components one must incorporate into a lifestyle regularly in order to continue with any exercise plan. Plus, they are foundations we lean upon whenever racing (including preparing for races) and valuable tools for tackling life’s challenges in general.

But stay with me on this: while running brings with it frequent difficulties and hurdles (mostly figurative hurdles, now, you hear), the benefits and enjoyment far overshadow the negatives. Why, just this week I went for a Saturday morning long run that lasted about two hours. The weather was ideal, mid fifties, and while at the end I was tired, my overall feeling was one of depleted, contented exhilaration. We should count ourselves blessed when life’s circumstances and our health allow us to be involved in this sort of gift—the gift of extensive physical participation.

Most people can’t do what I had just done. They have neither the conditioning nor the will.

(Although here we must acknowledge those unfortunates who have been impacted by a plethora of factors that can curtail or totally preclude running. Those of us who can and do run at will must understand such plights. We are indeed the lucky ones.)

But, look. One need not run anywhere near two hours duration to pluck running’s fruits. Consider this: regularity is the key. A commitment to the concept of continuing, on and on, through the months and years, should be every runner’s primary goal.

One challenge for any how-to writer is that of choosing proper content for the text. An early question I had was, should I be writing for dyed-in-the-wool runners only, or will people who have an interest in running, but are lacking practical experience, use my information as a springboard to get started? I didn’t know. So what I decided to do was try and hit a happy medium.

If you are near your seventies and have run for three to four decades, much of what you’ll encounter herein might be old hat. Conversely, if you are in your midyears I’ll bet there will be many pearls to incorporate. And if you are a novice or simply desire to get into running, you’ll discover guidelines sure to smooth the journey.

But listen up old-timers. Don’t feel left out. You’re likely to find what I have to say about conditioning of knees and avoidance of injuries useful. A word of caution, though, to everyone: you must, ifyou skipped the parabolic-shaped paragraph on the fifth page, go back and read its caveats and disclaimers.

I hope you will judge my choices of content to be informative and practical and my writing manner pleasantly readable. Or, perhaps you might not. I’m aware that grammar purists among you, old-schoolers, are going to say I overuse commas; likewise, others will question my frequent use of parentheses. And sometimes you will encounter convoluted, rambling sentences . . . and my even more questionable incomplete sentences. It’s called style, y’all. Style.

But, hey, all I’m asking for with respect to style is your granting me a writer’s choice of artistic slack. And I offer this reassurance to put all critics more at ease. Every delver among you will have the benefit of quite a few consultants, people from many walks of life and experience bases who read my manuscript prior to its final version going to publication. They proffered many suggestions for corrections, additions and improvements.

If, however, you are disappointed at the end, don’t blame my helpers. Mainly they just reacted to Yours Truly’s ideas of how this book should come together. Additionally, none of my preview readers should be considered endorsers of anything herein. They simply critiqued my choices regarding content and expression, nothing more.

(And here’s an interactive exercise, for the fun of it. In case you are among my aforementioned style critics, can you still name and define the English Language’s Eight Parts of Speech? Hmmm. We’re having to think about them, aren’t we? But the eight partscome back rather quickly—even though first learned in fourth grade (alphabetically): Adjective, Adverb, Conjunction, Interjection, Noun, Preposition, Pronoun and Verb. Raise your hand if you got them all.)

Moving right along, you’re going to find occasional inserts to the text that were gleaned from various sources via the Internet. I decided not to request permissions to use the chosen additions because, in today’s world, the Internet is an open source to track down almost anything. I could have gone the route of just providing readers with pertinent links. But I didn’t want even one partaker interrupting their reading sessions and losing momentum. Appropriately, every inclusion of material derived from some other source is clearly noted and/or credited,