The comrades ultra marathon : the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore !
I started training for the 89km Comrades Ultra Marathon last week and at the end of the first week of training wrote a blog titled “Crows and Seagulls” http://amitdaretorun.blogspot.in/2016/02/crows-and-seagulls.html
I concluded at the end of the blog that since I was a 50 year old with no real athletic ability, I must try and be like the crow who relies on guile, experience and wisdom to get what he wants. I also concluded that I am not a seagull with the strength, power and grace to accomplish what I want.
I concluded that I will never be able to power up the hills nor glide down the valleys on that road between PMB and Durban.
I concluded that I will never be able to dazzle, I will never be able to astonish. I will never be able to shine.
Yesterday morning, 7 days into the training schedule, I ran some speed intervals and consequently during the day had some mild knee pain. After having run for 11 years, I feel that I am experienced enough to differentiate between “pain” and “pain”.
I knew that this pain wasn’t heralding the onset of an injury but simply a sign of a well worked out muscle.
But, I believed my own words. And our words become our reality. Our words became our acts.
I had after all declared myself to be a crow.
I iced my knee through the rest of day and applied an ointment when I went to bed.
But when the alarm rang earlier today I decided to take rest instead of going for a scheduled run.
The idea to take rest was based not only on fear of an injury but also on laziness. After all, my aim at Comrades was simply to finish the race in safety with a few minutes to spare.
For a while, as I lay in bed, I focused on my knee and realised that there was no pain. But then I thought, why take a chance.
Why should I push myself, and chance an injury ?
I’ve spent the whole day today, regretting my decision not to run. My knee was fine this morning and has remained so during the day.
I realised that I did not go to run simply because I set myself up to achieve little. I did not want the most I could get, I wanted to get just enough.
I did not aspire to be better than myself.
To rest when tired is reasonable. To not rest when injured is stupid. But I didn’t rest for either of those reasons.
I rested because I was happy being a crow. I did not aspire to be a seagull.
Marsilio Ficino said that, “the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.”
“Nothing should be refused, writes Marsilio Ficino; human nature contains all and every one of the levels of creation, from the horrendous forms of the powers of the deep to the hierarchies of divine intelligence described by the mystics; nothing is incredible, nothing is impossible; the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.”
“All is possible” wrote Marsilio Ficino. “All is in doubt” wrote John Donne.
The story of our lives is written by our chosen sentences: I can do whatever I want or I can do nothing.
So I must choose my words carefully !
Who do I wish to be?
Must I not aspire to greatness?
Must I not aspire to heroism?
Must I not aspire to better than I am?
I love the idea of choosing faith over reason. I like the idea of romance in seeking heroism.
So today I asked myself the question again : Am I a crow or am a seagull?
Why can I not run a strong and fast Comrades?
Why can I not power up the hills and glide down the valleys?
Why can I not be the athlete I desire to be?
Why can I not stand on the finish line of that great race with the satisfaction that I have left nothing back on that road?
I need to make my own reality.
It all starts with words: Is all possible or is all in doubt?
The cynic in me might insist that at 50 my best is behind me. The cynic might insist that I'm a crow.
But then what stops me from asking : Can this old non-athletic crow not aspire to be a seagull?
What stops me from aspiring to be the better than a seagull?
The possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.
I restart my Comrades training tomorrow.
I started training for the 89km Comrades Ultra Marathon last week and at the end of the first week of training wrote a blog titled “Crows and Seagulls” http://amitdaretorun.blogspot.in/2016/02/crows-and-seagulls.html
I concluded at the end of the blog that since I was a 50 year old with no real athletic ability, I must try and be like the crow who relies on guile, experience and wisdom to get what he wants. I also concluded that I am not a seagull with the strength, power and grace to accomplish what I want.
I concluded that I will never be able to power up the hills nor glide down the valleys on that road between PMB and Durban.
I concluded that I will never be able to dazzle, I will never be able to astonish. I will never be able to shine.
Yesterday morning, 7 days into the training schedule, I ran some speed intervals and consequently during the day had some mild knee pain. After having run for 11 years, I feel that I am experienced enough to differentiate between “pain” and “pain”.
I knew that this pain wasn’t heralding the onset of an injury but simply a sign of a well worked out muscle.
But, I believed my own words. And our words become our reality. Our words became our acts.
I had after all declared myself to be a crow.
I iced my knee through the rest of day and applied an ointment when I went to bed.
But when the alarm rang earlier today I decided to take rest instead of going for a scheduled run.
The idea to take rest was based not only on fear of an injury but also on laziness. After all, my aim at Comrades was simply to finish the race in safety with a few minutes to spare.
For a while, as I lay in bed, I focused on my knee and realised that there was no pain. But then I thought, why take a chance.
Why should I push myself, and chance an injury ?
I’ve spent the whole day today, regretting my decision not to run. My knee was fine this morning and has remained so during the day.
I realised that I did not go to run simply because I set myself up to achieve little. I did not want the most I could get, I wanted to get just enough.
I did not aspire to be better than myself.
To rest when tired is reasonable. To not rest when injured is stupid. But I didn’t rest for either of those reasons.
I rested because I was happy being a crow. I did not aspire to be a seagull.
Marsilio Ficino said that, “the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.”
“Nothing should be refused, writes Marsilio Ficino; human nature contains all and every one of the levels of creation, from the horrendous forms of the powers of the deep to the hierarchies of divine intelligence described by the mystics; nothing is incredible, nothing is impossible; the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.”
“All is possible” wrote Marsilio Ficino. “All is in doubt” wrote John Donne.
The story of our lives is written by our chosen sentences: I can do whatever I want or I can do nothing.
So I must choose my words carefully !
Who do I wish to be?
Must I not aspire to greatness?
Must I not aspire to heroism?
Must I not aspire to better than I am?
I love the idea of choosing faith over reason. I like the idea of romance in seeking heroism.
So today I asked myself the question again : Am I a crow or am a seagull?
Why can I not run a strong and fast Comrades?
Why can I not power up the hills and glide down the valleys?
Why can I not be the athlete I desire to be?
Why can I not stand on the finish line of that great race with the satisfaction that I have left nothing back on that road?
I need to make my own reality.
It all starts with words: Is all possible or is all in doubt?
The cynic in me might insist that at 50 my best is behind me. The cynic might insist that I'm a crow.
But then what stops me from asking : Can this old non-athletic crow not aspire to be a seagull?
What stops me from aspiring to be the better than a seagull?
The possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore.
I restart my Comrades training tomorrow.
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