With 100 days remaining in my training program, I want to take the time to refocus and reframe this period of time as a heightened dedication to running.
According to Pedram Shojai of The Urban Monk blog, “A Gong in Chinese Taoist tradition is a set amount of days one devotes to a particular task. It’s a promise to one’s self to stay focused and on path towards a designated goal.” My Gong is 100 days of London Marathon focus.
The count down I’ve started on my Training Log emphasizes that I’m working towards the goal within a finite period of time, a fact that I’ve overlooked during previous marathon cycles, which sometime feel never-ending, unfocussed, and at times, random. As opposed to getting lost in the middle of the cycle with no perspective as to the end goal, complacent because there’s always another run tomorrow, I’ll be counting down and framing this period of time to maintain my perspective. This countdown will remind myself that every training run counts. Every run counts and every week is a brand new emphasis on simply doing everything I can to squeeze out the last 2%.
Running under 2:19 again currently seems hard, if not impossible, but committing to the first 10 days seems doable, as does the next 10, and the next 10…for just 100 days.
Do good,
Young Austin