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"
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