I was lucky enough to start running on the Virgin Active treadmill last night, just as CNN broadcast an excellent documentary on Haile Gebreselassie as part of its 'Revealed' program. Fortunately I had my iPod on me, so could plug into the program. It was fascinating.
This guy grew up dirt poor in Ethiopia, and at one stage he is standing in a field in rural Ethiopia and he says: 'These kids (shepherd boys) could have been me. I was this boy." He warmly calls a little black boy closer, then checks himself. "No, he couldn't be Haile. he is wearing shoes."
He cited being a poor but happy family, but his father often chided him for not pursuing a 'proper' career instead of running (like teaching). Sanity prevailed, and the rest is history.
What was particularly insightful about CNN's coverage was going inside Haile's mansion outside Addis. This guy who started with nothing, dreamed a dream (and it was to run), and when he was 16 or something he won a cross-country event, and then he dreamt of winning an Olympic Gold. The more he pursued that gold the more he put distance between himself and abject poverty, and the further he got away and more desperately he didn't want to go back.
You'd think that living in lavish luxury might soften this guy, but his resolve only became more keen. "Running is my life," he says, and the marathon is the king. So he made it his goal to get the marathon world record as well, in Berlin.
This part was amazing to watch. You see this guy arriving off the plane before the record attempt. He goes straight to a press conference where he says:
"Setting the goal is easy. The work, the effort is very hard."
You see the rain. You see him sharing his concerns about breathing (he had to withdraw from the London race because he was struggling to breathe). Just before he starts the race he is smiling and relaxed, and then he settles into a deadly metronomic rhythm. Running a good marathon is all about a consistent average pace. Impressively, Haile surrounds himself with at least 4 pacemakers, dressed mostly in white, all black runners.
They hold off the wind, and get him through halfway on world record pace. At 30km they are spent and then he is alone, the field long since blown away, one man and his dreams against the clock. He beats the world record by 29 seconds, in a time of 2:03:29. I've done a 3:50 marathon, which I thought wasn't too bad. A 2:03 marathon is like a 2 hour running sprint. That's freakin' hardcore!
This guy grew up dirt poor in Ethiopia, and at one stage he is standing in a field in rural Ethiopia and he says: 'These kids (shepherd boys) could have been me. I was this boy." He warmly calls a little black boy closer, then checks himself. "No, he couldn't be Haile. he is wearing shoes."
He cited being a poor but happy family, but his father often chided him for not pursuing a 'proper' career instead of running (like teaching). Sanity prevailed, and the rest is history.
What was particularly insightful about CNN's coverage was going inside Haile's mansion outside Addis. This guy who started with nothing, dreamed a dream (and it was to run), and when he was 16 or something he won a cross-country event, and then he dreamt of winning an Olympic Gold. The more he pursued that gold the more he put distance between himself and abject poverty, and the further he got away and more desperately he didn't want to go back.
You'd think that living in lavish luxury might soften this guy, but his resolve only became more keen. "Running is my life," he says, and the marathon is the king. So he made it his goal to get the marathon world record as well, in Berlin.
This part was amazing to watch. You see this guy arriving off the plane before the record attempt. He goes straight to a press conference where he says:
"Setting the goal is easy. The work, the effort is very hard."
You see the rain. You see him sharing his concerns about breathing (he had to withdraw from the London race because he was struggling to breathe). Just before he starts the race he is smiling and relaxed, and then he settles into a deadly metronomic rhythm. Running a good marathon is all about a consistent average pace. Impressively, Haile surrounds himself with at least 4 pacemakers, dressed mostly in white, all black runners.
They hold off the wind, and get him through halfway on world record pace. At 30km they are spent and then he is alone, the field long since blown away, one man and his dreams against the clock. He beats the world record by 29 seconds, in a time of 2:03:29. I've done a 3:50 marathon, which I thought wasn't too bad. A 2:03 marathon is like a 2 hour running sprint. That's freakin' hardcore!
I just got rushes of inspiration and goose pimples. He also said that it was easy to have a clear purpose, coming where he came from, knowing where to go, and importantly, paying the price in each and every session to get there. I noticed in some of his training runs - on dirt tracks - that he would need to concentrate to not step on stones or water carved ruts in the road. Now imagine coming from those backwaters to racing on nice tarred roads or tartan tracks. By being constantly focussed and frustrated in training, racing provides the opportunity to let go, to run without frustration, to really turn on the taps (because at the very least, you aren't studying the road for rocks and booby traps; you're free to finally just run).
So for me; this is personal virtue:
Coming from a place of personal poverty, using your mind and body to propel yourself (and those close to you) out of suffering, and then once you start to receive the rewards, you continue the journey; you always remember the valauble life lessons learned; you keep on running, moving towards the next record, the next personal milestone. You become who you are and remember who you are, wherever it is you are on your journey.
Ran 40 minutes; 445 KCal. 5 minutes gym
Weight: 86.4kg (Don't ask how it went up since just yesterday)
For background on CNN/revealed go here.
For background on CNN/revealed go here.
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