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Secret Demon Training

October 16, 2013/1 Comment/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

I’m not sure where it originated, but on our university track team we used to use the term “secret demon training”. Secret demon training referred to any running which was done in addition to what was done with the rest of the team. This additional training would always be done on the sly, as trying to get a leg-up on your team-mates was not cool, and it never looked good to seem like you were trying too hard to get the results you showed. It was pretty hard to actually pull off secret demon training in secret, as all of our runs started and finished at the Phys. Ed. Centre in the middle of a small campus in a small town, but that didn’t stop us from frequently suspecting others of having pulled it off. For example: “John is suddenly way more fit than the rest of us. I think he’s been doing some secret demon training!” or “I think Paula did an extended cool-down instead of running home after workout – total secret demon!”

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of secret demon training. I picture someone leaving their house in darkness to “sneak in” extra miles or a track workout all alone with no one to offer support or praise. The only vindication comes after a race, when their stellar results belie the training they seem to have done. I have no problem with people doing extra work – it is inspiring to all of us. The trick, however, is to spot the secret demon training behind it, so you don’t feel badly about the results you’re getting for the work you’ve put in.

Luckily, I have a trained eye, and I know these secret demon trainers are out there – in running and in other areas of life. Here are some examples:

Your training buddy who shares your ten year old PB’s and with whom you’ve been doing every run for the past five years suddenly has a shiny new 10K PB by over a minute: secret demon training.

Your mom who has a gourmet, three-course, all food groups included dinner prepared for you when you drop by, and claims she’s just “tossed together whatever was in the fridge”: secret demon cooking.

Your acquaintance who you meet for drinks and shows up looking ridiculously well put together with accessorized hair, make-up and outfit but claims to have just “thrown something on and walked out the door”: secret demon primping.

Your friend with four kids, two cats and a dog has a spotless show-room ready house every time you go over, but always apologizes for the huge mess: secret demon all-night house cleaner.

So be awed, and be inspired by other people’s great achievements. But just remember – if their results seem too good to be true, there is probably some secret demon training at work.

Every now and then, my “runner” shows through

October 5, 2013/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

Most of the time I go about my life thinking, feeling and acting like I’m a normal person, easily blending in with the non-runners around me. But every now and then I find myself in certain situations acting “out of the norm” and I remember: “oh ya. I’m a runner”. Some examples from a recent experience at a child’s birthday party:

The birthday was a swimming party. All went fine until I found myself wincing, and easing into the pool ever so gingerly anticipating the stinging which would tell me how badly I was chafed from that morning’s long run. Not too bad, although I got some odd looks from the marks I seem to constantly sport and tend to forget about.

somewhat permanently present chafe area

Then I attempted to start up conversations by talking about the most current world issue: the men’s marathon world record of course, which had just been broken that morning! In my mind, the world had changed just a little bit as the limits of human potential had been stretched. I was received by either blank stares or pleasant nods and a change of subject. I made mental note to brush up on non-running related current events to increase my ability to maintain interest in a conversation for more than thirty seconds.

Wilson Kipsang sets a new World Record

After the pool, it was on to the party room. It was a warm day, and almost everyone was in sandals, but I was working my fall footwear, hiding my callouses and damaged toe nails. I have been told by some pedicurists that my feet aren’t that bad. For a runner. But I was paying those people. I think I should take it to mean they are that bad. For “normal” people. On with the fall weather and close-toed shoes regardless of the summer temperatures!

my party footwear

everyone else’s

Then it was pizza time. I tried to calmly graze on my one slice of pizza, but I was hungrily eyeballing all of the crusts on the kids’ plates which were left un-eaten. Oh, sweet carbs! I wondered if it would look too strange if I did a tour of the room, scooping up and eating all the left-over crusts.

how can you resist?

In the end, although I’m different, most people are very accepting of my running-quirkiness. In fact, despite my odd actions and appearances at that party, I ended up with a few more recruits to join me on my early morning runs. Just a warning: once you become one of us, you will never quite be the same!

Do you speak in miles or kilometers?

September 27, 2013/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

I recently realized that I have a first language when it comes to understanding running, and I’m very weak in my second language. My first language is in miles and my weaker language is in kilometers.

I developed as a runner with a sense of pace and what various distances meant (in terms of runs and weekly mileage) at University. While there, we all spoke the same language: Miles. We talked about pace in minutes per mile and we tallied up our daily and weekly mileage in miles. Over those four years and beyond, I only ever thought in those terms and understood inherently what each number represented. I liken it to understanding temperature in Celsius as opposed to Fahrenheit. If you tell me it’s 14C out and I need to run 8 miles at 7:30/mile pace, I get it. If you tell me it’s 57F and I need to run 12 km at 4:39/km I have to enter all the calculations online and do the conversions (which I just did) in order to understand.

Normally I don’t have a problem with not being bilingual in my running. I’ve become fairly good at doing conversions in my head so that I can understand people who are speaking in kilometers. However, recently I miscalculated. You see my coach provides my training schedule in kilometers. Every day I read what I’m supposed to do in kilometers, I go out and run it in miles, and then I report back in kilometers. You’d think I’d adapt, and so would I, but I always tend to revert back to my first language. The other day I had a long run to do of max 24 kilometers. No problem. Quick calculations in my head: 6 x 4 = 24, 8 x 3 = 24, 6 x 3 = 18 ; therefore I should run 18 miles. (I actually have no idea how I came up with 18 miles when it should have been 15 – it was Saturday morning – give me a break!)

On top of my miscalculation, my GPS watch (which by the way, also records my distance in miles) was not linking up because it was raining, so I set out on an estimation of distance. At about what I figured was 11 miles, I thought to myself, “wow, 7 miles to go. I’m usually so close to home at this point!” But I was feeling good, so off I set on another 7 mile loop. It was in the middle of this loop that it dawned on me (when you’re running for 2+ hours you have time to think about simple math problems): “24 kilometers is only 15 miles!” By that point I was committed however. In reviewing my route it turned out that I actually ran 19 miles (30.5 kilometers, for the record).

They say the best time to learn a new language is when you’re young, which unfortunately I am no longer. I may pick up on running in kilometers one day, but for now I think I’d rather brush up on my math.