I was not born as an athlete, but I just like to be active and do lots of sports. For me, doing sports is fun, ever since when I was a kid. However, the kinds of sports which I did during school were those played-at-court types of sports, like hockey, volleyball, tennis, and such. Not much (or maybe never) did I do endurance sports like long distance running or cycling.
So, I failed a lot of times since I started doing endurance training or sports. For example, let’s take a look on my running history.
Looking back through my own blog when I started my first day or running back in July 2007, I can’t even run continuously for 3km. It felt pathetic at the beginning. Even 1km felt very far a distance to run, even slowly. I tried running on the treadmill, as well as at the indoor gym. Not being able to do as what I wanted to do, I took that as my first failure.
I kept trying to run further, very slowly building my mileage and endurance months after months (I was not so consistent in training though, mainly just to kill the time). Only about three months later that I can run continuously for 3km. OK, one step up. From not being able to run continuously, then I can run continuously for the same distance. But I still failed to run further.
Even 9 months after my first attempt or running, I was still not able to run 7km non stop. Another failure you can say?
In July 2008, I attempted my first triathlon event which was the PD triathlon. My very first triathlon event was an Olympic distance event. After swimming and cycling, it was time to do my first 10km run. And I failed miserably as I can’t run continuously throughout the course. And my time for that 10km run, not worth mentioning at all. One more failure.
Fast forward to another year, in June 2009, I completed my first marathon, a 42km distance which I somehow suffered a bit, and had to recover for a week or two to nurse my aching knees and legs. I didn’t even run all the way during the marathon. Had to walk for few kilos due to the fatigue. Fail again.
Similar stories for my swimming and cycling journey. Lots of failures over the years since I first started.
Why did I keep on mentioning about failures here? Have I not be successful even once?
Because for me, failure is very subjective as it reflects to what our expectations about success is. We all have high expectation towards ourselves, don’t we? And knowing that I’ve failed so many times, I know I have to keep on doing something to improve myself for a better success.
So what should I do then?
The answer is simple, but doing it is one of the most difficult thing to do.
Never Give Up
Perhaps, the best general formula would be,
“Failures + Never Give Up = Success”
P/s: Reading some of my initial posts in this blog since back in 2007, made me smile…
11 comments:
Mr Enaikay...i am so agreed with u..."no pain no gain" rite! good to share this value moments, so see you in track next week..:)
apa ni sebut2 failure. Not many people even dare to do what you do.
and anyway, failure is not a bad thing.
even those are failures, I do not know what to call of mine.
Chin up! What's not killing you will make you stronger... and I am looking up for you, bro!
Common Abg Nik u can do better than that, its all in your mind, what u conceive u can achieve...
well for a start ,i was never known an athletic person at all and dubbed as the "soft guy" , i can't even believe it myself that i could even went into adventure racing...
the mind is much more powerful than the muscle...
Bro..
Once u've tasted the bitterness of a failure, you'll appreciate the sweetness of a success..
for me, i'll be glad if i can run for 3 km without fainting... hahahaha..
dulu naik bukit larut ikut jalan hutan pon mcm nak pengsan dah!!
failures are the best teachers, rght next to experience. I thin failures serve as good motivation to keep pushing for a better race, a better run and a longer workout. Since I started this year, I never actually had a good running time in a race, but you know that you're only going to get better.
eh nadia, nak join GBS lari kat Kiara trail this coming Saturday?
sorry Nik, curi space jap
Anony,
Value moment? Ahaha.. mcm biasa dengar je istilah skema tu. hihihi.
Orait, welcome to the running club!
Thanks Kash,
Failure is not a bad thing. But not wanting to make ourselves better is.
Syah,
No, i'm the one who has to loop up on you, coz u are tall so i kena selalu jengok ke atas when talking to u.. hehehe. Thanks man.
Shaqi,
Yup. That's what we call the power of dreams.
Bro Doc Deej,
Yup, i agree with u.
Dulu pun aku nak pengsan gak panjat bukit larut tu. Keje gile!
Sekarang tidak lagi (cheh, mcm bunyi iklan sabun basuh pulak).
Nadia,
What u said is also true. Thanks.
Syah,
Takpe, nnti lepas curi sila pulangkan balik ye. Hihihi.
dare to fail. we get stronger through failures.
nik, on other side, many of us even fail to try, u are dare enough to test your strength, it a good success for me.
see u at bukit kiara
Ian,
Yes, we all do get stronger through failures.
Pesa,
Experimenting with life is sometimes fun too!
Ok, c ya at bukit kiara this saturday. the more the merrier.
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