Sourcing quotes and the extraordinary

In George Sheehan's 'Personal Best' there are a number of quotes from philosophers and writers that have some bearing on running. Mostly they are well chosen and crystallize a particular point, however none of them are referenced. They are introduced in a really lazy way like: "Emerson said...", or even worse " A French sociologist pointed this out.. ". I don't know who is at fault, an author who can remember a quote but not its source or a publisher who does not want to clutter up a page with footnotes. Whoever it was does not matter, the other person should have insisted on proper standards. Even a popular books should allow the reader to follow-up its content, through an index and references.

I particularly wanted to look at a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre:

"Only in games is man free because only in games does he understand what is going on"

I have no idea of its source and Google has failed me; so I will have to keep on looking. However the search is not without its rewards - not only have I decided to reread Roads to Freedom I have also found this quote from Nausea:

" I believe the word adventure could be defined: an event out of ordinary without being necessarily extraordinary."

This is a great definition of how I view running. When you look at the population as a whole, what we do is out of the ordinary but it is for the most part not extraordinary. There is however the possibility for the extraordinary, even the heroic. This report from Andy Collier about his completion of the Lanzarote iron man despite being ill with a stomach bug is a case in point. I don't know whether his endurance and bloody mindedness is exemplary or stupid, but it is certainly heroic.

The other thing that shines out from is account is the behaviour of Matt who offered both kindness and support out a sense of community. I think that is the great thing about triathlon or running. Mostly we are alone in our practice but we are also part of a community who share an understanding of what we are trying achieve and what we need. We are never really alone.

Now is the time

I like near-science when it confirms my prejudices.

I have never believed in the idea of new year resolutions. Always I start the year by thinking of things I would like to see happen but tend not to do anything about it until about now. This is obviously the right approach because the day to start your new life is May 18

It is just so difficult to motivate yourself at the beginning of the year when the days are short and the weather is grey and cold. It is not a time to diet because your instincts tell you that you need comfort and warmth. It is not the time for training for the same reason. So for those who did a spring marathon - I salute you. I think it is much tougher than running in autumn when you can train on warmer days, in the light.

Me I'm planning for autumn.

What did I learn?

On Sunday I went for my first long run for ages. Through the woods of Ashridge, amongst the bluebells with the leaves scattering light in speckled patterns – and I felt nothing, not a twinge, not the slightest tenderness. My injury and rehabilitation is over and it is time to consolidate the lessons.

1. First and most obviously – running is experience. Thinking or talking about it is no substitute because you have to feel your immediate experience.

2. Suffering an injury makes you painfully aware of the consequences of your own actions. Whilst I had previously paid lip service to the idea of being careful and trying to run injury free, I did not fully feel it and did not really pay full attention. I had previously been able to experiment with different patterns of training without adverse consequences and so I thought my body was stronger than it actually was. I have been stripped of that illusion and know I have to always keep hold of that sense of frailty.

3. I have identified my area of weakness and that gives me something to work on - a way to improve.

4. There is nothing so damaging to your running fitness as not running – obvious but true - so taking unnecessary risks is stupid. Gradual progress is optimum progress, however I know I am prone to stupidity and need to constantly remember this.

5. Running is not the only exercise. By working on other parts of my body I actually feel stronger and these new routines need to be incorporated into my ongoing pattern. In particular I have been working on core muscles and shoulders. I have a theory that you need strength there to maintain form over the long distance.

6. All the exercises in the gym just feel like preparation - they are not an end in themselves, whereas running is fully sustaining.

However all that is mere mechanics the most important lesson is that running is incredibly important to my sense of being. It also makes me easier to live with. I found this out at a dinnertime conversation on the subject of shop names when I said my favourite was ‘Run and Become’. “Become what?” Asked my younger daughter. “Whatever you can be,” I said “It ‘s a path not a clear objective” “Yes” said my wife “you are far more content and relaxed when you are running”.

I don’t want to become a grumpy old man.

Water

How do we know something is true?


I don’t want this to be a post about life, the universe and eternal verities – this is after all a running blog – but it is important to know that advice we receive is well founded. It is important to know that any science has been accurately reported and translated and the sources can be checked. If advice is based on experience then that experience must be directly described with all the circumstances to allow the reader to separate the more general lessons from the particular, individual instance. Then we can make judgements.

Sometimes, however, I worry that things are assumed to be true just because they are frequently repeated. Take hydration – apparently you should drink 2 litres of water (and only water) a day otherwise you risk chronic dehydration. This is an example of that sort of assertion from the BBC website. I know this is not a from a sports site and the article drifts off into something that should be savaged in ‘Bad Science’ in the Guardian ( I particularly enjoyed the electromagnetic memory of water and the idea of implosion research has a sort of charm), but I have seen similar water advice in a number of places.

In particular there is a lot of anti-caffeine prejudice. As someone who mostly drinks a mixture of coffee, tea and green tea I find this very tiresome. I have drunk like this most of my adult life and have not become progressively dehydrated and shrivelled like a prune (although my brow is rather too furrowed). My favourite recovery drink after a long run is a big mug of tea and I don't want to change that – so I will continue according to the motto that if experience contradicts the theory; stick with the experience.

However there is no contradiction. This article on the urban myths site Snopes seems to be the sort of balanced assessment I like - it means I do not have to change my ways. The worrying thing is that it cites a self-published book as the main source of the myth about chronic dehydration. How can such a publication have such a big influence?

One of the consequences of the Internet is that it allows rumour and speculation to be passed off as fact because of a weight of repetition. Alomost anything can spread like a virus. It is thus increasingly important to check sources and always ask: how do I know this is true?