My Aim -- is to Survive

The aim of my Chi Square Running is... that I survive -- to run again tomorrow.

Run faster? Yes. Run better? Yes. Beat one or two people in a fun run? Would be nice. Injure myself so that I have to stop running? Never!

I run for fun and health and the occasional pleasure of finishing a fun run ahead of maybe one or two other people. And I like the bragging rights of becoming a marathon "runner" after I turned sixty. I enjoy that my wife and I share training sessions. (Though our approach to these shared training sessions is probably worth a later post.)

If I can't run -- I lose all of that.

The aim of my Chi Square Running is that I survive -- to continue running.

Do I also want to win an event? Do I want to improve my running times? Yes/no and maybe...

Yes, I would enjoy winning an event. Wait ! I did win! I was first in the "senior men" at the 2015 Busselton Marathon! And my wife won the "senior women" category in the Half! I was the only "senior man" in the race... I did enjoy that event. So did my wife. Both winners, both able to brag, no need to remind the other that "just finishing" was a good result for that other person :-)

But I certainly don't -- realistically -- expect to win. Not with a marathon PB at just under five hours. I am so far from winning a marathon that it's not even a consideration. So yes, I want to win an event but no, it's not a serious consideration.

And maybe, I would like to improve my running times. My first marathon, in 2012, took me five hours 18. In 2013 I gained a four hour 57 PB in the same event. (The same event but the next year...) Since then I've run a couple of minutes faster -- then slowed down. A lot.

To get started in marathons I ran the distance. Loooong training runs. Up to not quite 42km, a few weeks before the race. It takes a lot of time! In the last couple of years I have not run a training run of more than 20km. My training has slowed down. My results have slowed down.

I am still happy to run. I still enter marathons. I am still at the level of fitness where each marathon is a question of, can I finish, rather than, how fast will I finish.

I am still running. And that still gives me enjoyment.

Okay, I would like to run faster. To get another marathon PB... to beat 4:54. (My long term target is 4:30!) I enjoy the occasional fun run where I do finish ahead of some people. Mostly -- I am glad that I am still able to run. That I am surviving. That all of those other running based pleasures -- are still possible.

When will I be so old that I have to stop running? Never. When will age and infirmity and too little exercise stop me running? Sooner or later. When will I injure myself running, so that I can't run any more? Never!

At least, that's my aim.

My aim -- the aim of what I call Chi Square Running -- is to survive. To survive, with no injury.

Worst case scenario: I'm fit, I'm healthy, I want to run, a damaged muscle prevents me from running.

While I'm fit (fit enough), while I'm healthy, while I want to run -- I run so as not to get hurt. To stay fit. To -- possibly -- run faster and further. To -- maybe -- beat someone (anyone) in a fun run. To be able to run today -- and to still run tomorrow.

That is the overall aim of Chi Square Running: To run today... and to survive so that I can run again, tomorrow.