Hungry to Achieve
I trained in
Canberra for seven years and one of my regular sessions
consisted of 10 x 1min efforts with 45 sec jog recovery around
the undulating Mt Ainslie course. Every minute effort was run to
my maximum potential and I would try and keep the recoveries
moving along at a respectable pace. Nobody ever joined me for
the Mt Ainslie session and now, in reflection, those solo
intense sessions are where I proved to myself how much I really
wanted to achieve.
How much do you REALLY want it?
I would finish
my 10th effort totally exhausted, knowing my last
15-20 minutes could not have been better spent in my quest to be
the best I could be. On numerous occasions I would say to
myself, “Ok, so how much do you really want this, come on,
another two efforts”, then off I would head for a further two
‘heart busting’ efforts.
If you set
yourself a challenging goal on race day you will need to
occasionally test yourself in training, run that extra effort or
two and prove to yourself how committed you are to achieve your
goal.
Brisbane Running Group
On Tuesday
at my Brisbane Running Group we ran a 15min hill session. It was
great to see everybody (40+ runners) digging deep and I failed
to witness anyone who was wishing the session away.
Once 15min had
lapsed I called out to the group advising anyone on the recovery
downhill part to finish. Soon after, everyone had finished,
however there was one runner, Glenda Banaghan, who chose to
continue and run ‘just one more hill’. I ran the last hill with
Glenda and I was impressed by the fact she could have easily
retired from the session with a clear conscience, the last hill
was symbolic.
On Friday
Glenda won the Australian 10,000 metre
Championship in a personal best of 36.52. Glenda’s success on
Friday can be accounted for by a number of factors. No doubt her
faultless consistent preparation for April’s London Marathon is
the obvious driving factor, but what impresses me with runners
such as Glenda is when I see determination and a real hunger,
desperation almost, to achieve their goal.
True hunger to achieve your goal
There is a
difference between getting all of the work done just for the
sake of it and getting all of the work done with true hunger to
achieve your goal.
Our lives are
often busy and time is precious. The best way to make use of the
time you have made available to running is to constantly remind
yourself of the goals you wish to achieve. It may be just enough
to prompt you to run that extra hill rep and, like Glenda, be
eventually rewarded with an extreme sense of satisfaction.
Congratulations Glenda on Achieving
Glenda Banaghan (digging deep
'just one more time')
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