deep sea cuttlefish if not for this leg guard i fear brother guai would have broken my leg
The most time-wasting thing in the world is giving advice to young people. A thousand words are not as effective as a single fall.
Tears teach you to be human, regret helps you grow, and pain is the best teacher.
In life, the detours you need to take are indispensable.
- By Professor Yi Xiaoxing
△ The best food in Xiamen is hotpot, no arguments accepted.
2018 has ended. An end is also a new beginning. In 2019, I told myself this.
Everyone has things they need to do. If it happens to be something you like, that's even better.
Regarding running, it is indeed what I have done the most in recent years. Because I did it so much, I experienced the transition from a novice to being serious, and from serious to obsessed.
Obsessed to the point where everyone knows that back-to-back races or frequent competitions are unwise, yet I still defined a full marathon in my mind as just an 'LSD training through racing.'
After seeing my race plan,Coach Guai sighed deeply, lamenting his loss of dignity for taking on such a 'divine' student.
As the saying goes, without comparison, there is no harm. Because of me, Guai and Lao Zhao got to know each other. Lao Zhao transformed from being called an 'old geezer' by Guai to 'look at Lao Zhao.'
After the Shenzhen Marathon, Lao Zhao and I took different paths.
Lao Zhao started training progressively according to Coach Erdan's schedule, running 100 kilometers a week, undeterred by wind or rain. Even in the drizzling rain of Chongqing, Lao Zhao ran with a runny nose to complete his training.
Meanwhile, I started frequent competitions: Wuxi Trail, Nanjing Trail, until Guai stopped me from running, making me stretch and relax every day. Guai said, 'Your muscles are fatigued and tense; you need to recover fully before effective training.'
I thought Guai was right, but my legs are mine, and I couldn't control my urge to run. So, I squeezed in two runs: one easy run of 7 kilometers, but my legs hurt, so I stopped.No relaxation, no stretching.
Then, two days later, I did an intense run in the cold without warming up, running 8 kilometers with full enthusiasm, and went home.No relaxation, no stretching.
Guai said, 'If you don't relax and run recklessly, you'll definitely get injured.'
I tried, and it was true.
But to me, Guai is like Doraemon, always having a solution for any problem.
Before heading to Xiamen, Guai said, 'Your goal in Xiamen is to finish safely. Don't chase any results. Bring all the necessary gear and take it easy.'
I asked Guai, 'What gear should I bring?'
Guai said:'You can bring Lingtu gear, like leg sleeves. They have a medical background and are trustworthy.'
I said, 'Okay, Guai, but isn't this a bit too much like an advertisement?'
1.
They say soldiers in the field don't always follow orders, but when it comes to my athletic career, I listen to Guai. When I arrived in Xiamen on January 5th, I didn't pick up my race pack first but attended Lingtu's sharing session.
To get a pair of the trustworthy leg sleeves Guai mentioned.
Thinking that wearing the leg sleeves would allow me to comfortably finish the Xiamen Marathon and improve my level, I couldn't help but smile.
I was so excited that I had a 'tough guy' conversation with Guai before the race.
Conversations with Guai are never complicated. We get straight to the point, just like running: simple yet profound.
For the Xiamen Marathon, Guai gave me a second piece of advice.
He said, 'In Xiamen, you won't be fast. Just run comfortably.'
I asked, 'What do you mean by running comfortably?'
Guai thought for a moment and said, 'It means that even if the photographer takes random shots, you won't be grimacing.'
After a while, he added, 'As my good disciple, the Shanghai Ekin Cheng, you should have experience in looking good in photos, so I won't say more.'
'Okay, Shanghai Ekin Cheng.'
△ Shanghai Ekin Cheng (Chi Zi)
2.
For me, the most important pre-race ritual is taking a group photo with familiar partners.
There's no special reason; it's just that when you're away from home, meeting by chance among thousands of people means your pace is well-matched.
△ Confirming from the photo, we are in the same team.
Every marathon is not just a large-scale meetup but an experience where you don't know what you'll encounter unless you start.
For example, in this Xiamen Marathon, if I hadn't started, I wouldn't have known.
The greatest distance between people is not standing in front of you without knowing I love you.
It's passing by each other, with you in Zone A and me in Zone J.
We pass by each other in the crowd, stepping on each other's shoes, unable to say sorry before being swept away by the crowd.
They say reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles.
In Zone J, waiting for the first gun at 7:30 and the second at 7:45, I walked slowly with two chance-met partners, a KFC mascot, a Master Kong cardboard cutout, a Tsingtao Beer formation, a Xtep team, and many flag-bearing runners.
I instantly recalled scenes from my childhood that I had never experienced, like the buildup to the climax in 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.'
Cheerful encouragement from the host floated by my ears, the audience's waving hands filled my sight, and the KFC mascot and Master Kong formation held up their signs beside me. Colorful running group flags fluttered ahead.
How to describe that scene? Let me show you some pictures.
△ Baidu search: 'Six major sects besiege Bright Peak'
△ Through the video, you can probably see the pre-race excitement.
△ Come on, let's cosplay together!
To be honest, the first 5 kilometers can be best described by an ancient text I learned in school.'The three guns of the Xiamen Marathon, with raised sleeves forming a shade, sweat flying like rain, shoulder to shoulder.'
Really, starting from Zone J tests your mental strength.
And I am a typical example of immature mental strength. Around 8 kilometers, I mentally collapsed.
What broke me wasn't the crowd, because I knew those around me were fellow travelers.
In my impression, the Xiamen Marathon is simply a course of running 21 kilometers out and then returning 21 kilometers.
On such a course, if you run fast enough, you can see everyone who overtakes you.
What broke me was that at 8 kilometers, with 34 kilometers to go,
the first-gun African runners were already on their way back. At that moment, I stopped and took out my phone.
After putting down my phone and looking around, I couldn't help but sigh. In life, as long as you work hard enough, you can run fast enough. If you run fast enough, the road ahead is clear, brothers.
The response was the sound of footsteps, fast and slow. It's not that my brothers aren't working hard; it's just that there are too many people ahead.
I kept running, comforting myself not to mind that the African runners were already heading back while I still had 34 kilometers to go.
'Squid, don't mind these things. Even if we started together, the African brothers would finish earlier. They are just 30 minutes ahead of you now.'
Indeed, the best person to comfort yourself is yourself.
After comforting myself, I resumed running at a pace of 4:30 for 2 kilometers and 5:20 for 1 kilometer. It's not that I don't respect the race.
It's just that every time I reached a supply station, there was a congestion, and some partners would stop to eat and drink, reducing the crowd on the road.
I don't know if you understand how important teammates are when running a marathon.
At least for a runner like me with weak willpower, teammates are very important.
Let me put it this way: I could PB in the Beijing Marathon partly because of my hard training, but mostly because the runners around me had 'serious runner' and 'I want to PB' written all over their faces.
But in the Xiamen Marathon, starting from Zone J, it was a sea of joy.
But a sea of joy is a comfort zone. To improve, you need to constantly break through your comfort zone.
So I started running at an even pace, and finally, I broke through Zone J and saw the runners' bibs change from HJ to F and G.
△ Expressing displeasure with a resentful yet elegant push of the glasses
Let me explain what it's like to break through the third gun crowd and enter the second gun crowd.
It's like entering a new 'sea of joy' at the end of the second gun crowd.
When my willpower was weakest, I saw everyone taking out their phones and posing.
It was like, 'If friends and family ask, tell them I'm running a marathon. If they don't believe, hey, brother, can you take a picture for me?'
As a self-proclaimed serious runner, I couldn't escape this comfort zone. I chose to join in!
To explain, by this point, my leg injury hadn't healed, so I was struggling to run.
Then, fortunately, I met Panpan.
Panpan said with a serious and determined face, 'Squid, I want to finish under 4:30 today.'
When Panpan said this, the determination on his face, the transformation into a serious runner, was so familiar to me.
It was the look of being in the zone.
I said to Panpan, 'Panpan, do you want to rest? I'll take a picture for you.'
Panpan looked at his watch and said, 'No, I want to finish under 4:30 today.'
That determination made me say the classic line, 'Panpan, we're already here.'
So we took this photo.
3.
The race continued, and it didn't end just because I took a photo of Panpan.
Looking up at the kilometer marker, there were still 15 kilometers to go.
But in the 4:30-6:00 group, the atmosphere conveyed a subtle belief from the runners around you.
In 2018, every time I ran, I chased results, wanting to run faster and constantly PB. But seeing everyone around me enjoying the race,
their appetite at every station, not missing a single tomato, banana, or bread, even if it meant overeating.
It really affected everyone around.
I completely gave up on chasing results.
Effort is always hard, like the uphill roads in the Xiamen Marathon. It's hard because you're going uphill.
But not trying is really easy!!!
Later, I gave up to the point that you might not believe it.
I ended up taking Tommy's camera on the course, photographing runners and cheering, 'Look here, look here, keep going!'
The race ended in a muddled way.
Just like this race report.
As for the result, I hesitated to write it because if Lao Zhao saw it,
he would be so excited that he would jump three feet high despite his plantar fasciitis.
4 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds. Nothing much to say, just a collapse, worse than Lao Zhao.
Before the New Year, I don't want to run another marathon.
After the race, Guai asked me, 'You ran so slowly, weren't you tired?'
I said, 'No, because I wore Lingtu compression leg sleeves, my calves weren't tired at all.'
I am Shen Squid, a half-baked runner with a keen sense for the camera, as Guai said.
The reason I'm a half-baked runner is that I binge eat and drink after back-to-back races without proper stretching, leading to accumulated fatigue and injuries that prevent training.
Running such a poor result is entirely my own fault. I hope patient readers don't follow my example.
Thank you, with love.