Have you been to the moon lately?

“I don’t know where the limits are, but I would liketo go there.” –EliudKipchoge

“Today we went to the Moon and came back to earth!” Eliud Kipchoge tweeted on the day he broke the two-hour marathon barrier. “This shows no human is limited,” he boldly declared during media interviews that day.

Before the famous history-making INEOS 1:59Challenge, Kipchoge was already a record breaker. He hadwon ten out of eleven marathons that he had ran, nine of them successively. Hewas already the world champion and greatest marathon runner of all time.

So, what was the INEOS Challenge about? Why did Kipchoge decide to dothis? 

Motivation

Although no human being had ever achieved what Kipchoge was settingout to achieve, it was never going to count officially as a record. He did itanyway, just to inspire each of us that we too can overcome our limitations.Kipchoge stated that his personal goal for the challenge was “to show to theworld that when you focus on your goal, when you work hard and when you believein yourself, anything is possible.” And once he accomplished it he said,"Now I've done it, I'm expecting more people to do it after me." 

Discipline

Surely, even champions get tired, right? When Kipchoge won the LondonMarathon for the fourth time – in April, 2019 – beating his own record forLondon, he could have simply sat back and basked in his achievements. His timeof 2:02:37 was the second-fastest marathon of all time – second only to his ownrecord in Berlin. He was clearly the best of the best. But rather than take a vacation,he rested for three weeks and embarked on training for the INEOS Challenge. Hestarted by jogging about 20kms three times a week and gym workouts also threetimes a week. His training routine increased in intensity. It even included regularice baths.

Consistency

Kipchoge has said that “when you bring motivation and disciplinetogether, then you can be consistent.” This makes perfect sense because we canonly keep doing what matters to us, and even that, only if we have built up ourself-discipline. “If you are not consistent, you cannot go anywhere,” he hasreiterated. And he has certainly proved this by his own consistenttraining.  

Kipchoge worked extremely hard to give us hope that we too can achievegreat things, including our most audacious goals.

Have you stretched yourself lately?

Like Kipchoge, we needn’t be recognized officially for ourbreakthroughs; for our personal victories. Kipchoge also shows that it takesintentionality and a crystal-clear vision to accomplish our highest dreams. Whetheryou’re a student with a burning desire to learn and excel; a parent determinedto give more quality to your kids; a writer with a book in your head and that you’vebeen wanting to write; or a scientist working on a breakthrough cure – you can reachfor the moon.

Focus on your goal, work hard, keep at it. Remember, no human is limited.

Copyright ©2020 by David Waweru. Photo by NN Running Team.