Though David Gonzalo Voltas had always been into sports, he was never a runner… until about six years ago.

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But David came first in the Half Marathon category at the recent Herbalife Marina Run 2019 last Saturday, finishing in a time of 1 hour 18 minutes 02 seconds.

Said David, 28, an automotive engineer, “I have been practising many sports. I began with football and tennis, then I tried running because it is a sport that can be done alone.”

Running Pushes Your Limits

Today he has fallen in love with running. Said David, “Running lets you constantly push your limits to see how much you can improve yourself.”

And David’s running times speak for themselves. For instance, his half marathon (21.1km) personal best timing is 1 hour 10 minutes which he set at the recent Barcelona Half Marathon in Spain a couple of weeks ago.

This Half Marathon had been a stepping stone to the Tokyo Marathon which he will be racing this coming Sunday, 3rd March. There, David hopes to run a new personal best at the Marathon distance. His current personal best stands at 2 hours 39 minutes.

Said David, “I want to improve on that by a lot, in Tokyo.”

Goal Setting

Indeed, always setting new goals and working on achieving these, helps him to stay motivated in running.

Said David, “I like training but I love racing and competition. When I see myself constantly improving and reaching these goals, it helps me to stay committed and confident in my abilities.”

He continued, “I think that all runners should be confident in their abilities and train hard to improve themselves, because the more you train, then the results are going to show.”

His Run Training

David himself trains about five to six days a week, clocking roughly 80km – 110km weekly, during his Marathon training cycles.

His long runs are on Saturdays and Sundays and these build gradually from 20km – 30km in distance. He also does a track session once a week. 

As well, he throws in Fartlek or Tempo Runs, too, in order to make up the rest of the sessions. When he trains for a Marathon, his runs are never shorter than 10km.

Running Fast Is About Technique

To run fast, David adds that it is all about technique. Explained the runner, “People run without technique. When you play tennis, you need to pick up the skills. Running is actually the same. If you improve your training and pick up the right techniques, you will run faster and get injured less frequently.”

He added, “That is one of the most common mistakes among runners, actually. They try to run a lot but they don’t run well and so they are always out with some form of injury. Runners also tend to train and run with pain especially if a race is around the corner, but you need to be injury-free in order to run properly and see improvement.”