Undoubtedly Atlanta 1996, running against Michael Johnson where I achieved my silver Olympic medal. I could so easily have not been there; I was 30 years old; I’d just had knee surgery less than a year before, but thankfully, everything came together.
I say this a lot, but that’s because it’s so true: if you want to run fast, run with people faster than you.
It wasn’t so much a typical week/ month – the year was broken down into three phases. The winter months were about getting those long runs in. This is where we’d be building that base level of endurance and long aerobic capacity. We’d also be spending extra time in the gym with a bit of technical speed work. Then between February and May we’d be in California for the hot weather training – working on speed endurance. And then in the summer we’d be racing, so lots of speed work, finessing techniques and throughout we’d train six days a week.
The short answer is lots of injuries – as many athletes do. I learnt to be patient, but to stay focussed on recovery and the end goals. I was managing a congenital heart condition – which was identified when I was eleven, so listening to my body has been integral to my personal approach. I also learnt how important it is to be able to call on experts who can offer some perspective when an injury can seem all-consuming.
I was lucky to work closely with two fantastic experts – first was the massage therapist, Mark Zambarda who has worked with a lot of high-performance athletes including Linford Christieand more recently with some of the big football clubs. I also worked with applied Kinesiology. In these instances, they were fully hands-on and understood where I needed to be.
I think there has to be a combination of both. All athletes will tell you that they want to be back to full fitness as quickly as possible. I was always prepared to put in the hard work of managing my own rehab but, the hands-on approach has a lot of benefits too; knowing that that expert has an in-depth and individualised understanding of your injury was always key for me.
The psychology of injuries is complex. Knowing that you are doing everything you can to get back to fitness is a large part of the recovery. When I had Glandular Fever, I missed a year of my career, and if that had happened today, I imagine I would be looking as acupuncture, IV vitamins drips, as well as lots of rest – I’d be covering all bases. When I had a foot injury, I was a huge advocate of running laps up and down the pool. It was hard at the time but helped me maintain a certain level of fitness whilst in recovery.
My main focus is my fitness equipment range, Roger Black Fitness. We sell a range of treadmills, bikes, rowers and cross trainers for working out at home. They are reasonably priced and designed to be easy to store – we’ve done everything to make it easy for people to get active and keep moving. Its ideal to have your own equipment at home if you want compliment what you’re doing outdoor or if you are preparing for or coming back from a surgical procedure. Whatever the reason; I can’t emphasise enough the importance of keeping moving whether injured or wanting to get fitter.
I’d personally say the last 80-100m. It’s here where technique can buckle, hips can drop and the pressure can start to take its toll. Getting this part of the race perfected is critical.
Obviously, I was running at a time of incredible talent, but talent is born rather than acquired – which leads to me assume that that talent must exist today. So based on that, I have to say that I think we were fortunate because we were able to run together. Kriss and I ran together in Southampton, there was a similar hot spot of talent in Birmingham – these clusters of talent were able to push each other on, training together, racing together – that was the magic formula.
Understand your body and listen to it when it needs to rest. But if you are embarking on a higher-level running career, look at getting your gait in a good place, and understand how to ensure the cadence of your running is in balance.
I’ve never actually done a Park Run – I personally enjoy my daily runs with my wife and the dogs in the woods of Surrey!
No – I haven’t done any track work since I hung up my professional spikes. Nowadays, I love running on grass, at 80% capacity and clock up about 5k most days.
Thanks to @PhysioTodd, @NoelThatcher, @DaveClan08 @Matelotjack and @paulierunner for their questions suggestions via Twitter.
For more from Roger see his website Rogerblackfitness.com or follow him on Twitter – @RogerBlackFitn2
