Last night Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya made history.
In Vienna, Austria, Eliud broke the two hour barrier for the marathon, finishing the 42.2km race in 1:59:40.
Similar to the first sub 4 minute mile by Roger Bannister in 1954, this is a remarkable breakthrough for sure.
While there are a lot of things we can learn from this, one of the most noticeable aspects what was apparent well before he’d completed the race was how relaxed he was.
At the 36km mark, when you looked at his face, it appears as though Eliud was sitting on the beach enjoying an iced lemonade.
A lot of times people talk about attrition and toughness in endurance sports. Interestingly though, time and time again, we see breakthrough performances happen with an incredibly calm demeanour and excellent pacing.
When there’s less tension, there’s less wasted energy.
Eliud’s posture, focus and form were impeccable.
Not just for the first 5km, which he ran in 14:10, but even in the last 5km which he did in 14:13 (talk about excellent pacing)
When we are in the trenches in our own version of a marathon, whether it’s physical, or mental, what energy are we carrying with us?
How is our own posture?
Would it be easier in fact to relax a little here?
If you haven’t yet seen some of the footage of the race, I highly recommend doing a little search. An inspirational event for sure.
