As a rule, humans are creatures of habit. In fact, we are biologically designed to seek out patterns, relationships and ways of being which are useful to us. Skill comes from practice and repetition, and for most of us, the reward for this disciplined application is the chance to test ourselves at an event. We all have events which we love, for a multitude of reasons, and will keep going back to; however I would suggest that we have a resource under our noses that may inject a bit of spice into our running lives.
The New Zealand Running Calendar was started by Chris Hope and Jane McNamara several years ago and remains an exhaustive resource in regards to running events in New Zealand. They also list mountain bike, obstacle course and triathlon events to further add to the variety.
The New Zealand Running Calendar was started by Chris Hope and Jane McNamara several years ago and remains an exhaustive resource in regards to running events in New Zealand. They also list mountain bike, obstacle course and triathlon events to further add to the variety.
The reason a resource like New Zealand Running Calendar is important is that if offers so much variety. We constrain ourselves, our development and our progression if we blindly stick to one course over our lifetime, especially within the sphere of movement. I am not suggesting that we should be a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, however a degree of flexibility and adaptability may just be the thing that can lift our performance to the next level.
The reason? With repetition comes mastery, and with mastery the law of diminishing returns may begin to apply. Arthur Lydiard was right when he extolled the virtue of a fast one mile time benefiting your marathon training. He discussed a variety of training modalities, which may seem counterintuitive at first, for example, if you want to run a marathon (or ultramarathon) why would a fast five kilometre matter? Of course, the answer is efficiency, which is a topic that we have discussed in this forum multiple times. How do you get better at running a 5km race? By training for and running 5km races. Where is the ideal place to search for such events? Running Calendar.
By utilizing a resource like Running Calendar, and taking a chance on competing in a new event distance or something we have not done before, we broaden our experience, expand our knowledge, potentially widen our social network and also positively contribute to our overall performance in the distance or event type that we prefer.
As we progress through life, our view must widen, and in this way, we develop our whole being in an adaptive manner. Damian Abraham stated “A fanatic’s zeal erases any burden of doubt” and I would strongly agree that having a degree of curiosity and flexibility within our outlook to athletic endeavour is a major step forward to a life of health and vitality.
The reason? With repetition comes mastery, and with mastery the law of diminishing returns may begin to apply. Arthur Lydiard was right when he extolled the virtue of a fast one mile time benefiting your marathon training. He discussed a variety of training modalities, which may seem counterintuitive at first, for example, if you want to run a marathon (or ultramarathon) why would a fast five kilometre matter? Of course, the answer is efficiency, which is a topic that we have discussed in this forum multiple times. How do you get better at running a 5km race? By training for and running 5km races. Where is the ideal place to search for such events? Running Calendar.
By utilizing a resource like Running Calendar, and taking a chance on competing in a new event distance or something we have not done before, we broaden our experience, expand our knowledge, potentially widen our social network and also positively contribute to our overall performance in the distance or event type that we prefer.
As we progress through life, our view must widen, and in this way, we develop our whole being in an adaptive manner. Damian Abraham stated “A fanatic’s zeal erases any burden of doubt” and I would strongly agree that having a degree of curiosity and flexibility within our outlook to athletic endeavour is a major step forward to a life of health and vitality.
