No sun too bright
No water too cold
No wind too great
No earth too hard ….
Born a racer
To go hard faster
This is who I am
To be the quickest ever.
~ A Racing Mantra by Damocles
Today, it rained. Nothing major, not a hailstorm, thunderstorm or anything severe like that. It was the type of rain that annoyed you, but wouldn’t deter you from reaching your destination.
Unless you let it.
As the rain battered my hood, I looked down and saw my feet continue to pound that concrete. The drops that sluiced across my waterproof jacket and I realised …. I truly had run out of excuses not to exercise.
I had a waterproof jacket, that kept me at a functionally warm temperature, my runner leggings were equally coated with DWR, and my shoes were fine.
The only thing stopping me, was my will.
My tiny Ipod intoned mechanically that I still had another 15 minutes to go in my measly 30 minutes routine. Skip for 1 minute, then 2 hard sprints for 100m, rest-walk for 1 minute and then rinse and repeat.
I couldn’t let the rain stop me. The lockdown had decreed that I was only allowed outside for an hour. To give up now, would be a ridiculous waste.
So I kept going, and that … was when I came up with that mantra above. On the fly. Inspired by the famous U.S. Navy SEALs. As I composed that tiny limerick, I knew that if I had the mental strength to do that, I had the ability to push myself harder.
So on the final run, I went from 100m to 200m, struggling desperately to keep my pace.
Naturally I bottled it in the last 50 metres. My speed, energy and even oxygen intake all took a hit and I more or less stumbled to the finish line, or in my neighbourhood, commonly known as a roundabout.
Lately, due to the lockdown, I’ve been feeling more determined not to allow myself go to waste. Sure, I still game an unhealthily amount, and probably spend way too much time in front of a screen, but I refuse to let myself get myself down too much and maintain my exercise and write at least once a week.
I will admit though, the time has really melded. I thought today was only Thursday when in reality it was Friday. I wondered where the hell time had gone, but upon hindsight, it only makes sense, when you look at my poor habit of gaming, eating, running and then writing every so often. When you have work, you tend to be a more grounded in how you approach your days, since so much is stolen.
But when you have free reign over your time, without any consequences …. time is less linear and more fluid.
Staying and feeling tough, in the face of such a depressing holiday, shut away in your home, is difficult, but not unachievable.
Next week, I shall be putting even more effort into my running, with a desire to push my 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Hopefully by mid September, I can achieve a full hour and really maximise my limited time outside.
I don’t have any excuses for not keeping up this challenge. I never went to the gym nor did anything particularly extravagant.
It’s just about willpower now.
The will to improve, the will to act, the will to push and the desire to see through on this promise I made myself.
If I was truly born to race, how can I deny myself an opportunity to go faster?
Until the next Rundown.
~ Damocles.
Damocles' Journal 