Tuesday, October 09, 2007

馬拉松賽跑訓練: 身体和意志 ∕ Running Marathon Training: Mind over Body

I just finished running my 9th marathon, the 3rd this year. My time wasn't that great, not even close to my PB (Personal Best), but I am glad I did it. During the summer months, I had been quite busy and in the last four weeks leading up to the event I unsuccessfully tried to increase my mileage. Alas it was too little too late and I ended up with 21 km (instead of 33 km) being my longest LSD (Long, Slow, Distance) training run.

If my goal had been the half-marathon, it would have been just right. However, I had set my sight on the full-marathon, and the battle between body and mind began at the 21.1 km mark during the race. With each pounding of the foot, my body was telling me to give up and accept the inevitability of my first DNF (Did Not Finish). On the other hand, my mind just would not accept defeat and reminded me to "Draw not from the well of physical strength, but from the mental belief that you can do it." Well, it was true: My well was running dry and there was little left to draw from. In the end, the mind won and the lingering self-doubt cast by physical discomfort dissipated.

After what seemed like ages, I finally crossed the finish line with not a gram of energy left. As I was resting in the recovery area wolfing down a bowl of chilli, I was still amazed by how the mind had been able to take control despite the body's protest. That leads me to believe that where there is a will, there is hope and that no matter what, as long as the mind is willing, the body will not give up.

(Reference: My last article on Marathon Training: http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2007/09/marathon-training-dnf.html )

16 comments:

xiao zhu said...

Will power can lead to great achievement. And I feel great to have such experience.

新鮮人 said...

我好懶,
好日都唔會去跑步,
真係好佩服你嘅毅力!

Serena said...

A marathon? Is this for health purpose you are doing this or for a cause?

By the way, do you have a post here about Tulips Festival or photos perhaps? Drop in and let me know. :D

Thanks for dropping by and your comments are appreciated.

Serena

vicky said...

好勁呀!

Keith said...

Congratulation for another personal triumph! You lift the spirit among us.

暗黑的卡夫卡 said...

congrats...i wish i can do that too...one of the goals i still haven't managed to reach this year doh...

Haricot 微豆 said...

Xiao Zhu: Thank you for cheering half a world away :)

Haricot 微豆 said...

新鮮人: 未必一定要跑長途,短途或散步也是好的。

Haricot 微豆 said...

Serena: I do the marathons mostly for health and fun. I donate money to charities but not through registration.

Here is the website:

http://www.tulipfestival.ca/

Haricot 微豆 said...

Vicky: 中庸啦!!

Haricot 微豆 said...

Keith: Glad to inspire, wanna try :)

Haricot 微豆 said...

暗黑的卡夫卡: Yeah, I remember you mentioned it a while back. It does take up a lot of time to do the training. There is always next year !!

Serena said...

Thanks for dropping by and also for the link to the tulip festival. I will check it out. Great going then for the marathon practice.

Err...your name is not Haricot, right? I can't read the chinese words accompanying it but the dictionary says that haricot is some kind of beans. :)

Haricot 微豆 said...

Serena: Yes, Haricot is the approx French translation of my Chinese pen name 微豆. Don't forget, Canada has two official languages :)

Keith said...

In my dictionary, Haricot is some kind of Canadian running bean (down in Mexico, they have jumping beans, you know :-)

It is a tempting challenge to run a Marathon; but then I decide to stick with my moderate excercise goal.

Haricot 微豆 said...

Keith: Canadian running bean ... you got me laughing there !!!! As to exercise, oh well, each to his/her own - as long as one has fun :)

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