Ryan HALL - on a running mission from God (3)

...   continua   ...   e provo a chiudere perché sono passate più di tre settimane dall'ultima puntata; come temevo il sito Master The Shift non è più raggiungibile e il browser risponde "la pagina richiesta non è stata trovata"; mi auguro che NISSAN trovi altre forme di comunicazione, anche in Italia come ci racconta Stefano BALDINI   ...

Boston 2011 - Sara & Ryan

Per sapere qualcosa di più possiamo fare affidamento sulla moglie Sara, a questo punto l'unica persona ad aver vissuto sempre vicino Ryan in questi ultimi mesi. Riporto completamente il testo che per fortuna avevo già copiato. Anche chi non legge l'inglese vede che la parola God ricorre nove volte e pareggia i conti con Ryan solo considerando anche la presenza nel titolo. Dio vince se teniamo valido anche un Christ.

Ryan’s Boston Marathon: My perspective (April 22, 2011) by Sara Hall

"I am on a plane flying back from Boston and have been thinking about Ryan’s race yesterday. I am still somewhat in shock that he ran as fast as he did! It isn't that I didn’t believe he had the ability to run that fast, I did, but this race did not seem like the time he would run under 2:05 after all the training interruptions he had along the way due to his health. And it's not that I didn't have faith that through Christ all things are possible, but actually seeing a race like his unfold and see God’s hand at work is still a bit shocking!Few people know the full extent of Ryan's health issues this season. First there were the residual issues of overtraining from last summer and fall. But feelings of fatigue seemed mild to the days where he would wake up and immediately start vommiting because of the parasite that was wreaking havoc on his stomach. There were days where he would start a run and start walking because the strong medication used to kill the parasite was killing everything in his stomach. When his stomach was fine, it was something else, like tendinitis in his foot. It was extremely tough to watch because it seemed Ryan could not catch a break for the life of him. As soon as he’d have a good workout and start to gain momentum, it would get crushed by another issue.

NYC 2007 - Olympic Trials

This of course was all following Ryan's decision to have God be more involved with his training and not have a coach. We made some big changes and really went out on a limb, because we felt that this was what God was calling us to do. And though none of his health issues were a result of the new change, it was hard not to wonder why God would allow him to go through all of this when all he wanted was to grow closer to Him and have Him be a greater part of his running. It’s in hindsight now that I can see that though God was not protecting Ryan from all sickness and injury, he was developing character in Ryan and an experience that I know he will draw on for the rest of his life. I was amazed at Ryan’s perseverance through all of the health issues, which I know was God’s strength. Sure, he had days where I literally had to drag him out of bed to go run and times when he wondered if “all of this is even worth it” with how much he was devoting his life to running despite being frustrated over and over. But he never questioned what God had told him to do, or gave up faith in the promises God spoke to him.

Not to say that he showed up on race day completely unprepared. Ryan worked hard on the workout days he was able to run as he always has. But I think he’d be the first to admit that his workouts and half marathon race 3 weeks prior did not point to a sub 2:05, much less a PR. And the peace and confidence he had when he toed the line at Boston was nothing short of a miracle in itself. It will forever be a moment that reminds us to follow God’s leading, no matter what the circumstances may be, and to keep faith that “He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)".

Sembra troppo? Non per Sara e Ryan HALL [Lettera di San Paolo ai Romani 8:28] Noi sappiamo che tutto concorre al bene di coloro che amano Dio, che sono stati chiamati secondo il suo disegno. [8:29] Poiché quelli che egli da sempre ha conosciuto li ha anche predestinati ad essere conformi all'immagine del Figlio suo, perché egli sia il primogenito tra molti fratelli; [8:30] quelli poi che ha predestinati li ha anche chiamati; quelli che ha chiamati li ha anche giustificati; quelli che ha giustificati li ha anche glorificati.

Dopo aver letto il post Running And Faith del 08/11/2010 scrivevo a un amico "capisco riflettere sulla Bibbia, pregare e invocare la Provvidenza, ma non puoi sperare che Dio ti scriva il programma di allenamento come fece a Mosè per le tavole della legge!". In realtà Ryan andava cercando la convinzione e la forza interiore per il compito a cui si sentiva chiamato. Il già citato articolo di Amby BURFOOT del 27/01/2011 ci fornisce qualche indicazione tecnica più precisa sulle nuove abitudini di allenamento

1. sacralità del giorno di riposo settimanale;
2. continuo utilizzo del cardiofrequenzimetro per valutare il recupero fra gli allenamenti più impegnativi e conseguente aumento del recupero stesso per essere in condizione di svolgere al meglio gli allenamenti più impegnativi;
3. inserimento di variazioni nella corsa continua, sia in soglia aerobica sia in soglia anaerobica;
4. diminuzione di junk miles.

NYC 2007 - Olympic Trials

In un atleta maturo come Ryan possiamo dire che certi adattamenti provengono da lontano e la validità del lavoro eseguito dovrà essere valutata a più lungo termine. Intanto ha portato a casa un grande risultato.
Vi lascio con un ultimo pezzo, che per fortuna avevo già copiato, in cui Ryan ci racconta come ascolti il suo corpo in modo da capire ciò di cui ha bisogno. Tutto questo scritto un paio di mesi prima di Boston.

Listening to Cravings (February 21, 2011) by Ryan Hall

I am looking forward to getting into this next weeks training. As of today I am not exactly sure how the week will look. I am targeting a couple of key workouts, but I am not sure exactly what days they will land on and what the exact workouts will be. You may think this is an odd way of training, and I suppose you would be right in thinking that. However, what I have found and continue to learn, is to listen to what my body craves.
It is very easy to develop routines in training. We repeat the same workouts over and over on the same days for years on end, but is this really what the body needs to reach its full potential? I have run through tired legs or little injuries for years without paying attention to any internal signs my body was giving me. My training philosophy was to always be pushing hard in training while trying to block out all signals of pain and discomfort. If I was feeling tired I took this as an obstacle to overcome, not a sign that my body needed rest.
So, as I prayfully approach my training this week, I purposefully haven’t set the amount of distance I will cover on every easy run or the exact lengths of my workouts. I know what types of workouts I need to do to be able to run well at Boston, and I plan on doing these workouts as my body craves them. I find that if I pay attention to how I am feeling on my daily runs I can tell when my body is ready for a big workout and when it is not. I am learning to give my body what it craves on a daily basis rather than force workouts and runs because I have them written on a schedule.

God bless America! E la sua capacità di raccontarci sempre nuove storie.