One should never underestimate the power of observation.
Although learning is said to be “not a spectator sport”, there are still lessons that can be acquired while sitting on the bleachers.
Last Dec. 14-15, 2013, I had the privilege in manning the Kilometer 60 aid station in Sta. Catalina for the Negros Oriental 102-kilometer ultramarathon.
Aside from handling a couple of food and hydration points, one of the school organizations that I belong to in Silliman University (Pan Hellenic Society) helped the main organizers during the registration phase, opening program, and awarding/closing ceremony.
But the most interesting part of it all was during the ultramarathon itself. Like an old memory re-emerging after smelling a familiar scent or hearing a timeworn song, I literally relearned some of the most basic principles in surviving and living life OVERNIGHT — all because of an ultramarathon.
#1: Speed matters less. Pace yourself. It’s a cliché, really. But it’s one of the hardest lessons to apply in a generation of adrenaline-seekers and instant noodles.
Pacing yourself is the ability to move in a certain speed CONSISTENTLY all throughout a run. Consistency is amplified here, regardless of speed and rank. To know your appropriate pace requires you to know your own stamina level. And only through constant trainings and practices can one know and push his/her own endurance limit.
The significance of trainings cannot be overemphasized in preparing for an ultra-marathon. The same principle should be applied when one is about to enter a new phase in life.
The problem is: no one wants to be left behind in the initial phase of the run. We feel threatened if someone’s pace is faster than ours, making us neglect the fact that our greatest competitor is ourselves. We then tend to run faster than our appropriate pace, making us more susceptible to injuries, and chances of being very slow in the final kilometres of the run. Injuries can turn hares into turtles. Most importantly, they can hurt us badly — disabling us to redeem ourselves in the next run.
It takes a lot of discipline to control our own speed, even in the smallest aspects of our lives. It takes strength of character to focus on our own pace rather than comparing it with others, especially in the largest aspects of our lives. But we always have today — this track — to improve the attitude of yesterday, the runs of the past.
Sprints are advisable for short-distance tracks and races only. And in my humbling 20 years of existence, I have come to observe that this labyrinth-like world is not a race. It’s a marathon for beginners, an ultra-marathon for those who are going through extra miles. Sure, it feels like a race sometimes. But when it does, we should all be reminded of another cliché made famous by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The race is not only for those who are swift, but also for those who can keep on running.”
Keep on running.
#2: Pause. Recharge. Restart. Two of many runner/people dilemmas are: the difficulty in pausing for a while to rest, and the difficulty in starting again after a pause.
Many runners during last month’s ultra-marathon stopped over in our aid station to eat bananas, sit for a minute or two, get some chocolate bars, refill their hydration bottles, squeeze a sponge with water on their necks, etc. By that time, they had conquered 60 kilometers before reaching our station. They only had to run 40 more. But no one is invictus. We all need to rest.
I had a chat with one of the runners who sat for a while with us. He told me that the longer he sits, the more painful it will be to run again. So he makes sure that he doesn’t sit for too long, for it might kill the adrenaline and drive. And that thinking says a lot: Take a rest — long enough to catch your breath, but short enough to increase the drive to start over again.
However, resting alone is not enough to repower a runner. He/she must also rehydrate and eat; hence, the water and bananas.
In real life, food and water can symbolize many things. In the Christian perspective, we can always turn to the words of God for spiritual nourishment when we are weary. Bread alone isn’t the only thing that can keep a man going. His words are needed, too. Jesus said: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
He added in Isaiah 40:31 that those who wait for Him will “gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
Be it on the track, in school, or at home, we always have the choice to feed ourselves with bread and His words.
#3: A runner is as good as his/her support group. Yes, you guessed it right. The cliché for this part is: No man is an island.
During the ultra-marathon, there was a runner whose support group was composed of two people only: his wife and the motorcycle driver who drove his way from Dumaguete City to Bayawan to carry the needs of their runner. Some support groups had cars filled with gears and food. There was even one runner whose support person rode a bicycle for 100 kms. just to be there for her.
No matter how many they are or how little they carry with them, a support group is needed. Everyone needs someone.
A supporter and the supported are both roles that require a great deal of willpower and determination. The support group contributes much to the success and/or failure of the runner. They are the Robins of Batmans on track.
At some points in our life, we play both the supporter and the runner. Not all of us may be comfortable with the idea of someone helping us and seeing us in our worst conditions. But we need them. We will finish the run safely if we allow them to help us along the way. It’s also great to celebrate in the finish line with someone. After all, Christopher McCandles in the movie Into the Wild wrote: “Happiness [is] only real when shared.”
#4: What we lack in gear, passion can make up for it. A few of the runners during the ultra-marathon were not equipped with a complete set of gears: reflectors, headlamps, hydration belts, etc. During the registration period, one of my Pan Hellenic sisters had to check their gears.
A couple of runners said they didn’t have headlamps and hydration belts, and that it was the night of the full moon anyway. They can manage. The moon’s light will suffice, they said.
And it did. They did. Those people who relied on the moon survived. They, too, finished the 102-kilometer ultra-marathon together with those who had headlamps and hydration belts.
You see, some of us are born rich; some of us are born with lesser resources. But we always have the moon. It shines on both kinds of people. A determined attitude will always find a way. A positive spirit always finds the moon in the vast, dark sky. If there’s a well, there’s always water (wink*).
#5: Test yourself. However, despite this lengthy reflection that I have pondered on because of the ultra-marathon, they are useless if not applied.
You see, “acquiring/re-acquiring lessons” and “learning” are two different things.
Learning, indeed, is not a spectator sport. You have to actually play the game to learn: apply the lessons, and experience for yourself what it means to make mistakes, and what it takes to make things right again.
It’s always different when you’re actually in the moment. The thing with people is: we know what to do, but application is an entirely different challenge — a challenge that we are yet to conquer.
I’m going to run in the next Negros Oriental 100K Ultra-marathon. I guess I have to start with the 20-kilometer relay first. But I think I’m lucky…because usually in life, the tests are served first before the lessons.
But because I have observed such a beautiful event of seeing people banking on their strengths to finish what they’ve started, I got some of the lessons first. Yes, never ever underestimate the power of observation.
Here’s to hoping that I’d be tougher than the test. So, see you in the next ultra-marathon? (Maya Angelique Jajalla)
