Letters from my running coach…

From:	angelo
Date:	document.write(fMakeDate(”2008-01-02 04:40:04″,”-8″,”%M%M/%D%D/%y%y%y%y %h:%m%m %a”));01/2/2008 4:40 am
Subject:	FULL MARATHON IN CLARK?!?
Message:

Pare, inasmuch as I am responsible for luring you into this sport
called running, in that sense, I feel that it is also my obligation to
guide you based on my own short running experience and knowledge to run
your best and at the same time steer you away from any possible dangers
of the sports.

As a novice runner like me, we are very
susceptible to injuries. Why, even professional athletes suffer serious
injuries from overtraining! Some injuries manifest themselves
immediately during or after the race. Some injuries (the more serious
ones) only show up a few days after the race. Running a full marathon
create a wreck in our bodies such as torn muscle
fibers/tissues/ligaments/tendons. From the outside, everything may seem
fine but deep within, our muscles are really badly beaten up. Experts
advise a marathoner to rest for 5 to 7 days after a full marathon (read
this : ABSOLUTELY NO RUNNING!) to allow such tears to be completely
healed. After the 5th or 7th day, the runner may resume training but
only for SHORT and EASY practice say 5K to 10K runs BUT NOT ANOTHER
FULL MARATHON on the first day of training.

In view of all these information, I hope you don’t mind if I share with you some personal thoughts on your clark marathon.

1.If
you really want to run both races in a gap of 6 days, downgrade to 21K
(or better yet to 10K) in clark as your warm-up race for the full
marathon in subic. Do bear in mind that most injuries usually occurs a
few days before a marathon.

2. Or, if you really want to do the
full marathon in clark, I strongly suggest that you do only 10K in
subic (or better yet pass up and not run subic).

The bottomline is that : IT IS NOT WISE TO RUN TWO FULL MARATHONS IN A GAP OF 7 DAYS.

Pare,
I find you to be a very strong novice runner. You have both the natural
skills and the passion. But there are a lot more of great races that
you can run in the future so there’s no need to rush and risk getting
an injury – both serious and the usual ones – that may lay you off
either temporary or permanently from this new-found passion.

TRAIN
SMART BUT RACE SMART, TOO. REMEMBER, SO MANY RACES TO RUN IN THE WORLD
BUT, IN THE END, THERE IS REALLY NO FINISH LINE BECAUSE WE ALL KEEP
RUNNING ONE MARATHON AFTER ANOTHER. SO WHY RUSH, RIGHT?

There you have it, Jerry. Before you register for the full marathon in clark, digest everything in this email, k?

Goodluck!

I will take this advice seriously, thank you very much, coach…

From:	angelo
Date:	document.write(fMakeDate(”2008-01-02 20:33:30″,”-8″,”%M%M/%D%D/%y%y%y%y %h:%m%m %a”));01/2/2008 8:33 pm
Subject:	Re: FULL MARATHON IN CLARK?!?
Message:

Individual runners have individual skills. Leo and his friend who
intend to join the full marathon both in clark and subic may have
"extra-ordinary" tolerance for pain or amazingly-quick recovery time
because they may be seasoned runners. But then again, it may be pushing
way too hard on the body. But for beginners like us, it may be too
taxing and therefore not a good idea to do two full marathons in 7 days
unless you do want to risk it all…and by ALL i mean your future in
running. To me, 42K is no longer considered a "warm-up". But a 10K or
21K is.

The choice is always yours pare. Keep fit and stay strong man!

angelo