Loneliness of a long-distance runner…a rerun – Panay News

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death…

“Time”, singers/songwriters-Pink Floyd

PERHAPS this was inspired by the longing to be able to run free again, to feel the elements bathe one’s body on a solitary run at the crack of dawn as the sun slowly rises.

Yes, we’re going to talk about the marathon and what it’s like to be a serious competitor and not as a fun runner.

As a writer, I belong to that school of thought that the journalist is never his story but most of the runners who competed in that certain period are already dead. This gave me no choice but to draw from my experience as a serious marathon runner who competed for 10 years some 26 years ago.

In case someone might be lost in translation, let’s define what a marathon is, according to that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (26.219 miles, or 26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides (more correctly, Philippides), a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory.

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. 

A marathoner or marathon runner is someone who has completed the full marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers or 26 miles / 385 yards depending on which system you use. The race must be an official Olympics-sanctioned one, otherwise you have no bragging rights to call yourself a marathoner.

Those who have joined 5km, 10km or half-marathons (21km) are not marathoners; they’re just fun runners, at best road racers. If they say they’re marathoners then they’re just trendy idiots who have no idea what they’re talking about. These people are on the same level as those Frappuccino-infused trendy social climbers screaming “democracy and press freedom are dead” during rallies while strangely enough have never been arrested to this day.

Running or competing in the marathon is serious business not for the faint-hearted (pun intended) and quite literally as you need a strong and healthy cardiovascular system to do the job.

I should know, having competed in the marathon for 10 years from 1980 to 1990. Coming from a footballer’s background after competing in the beautiful game for school, region and country, the marathon is the perfect segue as an alternative sport. Since football training is basically running, after my football career ended the transition to road running was natural.

Marathons and road races during my days were hardcore; there were no fun runs then. You compete against yourself, time and just about every runner. Even training sessions with other runners almost always is highly competitive unless you want to be left behind because no one waits for the slow runner. The joke then was, “Can’t keep up? Then take the jeep or buy a bicycle.”

As a marathon runner, your life begins and ends with the run i.e. you start the day with your morning run and end the day either preparing for your run the next morning or your evening run. Hence, “the loneliness of a long distance runner” – you have no social life other than with fellow runners.

In my 10 years span as a marathoner, I have competed in two Negros Marathons, two Milo Marathons Finals, one PAL International Marathon, one  Manila International Marathon and one 50km Ultra Marathon. In between I have competed and won numerous; 5km, 10km road races and half- marathons (21 km).

In competing and finishing the marathon, the respectable finishers’ time would be a sub-4 hour one, meaning you hit the finish line with a time between 3:35 to 3:55. Other than that you’re just a plodder or a fun runner and not really a serious runner.

Here’s my training log then: Tuesday to Friday, 10km road run 70 percent effort; Saturday, speed training doing intervals on the track oval four laps warm-up then four laps sprinting the straights and jogging the curves then four laps cool down jog; Sunday, 20 km long slow distance; Monday, rest day from running but a light circuit in the gym.

A very strict regimen should be religiously followed and this will make you win if not make the top 10 in most road races.

Aside from releasing your endorphins and experiencing Nirvana with “runners high”, the icing on the cake is that you’re lean and mean, very healthy with a very low body fat index and superior cardiovascular capacity. On top of this (pun intended) you’ll perform and enjoy sex much better than the average couch potato. ([email protected]/PN)