sore arms

due to the fact that not for the first time i slipped over on delivery today i have a very sore left arm/shoulder. good job that i am no longer in intensive training mode any more as knocks like that can be a bit of a bug bear (well if they were on your legs they would be). at this stage of the year it doesn't do you any harm to miss a days training as the main bits are either behind you if you're a track runner, unless you are fortunate enough to be good enough to compete in the world championships. nice to have pipe dream like that and i suppose it has to be the ultimate dream for any sports man to reach the very pinnacle of their chosen discipline. i keep getting this premonition that i'm going to be selected to run the marathon in 2012 and win in my home country. now that for me would be the ultimate experience. i've often wondered what it must be like for marathon runners when they enter the olympic stadium in the final 500 yards, no one else around you have a clear lead, and barring a spectacular collapse you are about to become an olympic champion, every thing you have dreamed of since you were a little kid and you KNOW you're about to do it...the feeling must be undescribably awesome. maybe one day i or some one i know will experience that for real and theres a better chance of it happening in the distances rather than the sprints because championship distance races tend to be slow as there are no pace makers, which gives the lesser athletes a chance as being a world record holder means absolutely jack shit in championships, it doesn't give you the knowledge of how to use that ability most efficiently. case in point steffano baldini, who is 36 and has a pb 2 or 3 minutes slower than most of the east africans, yet he has won the 2004 olympics title the 1998 and 2006 european titles along with a world championship bronze in 1999.



training wise i have managed to squeeze in 2 8 mile runs in the past 2 nights. the mileage has to start going up now ready for the start of the winter season to prepare me for the fact that i will be training for longer distances. tonight will be an easy run followed by gym work tomorrow, trying to improve strength endurance. no more races for the time being and i really have to sit and think about what i want out of my running in the short term future and ask questions like when do i want to majke the step up to the marathon. i have it planned for my early 30's for the the first one but a lot of people say that you really need at least 10 years solid training behind you to give you the best possible chance of running a fast time at london (or boston or new york or where ever). the more i try and run 3 or 400 meter reps on the track the clearer it becomes that i just don't have the speed, power or a high enough fast twitch-slow twitch muscle fibre ratio to ever be any good at it. my lactate threshold is also far too low. it will beinteresting to see what my test results say when i do the vo2 max/lactate threshold test. its supposed to give you an indication of how quick you are capable of going over every distance so i'll know when i'm banging my head agains a brick wall trying to get any quicker over whichever of the shorter distances i'm training for in the future