‘It is better for the body to be tired, than the mind’ – My Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Ulster

Click here to listen to my ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio Ulster.

It draws on my experience as a marathon runner.

The text of today’s contribution is below.

‘It is better for the body to be tired, than the mind’ – Eliud Kipchoge

Six years ago today, I was making my final preparations for the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

I had only to jog a few miles and carbo-load on all the pasta, porridge and pancakes that would get me round the course on race morning.

In the week before a marathon, I try not to think about it. Dwelling on your opponents or how you will cope with the sheer agony of running 26.2 miles as fast as you can may not damage your legs or your lungs, but it will drain your brainpower.

Eliud Kipchoge, the first man to run under two hours for a marathon, put it this way: ‘it is better for the body to be tired, than the mind.’

Likewise, on the starting line of a marathon, I try not to think about the finish. Studies have shown that runners who approach a race imagining how great they will feel at the end do not perform as well as runners who stay in the moment, with a razor-sharp focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe kept herself in the moment by counting from 1 to 100, over and over. I have my own secret mantra to repeat. If you get this right in a race – and I don’t always do – when you are finished it seems like the marathon has passed in the twinkling of an eye.

The lockdown has been a marathon for us all, a real test of endurance. With restrictions easing, it’s tempting to start imagining the finish line.

But marathon running has taught me that fantasizing about the finish won’t make it come any sooner. The author of the book of Hebrews – who I am sure must have been a runner – knew this. Reflecting on life’s ups and down, he urged us to ‘run with patience the race that is set before us’.

So let’s be patient, keeping ourselves fully present, trusting we will arrive at the finish in good time.

(Image: competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, photo by Mark Ramsey)