This has nothing to do with running but I thought I would pay tribute to the king of Pop. Here is Thriller from prisoners in the Philippines.
Awesome!!!!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
New York Marathon
New York, is considered the mother of all modern day marathons as by far its the most popular with over 100,000 applications and sporting a field of only 30,000. New York, together with Berlin, Boston, Chicago and London are the 5 Grand Slams of Marathons. Almost all Marathon records have been broken in the Berlin marathon as it is the flatest and least hilly, while its a toss-up between New York and Boston for the hardest (hilliest).
The charity that I am running for insipirational video:(I hope you are inspired to donate!)
History of the New York Marathon:
Here is an inspiration marathon video:
The charity that I am running for insipirational video:
The actual NY route.
The Real Marathon
Spyros Louis, the first Marathon winner (and no, I don't think I look like him...he has more hair.)
A little history on the marathon
The first Modern Marathon Winner, Spyros Louis, 1896:
The classic Marathon Route (about 10 min from where I grew up):http://www.athensmarathon.com/marathon/images/map.jpg
As an FYI, a great beach that I used to go swimming in my teenage years is right by the Battle of Marathon site...This is the beach of Schoinas, Especially the beach bar Karabi.
Here is an article on the Modern olympic marathon route in Athens 2004
The classic Marathon Route (about 10 min from where I grew up):
Why is the marathon 26.2miles? Blame the queen...
http://www.runtex.com/web/1-1202.asp
http://www.runtex.com/web/1-1202.asp
As an FYI, a great beach that I used to go swimming in my teenage years is right by the Battle of Marathon site...This is the beach of Schoinas, Especially the beach bar Karabi.
The Beginning
Actually, it all started the first week of January. It was freezing and a friend of mine kept on telling me that that there was no way I could possibly outrun her in a 3 mile race. Being the competitive type and somewhat overconfident in my inflated athletic abilities, I took up the challenge. I had just gotten back from work at around 7pm and met her outside my building. It was close to 35F (3C) when we left and I could barely feel my fingers. The plan was to run east on 80st and north up the FDR drive (overpass), up to 100th st.- a distance out and back of 3miles (4.8km).
I was duly humbled by the experiment. After spending my entire life thinking of myself as the quasi-athletic type, I believe long distance running was the hardest thing I had ever done. After 1 mile I had reduced my speed to a mere walk (whereas, I lost the race and had to buy beers that night).
I figured that If I were to complete the 3 mile distance, it would require diligence, patience and hard work.
It took 2 weeks to run the 3 mile distance in its entirety. I can't begin to describe how sore my muscles and knees were!
That was it. I was hooked. I was amazed at the adjustment of the human body. Within two weeks I was able to go from barely running to the corner of my block to running 3 miles. I wanted to discover how far I can go.
I figured that if I push myself to complete 3 miles, I was going to push myself to complete 26.2 (42.2km).
6 months and 6 races later, I have come to a different conclusion though. What distance runners -this strange breed of people that a friend of mine regards as glorified exercisers- love the most about running is not the physical ability, stamina and endurance of the human body, but rather its the persistence of the human spirit and human mind over the body. When one's muscles, stomach and knees are screaming to stop pounding them for 4 hours, it's the mind that keeps one's legs and body moving. Believing in the diligence and hard work of your 10 month training and the confidence in yourself is what gets you across the finish line- not your body.
Training for a marathon is much easier than life, as the distance to your goal is known ex-ante before exerting any effort. Your training and resolve determines your time.
Thanks for visiting and donating!
More blogs to come (but I promise, much shorter than this!) From here on out its going to be mostly complaints on how much pain I'm in.
I was duly humbled by the experiment. After spending my entire life thinking of myself as the quasi-athletic type, I believe long distance running was the hardest thing I had ever done. After 1 mile I had reduced my speed to a mere walk (whereas, I lost the race and had to buy beers that night).
I figured that If I were to complete the 3 mile distance, it would require diligence, patience and hard work.
It took 2 weeks to run the 3 mile distance in its entirety. I can't begin to describe how sore my muscles and knees were!
That was it. I was hooked. I was amazed at the adjustment of the human body. Within two weeks I was able to go from barely running to the corner of my block to running 3 miles. I wanted to discover how far I can go.
I figured that if I push myself to complete 3 miles, I was going to push myself to complete 26.2 (42.2km).
6 months and 6 races later, I have come to a different conclusion though. What distance runners -this strange breed of people that a friend of mine regards as glorified exercisers- love the most about running is not the physical ability, stamina and endurance of the human body, but rather its the persistence of the human spirit and human mind over the body. When one's muscles, stomach and knees are screaming to stop pounding them for 4 hours, it's the mind that keeps one's legs and body moving. Believing in the diligence and hard work of your 10 month training and the confidence in yourself is what gets you across the finish line- not your body.
Training for a marathon is much easier than life, as the distance to your goal is known ex-ante before exerting any effort. Your training and resolve determines your time.
Thanks for visiting and donating!
More blogs to come (but I promise, much shorter than this!) From here on out its going to be mostly complaints on how much pain I'm in.
These words have evolved in having a different meaning.
In Latin:
Mens sana in corpore sano
In Ancient Greek:
"Νους υγιής εν σώματι υγιεί"
"Γνώθι Σεαυτόν"
Mens sana in corpore sano
In Ancient Greek:
"Νους υγιής εν σώματι υγιεί"
"Γνώθι Σεαυτόν"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)