First 10k Run Complete!

I finally completed my first 10k run! My time was 1:04:33. I was aiming for under an hour, but hey, it's my personal best and I can only improve on it now.

I was super nervous beforehand, and was worried how much slower I would be than others and if I would cramp up and not finish the race.

However, it was EASY. The one thing I realized is your performance does not depend on race day, but rather in your preparation.


I was ready for this run, and that's why it was so easy for me. Not once did I want to stop, not once did I think about quitting. Because I knew I had already done this in my training, so there was no excuse for me to not complete this run.

Always be ready. Put in the work. Because that is what matters. That is the real test. The test of your discipline, your commitment. Reaching your goal is just the inevitable outcome.

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road - long before I dance under those lights." - Muhammad Ali

Gym Musing: Me, Myself & I

One way I motivate myself is by thinking of myself as three people. There is your past self, your future self, and of course your present.

Your look at your future self as your goal. The person you want to become. That's pretty straightforward.

Your past self is the most important for your motivation. You must look at all you've been through. Picture him or her. All the hard work and accomplishments, all the strenuous workouts, and also all the downfalls. The blood sweat and tears. Picture him or her looking back at you. Really put yourself in his or her shoes. See the dreams he or she was seeing. Absorb that emotional blackmail. Look in the mirror and ask your present self, don't you owe your past to continue at full throttle?

Step into the gym and fulfill those dreams. You owe it to yourself not to give up on you now.

There are many speeches and quotes that if you listen to them again with this new perspective, they will give you some new-found insight and renewed motivation.

And example is Al Pacino's famous speech in the movie 'Any Given Sunday'. Watch it with the above approach in mind. (Picture Al Pacino as your future self (who has failed his goals, but is more knowledgeable now because of it) looking back at the past and giving this speech to you. The team receiving this speech is made up of your past, present, and future selves who must rely on one another to accomplish the common goal.)

Gym Musing: Make It Personal

In order to not only be motivated, but also stay motivated, you must discover and establish a solid reason for doing so.

This reason (or reasons) must be your own. They must be personal to you, otherwise you will most likely quit down the line.

The reason might be health related, a romantic interest (or interests), greater self-esteem and confidence, etc.

I feel I have only just now discovered my reason. Initially it was weight loss, which then turned into overall fitness and sex appeal, which then turned into wanting better health. But now I have found what keeps me motivated is the need for feeling happier, naturally, without relying on external influences and substances such as alcohol, etc. 

I have been suffering from mild to medium (and occasionally severe) depression and anxiety for over 10 years. It comes and it goes. If I have a late night of drinking, I am completely depleted of dopamine the next day and feeling extremely down. The same thing (though slightly less severe) happens if I am not regularly working out or have skipped a few days of exercise. However, when I am exercising, I am always on a high during those days.

I suppose this chemical balance that causes depression and anxiety is a blessing and not a curse. Just as for other's who get high off an adrenaline rush, which motivates them to push themselves. What better motivation for getting regular exercise? I must exercise to remain happy, thanks to endorphins.  This need drives me in the gym. When I need to push that final rep, to complete that last kilometer. I know I will never stop, because I have been to the dark empty pit that saps my will, my focus, my happiness; and I never want to go there again. Exercise keeps me up here.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his speech at University of California, stated: "What is most important is that you have to dig deep down; dig deep down, and ask yourselves: 'Who do you want to be. Not what, but who. I'm talking about not what your parents or teachers want you to be, but you. I'm talking about figuring out for yourself, what makes you happy, no matter how crazy it may sound to other people."

Even though he meant it more as a life lesson, I feel the core message can be applied to your fitness motivation also, which is that you must ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Hence, you must find what really drives you, regardless of what drives others. Make it personal.

Gym Musing: The Body's Power to Heal

I remember the time I dislocated my shoulder about four years ago; the excruciating pain. When moving it even a millimeter hurt really bad. I remember thinking at the time that I would never recover from such a terrible injury.

Then, slowly and steadily it healed. I was sternly told by my physician to consistently follow certain small exercises; otherwise there was a greater chance of dislocation in the future. It took some tremendous persistence, patience, and at times, frustration getting through those painful exercises. But I followed his instructions to the letter.

Now, that same arm does pull ups, push ups, and everything else it could previously do, and actually even more so than it ever did before.

That is the power of your body. Whether you believe in God, or in mother nature, or in pure science. The fact is, your body has capabilities beyond your imagination. It has a tremendous capacity to heal. You just have to push it. You have to slightly injure it, give it a reason to become better. And it will listen. Like the legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.”

And Arnold Schwarzenegger also mentions: "The body is very important, but the mind is more important than the body. Because that creates the will, the will that you need to go to the gym everyday. The will that makes you go beyond if you can’t do another rep. It’s the will that makes you go one more time."

Believe. Achieve.

Motivation!

In light of my return to training, I would like to share a list of motivational quotes I have collected over the past few months that have constantly helped me throughout my training regime. I understand there are people out there who shun these things and are more robotic in their approach to working out. Good for you. I am not like that. I need motivation from time to time. Sometimes I'm high as a kite, and other times life might be getting me down, and exercise will be the last thing on my mind. Therefore, after countless hours of scouring the net for motivational quotes, I have found some true gems that have helped fuel my passion to succeed and given me energy in the gym when I've been running on empty.

Here they are:

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
- Muhammad Ali (American Boxer and Activist, b.1942)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)

“You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will”
- Epictetus (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” - Epictetus (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)

“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.”
James Dean (American motion picture actor, symbol of rebellion, 1931-1955)

“Never, never, never, never give up.”
Winston Churchill (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher & Writer

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear”
Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." ~Author Unknown

“It is never too late to become what you might have been”
George Eliot (English Victorian Novelist. Pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans, 1819-1880)

"Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret"
- Jim Rohn (American Speaker and Author.)

‘A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.’ ~Herm Albright


"A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze."
- Cus D'Amato (Tyson's manager and trainer)



"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."
Babe Ruth

"An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the distinction between great men and little men."
Thomas Fuller

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein

'To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Those who are reluctant to give up their lives and embrace death are not true warriors.... Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatever. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death. When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely; when you have any thought of returning you will not return. You may not be in the wrong to think that the world is always subject to change, but the warrior must not entertain this way of thinking, for his fate is always determined."
Uesugi Kenshin


'The war between being and nothingness is the underlying illness of the twentieth century. Boredom slays more of existence than war.'
Norman Mailer

'There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway.'
Mark Burnett

'Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt.'
José Ortega y Gassett

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some; it’s in all, everyone. And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
- Authored by Maryanne Williamson, and used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech

'Pain is just weakness leaving the body'
- Author unknown

'Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they
were to success when they gave up.'
- Thomas Edison

'The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your
mind you have to convince.'
- Vincent Lombardi

'The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is
the man who will win'
- Roger Bannister

'Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility
of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths instead of your weaknesses, on
your powers instead of your problems.'
- Paul J. Meyer


'If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else,
It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits.
There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go
beyond them.' - Bruce Lee





“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
- Winston Churchill

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

'...the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass." - Khalil Gibran

That's all of them so far.

I've also created collages of a few chosen quotes from above, which I have printed and put up on the walls of my bedroom/workout area. The images of each are below. There are two styles, light and dark, because I do not have access to a color printer, so the dark colored slides were not printing well in black & white. The links to the Powerpoint documents (if you want to print/edit the slides) are as follows:

Quotes Collage (Dark Colors): goo.gl/AxHi
Quotes Collage (Light Colors): goo.gl/B0wz

Google docs is not showing the slides background colors online, so you should download the docs to your computer and then open them.

Quotes Collage (Dark Colors):


Quotes Collage (Light Colors):


I hope you guys find these as helpful and inspiring as I do. Good luck with your respective goals!

If you've found some quotes of your own that you'd like to share, please do so in the comments. I'd love to read them. Cheers.