The power of the mind
Trumping pain for the finish line
Today I ran my first half marathon.
My sight prescription (short — sightedness myopia) is -5.50 and -7.50, 120 and 50 stigmatisation, with my left eye being the badly disposed one. This was the sight my parents gave me before I swam out of amniotic fluids into this world. That sight hasn’t changed to date. Am I grateful for modern day medicine that I can still see wiht the use of spectacles in my earlier life and now contact lenses? Yes, because God forbid had I been born at the beginning of time, I would have been mauled to death by wild animals as I would have only been able to see them as they were about to attack. Sad.
What my eyesight deprived me of as a young child was the opportunity to fully participate in sports. Now that I am an adult and can run without having to pull my glasses up my nose all the time, I made a resolution to run my ass off, theree weeks ago. Yes, I don’t make resolutions on the 1st of January, but whenever the mojo strikes me.
Today I ran my first half marathon, after three weeks of inconsistent training. It’s called the Tom Jenkins Challenge. What most runners in South Africa hates about it is that it has an 800 metre, man — made uphill. And for a half marathon, I didn’t realise I was going to go through it twice. Oops, I forgot to check the route’s topography!
The first time I went up it was at the 9km mark and it was bearable. The second time around was at the 19km mark and for the first time in my life, I experienced pain that has the potential to drive one to quit. i have fallen off my horse more than once. I have grazed almost every part of my lower back and ass and survived. I have been an entrepreneur for a few years now and have cried over so many challenges. I have lost friends and fought to have them back in my life. Not once in my life throughout my trials and tribulations did I ever contemplate giving up, until today!
I sat on that uphill and looked down at the beauty that is Pretoria. I have visited the Union Buildings more than once as they carry a lot of history for South Africa and loved the place and its gradens. Not once did I ever notice that across it in the distance there are 4 beautiful hills. As I sat there, after having screamed that the race was a complete bitch, I looked at the green that covers these hills. And it hit me then that if I could appreciate the beauty of something that I only got to experience through pain, I could do anything in life. From that moment on, my body had no control over what needed to be done. My mind was in charge. Those four hills were my inspiration for my last kilometres because that’s all that occupied my mind.
And as I continue to train for the 2 Oceans Ultra Marathon, I am going to keep thinking of that moment when I will get to stop during my run in the gulf, stop and adore the beauty of that one spot in Southern Africa where two oceans meet but don’t mix. Because only a few people in the world will ever get to experience that, in a moment of pain.
I am also going to take this into my work life and see the beauty that lies in things that drive me to tears, and drive that passion to the finish line. After all, we’ve all envisioned the finish line, right?
