“I am determined not to give in to my age!”
He started running 5 years ago just before his 60th birthday…
After being presented with the stark choice of statins or more exercise to control his raised but not quite above threshold bio-markers.
Yoga and golf were not athletic enough to satisfy the nurse who carried out his lifestyle medical.
Meet Graeme
Graeme’s daughter is a 3:05 marathoner and she encouraged him to take up running.
Up until then, I had only run to play or referee rugby which I gave up at 55. and, despite its image, rugby only requires you to sprint, walk and wrestle. So, I had only ever been anaerobically fit.”
He still thinks that he recovers from intervals better than he can push himself in endurance runs.
At school, Graeme hated cross-country with a passion…
Having come 102nd out of 105 as a tall but fat 12-year-old.”
He could see no pleasure in running for no purpose.
To Graeme chasing a ball at rugby, football or cricket was a purpose but running just to get out of breath or get a stitch gave him ABSOLUTELY no enjoyment.
“I now run to defy my age.”
As of six weeks ago, Graeme could, for the first time, run 10k as part of an easy run without having to take a walk break.
I do take a break – but it is now out of choice (or CP instruction!) rather than necessity.”
Graeme is also an addict.
I gave up alcohol twenty-four years ago with help and nicotine twelve years ago on my own. Running is a way for me to celebrate my health.”
Recent PB’s
This is his first PB for three years.
I got my Parkrun back below 30 minutes only three weeks ago although I don’t run it very often as I don’t find it fits well with easy running.”
For the first three years of running, he just practiced trying to run faster and faster with mixed success.
All of Graeme’s PBs before Sunday were achieved anaerobically, even his first half marathon.
Which I have now beaten(Run fast/walk/run fast/walk) and I now want to knock them off one by one aerobically by running steady and getting steadily quicker!”
Enter… Coach Parry
“I joined CP in October 2020”
Graeme tells us that he knew that he needed to acquire an aerobic base and didn’t know how to do so…
I had heard of heart rate and MAF training and didn’t know how to do that and then I stumbled across CP advertising the Fast Beyond Fifty program and decided to give it a go.”
Join us for a free online presentation of the…
The Faster Beyond 50 Masterclass
…and discover how you can run well (and faster) as you get older, without training more or harder than you currently are, all while avoiding injury.
If it feels like you’re training harder than ever but not running the paces you’d like to be running or if you’re constantly tired, fatigued or running in some sort of pain, then this is specifically for you.
Save your seat in this training now…
The Biggest Contributor To Your Success
Creating an aerobic base through MAF and easy running is the secret sauce.
This has taken Graeme fifteen months to do.
He has also chosen to lose weight and managed to lose 6kg during the twelve weeks of his latest training block.
The two things together helped me to my PB”
What’s Next?
Edinburgh half-marathon at the end of May to try to get below 2:15:00.”
Graeme can’t believe he is even considering a marathon!
“Earlier in my life, it was unimaginable that I might ever want to give it a go.”
He still thinks that he needs to do more of the easier runs.
My aerobic base isn’t big enough yet. I might do 5k and 10k over the summer and plan for a marathon next spring.”
Difficulties Along The Way
“The last three miles on Sunday!”
Graeme believed that the stamina in his legs rather than the aerobic base is not where it needs to be and that it comes down to insufficient strength training.
The hardest part of completing his training block is that January, February, and March are absolutely the busiest time of the year in Graeme’s line of work.
He tells us that he can easily be working a fourteen-hour day which can be mentally exhausting, so fitting in the training has been both a challenge and a motivation.
One of the biggest challenges Graeme had to face was dealing with runners’ trots and its unpredictability.
It has been a real issue for me and has led to many abandoned runs… I always have to plan.”
Graeme’s gut is now a bit better trained for his current training block, but still not without any drama… He knows that planning is a part of his running reality.
Running Community
Graeme’s son lives in New Zealand (He is in the UK) and pre-Covid they had managed to visit him and his family during the UK winter for a few years.
I belong to a running club in NZ (I first broke 30 mins for Parkrun in NZ) and to two in the UK and have running friends on both sides of the world. “
Graeme believes that You don’t have to be a great runner to be part of a great running community.
We couldn’t agree more Graeme! What a fantastic story…
Good luck with the Edinburgh half-marathon next month! Trust in the process!💪
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