Possibilities
As I sat in my living room last weekend, watching Eluid Kipchoge push the limits of human performance to clock a sub-2 hour marathon, I was filled with emotion. Exhilaration at the sheer magnitude of such a feat....disbelief at what the human body is capable of when a solid plan is in place....and sheer awe at the mental roadblocks and uncertainty that he must have faced as he prepared for this event.
The one thing that struck me tho, throughout the lead up and event was how calm and self-assured Eluid was. There was never a public moment of wavering from his goal, of his absolute buy-in of what he was going to attempt, and in his mind, achieve. And what it did for me, in that moment as he crossed the line at 1:59:40 was give me hope. Because if he could achieve that, it is true that our possibilities are endless, and unknown.
In the days since, there have been many articles written regarding this feat and achievement and what it really means...there is no world record being attached to it due to the "assistance" he received, so it is a record, but not an official one. One article I read, that I really related to was in regards to the ripple effect that our actions can and do have on those around us, both in our inner circles and even for those who aren't as close. Thinking of a pebble dropping into a body of water, and how those ripples spread far and wide, really sums it up. Because as you do something in your life that changes the way someone else sees the world, or their world, it will change something in their behaviour, and so the ripples start to grow. Is amazing when you think about how much just one positive change in your life can have an impact on people you may not even know. That smile you give to someone on your way to work tomorrow could be the thing that changes their mindset and helps them to have a better start to their day, thus impacting the others they interact with, and so on.
What I love about this is the simplicity of it all....we don't have to go out and try to break world records. All we need to do is push our edges and strive towards what is possible, and what we can make happen.
This is all even more relevant for me as I complete my final taper days prior to running the marathon..which I will have completed when this blog is posted. I am not entering the race to try and beat a world record...but I am entering with the mindset of "It IS Possible"...and so you might ask, what is IT?
Well, my base goal is to match the time I set last year (4:13) when I ran the race as my first ever marathon. The difference in my training, mindset and where I am in my life overall between last year and today are so far apart that I am actually very curious to see how I do year over year.
Should I be successful there, my next-level goal would be to land with a time somewhere between 4:12 and 4:00, which will be a new PB and a new target to match/beat in my next race.
Next up, would be to come in sub-4:00....basically half the pace of Kipchoge on his marathon. Plenty fast for me, thank you very much ;)
Of course, I would not be me, and a runner, if I didn't have a 1A goal, and that would be to earn a Boston Qualifying time, which for my age bracket is 3:50....and would require shaving 25 minutes give or take off of last year's time....lofty for sure but you know what...I truly do believe that the possibilities are endless and I am going into this with the mindset that the only achievements that are impossible are the ones that we manage to convince ourselves are.
So I might not make my BQ time this year, but watch out Boston because I AM coming for ya!
The one thing that struck me tho, throughout the lead up and event was how calm and self-assured Eluid was. There was never a public moment of wavering from his goal, of his absolute buy-in of what he was going to attempt, and in his mind, achieve. And what it did for me, in that moment as he crossed the line at 1:59:40 was give me hope. Because if he could achieve that, it is true that our possibilities are endless, and unknown.
In the days since, there have been many articles written regarding this feat and achievement and what it really means...there is no world record being attached to it due to the "assistance" he received, so it is a record, but not an official one. One article I read, that I really related to was in regards to the ripple effect that our actions can and do have on those around us, both in our inner circles and even for those who aren't as close. Thinking of a pebble dropping into a body of water, and how those ripples spread far and wide, really sums it up. Because as you do something in your life that changes the way someone else sees the world, or their world, it will change something in their behaviour, and so the ripples start to grow. Is amazing when you think about how much just one positive change in your life can have an impact on people you may not even know. That smile you give to someone on your way to work tomorrow could be the thing that changes their mindset and helps them to have a better start to their day, thus impacting the others they interact with, and so on.
What I love about this is the simplicity of it all....we don't have to go out and try to break world records. All we need to do is push our edges and strive towards what is possible, and what we can make happen.
This is all even more relevant for me as I complete my final taper days prior to running the marathon..which I will have completed when this blog is posted. I am not entering the race to try and beat a world record...but I am entering with the mindset of "It IS Possible"...and so you might ask, what is IT?
Well, my base goal is to match the time I set last year (4:13) when I ran the race as my first ever marathon. The difference in my training, mindset and where I am in my life overall between last year and today are so far apart that I am actually very curious to see how I do year over year.
Should I be successful there, my next-level goal would be to land with a time somewhere between 4:12 and 4:00, which will be a new PB and a new target to match/beat in my next race.
Next up, would be to come in sub-4:00....basically half the pace of Kipchoge on his marathon. Plenty fast for me, thank you very much ;)
Of course, I would not be me, and a runner, if I didn't have a 1A goal, and that would be to earn a Boston Qualifying time, which for my age bracket is 3:50....and would require shaving 25 minutes give or take off of last year's time....lofty for sure but you know what...I truly do believe that the possibilities are endless and I am going into this with the mindset that the only achievements that are impossible are the ones that we manage to convince ourselves are.
So I might not make my BQ time this year, but watch out Boston because I AM coming for ya!
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