Saturday, June 2, 2018

Experiences are worth experiencing


Today, I was reminded by Facebook about a post, written by me soon after first Comrades Marathon way back in 2014.  Many things had happened after this experience and today I was triggered to write something about them.

Any experience, however good or bad, is surely a short-lived one. I was dreaming every single day, since the day I learned about the Comrades Marathon, to go and experience it and bring home the tiny finisher medal. I planned for my first Comrades run for more than one year, sincerely trained the last 8 months before the race in 2014. An overtraining injury surfaced just a few days before the Big C and I soaked myself in treating it aggressively. But, the time was not with me.

At the start line at Pietermaritzburg, I wasn't ready. I decided to go and run as much as I could on that day and ended up running until the halfway mark. The outcome wasn't as desired but certainly, I had to accept it and pull out of the race. I sat on a stone and decided to cheer and clap for the runners who were slowly marching towards Durban.

I decided to go back and finish the Comrades a year later. I knew it was worth the wait. Not finishing the Comrades looked like a failure at that time but I actually gained something.

A year later, the year 2015, I went back and completed the Up run. While approaching Drummond I saw the stone, it appeared to be smiling at me and waving its hands for my successful finish.
I went back to South Africa again in the year 2016, completed the down run, saw the stone again. But the stone was busy smiling and waving at others - every single runner needed that good luck ;)

Today, I am comfortable talking about success and facing failures after going through such experiences. I've learned that both success and failure are short-lived.

It is important is to celebrate the success immediately without waiting. Should the results be not the best and/or the desired one, be patient, mentally stay stronger, take a step back, feel positive, and fix the foundation, if needed.

The experiences are worth experiencing, well, irrespective of their outcomes.

#coachKay

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