Fraser Darcy

Greetings! This post come to you from Port Vic, a destination I alluded to last week. It’s been juuuust over a week between blogs though and I have a good reason for the day delay!

Towards the end of last year my weekly writings became very habitually structured. Monday-Sunday, this is what I did, this is what I should’ve done, etc. etc. I reasoned in one of my blogs that it was easy to write like that because while working Monday-Friday my brain and creativity wasn’t allowed to roam as free as before.

I am no longer in the Monday-Friday mode. (Yippee).

I am as free as I choose to be. (At the moment). Hence, my mojo has been rediscovered to some degree and the quality of life, thinking and training has improved. It could be the not working effect and it could also be the Port Victoria effect. Geography does matter in these things. Easiest to just say it’s a little bit of column A and B.

The first benefit of being at Port Vic, and slipping into pre-season mode, is it allows me to do my longer run in the morning. Something I couldn’t do while teaching. No stress about the weather turning foul late in the day, no stress about my stomach cracking the literal shits on me past 4pm, and no stress about something during my day impacting the most important 1.5 hrs of my day. Up early, coffee in, maybe some toast if it’s a hard run and then I’m pretty well out the door after some digesting time. The morning runs I have ticked off in between blogs have been the standard 60/70 minutes I normally do, a mid week long run, a Sunday long run (completed down at Innes for some scenery) and some harder workouts.

The harder workouts have been 12*400’s (off 30 seconds rest), 6*1km (90 seconds rest) and a 20 minute sort of tempo consistent run (can’t be having rest in every hard run I do). The 400’s were done in my new spikes and far out that felt like cheating. Much to learn and improve from here using those bad boys. The 6*1km’s were done in my new faster shoes I received for Christmas. Again, very different to doing them in my old easy running shoes. My body is working way less for the same result. Which of course, means when I put in the same work as I did before I achieve a better result and therefore training effect. Money might not buy happiness but it does buy speed and that’s the next best thing.

The theme with these harder workouts and trying my new shoes has been curiosity. It’s actually the theme of this whole little training block leading to the end of January. How fast can I go over 5km? Heading out for the harder runs with this thought in my mind has helped keep me pushing even when things get tough. Just see how much you’ve got, what’s the worst that’ll happen.

This curiosity stretches into my easy runs and easy recovery bike rides and walks. I could sit down in the nice beach house instead, watch some TV, read a book etc. But the whole world of Port Victoria’s coastline awaits me. Yeah the path I run on is the same each morning and night. But at morning and night it’s different. The weather is different, the light is different, the body feels different. It’s all new to me each time, no run or ride or walk is ever the same. Perhaps though these activities are just providing me with a new stimulus for the day. Without any work stress filling the rest of the day I have plenty of time to relax in between runs, get bored to some degree and get psyched for the next bit of exercise.

I think it’s also easier to get relaxed at Port Vic than at Quorn or Eden Hills because of the ‘blue doctor’ effect. The ‘blue doctor’ effect isn’t my term, heard it on a podcast, but to me it’s the whole staring out at the ocean thing. From the balcony and living room at Port Vic you can see the ocean and although I know what’s out there (seeing as I’ve paddled out there) it’s still pretty relaxing and curiosity driving at the same time to just gaze out at the ocean. It is no wonder the majority of Australians live by the coast.

It’s exactly a week since I’ve been at Port Vic and I have to say, it’s been one of the better training weeks of the last few months because of the reasons discussed. It also helps being early on (2nd week of the block) in the scheme of things. One tricky thing that I am starting to recognise creep in a bit is the need and want to already test my fitness. Too much curiosity. I need to respect the process a bit more and ensure I continue soaking up the Port Vic vibe as long as I’m here. Just as I start to recognise I need to ensure I maintain my curiosity for longer than just the stay at Port Vic, old mate Kilian Jornet pops out a gem via Instagram… ‘In a culture obsessed with shortcuts and instant gratification, training teaches me the value of patience and perseverance. There are no quick fixes here – just the long, steady road to improvement. It’s a lesson that resonates deeply with me, reminding me to appreciate the journey itself, with all its ups and downs, rather than fixating on fleeting moments of success.‘ Ok, so Kilian says I shouldn’t fixate myself on the approaching end of January 5km race. I can do that Mr. Kilian.

Reading other people’s things is a nice segue into another gem on the internet I discovered this week that again, I’m going to share it whether you like it or not. Reminder to new readers, if you don’t like it I don’t give a damn, go somewhere else instead.

Anyway, this website, by Paul Graham, is mainly a collection of essays among other things. I discovered it via a running newsletter and thought ‘this is fucking gold’. Paul is a programmer, writer and investor/start-up type person and his website looks like it was created in the stone ages. Paul’s content obviously speaks for itself and doesn’t need any fancy pictures, ads or gizmos. The first one of his essay’s I read was this one, The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius. To summarise it for you in a few words, Paul reasons that the recipe for a genius is ‘to have a disinterested obsession with something that matters’.

I am mostly disinterested* with running and when I perform badly it is because my interest is attracted by fame or glory. To me, to be somewhat disinterested* _{(*which means to not be influenced by personal advantage, much like how a banker should give disinterested advice. It’s different to being uninterested)} with running is to be just collecting kilometres, time spent running and good hard race experiences to become better at running. Much like how bus ticket collectors operate according to Paul. Isn’t that all influenced by personal advantage though, you want to become a better runner, thus making you interested? Well yes and no. My base line for enjoying running has always been having the ability to head out the door for an easy 30-60 minutes of running on a nice day. If I can tick that anything that comes on top of that is a bonus. Hence, I usually do tick that box and am just exercising my curiosity to find out how much more enjoyment I can get from running. That’s where the obsession part comes in, I am obsessively curious about finding what’s possible.

What about the second part, something that matters, does running matter though? Again, yes and no. There is always a yin and yang with these responses. I think running matters in the combination of a healthy lifestyle and my life is better with running so therefore I think more lives will be better from it. But does that mean it really matters? Will it really solve the world problems? It’s debatable as to whether if everyone was running they would then live better or if it’s just, as Kilian describes that training (for anything) teaches the value of patience and perseverance. Now from that standpoint, then it does matter but it doesn’t necessarily have to be running training, it could be some other hobby that yields the same health and mental benefits as running does (cycling, piano playing, surfing etc). But hey, I’m going to stop myself there because by trying to qualify that I have a disinterested obsession with running makes me sound like I want to call myself a genius. I am not a genius. I am just trying to illustrate that being a genius or total master is available to anyone given they have or find a disinterested obsession with something that matters. If we then had more geniuses on our planet, or more directly in the definition of Paul, more people who had disinterested obsessions with things that matter then the world would probably be a better place.

I’ll leave it there for now, let you meditate on that last musing. For me, I am still at Port Vic, heading out for another run to test my curiosity and put another layer of training in what has so far been a productive start to this pre-season. Please do yourself a favour, go back and click on the Paul Graham link to further investigate what he has to say on different topics. Thanks for reading.