It was great to bump into a former member of my running club in the gym yesterday and lovely they approached me to have a chat. I was sweating away on the Elliptical and he was having a tour of the gym, not the ideal meeting point for two keen runners.

Naturally our conversation led to how our running was going. Not great was the response, but I felt sorry when they explained that running was almost off the cards, hence his appearance in the gym.

It turns out they were suffering from a build up of scar tissue in their calves which caused them discomfort every time they ran. They were quick to point out and I quote “I raced too much, when I shouldn’t have done”.

It got me thinking about longevity in running as I felt really sorry for this person, they were clearly upset and stated how much they missed the running community and the friendship that came with it.

So the question I wanted to raise is what’s more important to you, longevity or short term success?

I often share one of my long term running goals. I’m currently 46 years old and I want good for age at London Marathon. My current marathon PB, which I ran in October, is 3:29, way off the target I need.

But I’m in no hurry. And if I can maintain my current level for another 14 years, then I’ll have a chance at achieving that goal. It sounds ridiculous when I write it down, but it’s a goal which creates an identity for my training.

Over the past few years I’ve continued to reduce the amount of miles I have run per week, and surprisingly continued to get quicker. That’s changed recently with an unfortunate injury I sustained, not over training, but just coming back too quickly after my marathon, a race I ran a week after having a norovirus.

In fact let’s rewind to Chester Marathon, because that raises the same question. I was really ill the week before and didn’t eat properly for 5 days. It wiped me out. It was probably only the Monday of the week of the race I started to eat again.

Artificial Intelligence told me I had no chance of running a PB. A fellow coach said I did. And a PB I achieved. But at what cost? In hindsight on that day I chose short term success over longevity. It’s not necessarily the wrong choice, and I still don’t regret it, but I’m still recovering, 5 months later.

So I think no matter what stage you’re at with you’re own running you should ask yourself the question, is it longevity I seek or short term success?

My coaching philosophy will always focus on longevity and gradual improvement. If I have a runner approach me, or even someone on my team that wants success quicker, I’ll point them elsewhere, even if it means losing a client. I’m going to stick by my principles, which are train smart and quality over quantity.

I currently work with about 60 runners and only 2 of them run more than 4.5 times per week. Both at the peak of their running right now.

I’d also like to briefly discuss how we measure success. I’ll write about this in more depth another day. But I think those chasing short term success are after one thing, quicker times and PBs. It’s how we determine the ability of most runners.

But is there a better way to do this?

I believe so.

Age grading.

For me this gives a much more accurate reflection of a runners true ability at this moment in time. We are in awe of those crossing the line first at parkrun but rarely are they recording the best age grade score. In fact in recent Hastings parkruns, that accolade has gone to a lady finishing 261st, 281st and 377th. Some of you will know who I mean.

So if you were to focus more on age grading, than purely your race time, would your approach change?

If you want to be running in 10 years time, then I think it’s important to ask the question, what is more important to you, short term success, or longevity?