Riding and Running Selfish?
How to keep your Spouse and Family Happy (whilst you’re training hard)
If you have not already noticed your partner may not be so supportive when you disappear for hours on end on the bike or you talk endlessly about your love of riding. So here are some tips to keep them happy and how to manage your cycling addiction whilst not creating world war three in your lounge.
Noel Carroll in 1981 highlighted that there was a ‘selfish runner syndrome’. He suggested that
‘Runners (change this to cyclists in our case.) may make better lovers, but sometimes lousy spouses: that is the problem’.
He stated that runners/cycling are an introverted lot. They like to keep their thoughts to themselves. Their behaviour is at best anti-social, at worst utterly selfish… It can create an atmosphere that does nobody any good, and certainly not the runner’.
Unless we are competing at a very high level and earning an income from cycling, we should aim to keep a good balance between cycling and the other areas of our life.
Tim Noakes in his brilliant book ‘The Lore of Running’ adds further to this with some helpful tips. The following is from his book.
1. Limit serious running to every second year and then to only a few months of that year
2. If you work in an office, run to and from work if at all possible. Alternately, run in the early morning or during the lunch hour or both.
3. Don’t allow running to affect the way you carry out your household responsibilities. Doing so provides your family with a tangible reminder that they come second.
4. Be aware of the ‘danger times’- you will know what these are in your household. At these times, be at your most attentive and, at all costs, do not open your mail to see if your running magazines have arrived, discuss running, or worst of all, go out for a run. Weekends too must be handled carefully to ensure that running conflicts as little as possible with the family’s weekend recreation.
5. Don’t get overtired. As a runner with a family you must have to accept that, for the sake of your family, you simply can’t train hard enough to run at your best. That is the price that must quite realistically be paid.
(Noakes, 2003)
Noel Carroll also stated that you should
· Never complain of being tired
· Don’t always want to go home early on evening out
· Don’t talk running all the time (have other topics of conversation)
· Always play down the importance of running in your life.
(Carroll, 1981)
at Friday, January 15, 2010 0 comments
Labels: Rides, Thoughts, Training
Got Blood?
from Vimeo.
Ive got to dedicate this to myself..paying my dues..5 crashes on the same knees this year.
at Wednesday, November 11, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Thoughts
Decision Criteria...
in discussing any joint action, it becomes obligatory that A should argue in favor of B’s supposed wishes and against his own, while B does the opposite. … they end up by doing something that neither wants, while each feels a glow of self-righteousness and harbors a secret claim to preferential treatment for the unselfishness shown and a secret grudges against the other for the ease with which the sacrifice has been accepted. (C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
at Tuesday, October 27, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Deep Thoughts
The One Car Theory
Would you take care of your car, or would you abuse it? Would you change the oil regularly, keep it clean, park it in a garage? Of course you would take the best care you possibly could of your vehicle. No going out to the drag races on Friday night. Only premium fuel for your motor. Tune-ups, antifreeze, lubrications, maintenance — always you would choose nothing but the best for your automobile. Would you let your auto sit idly for a year? Never. Would you push it to the limits to find out how fast it could go, or what the roughest terrain is that it could possibly handle? Absolutely not. If you were given only one car for a lifetime of use it is clear that you would never abuse it, you would always take the best care of it you possibly could. You would provide all the necessary maintenance and care your car needed and deserved. Right? What if you had only one body?Imagine you could have any automobile of your choice. That auto would be your only auto and would have to last you for an entire lifetime. If it wore out, it could not be replaced. Once gone, you would be reduced to other methods of getting around, or borrowing rides from other people. One car and only one for your whole life.
at Tuesday, September 22, 2009 1 comments
Labels: Thoughts
To be a cyclist
"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks." -- Scott Martin
at Thursday, July 23, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Quote
Turn the page...( The life on the road....)
at Monday, July 13, 2009 0 comments
Finishline Ceramic lubricant
After using Prolink and Parktool PTFE lube , I have now on test is Finishline Ceramic wet lube. It seem to be roll better under torque and stays on way longer than any additive based lubricant ive tried so far and its easy to get off. Put in bearings and your golden...
at Thursday, July 09, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Parts Review
Biggy Wheel Slide
...Hilarious..replayed it twice
cant get it more fun than this....the coolest ever descent....
at Sunday, June 14, 2009 1 comments
Labels: Humour
XTERRA MALAYSIA
In a short update ( tired from the journey back, well , you know karak..having it on a school holiday makes it really rough on the journey ).
Xterra Malaysia , somehow pulled it off with its back against the wall.Seen the weary faces of the organisers and of course the gaps in between which was left out or decided to be left out.
Swim as usual becomes the standard routine @ 15 hundred meter with occasional jellies.
On a pre-emptive race recce, I was ready to boitch about the "mtb" section , hearing that its comprises of 60% road. Somehow , being a mtber, it ain't that bad after going thru the whole course. Never the less , the weather hit hard on the red clay terrain churning red clay patty cakes of from at least 300 pairs of knobbiest tires. ( hmm mud beaters...) with many punctures too.
No traction and hi - tire pressure was talked about alot.. :-) Somehow the rain is welcomed even though everyone is mud coated from head to toe.I welcome it , made the track much more challenging else it be faster.
Trail run is anti clock wise with 2 iteration together with some tree trunks in between and some batu cave staircases , the nice part is boulder scrambling but that is already an tip-off. The beach run, is UN-effortless. I must say not providing any presentation has its springy surprises.BUT one thing that really sux is going thru the WASTE rivers meeting the sea.
For me, i hara-kiri'ed for a higher cause. I will be full out for the next one.
Congrats Lydia Tan on setting the bar for her category and taking Rank 1.
And also to Carmen , Chris whom respectively got 2nd and 3rd. Simon whom got Rank 1 too
Heck , 15th and i didnt even try !! Could have gotten within top 7..
This dude walked 15 km of bike section +10km trail run in the worst condition to finished the race. Overheard stories for some serious crashed which requires stitches from others as well.
Good Job for the Xterra's org...well selected trails wtih some degree of technicality , endurance and bike handling/carrying. More offroad the next one. less road.
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5/6/09
So everyone is registered? Yes i have , no i have not paid yet. Plenty of online hype i note. kinda hard sell.. i presume.. well.. lets see.. as relay 250 and individual 150 seems pretty steep for its inaugural statement fee's without historical backing. It ought to be more relay than individual.. Well..lets just wait and see if its "Hup-Hup" for Xterra. i am sure it would. i really dont mind the Xterra Tattoo :)
Update:
Lousy crap TCBEACHHOTEL canceled my booking ( booked in March) via extremely arrogant owner.whom says another batch booking override my booking. i did not hesitate to give him a piece of my mind on this matter. Dont think he be able to sustain/maintain his hotel in this standard. i'll send TC "bitch" hotel a billion termites.
Lucky, Reliable friends got enough room space for this bloke.
at Monday, June 08, 2009 1 comments
Labels: Race
BikeJoring aint Bike Whoring
at Sunday, May 17, 2009 1 comments
Labels: Training
