Today is a long run day. I have another 45 minutes to an hour to go before I start. I ate my breakfast about 15 minutes ago, and want to give it an hour before I start. So I have a few minutes this morning. I want to take those minutes to share some thoughts from Meb Keflezighi.
After Meb Keflezighi's historic win at the 2014 Boston Marathon, runners everywhere wanted to know how someone two weeks away from his 39th birthday, who had only the year's 15th best marathon time going into the race, could defeat the best field in Boston Marathon history. Here is Meb's state of mind going into the race, in his own words from 'Meb for Mortals'.
On the start line, I take time to calm myself and just be thankful I'm there. One of the things I was thinking before the 2014 Boston Marathon was "Last year I wasn't healthy and couldn't run here. Now I'm healthy, I'm thankful to get to run this race, and I hope to give my best."
Right before the gun goes off, I'm in meditation mode. I pray internally as the national anthem is sung, thinking about what these words mean and how special it is to be there on that day. I think about how fortunate we are to be able-bodied and to have the opportunity to test ourselves in this way. I think, "May the best man or woman win today," I hope I'm the most prepared one, but if somebody has worked harder than me, then they deserve to win. That's my mentality going into a race.
Couldn't we all have a better day and come out as winners if we pause before we start our day with thoughts of gratitude for what we have, and a commitment to do our best regardless of how the outcome turns out?
Have a great day!
P.S. You can read a previous post in reference to Meb here.
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