Anyone Can Run

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For making this book possible, my thanks to Jo O’Donoghue and Currach Press, who understood the worth of the theme in hand and encouraged me along the way. Back to basics, I want to thank my Dad and Mum, Richard and Beda Tobin, for continuing to be fantastic role models for longevity and vitality and for nurturing my love for words and writing and supporting me and my education through many, many years. Thanks also to all my siblings (especially the older ones), who tested my competitive spirit over the decades and kept me constantly on my toes.

I wish to pay special tribute to my dear friend and colleague, Helen Kelleher, who from the off in our joint journalism careers has always believed in me. You are much appreciated, Helen. My thanks also to my many colleagues in the media world for continuing to support my writing career and to all my friends who have been there for me at various stages in my life.

Of course this book would never have happened without the Mayo News, the local newspaper in which I have been honing my writing skills since 1995. My thanks to former editor, Sean Staunton, who taught me many hard lessons in the ways of the media/political/business world. Thank you, Sean, for all the time you invested in me.

My thanks also to current Mayo News editor, Denise Horan, for giving me the space to develop my writing, and to proprietor, Dermot Berry, for facilitating my career. Special tribute also to the late Joe Berry, a fantastic supporter over the years.

To my husband, Padraic, who has been by my side and always there for me. I don’t deserve you. Thanks, P! Also to Granny Kathleen, who has been a rock to us in our family life and all my in-laws and family. It’s a blessing having such support. To our wonderful children, Nathan, Peter, Helen and Mary – it’s because of you we can still joyfully experience each new day.

In regard to the workings of this book, I am grateful to Michael and Joanne Lennon of the wonderful family/eco-friendly Westport Woods Hotel and Adventure Centre. Both my running and the book came together in this fine establishment, starting in the hotel’s Beech Club gym and leisure centre. Thanks also to the many friendly staff members at the Beech Club, especially Paul. To my running buddy, sparring partner and friend, Noreen O’Toole, let’s keep on chugging (not so fast, Noreen!).

Last but not least, I wish to record my appreciation of the people of my native Castlebar and adopted town of Westport, who keep the mind humming with their endless energy and constant drive to live life to the full. It’s a privilege and an inspiration to live in such a beautiful and burgeoning part of the world.

Joan Geraghty, December 2007

CONTENTS

Foreword by Ray D’Arcy

Introduction

Profiles of Featured Runners

1. Getting Started

2. Getting Hooked

3. Running and Parenthood

4. Injury and Recovery

5. Training for My First Half-Marathon

6. Running My First Half-Marathon

7. Runners on Marathon Running

8. Runners on Running and Ageing

9. Starting a Running Programme

10. A 5k Running Programme

11. A 10k Running Programme

12. Diet, Gear and Other Practicalities

13. The Benefits of Running

Suggested Reading

FOREWORD

Ray D’Arcy

Starting running is a big thing. For a lot of people running for five minutes would kill them but it’s easier than many things. Swimming and other sports involve a lot of extra hassle. You have to get into the car and get to the gym or pool first of all or maybe meet up with teammates on a pitch. But with running, all you need is yourself to start training.

Contrary to what you’d believe on those evenings when you’re slouching on the couch, feeling lethargic, that is exactly the time you need to get out and have a run. It will actually energise you – which is the opposite to what common sense would tell you.

As with most things, once you start doing it yourself you begin to notice it around you. From talking to people I think more of us are running. We’re more health-conscious now – or maybe people look at me and think that I’m a bit of a naffer, because that’s what I used to think about other people out running.

After a while of running regularly, you miss it if you don’t do it. You can get quite irritable if you go a few days without, which might not seem particularly good, but you could be addicted to worse things.

For a long time with running, I found the first three miles hell. But then there was a period in the middle of training for the marathon where I was doing the long runs and it was lovely. I would be coasting and had a rhythm going. But then at the end, with all the extra mileage, it becomes difficult again.

I think, with exercise, you reach a level of fitness where if you lose it, your body tells you. It sends you warning signs that you need to get back to that same level again. It’s not always possible. It is effort and you do have to get out there on days you’d prefer not to. But when you make that effort, you feel way better for it.

I try to run twice a week now with a long run in that. I cycle in and out nine miles each way for work during the week so I’m getting some sort of exercise every day. It’s hugely important for me to be active. I think it keeps me sane. I’m cycling into work five years now and it’s got to the stage where I hate when I can’t do it if, say, I have to get into a suit and take the car. That bugs me all day.

But I wouldn’t see myself as some sort of exercise junkie. With the daily cycling, there’s more to it than the exercise. You arrive into work and you’re refreshed. The wind has blown up your hair – whatever hair you have – it’s taken you 35–40 minutes and you feel alive.

A lot of my friends think I’m mad that I exercise as much as I do but then I look at people who do things like the ‘Iron Man’ event and think that they’re the nutters. I do like to do challenging runs; for instance I have been doing ten miles a week regularly. I can see myself doing half-marathons regularly too because they’re doable. I did the Phoenix Park last year in 1 hour 37 minutes.

I suppose I’m an exercise evangelist. I think we’re selling the fight against obesity wrongly to people. It shouldn’t be about the size of your dress or your waist, but about how you feel. For a person five or six stone overweight, the goal of the size-12 dress or the 34-inch waist is so far away. But if you can get them to exercise in some small way so they produce the endorphins that make them feel good, that should be the priority. Then they get hooked on that feeling. So I don’t think we sell the positive, medical advantages of exercise to people. It’s all about weight when it shouldn’t be about that.

While running isn’t my first love, the highs from it can’t be bettered. The big thing for me with running is that I didn’t like it, but now I do. Now if I’ve a spare 45 minutes I can get five miles or whatever in and that’s brilliant. What else do you get done in 45 minutes?

After the marathon, I knew I’d be running for the rest of my life because once I achieved that and then went out running again, I felt, yeah, this suits me fine. I’m not doing it for any particular reason but it makes me feel good and gives me some head space.

INTRODUCTION

Two years ago I started running and I haven’t stopped since. Obviously, I don’t mean that literally as there have been plenty of stops and starts in between with some breaks going on for weeks at a time. But in broad terms, I have kept at it, shuffling one foot after the other along highways and byways or on treadmills at gyms, with the result that I am now addicted to the activity.

Developing a passion for running was something I couldn’t have anticipated as it had never interested me before. The fact that I was no spring chicken when I took to it made it even more unlikely, as I felt surely I must be too old to be seen out and about extending my limbs in such a manner.

Being a mother of four small children also confused the issue as I wondered whether it was wrong of me to invest so much time in improving my body and fitness at a stage when our offspring needed me around the clock. Thankfully, such concerns quickly fizzled out as it became clear that running and parenthood make a terrific partnership. Not only was running proving beneficial to me but to everyone who came into contact with me because of the happy state of mind it left me in.

Any preconception I had that running might be a man’s sport was easily dispensed with too. While men certainly outnumber women as passionate followers of the sport, the gap is closing, as female runners – young and old, mothers, aunts and grannies – swell the ranks of runners right around the world.

There are regular running fixtures all over Ireland, and the number of 5k, 10k, half- and full marathon events is increasing all the time. Athletic clubs are also recognising the trend and accommodating fun-runners.

Over the course of my running journey to date, I have learned a great deal about it as an exercise, and so much about myself in the process, that I love everything associated with it. Becoming a runner has definitely made me a better person in many ways, by giving me discipline and direction and providing me with an excellent resource for venting frustration, anxiety and other negative emotions that can make life difficult. Just going for a run gives you space in your head to work things through and to appreciate all the good things in life. The longer you run, the more problems get sorted, so that by the time you arrive home, everything is grand again.

I was forty years of age when I took up running and at the time I didn’t really think it was going to work for me. My interest in the activity was based solely on my desire to become more active and the fact that it kept coming up as the exercise for anyone wanting to get fit. But I had clear memories of having tried a spot of running years before, and hating it. What I found particularly difficult was the sheer effort required to keep going.

The funny thing is that it was precisely this need to persevere that attracted me to running the second time around. I had been feeling overweight after having babies and got to a stage where I really wanted to push myself again. Having managed to overcome the desire to stop in my tracks on my first few outings, I soon started longing to exert myself further. After a while of regularly managing to run for five minutes non-stop, the next challenge was to stretch it out a little bit more.

As a high-intensity exercise, running is relentless. You have to keep going, without stopping, to reach your goal. There are no breaks. It isn’t running if you stop. But keeping going brings huge rewards. Wonderful, natural highs follow most runs. If you’ve exerted yourself for a sustained period and really pushed hard physically, a wave of feel-good endorphins washes over you, leaving you feeling contented and terrific for at least the rest of the day. Your body temperature remains high for hours afterwards. You literally feel yourself buzzing with life and energy and enjoy knowing that your metabolism has been boosted. You consequently take greater pleasure from eating good food, acknowledging it for what it really is – essential fuel to keep your body performing well. You also seem to enjoy improved concentration and clarity of mind after challenging exercise, which always strikes me as a thank-you from the mind for giving the body the workouts it loves.

Even on non-training days, the benefits of running carry through, as muscles need rest to recover, grow and build up energy stores for the next outing. As rest is so crucial, it is one of the biggest rewards in training that you can really enjoy your days off.

It took a good six months for me to be fully bitten by the running bug, which, when it takes hold, can be powerfully addictive. As I enjoyed increasing natural highs following the sheer exertion of every run, I also started developing sufficient confidence to set new goals. I could happily have stayed at the level I was for a while, running two to three miles on the treadmill or outdoors a few times a week, but I felt it was in me to go that bit further. I also became aware of how important it is to keep making new goals in order to stay motivated.

After completing my first 5k fun-run, the notion of some day running a half-marathon suddenly seemed feasible. Of course I was aware that the ultimate goal for distance runners is to run a full marathon but whether my own experiences would stretch that far very much remained to be seen.

The reality is, running is hard. It can be difficult to keep going at it because your mental and physical form is different every day. You can feel fantastic on your Monday run and end it looking forward to your next outing on Wednesday but by the time that day comes around you may not want to run at all. Having to get out there and move all over again can feel like hell. This same pattern can go on for weeks and months on end. Whole periods of the year can go by where you think you must really hate running, because it feels so hard to do it all the time. You question whether you should even bother sticking with it but know you can’t give it up. If you do, it will create too great a hole in your life for you to deal with and deprive you of one of your most powerful anti-ageing and life-enhancing tools – a fit body.

Because running is so addictive and the real drug comes from the feel-good highs afterwards, you come to understand that it is the endorphins that keep you hooked. The only way to stay enjoying those wonderful after-run wellbeing feelings is to keep running. Diversifying into other sports might suit some people but for many, running is the only worthwhile activity. A suggestion at this point might be to change things round a bit. Join a running club, go work out with a running buddy, include more cross-training with weights and equipment at the gym, or sign up for a triathlon which will get you training in swimming and cycling as well.

Speed-training sessions can be hugely rewarding too because running shorter distances but in faster times brings a new sense of elation and moves your training from aerobic to anaerobic mode (without oxygen), where you are going too fast to use oxygen as fuel and must call on your own body reserves instead. It’s hard to keep improving your personal best (PB) all the time with constant endurance running but with speed-training, you can up your average speed and stay at an improved level for the long term.

The fact is you will hit a plateau every now and then: changing your training pattern will prevent you getting stale and help maintain a sense of novelty.

As things turned out, my running course was far from smooth. Several unanticipated hiccups along the way slowed my progress considerably, including soft-tissue injuries and aching joints which forced me to take breaks. At one point my health became such an issue that I thought I might even have to give up running entirely. I was amazed to discover that having to entertain that possibility affected me deeply. It actually felt like grieving a loss. That is how hard the running bug can affect you once it bites.

Over the course of training, as I became fitter and stronger, my whole outlook on life and the world at large changed dramatically. Everything improved: my presence of mind, my energy levels, my body and my perception of it; my relationships with family, our children and friends; my attitude towards work and my work performance itself. Most of all, my interests changed, in that I became more health-conscious and developed a deep interest in fitness.

While my running was purely of the ‘fun’ variety, in that my aim was personal satisfaction and not medals for speed, I identified new role models in athletes and those who regularly worked out. I admired toned physiques for the evidence they showed of so much effort and exertion, and aspired to making my own body as lean and athletic as possible.

What really excited me was watching other runners out and about. People I had never noticed before suddenly caught my eye, and I loved coming across the odd veteran runner along the highways and byways, especially those who seemed to sprint the whole way. To me, running was always a struggle, whereas to them, it appeared effortless. I marvelled at this and wondered if I would ever be able to make it look easy too.

My age didn’t come into it at all and I was heartened by a little nugget of information I picked up from a running manual along the way, which stated that a person taking up serious running for the first time can expect to keep improving their performance for at least seven years, no matter what age they start.

Fortunately, my husband Padraic also took up running shortly after me and developed a similar passion for the activity. He managed to run his first half-marathon before me, having taken my place at an event I had to forego due to health problems. We both became very interested in all things running and fitness, and started following related sports coverage. At our age, obviously we weren’t interested in becoming professional athletes. We wanted to get fit and stay that way.

Even though running confers so many excellent health and anti-ageing benefits on a person, there is no denying that a lot of time and effort must be invested before these rewards can be reaped. The real secret to becoming a runner is to actually get out there and do it regularly. Even long-term runners will tell you that lengthy breaks can jeopardise an entire running career. Just a few weeks off exercise can knock your fitness levels back to zero and having to start from scratch again can take a whole lot more motivation and commitment.

But with constant training, you can’t help getting better. As a result, your self-confidence grows with every new goal reached and your sense of achievement blossoms. The compliments you inevitably receive from people along the way help enormously too. As your fitness improves, your muscles become stronger and more toned, body fat burns away and you look much better and younger. It’s all part and parcel of committing to a regular exercise regime and once you get a taste of feeling good about yourself again, you’ll want to keep working on that feeling.

In my own case, I had been looking for an outlet to help me feel better about my pretty stressful life but would never have guessed such a high-intensity exercise would fill this need. I now know I still like challenging myself physically and can push myself harder all the time. As someone with a busy family and work life, having to depend only on myself every time I feel like a run makes it a dream escape valve. It is the perfect antidote to the stresses of modern-day living.

There are some people who argue that what I call ‘running’ should really be termed ‘jogging’ in most instances but I have read that the distinction between jogging and running is that the former involves moving the legs at a rate a little faster than speed walking (6km-7km an hour), whereas running starts from 8km an hour and upwards.

I’d like to think that my average pace now is 10km an hour, which qualifies me as the runner I claim to be.

Considering that Paula Radcliffe ran an average of 12 miles (16km) an hour over the entire course of her 2-hour 15-minute world record London marathon in 2003, this clearly does not make me an athlete. It is precisely for this reason that I decided to write this book, believing as a non-athlete how important it is to highlight how good running for fun, pleasure and personal achievement can be.

I consider myself privileged to have turned the corner and survived that gruelling phase where everything about running was unpleasant. Now I look forward to every new run, long or short, in happy anticipation. I’m not bothered whether it is wet or dry, hot or cold outside. I temper my run to suit the conditions of the time and if it’s too wild or stormy, there’s always the gym to work out in.

No matter how busy you may be, making time for running is a very worthwhile exercise. If you are lucky enough to have your health and an able body, you too might like to give it a try. Even if you feel you’ve let things slide on the physical side, remember the body has wonderful restorative powers. It can regenerate strength, vigour and vitality as soon as you start setting it in motion again. It is simply a fallacy to believe that old age and physical deterioration must go hand in hand. Keep moving and you’ll stay young.

I hope you enjoy reading my own personal running log to date as well as the fascinating stories of the other runners featured here. Be inspired.

PROFILES OF FEATURED RUNNERS

Ernie Caffrey

Ernie Caffrey, 71, is a former politician who served his town and county (Ballina and County Mayo), as a public representative from 1985. He was a Senator in Dáil Eireann from 1997 to 2002 and over the course of a number of years, led a sedentary life attending meetings and travelling long journeys by car. In 2006, at the age of 69, Ernie took up walking in an effort to lose weight and get fit. One year later he was a champion sprinter after winning the 60-metre dash in the masters’ category at the All Ireland Masters’ Championships in Nenagh. During a typical training session, Ernie likes to run up to at least 15mph at three-minute intervals on his treadmill, which is built on a steel base that ‘bounces to give the feeling of being out on the road’. A white line painted across this novel structure, designed by the man himself, shows exactly how many metres Ernie covers in each workout. A little clock, strategically placed above, assists Ernie in monitoring his ever-improving form.

Grainne Cunningham

Grainne Cunningham, 40, is a journalist with the Irish Independent, based in Killiney, who has run two Dublin City marathons to date (with finishing swim times of 4 hours 21 minutes and 4 hours 17 minutes). She and her husband Simon Bradshaw have triplet boys, Jack, Harry and Luca, born in December 2004. Running has become even more important to Grainne since becoming a mother of three. She is currently experimenting with mountain-running and speed training and while she has no immediate plans to run a third marathon, she isn’t ruling another one out.

Ray D’Arcy

Ray D’arcy, 43, is a presenter of the popular Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM. A native of Kildare, he and his partner Jenny celebrated the birth of their daughter, Kate, in 2006. The keep-fit fan who took up running in 2003 after announcing on air that he would do a triathlon in 2004, went to the trouble of importing a baby-jogger to sustain his running training after baby Kate was born. In 2005, Ray ran his first Dublin City Marathon in 3 hours 41 minutes. He cycles in and out to work – 18 miles every day – and, having learned to swim the year before his fortieth birthday in 2004, remains a swimming enthusiast today.

Gerry Galvin

Gerry Galvin, 41, is a passionate runner who can be spotted most days on the highways and byways of his adopted town of Westport, County Mayo running up to or beyond a half-marathon at a time. The County Laois native and former hurler cuts a dashing figure with his long, graceful, stride, running at a pace which is always so fast and smooth that it looks effortless. Gerry, who works as a wall-chaser, is married to Mary and the couple have four young children. He has run three marathons to date, his fastest in 3 hours 5 minutes at the 2007 Dublin City Marathon, and is now working towards achieving a sub-three-hour time.

Mary Kennedy

Mary Kennedy is a household name in Ireland, having carved out a successful presenting career with RTÉ television, including the current Nationwide programme. Running has played an important role in Mary’s life since she was a teenager, and she ran the third-ever Dublin City Marathon in 1981 in a time of 3 hours 40 minutes. Almost 20 years later, in 2000, she completed it again in a very respectable time of 4 hours 20 minutes. She tries to fit in three or four runs a week, of at least 30 minutes each.

Dr Mick Loftus

Improving with Age

Mary Walsh

Mary Walsh, 43, is a physiotherapist based in her native town of Westport, County Mayo. An avid runner, for many years she has combined her love of voluntary work, travel and running as part of a varied, exciting and fulfilling lifestyle. She has run three charity marathons with Croí, all in New York, finishing all three around the 3 hour 44 minute mark.