Covid Realities and lessons from the World of Endurance Sport.

We are somewhere on a timeline that has no clear end when it comes to the Covid virus. The optimist in me says that we will be on the road to recovery sooner than we thought. I am aware though, that the virus does not seem to be swayed by optimism. Whatever happens, this is an endurance challenge. It’s going to take time to get over this and even longer to attempt to rebuild an economy that is in real trouble. The world of endurance sport can teach us lots about being challenged for a long stretch of time.

So, welcome to the long haul. Any long-distance swimmer, cyclist, runner, or triathlete will learn that you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. A 10 k race is like a short story. You start fast, try to maintain your speed, and then hope that you can end it with a flourish. An Ironman is like a book with many chapters. Chapter 1 has you waking up in a state of panic. Chapter 2 has you ecstatically excited as you munch down your breakfast. Chapter 3 has you praying that you have packed the correct items in the various transition bags, and that you don’t end the swim to open your transition bag and find your running shoes instead of your cleated cycling shoes. Three chapters down, and you have not even brushed your teeth yet. You still have over 220 kms of racing in front of you.

The comforting part of an endurance race is that you at least know where the end line is. We don’t quite know where this end line is.

So, lets borrow some truths from the world of endurance sport.

You do not start a half marathon at a sprint. Even less so with an ultra-marathon. You need hours of training and a knowledge of where your heart rate should be to guide you. Your mind will be constantly calculating how fast it thinks you can go before crashing: slow down for the upcoming hill, open the pace up a bit for the next, do not make the mistake that you made last time by going too fast at this point…

Negative Split. We use this term more in running than in other endurance events. Quite simply, a negative split means that you run the second half of your race faster than the first half. Runners who have perfected this have got their pacing just right.

Marathon running carries a 4 to 1 punishment ratio. Let me try to define that. Let’s say that you are fit enough to run a marathon at 6 min/km. You run the first 10 km at 5.45 per k. It is nice and cool outside, you pass a water station every 3 kilometres, there is a buzz of excitement in the air. You went out 15 seconds per kilometre too fast but that’s ok, you were busy banking time. Well, the 4 to 1 punishment ratio suggests that your 15 seconds too fast will get punished by 15 seconds x 4 = 60 seconds. You end up running your last 10 kilometres at 7 min per k. The ratio adds the time slowed to the time that you should have been running in during the first 10. (Marathon runners – does this sound familiar?).

How does all this apply to the current crisis? We don’t know how long this is going to take, and so my advice is to simply rest when you need to and push hard when you can. I guess that this is like tennis. It’s one of those sports where the players don’t know when the end is in sight. Tennis players get breaks from time to time and use those to freshen up and take on nutrition. Dr Google informs me that the longest tennis match in history took place in 2010 at Wimbledon, where John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest ever tennis match. The match went on for three days and took place over 11 hours and 5 minutes with Isner coming out victorious 70-68 in the final set.  The spectators are still trying to get their necks sorted out. (This last point was not in the Google article)

Fitbit put out a study during this pandemic and recorded that people are sleeping more than usual now, and that is the way things should be. Rest when you need to, we do not know where this finish line is. We all need to stay as strong as possible.

The most fatal thought that can go through your mind during a long-distance event goes like this, “I wish this was over already”. You are setting your mind up for hours of torture. It’s far better to remind yourself just how long the event actually is and then break it up. I instruct Comrades runners to break the race up into small chunks. Get to the 5 km mark without tripping over another runner. Also remember that by this time there will be a bit more sunlight so you can see where you are going. Then get to 10, then 21 – the half marathon mark, then 32 then 42 – the marathon mark, then +/- 44 km the halfway mark etc.

Steve Magness writes the following, “Studies published in the British Medical Journal and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that at any given moment your outlook, mood, and stress levels are a function of your reality minus your expectations.”
To word that more practically, you thought you would get to the half way mark of your chosen event and expected to feel as fresh as a daisy. Instead you are beginning to feel tired and your legs are beginning to hurt. The greater the margin between expectation vs reality, the more depressed you will start to feel.

The principle mentioned above of expectation vs reality is similar to the level of depression realized from an event. A person getting a 1 cm scratch on a 10 year old car is way less depressed than a person getting the same scratch on a R 2 million car (So I have been told)

Keep moving forward when the lows come and keep moving forward when the highs come. I love the advice that goes, run the mile you are in. That is all that you can do while running. That is all that you can do during this crisis. Get through today. That is all. When you feel down, keep moving, when you feel good, keep moving.

In this for the long haul, mile by mile with you.

Regards,

Mike Roscoe.