What does running a marathon means to me this time?
Today i just completed my very first full marathon organised by Standard Chartered Bank and what i can say is that it was really a very good experience. I felt that each of us needs to go through one of such events to understand your own personal limits.
During my first 25km, i ran as per normal and things seem quite ok but however when it comes to 26km onwards, my legs are really giving me headache. My leg muscles are literally bursting and can’t take any more jogging. I had to stop every 1km to do stretching and make sure i walk instead of jog. Time were passing really slow if i walked and most of all, i felt that i have a whole lot of distance to cover. I still remember vividly that i wanted to just give up and sit there to rest but each time i looked up the crowds, i saw many ladies and also old people still running. From there, i told myself that no matter what, i die die will have to complete the race. The mind will have to be very strong so that it can overcome the fatigue level.
So i struggled with every 1km abit by abit and eventually walked till the 39km mark when i decided to start jogging despite the pain because i did not want to take more than 7hr to complete my race. At last, i managed to complete within 6hr and 50 min =) Although that is not a good timing but i think it is quite good for a first timer and based on the fact that i have only trained up to 14km only.
Anyway after running this marathon makes me realised a couple of things. First of all, life is really like a race. Everyone of us starts from the same point and some will go fast while some will go slow. Some like to overtake people and some like to run alone all by the side. Many of us experience different things in life and we do take things in a different approach. There are no hard and fast rule but most importantly is whether do we get the result that we want. We must endure till the end point and anything can happen along the way and we just got to adapt to the situation and change accordingly.
Secondly, it really doesn’t matter how you start and most important how you end. Some people started fast but end up having leg cramp along the way and as a result not able to run. While there could be someone who started slow but managed to jog all the way. Therefore never ever judge a person by the first impression. You can never know what is ’slow’ person can actually achieve.
Third is that running a marathon doesn’t require you to have a fit body but rather a strong will mindset. I saw many elderly uncle running the race and i totally respect such people. After experiencing myself, i know what it really takes to do one marathon. Can’t imagine people who do Ironman and other more tedious activities. Their will-power must be very strong. In fact, i dare to say that even tho a successful person in life may not be able to take such pressure.
Lastly i reckon that if you can set your mind to complete a marathon, you can conquer anything. That is because if you can overcome your mind over body so it means that a person can tell the mind that anything is possible to achieve. Even physical pain can be endured so what is mental pain/stress. It’s a matter of whether do you want it anot? Many of us run this race because we like to wear the finisher T-shirt and not because we really like to run. So if you really set you mind to achieve something that you think will worth alot to you, you can do it!
Just my two cents worth of thought of the day!
Here is some pic taken half way =)
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