Michael Dobson was captain of the professional British football team Walsall F.C. when it won the League 2 championship in 2007.
But he was devastated that his biggest fan and harshest critic — his father — was too sick with cancer to see him hoist the trophy. Dobson buried his championship medal with his father that September. By the following season, knee injuries forced him to retire.
Now a personal fitness trainer who runs a business called Flexercise, Dobson is training to run the London Marathon in April as a part of a cancer fund-raiser to honor his father. He charts his progress (and runs cool photos of his runs and family life) on his blog, runtilyoudrop.wordpress.com.
Q. You say on your blog that you used to watch the London Marathon with your dad, but that you were never able to participate due to football. Did he have some personal interest in that race?
Dobson with his father and daughter
A. My dad was very much into his sports. He had no personal interest in
the London marathon but we used to watch anything sports related that was on
TV at the time. If it wasn’t the London marathon, it would be
Wimbledon(tennis), skiing, football, golf, rugby, you name it, we watched
it. My dad just appreciated talent in all sports and it made me very sporty
myself. I’ve played a lot of sport over the years and had a professional
football(soccer) career for 10 years but no sports seemed as impossible and
grueling as the marathon, so it become a challenge and a dream of mine
since watching it with my dad at an early age.
Q. What was the championship medal that you buried with your dad?
A. The championship medal was a medal I won when playing football for a
club called Walsall F.C. I was the captain of Walsall FC whilst they were in
league two and I helped them win the Championship and move up to league one.
I was only the second captain of the clubs history to ever lift the
championship trophy, so it was a special moment for me and my family. My dad
was ill with cancer at the time and too far away to ever come and watch me
play, but as he made me the player I was, I felt like I owed him something
when he passed away later that year. My gift back to him was to bury the
championship medal with him, as it meant nothing to me without him alive.
You can read the full story about our relationship at
http://www.justgiving.com/MichaelDobsonFlexercise/
Q. How were you able to take up running after the knee injury?
Dobson as a personal trainer
A. My knee injuries are mainly from cartilage(tears) operations but I had one
which was micro-fracture on the medial condyle of my femur, which was a
little more serious, and the last operation I had a small lesion on the
anterior cruciate ligament which had to be shaved away. I had 4 operations
on my right knee and 2 on my left during my career and because of the lack
of cartilage left, it’s left me with grade 3 arthritis and osteophytes in
both knees growing outwards from both medial and lateral condyles. This made
any twisting or turning motion very painful and I was told to retire before
ending up in a wheelchair. Obviously I did but I wasn’t going to lose all my
fitness, so I trained as a personal trainer and kept myself in shape.
I am capable of doing things in straight lines (running) but impact should really
be kept to a minimum. Unfortunately I have this dream to run the London
marathon and it’s even more important to me now I’m doing it in memory of my
dad. Running is not great for my knees and every step hurts but I’ve learnt
to deal with the pain over the years from playing football with it day in
day out. It hurts less to run quick than it does to run slow, so a lot of my
runs are very quick with big mileage!
I try to give myself lots of rest between runs so I rarely run back to back days unless it is a slow recovery
run. After the marathon I will ease back BUT I’m too active to ever be held
down. What happens to my knees in the future will happen…..it’s already
begun so I can’t change it now! Que sera, sera!!!
Q. What’s your favorite place to run?
A. I run the same route whenever I can because it is in a local park. I
hate stopping for traffic so the park is an ideal solution to keep moving
and if my knees are sore I can use the softer ground (grass) rather than the
paths. I do enjoy a countryside route when I’m on a recovery run so I can
take in the scenery but I tend to run so quick that most of my runs are a
blur!
Q. Do you follow a diet or a particular philosophy of eating, or do you
figure that you just “work it off” between your training and work as a
fitness coach?
A. I don’t really follow a diet as such. I went through a football career
being loaded up with carbs for energy to perform at my best and since
retiring it hasn’t really changed. I love meat and chicken in particular,
and with rice and pasta, that is a big part of my diet. I do realize that if
you eat a lot of carbs and don’t burn them off they sit on your body which
is why I exercise all the time.
I try not to eat too much junk but I do have treats here and there and I don’t see the point in not eating them at all. We are put on the planet to enjoy life so I go by the rule that if you eat
bad foods, you need to do more to burn them off. I’m in good shape and I’m
very healthy, with a low bodyfat percentage so it’s fine for me, but not
necessarily for others. Everyone’s body is different so we all need to find
what works for us!
The other problem I have is that I work on my clients
free time (once they’ve finished work), so getting meals in at the right times
is very difficult. Sometimes I just eat when I can but it can be at the
completely wrong time of day. My clients come first!
Q. What do you typically eat for breakfast?
A. I try to eat big for breakfast when I can/have the time, so I’ll eat
some fruit (apple & banana), a bowl of cereal and some toast. Sometimes if
time allows I’ll cook some poached eggs too.
Q. What’s your biggest weakness, food-wise? Does it bug you when you
succumb, or do you not fret about it?
A. My biggest weakness is a Chinese take away! I love it and it is a
regular treat for my wife and I. I work hard during the week so that I can
enjoy a treat like a Chinese take away on the weekend but whilst I’m
training for the marathon, I have cut out treats like this until the race is
done!
I don’t mind having the odd Chinese and it doesn’t bother me. What
would bother me is if I had a few take away’s in the same week. This has
happened before because I have been away and just grabbed what I could get,
but my body didn’t like it and I felt very sluggish, heavy, tired and
lethargic. It’s a sign of too much bad food!!!
Q. What’s your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant?
A. Being a chicken lover I do enjoy a place called Nando’s which serves
chicken, chicken and more chicken, and you guessed it……I have chicken
wings followed by a chicken breast in a bun with spicy rice.
Q. How do you adjust your diet during injuries and periods of less running?
A. During injuries my diet doesn’t change too much but my portion sizes
do. I tend to find I haven’t got quite as big of an appetite so I just eat
less. There are still ways to exercise through most injuries so I’m never
completely exercise free!
Q. Imagine you’ve been deported to the U.S. and find yourself on Death Row.
What would you request as your last meal on Earth, assuming it could be
anything you like, prepared by anyone you choose, living or dead?
A. That’s a tough one! It would have to be a toss up between a Chinese or
a Nando’s (both with chicken dishes of course) and I would love to be served
just one more time by my wife and kids so I could tell them how special they
are to me. I would have said my dad so we could have one last chat and say
things that were left unsaid before he passed away, but if I’m on death row,
no doubt I’d be seeing him soon and would have plenty of time to chat!
Q. Anything you’d like to add?
A. I believe that nothing in life is impossible and if we really want something
and we really want to achieve, with some hard work, WE CAN! Failure isn’t
about not reaching a goal, it’s about not putting in the effort to reach for
it in the first place. Preparation is key to success so I go by the moto….
‘Fail to prepare; prepare to fail!’
Be the best you can be, be a winner!
Follow Michael Dobson and Flexercise on…..
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Flexercise.PT
Twitter: http://twitter.com/flexercise
Thanks for the interview, I thoroughly enjoyed being part of your blog