This is a fun filled podcast tailored for runners. It is designed to get more people to get into running, to motivate those who are already running so they keep on going and to get those who have given up on running to start again.
It was at the beginning of this month when we heard a promising “prophecy” from TB Joshua of Nigeria. He told his followers that the fears surrounding the new strain of coronaviruses known as COVID-19 will be over by March 27, as the virus will go away the way it came.
2020-03-27T00:00:00
days
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TB Joshua’s Prophecy date
We look at the watches and hope that he was right because if at any rate he gets this wrong not only will he be labelled a false prophet but He will also be liable for people who will die due to their complacency caused by the hopes that the virus will be gone by March 27, 2020.
While we have less than four days to see the outcome of this prophecy, Italian mortality rate on the account of COVID-19 is climbing and has far more exceeded that of China. In my country, South Africa, the infection rate based on known cases is climbing greatly.
I do not take pleasure in writing this post at all. I am very concerned with people who come out as mouth pieces for God but then make God look like a douche bag, when the supposed divine promises are not fulfilled. I pray and hope that this pandemic be defeated as soon as possible.
Take caution each time you listen to prophets. One day you will bank your life on a wrong man and you will pay dearly for that.
As we are preparing for the launch of season two of The Spokesdude Podcast on the 19th of March 2020 and the new Bible Study podcast in April, I have decided to put the Run Yourself Crazee Podcast on hold. The dates of the next-well structured Running podcast will be announced before June.
I would like to apologize to everyone who is affected by this change. We endeavour to bring to you high quality and engaging content. In the process of improving we are working on trial and error basis. We are slowly getting our game together. By God’s grace the best is yet to come.
Be on the look out for the Bible Study podcast called Bible Near You to be launched in April 2020. We shall go deep into the Bible and together learn it’s content. Not only will you be listening but you will also get a chance to ask questions, no matter how difficult they may be. We will get them answered for you. The Bible Near You podcast will have it’s sister called Bible Near You Q & A where we will be answering questions from you.
Someone once said to me life is lived forward. This was a stabbing statement considering it came from my ex-girlfriend when she dumped me. For a year and seven months we were in a relationship and I was planning to marry her. She had met my mother. My pastor knew about her and even the principal of the bible college I went to knew about her. She was my first girlfriend from since I began to exist and I was 32 years then.
For some reason she said that she cannot marry a pastor. No amount of begging or argument could convince her. She wanted nothing to do with me. She told me to move on because “life is lived forward” and that she did not love me anymore. I was devastated but then by God’s grace I was able to move forward. With the support of my family and college friends I got to heal.
I took away a valuable lesson out of this situation. The lesson was that, it is for the best to accept things that cannot be changed and move on. Not knowing the difference between what we can change and what we cannot change can cause more harm in our well being. Most people get over stressed over things they cannot change and by refusing to acknowledge the immutable nature of a given situation they are driven a step further into depression.
1. Accept What You Can’t Change
When something terrible has happened and when you take a closer look at the facts you realize that there is nothing you can do to reverse it or make adjustments in order to improve the situation, the best thing you can do is accept it as it is. Acknowledge that indeed a tragedy has taken place and that nothing can be done to undo it.
A typical example of something that we cannot change is passing away of a loved one. No amount accusations or taking revenge will bring them back to life. They are gone. In order for us to move on we have to allow ourselves to grieve and deal with the fact that we will not see them again on this side of eternity.
Another example I can give you is when you fail an exam or some kind of a challenge. You just have to accept that you failed. You cannot change the fact that you failed BUT you can do something about. You can rewrite and in order to avoid failure again, you honestly revisit your test and learn from your past mistakes which have caused you to fail at the first place.
2. Figure Out What You Can Do
Calm down and look at your circumstance. Try to find something you can do. One of the things I did was getting into my running shoes and run anywhere my feet would take me. Try to get your mind away from the problem just for a while. Let your brain rest and then you will be able to think straight.
It also helps to talk to people. Sometimes when you talk to someone the load on your shoulders will get easier. It helps to talk to people.
As a Christian I have a strong source of comfort and strength and that is God. If I have never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ I would be dead today. I owe my life to Him. The people I have in my life all because of Him. I always run to Him in prayer. When I am done praying I get peace and confidence that everything will be alright in the end.
Learn to move on and learn to forgive other people that have wronged you. Life is too short for holding grudges. Look at the life that God has given you and focus on doing the best and hope for the best. Never give up and never resolve to take your own life. If you take your own life, you will end up multiplying your problem. I promise you, the problems that your facing now are temporary but hell-fire is permanent and there is no way you’d ever escape from that. Even death will abandon you in hell.
Remember, you must let go of the past and move forward because, “life is lived forward.”
I still remember the days where I used to think that I will never be able to run ever. I always wonder at the way my body has improved and has adjusted itself to be able to endure not just a 5 km run but a 21.5 km run. Yes, yesterday I ran a total of 21.5 km.
As I began the time was 17:00 on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. After having ran 5.5 km, it began to rain. This was the best thing ever to happen to me during a run. The rain was keeping my body cool and functional. I ran a clean 19 km with my body feeling as if I am in a slow 3 km run. The pain began manifest when I was approaching the 20th kilometer. I endured and persisted until I had ran a half marathon (21.1 km) and 400 meters on top.
I can attest that it was the most enjoyable run ever. I was in charge of the pace, the breathing and I listened to my body. I was confident in my strides and I had a smile on my face, a thing I never do during any run. I am looking forward to having a go again on the same 21 km route.
I think what made me enjoy the run is that I was not focusing on the numbers. I did not care about the pace or the time it would take me to complete the run. I only focused on finishing the run and I took necessary steps to ensure that I complete it. Some of those steps are:
Backing off
There is always a temptation to run harder and faster when doing a longer run. The good practice one must subscribe to is to learn to back off. Do not rush things. Save the energy for the rest of the run. When you feel that you are running out of air and you are breathing heavily, it means you are running too hard. Back off until you are able to speak during the run. If you run hard you may find yourself getting tired to quickly. We should always run smarter not harder.
There was absolutely no need for me to run harder nor faster. I was not in a race. I was only running to build my endurance. I succeeded in my effort. I ran the whole predetermined distance and I could have gone even further had the time permitted me.
Correct Running Posture
It is important to maintain a correct running posture. This a relaxed posture. When running you should avoid pulling your arms to your chest and avoid making fists. You should run relaxed. Have your arms swing lower past your hips and with open hands. You are not in the fist fight, you are running. Relax the shoulders. If you run relaxed, you will enjoy the run and you will run longer.
Breathe
The body needs oxygen. The muscles need oxygen, especially when running. Breathe in and fill the belly will air and let the air out. If you cannot breathe, then slow down. In order to be able to control my breathing, I pay attention to it during the warm up process within the first 2 km of my 21 km run. I need to be able to develop a rhythm as I run and breath. If my body want to break that rhythm, I slow down and recover.
There are many tricks and hacks to get going in a long run and they vary from person to person. Over all, if you don’t enjoy the run then you are not doing it correctly. Keep working on it until you are able to run with a smile. Ensure that when you run a long distance, in the last few kilometers, you can pick the pace up and slow down at will.
You know that when you have finished your running session and you feel super exhausted, you’ve had a good work out. Go out there and RUN!!
Our bodies are incredible machines. They can do stuff we never thought they can. With enough training they can survive the toughest tests life is determined to throw at them. When introduced to the small doses of certain viruses, our bodies are able to form antibodies that can fought off the intruders and also keep memory of them in case they attack again. Our bodies are machines that have learn capabilities and can be train to do many things within the limits of their physical design.
I say they can do many things within the limits of their physical design because we obviously do not our expect our bodies to fly like the birds do. Our physical design does not permit flight. We cannot flap our limbs and fly. we cannot breathe under water like fish do. We do not have physical organs to permit such an enterprise. We do not have mean to climb the walls like spiders and lizards. We cannot efficiently crawl on our bellies like snakes and we cannot gracefully float on water like swans. All these things we cannot do because they are beyond the limits of our physical design.
Having stated what we cannot do, I will move on to deal with what we can do. I will discuss what we can do and what we can improve upon. My aim is that is for us to learn to challenge and push our bodies their lawful limits and try to keep the doctor away in this age many illnesses.
WHAT OUR BODIES CAN DO
We often undermine our bodies and think that they can only perform up to a certain degree which we have prescribed in our minds. What many people do not know is that our bodies are very strong. They have an ability to adapt on order to survive. I have learned that when one is running for his life, he can scale a fence he wouldn’t be able to scale under normal circumstances. They can go through a small opening as though it was a wide open door. At that temporary state of survival our bodies are able to shut down the pain receptors to allow the body to find safety, after which pain will be allowed and let the body give status report on things that needs to be attended to after a given ordeal.
Our Bodies Can Walk
One of the obvious reason is that an average person can work. We can walk short distances and we can walk long distance. We can walk wearing shoes and we can walk on bare feet. We can walk slow and we can walk fast. We can willfully add style on our walk. We can walk and bounce at the same time. We can walk with a straight back and chin up. We can leaning forward, swing our arms or cross our arms behind our backs. What gives such confidence in walking to such an extent that we add some style to make our walk interesting is due to the fact that we have been walking since we were toddlers. Walking is part of us. It has been embed into our existence in such a way that we don’t even think about walking when we walk. We just do it.
Our Bodies Can Run
Just like walking, our bodies can run. Running is an upgraded form of walking. It requires more energy and oxygen to maintain. That is why when we run we breathe heavily and our heart rate increases. For someone who is not used to running, they will get tired quickly and feel some pain in the body after a very short distance. That is why many people make excuses when invited to run. Running terrifies them.
We need to understand that our bodies learn and improve in performance when force to do the same thing over and over again. That is action is called, “practice.” When we practice or train, we are actually teaching our bodies to get better at a given task. You will feel the pain in a short distance but if you repeat the same distance and add a few meters over it, you will find that your body will adapt. It will shape itself to withstand the new challenges posed to itself and thus become stronger and fitter.
My Exhortation to you at this is, go and try something and see if your body can manage. REMEMBER!! Safety first.
I try by all means not to sound like a typical motivational speaker. Those guys have a proclivity of contradicting themselves and the consumers of their content are wary in questioning the discrepancies in the messages they get to hear. I must issue a disclaimer: I am not a motivational speaker. If you happen to be motivated by my talks in this podcast, good for you, but that is not my intention. My aim for writing and speaking is to inform, nothing more and nothing less.
Today’s topic is going to make me sound like a motivational speaker. If not, I will sound like a psychologist or a philosopher. Don’t mind what I sound like, pay more attention to what I am going to say. I would appreciate if you would be so kind as to drop me comment at the end of this post.
The Greatest Opposition Is In The Mind
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to do something and deep down in your mind you thought it cannot be done? Your mind would imagine all sorts of possible unsavoury events that might follow after attempting to do that thing.
This always occur when we are dealing with something we have never done before. Sometimes it would be something that we have done before but under different circumstances.
You may have guessed it. Our minds can either allow us to move forward, stand still or move backwards in life. If we can convince our minds that something can be done, we could summon enough courage to actually attempt it. When our minds are not convinced about something it becomes a battle to accomplish it. I think our minds prefer to be in a comfortable position and if they are challenged they resist. I do not know the details of how that happens but I know that our minds will work hard to keep things on the familiar avenue. It is only when we go against the calculations and recommendations of the mind that we are able to grow and attempt new things.
I remember when I was a kid and I could not swim. It took me time to convince my mind that I can swim without holding on to something. I started swimming in shallow and inactive waters. Then as my mind got comfortable with the idea of swimming, I moved on to deeper waters. As I became more confident, it was time to attempt swiming in moving waters. Overtime, I and my crazy friends enjoyed swiming in the river when it was flooded fresh after heavy rains.
You see how my mind was shaped into believing that swiming was easy. I just had to try it and then go an extra mile. I had to ignore tons of warning messages from my brain and convince myself that I can make it. My mind had to be silenced and then proven wrong. In that way it is re-educated and learns to enjoy finer things that life has to offer like bungee jumping off the tallest bridge in the world.
The Mind And Running
Because of the bad experience I had with running when I was young, I avoided it at all cost. When I got into running again in 2016. I had to convince my mind of the benefits of running. I had to convice it that I can run. If I can walk 14 km how would I fail to run the same distance. I had to prove to my ever calculating mind that my body was given an ability to run.
When I ran my first tracked run in 2016, I was sure that I can do the same distance again and maybe add a few meters on top of that. The next run I did, I ran more than I did in my previous run. Tracking my running activity changed my perception of distance. There are places I thought were very far and in my mind had estimated over 10 km, only to find that they are under 5 km. The truth is, my mind was wrong about the distances and needed a good deal of correction.
So starting a run for many people is a mission. You hear people saying: “I am not a fan of running” or “If I start running now and then stop I will get fat.” These are just excuses which the mind would manufacture or which we would borrow from other people who are of great influence in our lives. The excuses we make when we are challenged to run only comes from a mind that is satisfied with being in a comfortable position and not be tested.
Running is not just a physical test but it tries the mind too. The battle against the mind begins before one sets the foot on the road. There are many reasons the mind will bring up so to keep you away from doing your running session.
Whatever establishment that is recognized as one of the greatest in the world started somewhere humble. We only see and appreciate the grandeur now but there is a lot that happened to bring about the grandeur. If we could look back at the history of the greatest and well known businesses in the world, which have lasted for decades and even for centuries, we would discover that many people did not believe they would ever last.
Even nature show us this. Take for example a devastating thunderstorm, it starts off as a small cloud and over a short time you see in front of you a huge dark cloud with impressive lightnings bolting in every direction. Rain comes pouring down flooding the streets, planes and rivers. If someone told you it started with a small cloud, as big as a hand you may find it hard to believe them.
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Our bodies are made up of billions, if not trillions of very small cells. Today we see a baby after being born and we take it for granted that a baby is small. The truth is, a new born baby is bigger than what it used to be on the day it was conceived. When it was conceived, it was only one tiny cell. It took a lot of sleepless nights, back aches and a whole lot of discomforts for nine long months to grow a baby from a tiny small cell to a self centered, attention demanding little bundle of joy. With that being said I am not going to venture into letting you in on a secret on how to grow a little baby boy into a fully grown life striken grey headed man.
Think of the biggest tree you have ever seen. Take note of how big was its trunk, how wide were its branches and how amazing was the sight of it. Though such a tree is big and weighs many tons, it remains a fact that the tree in question was planted long time ago and it was then just an insignificant small plant. Some miserable creature could have easily plucked it up and destroyed it. We are glad that did not happen because we would not be appreciating its apparent size and the shade it provides.
In the context of running, it is important to keep in mind that great things have a beginning and their beginnings are not the same and they are not as pretty as the media would have us imagine. The greatest runners with worldwide recognition started off as “nobodies” and their success was not handed to them on a silver platter. They had to work hard for it.
LONG DISTANCE RUN
Look at the men and women who run half, mega and ultra marathons. They did not wake up one morning and decide to run that long. They started small. Maybe with one kilometer and then gradually progressed to five kilometers. Over months and in some cases years, they were ready to run over 13.1 miles or 21.1 kilometers.
I had done three runs that were over 20 kilometers long. What I remember about those runs is that I could only worry about running a kilometer at a time. For a twenty kilometer session, I had to run one kilometer at a time and do that twenty times. Each long run begins with a small distance. It all starts with small steps, one foot in front of another and repeat.
IN OTHER PARTS OF LIFE
The concept of small beginnings is applicable in every part of life. A person who have a dream to build a great business must understand that small steps matters. Just like a huge wall is built one brick at a time, so will a great business be built one small step at a time. One needs the passion and patience to do the work until it is finished.
Sometimes people give up to early on their endeavors simply because it seems impossible to reach the desired end. This challenge can be overcome by adjusting the way one looks at the world. Instead of looking at a mammoth and doubt if you can ever finish it, focus on the taking small bites which you can manage. Over time you’ll find yourself at end of your project.
I enjoy looking at the ants. There is so much wisdom to be learned from them. Everybody knows that ants are very small insects. Despite the given fact, they are not afraid to attempt big projects. They will work together to break a locust into small pieces and take it to their ant store-rooms (whatever they are called). They don’t say, “Oh no, what a big locust! What are we going to do? We are too small for this. I guess we should just give up and go home.” We should learn from the ants.
MY BIBLE SCHOOL DAYS
I remember that before I went to Bible, I looked at three years as a very long time. By my weird estimation, by the time three years ended I would have grown grey hair. After acquiring enough courage and motivation to start Bible College, I realized that I did not need to do three years at once. I only needed one day at a time. A day became a week and week turned into a month and a month into a year. Soon enough while my hair was still black, I had finished three years at Bible College. I would not have completed it if I kept looking at the three years as a solid insurmountable obstacle on my way.
