What, apart from a goal to achieve, pushes you, motivates you to invest in the practice of your sport?Certainly you are passionate or have become one! But we want to talk here about a personal investment that would go beyond the framework of simple leisure. Why do you do violence, push your limits day after day, for a goal that might seem out of reach? Is the real treasure of the athlete found elsewhere than in pure performance? Dear sports friends, let us turn to Master Eliud Kipchoge to find out. Because if there is a master of running on Earth at the moment, it is him! For runners and marathon enthusiasts, it's a must-have name. For once, the Kenyan lands gave birth to a machine to devour the 42 kilometers of the exercise on stratospheric gaits for the distance… more than 20 km/h! So certainly, there are already a few who can maintain this frantic race pace for a little more than two hours. But Eliud decided to leave his mark on his discipline, with a performance that some thought impossible to achieve without killing a human being! Let's go back in a little more detail to this performance of the Master; And let us try to discover, in the light of his wisdom, where the true treasure of the sports lover lies.
The challenge of the impossible
The crazy challenge attempted by Eliud, is at the origin of a project launched by the equipment manufacturer Nike in 2016, with the aim of answering this question: "Can the human being run a marathon in less than 2 hours? ». Because in the world of marathon runners, athletes are as well known by name as by their time. If you run in 2:05, you are known as a runner in 2:05. Before 2016, the world's best performances were around 2:04. The world had only one man under 2h03, another Kenyan decidedly, a certain Dennis Kipruto, (2h02min 57sec in 2014 in Berlin). So certainly, depending on the race conditions including the outside temperature, the altitude of the terrain and the wind, the runners find themselves in more or less ideal configurations to set a record. But these figures are still indicative of the human limit in running. In summary, if we managed to meet all the conditions favorable to the achievement of a new world record under 2 hours, it would be equivalent to beating the best performance of the time by 3 minutes! Realize that in 3 minutes, at 21km/h, the runner travels more than one kilometer. Running in less than 2 hours would mean beating Dennis Kipruto in 2014 by a kilometre ahead! And when we know the margin of progression of athletes of this caliber which is extremely low, this objective is more of a madness than a project! And yet, Nike will not give up on the idea. In 2016, 3 athletes handpicked by performance experts were selected to participate in the impossible project. All were born on the East African plateaus. The sacred land of marathon runners! Among them, we inevitably find our man Eliud Kipchoge and also the so-called Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese. Originally from Ethiopia, Lelisa, 26 in 2017, is the youngest of the three. He is also the youngest runner in history to win a marathon at just 22 years old in 2013 in Dubai. A very promising athlete who will impress very quickly during the performance tests carried out by Nike, revealing his extraordinary ability to use oxygen to produce energy during his effort. Zersenay comes from Eritrea. When he was young, he was interested in cycling, but bikes were too expensive for him to get one. He says he never wanted to run but was not asked too much of his opinion. Indeed, to go to school, no choice but to walk and run there of course, because otherwise, doing 14 kilometers of walking would often have put him late! A habit taken very early that will lead him to become the half-marathon record holder at the time and the first Olympic medalist of his country. It is also the winner of the Boston Marathon in 2013 during the attack that will push him to give his gold medal to the city and come back to win one for him the following year! And finally, of course, we find the 34-year-old Kenyan in 2017, who was already tipped favorite to get closer to the new record. It must be said that Eliud starting from a marathon it was a gold medal almost guaranteed every time. Out of nine marathons run, he won eight! But apart from the record of the Kenyan who made his weapons earlier in his career on the athletics tracks (with 5000m on the program in particular), he has a running economy never seen before! In other words, and to put it simply, Kipchoge, even at insane paces, spends relatively little energy on the rhythm he imposes on his body. But certainly, this does not prevent the runner from suffering during his effort. And just like Lelisa and Zersenay able to assimilate large amounts of oxygen while running while secreting little lactic acid, the physiological analyses of the 3 champions are the reflection of a talent and phenomenal physical work. And yet, despite this, Eliud and his acolytes do not start winning to beat the clock. Because although we meet all the favorable conditions by making them start on the mythical Formula 1 circuit of Monza in Italy, we still have to do what no human has ever achieved. Run for 1h59 and 59 seconds at more than 21Km/h. Because even if the physiological abilities of these athletes seem superhuman, the fact remains that they will have to hammer their bodies to keep this surreal rhythm. And indeed, passing the halfway point, the first signs of fatigue appear. Lelisa, the youngest drops out of the group little by little and a few kilometers before the finish, it is Zersenay who can no longer hold this train of hell. Eliud was therefore the last hope to break the record but at this speed maintained for more than an hour and a half, even the master ended up gritting his teeth. The Kenyan champion will use all his physical and mental resources to refute the scientific opinion that no man will be able to go under two hours before 2075. And at the finish, Kipchoge finishes his effort 25 seconds after the "impassable" bar of 2 hours. An incredible performance, a new record but a relative failure in view of the crazy project of wanting to push the human limits. But how did Eliud manage to improve a world record by 2:30 when in theory at this level it should only be possible to improve it by a few seconds?
The Kenyan's mental approach
The answer may lie in the Master's mental approach, because even if excellent physical preparation is fundamental to establish this kind of performance (and suffice to say that there is not much to improve in the Kenyan's training program), he attaches at least as much importance to his mental preparation. It is possible to evaluate the impact of our physical training on our performance, but when it comes to the mental one, it's another story. Perhaps this is why this preparation is often overlooked or at least not taken as seriously as pure training. But yet, if there is one of the two preparations that the Master of the Race seems to favor it is the one that can not be measured with scientific tools. Surprising, but reassuring for the average athlete, because we can not all be at the level of fitness of an athlete of international level, but it is more accessible to reach their level of mental determination. When we analyze Eliud Kipchoge's point of view, we understand that the mind is the basis of training as a whole. The starting point is to know who we are, to take the time to know ourselves, to analyze ourselves, to understand why we do what we do and where we hope to go by doing it. A mental approach that already goes beyond the framework of sport. But in Kipchoge's case, this pattern will lead him to discover that his deepest quest in the race is not success or recognition of others, but the fact that he can become a source of inspiration in the idea that we are capable of more than others can think of us, or that we can think of ourselves. His motto and belief is that no man is limited by his physique, culture or past to push his own limits by focusing on a goal to achieve and using all his strength. For Master, success is not at the finish line but in our own journey to get there. A path that is the image of our convictions that we may be trying to verify. Prove to ourselves that what is our source of inspiration is real. And that it can become a carrier of a message for others. To achieve this, Eliud Kipchoge explains that sacrifices are unavoidable. But he reveals a key so that the latter are not as heavy as they suggest. This key is the motivation to find "true freedom" through discipline. The Master explains that without being rigorous, one cannot claim to be free but remains on the contrary a slave to one's moods. Seeing sacrifice and effort as the key to real achievement may be where the Kenyan's strength lies. Running not after a medal or titles, but to change the human spirit and defend an idea that is its source of inspiration "We are capable of more than we imagine".
A mission to complete: A marathon in less than two hours
So when you know the Champion from this angle, you are not surprised that after his unsuccessful attempt at Monza and back to his training camp in Kaptagat in Kenya, he continued to work. Paradoxically, he considers running as a team sport. During training, the runners who are in better shape pull up those who are less fit, and so the energy and strength of the group forge each athlete better than he could alone. This form of humility by recognizing that we need the help of others, is also reflected in the daily lives of the athletes in this training camp. All are world-class athletes, some are Olympic medalists, hold multiple records or are millionaires. Yet everyone seems to remain firmly committed to simplicity and sharing. Indeed, in the camp where he spends six days of their week, these same athletes ensure the maintenance of the premises and all the household chores that others might consider a waste of time as part of their sporting goals. And yet, this philosophy seems to strengthen the links between runners who take the time to exchange with each other. A philosopher of humble life who brings the young athlete without a track record closer to a runner like Eliud who could consider himself better than the others. Seeing the best, setting an example in this way remarkably inspires young Kenyans who admire and respect their elders who do not seem to seek this admiration. A state of mind also relayed by the coach and "adoptive father" of Eliud Kipchoge, the former Champion and also Kenyan runner Patrick Sang. On October 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge gives us an appointment in Vienna, Austria to try the impossible again. And even if he later admitted that after the30th kilometer his mind left no choice for his body to keep pace, the Kenyan, throughout the race, gave an impression of disconcerting ease in his stride. A sporting performance hailed by the Austrian crowd who came en masse to witness a historic event because it is with a smile on his face that Eliud Kipchoge will cross the finish line in 1h59min and 40 sec. A bet won for the Master who refuted the idea that it would take another 55 years before witnessing such a feat. And above all, proof given that our limits do not limit us but that we have the power to set them. When he returns home to Kenya, he will be expected to be celebrated like a hero, but true to himself Eliud will go almost unnoticed when he leaves the airport, he just wanted to go home with his family. But he will not hide his emotion in front of the reactions of the public. For him, the most important thing is accomplished, his message was conveyed with flesh-and-blood proof! The importance of the strength of an idea and not personal glory, to change the state of mind of each person vis-à-vis his own vision of himself, is Eliud Kipchoge's greatest achievement.
