More Training To Stay Healthier

Training makes you healthier but marathon can make you sick. Many marathon runners are not aware of this fact. I discovered this fact after my last years participation in Nairobi marathon. I fell sick for two weeks. I thought it was a normal sickness but a visit and a chat with my Physician showed me the marathon was the cause.

On sunday I did a 42K practice marathon, at the end I was tired, my legs were aching so I took a rest. Later in the day I noticed my my body temperature was unsually higher than normal but I didnt believe it was anything serious, I thougtht it must be the heat of a marathon running in my body. When the temperature did not go lower I was convinced I was suffering from a fever. There was no symptom of any other sickness so I decided to lie down and rest. After a long rest the fever disappeared. It was clear to me the straineous marathon run had left me sick.

Come in the Professionals

Research has been done before on how marathon running affects your immune system. One interesting article is on www.pftizinger.com they are a team of professional coaches. It was study published in the August, 1995 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Dr. J. Duncan MacDougall and colleagues investigated the effects of training on the immune systems of distance runners.

Depressed Immunity

From the study too much running, a good example of a excessive running is doing the full marathon. suppresses your immune system living you vulnerable to illness. The time that you are most likely to get sick is immediately after the marathon run. The good news is that If you continue running at a high level your body adjusts to the stress and you reduce your risk of infections. This explains why professional marathon runners dont often complain of falling sick despite high levels of running. The more you train the better your immune sytem is to fighting infections.

Number of times to train in a week

How many times should I train in a week? Thats a question many of you have asked. The answer is different for every runner. A professional athlete trains on daily basis, to be exact, twice a day. This might sound too much to handle for most of us. A professional marathon runner body is strong and can cope with the stress of too much training without the risk of injury.

Strength breeds strength

The key is to get a strong body, the stronger you are the more marathon training you can engage in a week. I have been training for two years. In my first year I found it hard to do three runs in a week. Now I am able to do a long run on sunday, a single rest on monday followed by 10 k run on monday, tuesday and wednesday. The 10K runs I break them in twos, 5k in the morning another 5k in the evening. As I had written earlier, I have not had an injury this year apart from the usual muscle pulls. My body is getting stronger and am able to do alot of training without an injury. This is unlike my first year when I had to deal with plenty of injuries, aching knees and ankles. This is common for any beginner marathon runner.

No perfect number of runs

 If you read somewhere that you should do this number of runs in a week and you go right ahead to run, I dont think you are being wise. Like my high school physical teacher used to tell us, “Trust your body”. You should only do the number of runs that you feel comfortable with, not what someone tells you, unless he is your personal coach. 

When to step on breaks

You should cut down on the number of runs, if you feel too tired to run on your next run. Feeling too tired to run means your muscles have not had enough rest and are yet to recover. If you continue marathon running in that state you risk suffering from fatigue. Feeling too tired to run could also be a symptom of an illness, so check whether you are really feeling well. If you have a nagging injury you should slow down on training, if the pain doesnt go away stop running altogether and see your Physician.

How to win everything, Jose way

Winning is not everthing but the only thing. That famous quote sums up Jose Mourinho. The former manager of Chelsea fc has parted company with the london club. The man has been on a roll winning trophies year in year out for the last 4 years.

What made him so successful? Mourinho believed in his own divine powers, thats why he billed himself as the “special one”. I dont think this is arrogance in him, its self belief. If he never thought himself that way I dont think he would have been this succeful. His second reason was, the man knew how to get the best out of his players. He demanded 100% from them in return he rewarded them with praise and his support. He was a strict disciplinarian those who did not tow the line were quicky shoved aside.

His other talents

Apart from being a good manager the man was good with word.

On Rivals

“Wenger has a real problem with us and I think he is what you call in England a voyeur. He is someone who likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have this big telescope to look into the homes of other people and see what is happening. Wenger must be one of them – and it is a sickness.”
Astonishing attack on Arsene Wenger

He had no pity on his fellow managers. “Three years without a Premiership title? I don’t think I would still be in a job.”Chiding lack of success by Rafa Benitez, Manager of a rival team. You might think this is poor sportsmanship, but should you care for a person whose success means your loss.

Like him or hate him the man knew how to win and that is what he did. His success reminded us we all crave success, their is no point in being envious, let us learn the ways of the successful.

Winning is not everything but the only thing. That famous quotes sums up Jose Mourinho career as a top soccer manager.

 

The man who called himself the “Special one has left Chelsea football club” While many managers never win anything in their career Jose Mourinho has won a trophy every year for the last 5 years.

What made him so successful?

To do what he has done you must be special. First and foremost he believed in his own devine powers thats why he infamously called himself the “special one”. Like him or hate him no one has yet matched what he has achieved win so many trophies at such a short period. Jose was a great motivator, he was able to get his players to believe in the cause. His critics will dismiss part of his success due to the benevolence of Russian Billionare Roman Abromovich, who bought the best players money could buy. But many other clubs, Real Madrid, inter milan have spent pots of dollars with little  success to show.  

Apart from being a great coach the man was blessed with colourful language skills and this were his thoughts about everyone.

On Rivals

“Wenger has a real problem with us and I think he is what you call in England a voyeur. He is someone who likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have this big telescope to look into the homes of other people and see what is happening. Wenger must be one of them – and it is a sickness.”
Astonishing attack on Arsene Wenger.

He had no pity for his rivals

“Three years without a Premiership title? I don’t think I would still be in a job.”
Putting the boot into Rafa Benitez.

Listen the losers around you.

The biggest obstacles in preparation for your marathon is discouragement. The people around you, work mates, neighbours and even family members might not be supportive of your plan to run a marathon. Yesterday I met two runners a lady and a man on my training track and I approached them in the spirit of comradeship to exchanges ideas. They told me they are aspiring professioanl runners and I generously told them I intend to run the coming Nairobi Marathon. As soon as I told them I intend to run the full marathon, they started discouraging me,  telling me how difficult a full marathon is and I had no chance to finish.

I could not understand how someone who aspires to be a professional runner could be this negative to a fellow athlete. I was not going to let them put me down. I told them this was not my first marathon and I gave them my time for last years marathon. They shut up.

You have met such people who only try to discourage you. This are the losers in life. Losers in life only see things as difficult, impossible and they dont see the need to try. To be a winner you have to think and act like winners. Believe in your self, act on your ideas and believe in endless possibilities.

Energy saving idea

One of the most effective ways to improve your running ability is to reduce the amount of energy you waste with each stride by correcting particular stride errors. I have just read an article on www.active.com that says, the most common energy-wasting stride errors is failure to properly activate the deep abdominal muscles that are responsible for maintaining pelvic stability during running. According to Michael Fredericson, Ph.D., a running biomechanics expert at Stanford University, 90 percent of runners exhibit this flaw.

If you are an amateur like me you probably are not aware where this abdominal muscles are located. And you might not have been aware of the error when doing your marathon runs. Keep reading!

The article is too technical to understand but they have given a small analogy ” Imagine you’re trying to push a heavy trunk forward on a tile floor. The trouble is that you’re standing on a small rug that starts to slide backward every time you try to push the trunk forward. Removing the rug allows your feet to get a more stable grip on the floor, so that more of your muscle energy is transferred to the trunk.”

In this analogy, the slipping rug is like deep abdominal muscles that are not properly activated. Removing the rug is like tightening your deep abdominal muscles so that your pelvis is stable, allowing more of your muscle work to translate into forward movement.

Run mindfully.

To activate the deep abdominal muscles you are adviced. “A moment before you start your next run, pull your navel gently towards your spine and roll your pelvis slightly backward. As you start running, concentrate hard on maintaining this posture.” Its important to learn to concentrate on feeling your body and not let your mind wander aimlessly. When I do my marathon runs I have found myself thinking of all sorts of things, money, family, goals and even sex.  For a clearer understanding read the whole article. Happy trails.

Tigers will to win

I watched CNN world sports program and it was reported the best golfer of his generation, Tiger Wood had won a bonus of 10m $. The world number one golfer ended his 2007 PGA Tour campaign by romping to an eight-shot victory at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday.You might assume a man who has won so much money needs a break not Tiger “The whole idea is to try and keep improving and am trying to improve that a little bit to get to the next level” he told the press.”

This has been a great year for Tiger not the best. During 2007, Woods entered 16 events on the PGA Tour. He won seven of them and posted 12 top-ten finishes without once missing a cut.earn him $10,867,052 in prize money this year as well as that $10m bonus for his retirement. His career earnings in America exceed $76.57m. If this sounds like a lot of money, it’s relatively small beer compared to what Tiger earns off the course. Earlier this summer, Sports Illustrated estimated Woods would earn $112million in 2007 thanks to sponsorships and endorsements. No athlete in any sport has ever earned more than $100m in a season before.

His mental secret

If you are an ordinary human being and you won so much money I dont think you would maintain the motivation to reamin good in whatever you do. Tiger has a practiced a concentration level that has ensured he is never distracted by money or performance anxiety, “I will never say I have telekinesis,” he once said. “But I do think that when I am in the moment when my concentration is highest, when it’s at a peak, I see things more clearly and things happen slower. When that moment happens, it’s like magic.”

If you are a marathon runner and you are looking for that extra edge, you can learn from the master champion  himself. Train your mind to focus and success will come your way.