Just to Clarify - It's not about the coffee!

Yesterdays post might of caused some confusion. I suggested I might be wrong. Many people thought the post was about coffee. I apologise if this gave the wrong impression. It was not. I still feel coffee can have a detrimental effect on health. If you are stressed, tired and anxious then coffee can exacerbate those symptoms. The post might of been more to do with the use of my time. I think the following story that came up on my facebook newsfeed sums my thoughts quite nicely...

The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “YES”.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.” he said.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you...” he told them.

“So... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Worship with your family. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Spend time with good friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

My point was the coffee shop - a place to relax with William was my golf ball. :-)

Thanks to Oliver Chapman for sharing this story.

I Was Wrong: Time To Just Be

I’ve come to the conclusion I might of been wrong all along.

Sitting in Starbucks last week with William I learnt a valuable lesson.

We had been out for a run in the morning, went off to watch one of my young clients play tennis and ventured in to Guildford to pick up some coconut oil.

Obviously after all this action daddy and Will needed a rest. We popped into a coffee shop and invested in a vanilla spiced latte and a classic blueberry muffin.

Sitting on a comfy chair watching the world go by and spending some time with William was fantastic. He is now fifteen weeks old and spends his time between naps and filling nappies babbling and smiling.

It is genuinely exciting to watch him develop. Most days I come home and he is up to something new. And here in lies my brand new revelation...

I have always loved coffee. I’ve always loved the taste, the smell and the culture.

...it is perhaps this last point that is most important. In our lazy Sunday morning wander around the shops of Guildford and our hour or so sitting and relaxing in the coffee shop I felt the most relaxed ever.

The moment of creamy vanilla spiced deliciousness created a disconnect second to none.

Relaxing there amidst the aroma and gossip watching people struggle to stand up on those beautiful cobbled streets reminded me of whats important in life.

It really is nothing to do with the coffee. I guess it can be anything for anyone. I suppose some people enjoy a glass of wine. Taking time to just ‘be’ is what it is all about.

Over the last few years I have sought experiences, spent time building my business and studied. It has been great. But taking the time to just ‘be’ is something I need to practice.

I suppose I find a certain amount of disconnect in exercise. I can turn the phone off and escape the hustle and bustle of the world for an hour or so, I also like to spend time on my sofa watching films with EJ. These are things I need to do more.

I guess if it involves drinking coffee so be it. The classic blueberry muffin is just a bonus.

The Plan: How Do You Train For a Seventy Mile Run?

I’m now two weeks into my training and the old familiar feeling of flow I get when I start to improve my fitness is coming back. My running seems to feel more fluid again, rather than the clunky uncomfortable unpleasant and atrocious runs I was doing a couple of weeks ago.

I’m not a runner and when in between challenges I don’t keep running to maintain fitness so when I start training for a challenge I literally start from scratch. Please understand this is not ideal - for anyone this approach comes with an increased risk of injury and a HUGE feeling of frustration when you don your running shoes and start up again. Yes - I get that too!

I’m not quite Ricky Hatton - I don’t put on three stone in weight between races - I just don’t run as part of my weekly routine.



I haven’t really trained for a running event in over a year. I realise my ironman had a marathon on the end of it, but this was small fry to me seeing as I couldn’t swim over a mile and didn’t own a bike (let alone have any proficiency on it!) before I started to train. Therefore for the 32 weeks of Ironman training I only really did 1 or 2 runs a week and that’s not really enough to develop marathon fitness.

I digress. The point is this - I don’t run and so I’m starting from scratch.

I now have just under twenty weeks to go and I know you guys want to see my training plan. The truth of the matter is the running part is simple for me. Being a fitness expert who is well versed in advanced anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, psychology, program design, blah, blah, blah, I suppose I should give you a complicated intelligent explanation about what I’m doing and why. I’m sorry to disappoint you...

The truth of the matter is despite what you read on the running forums, running is a low skill activity and it’s perhaps the stuff I do around running which is more important.

Please don’t confuse what I just said. Running might be simple, it is not easy. You still have to train. But, it’s just not as complicated as ‘experts’ make out.

To build a program I find a plan that has worked for me well in the past and amended it. The simplest best plan I’ve found is on the Runner’s World website and is free.

I’m planning on running this race doing only three or four runs per week. This goes against the grain a little. Most endurance training plans require you to ‘get time on your feet’ which basically mean running five or six times per week. I want to do it as part of a reduced volume plan for experimental reasons.

In the past with endurance training plans as the demands become greater I become hopelessly addicted to caffeine and chocolate. By running at a lower volume I hope to keep my diet in check and substitute the extra runs with strength training and soft tissue work (massage and foam rolling). This way I will be strong and healthy.

It has always crossed my mind that you only need three runs to be a good marathon runner. One fast run, one moderate distance run and one long run - anything more seems to be less meaningful practice and more junk mileage. What is a recovery run anyway?? (cue a series of angry emails from runners...)

Therefore, I printed this off the program from the website and highlighted the runs I wanted to do. I am building up to doing 22 miles in about 10 weeks time and from there I will build up my moderate run to a similar amount. With good nutrition, strength and adequate recovery I be able to manage this. It will culminate in me doing back-to-back 22 mile runs six weeks out from the race.

Sounds insane, right? :-)

I plan on taking little baby William with me for some of it. This will give EJ a rest and William some fresh air. This will mean it doesn’t effect family life too much... Maybe.

I’ll keep you posted.