This section is adapted from No Need For Speed - A Beginner's Guide To The Joy Of Running, by John Bingham. Buy this book!You may be uncomfortable hearing that no one can tell you what your fitness goals should be. No one can tell you how much
him to the finish.At the one-mile mark he was running faster than his goal pace. Some of us doubted his strategy. The course was not impossible, but it was unusual an out-and-back route that was uphill to the turnaround, then downhill to the finish
’s as far as any rational person would want to run.So out I’d go – without reaching the three miles. Day after day I failed in my goal. Day after day I accumulated evidence that I was not a runner. Every run hammered in the fact that I wasn’t there yet
satisfaction from races when I have given my honest, best effort. Other mid-pack runners tell me the same. Consequently, we feel bitter disappointment when we don’t achieve a goal. Our devastating sense of failure is no less profound when our goal is solely
him to the finish.At the one-mile mark he was running faster than his goal pace. Some of us doubted his strategy. The course was not impossible, but it was unusual – an out-and-back route that was uphill to the turnaround, then downhill to the finish
the privilege of age, took the final three miles.Aged 26, 48 and 69, we had a common goal. For a few hours on a cold morning in November, the generational roles were eliminated. We were not just a mother, a father and a son we were teammates. We were
, these runners cling to their fantasy race. The trouble is, in the fantasy race the weather is perfect, the course is clear and fast, and all the other runners are having bad days.It’s not enough for these runners to complete a race or reach a desired time goal
marathon, and even more remarkable in that this was my third London event. It’s the one that I’ve run the most times, the course with which I am most familiar, and the event where I now identify most closely with the participants. My goal in any marathon
runner began in a similar way to my life as a labourer. I looked outside myself for guidance. I tried to meet goals that were set for me. I was overwhelmed with ‘shoulds’. And I was overcome with fatigue. It wasn’t until I began to ‘work my shovel’ as a
believe their speed is any reason to deny them the joys of being a penguin. I now see that it’s possible to increase your speed or distance without losing site of the essential pleasure of running.This insight has forced me to rethink some of my goals
