“There’s no different possibility,” admits Dani Mateo, elite marathon runner and Spanish Olympic athlete. “Regardless of the difficulties, athletes should get out and run once more as a result of that, working, is our job. Easy as that.”
For Dani, perseverance and willpower outline an athlete’s life. Due to excessive self-discipline, elite athletes execute coaching plans with an unimaginable workload and preserve a life-style of restrain that prioritizes restoration and relaxation. Routine, too, helps overcome setbacks and disappointing outcomes.
Over the previous few months, pushed by distinctive willpower, Dani has been making ready for the upcoming Valencia Marathon, with the hope of attaining a time that would safe a spot on the Spanish marathon staff for the Olympic Video games in Paris subsequent summer season. Via exhausting work, he overcame the frustration of his final main championship.
Final yr, on the European Championships in Munich, Dani Mateo didn’t have the most effective of days. After ending within the tenth place within the World Championships in Doha in 2019 and attaining a private finest of two:08:22 in Valencia in 2020, the Spanish athlete felt prepared for an incredible efficiency in Munich. The months of rigorous coaching had gone nicely, even through the scorching days of July. Days earlier than the race, Dani was assured that he might be among the many finest and maybe win a medal.
The primary kilometers by way of the streets of Munich went in response to plan. ‘All good,’ Dani thought. Nonetheless, the marathon distance is all the time unsure. Not even probably the most good coaching cycle ensures the specified outcome; any small mistake or unexpected circumstance can wreck months of labor. And that day, because the race progressed, Dani gathered dangerous sensations. One thing was mistaken.
Within the final meters, simply earlier than crossing the end line, Dani’s face mirrored his disappointment. He hadn’t been in a position to give his all in a race marked in pink on his calendar since his debut on the marathon distance years in the past. ‘And now, what?’ he questioned the following day.
Excessive temperatures and extreme dehydration induced the Spanish athlete to decelerate barely. Just some seconds per mile, however sufficient to step by step see his rivals draw back. After enduring what appeared like hours of struggling, Dani completed in fourteenth place with a time of two:14:34, removed from his objective.
Within the final meters, simply earlier than crossing the end line, Dani’s face mirrored his disappointment. He hadn’t been in a position to give his all in a race marked in pink on his calendar since his debut on the marathon distance years in the past. ‘And now, what?’ he questioned the following day.
Focus in your coaching routine
We might not take part in main championships, however like elite athletes, we, as on a regular basis runners, lace up our footwear and go working a number of days per week. After we turn out to be critical about our targets, we attempt to comply with a coaching plan as rigorously as potential. We might complain if it’s too chilly or wet, or if there are one too many hill exercises all through the coaching cycle. And but, we run. As a rule, we get up early on Sundays to finish the beloved long term.
Newbie runners don’t obtain fee for coaching and competing; working isn’t an obligation. However, we compete towards ourselves, coaching and working with the passion to realize our greatest efficiency. We persist as a result of we perceive that day by day effort brings us nearer to our targets and desires—whether or not it’s working our first 5k or attaining a sub-3 hour marathon. Deep down, we acknowledge the significance and necessity of testing ourselves, pushing our limits. This compels us to step out of our consolation zone to see, really feel, and expertise one thing completely different.
However what occurs after we don’t obtain our targets? After crossing the end line in Munich, Dani Mateo not solely needed to get well from the hassle but additionally needed to regain the passion to proceed coaching.
As knowledgeable athlete, his response was easy: work. ‘There’s no different approach,’ he explains. ”Sadly, I had a nasty day in Munich, however you must preserve working. It’s a protracted course of, and each disappointment is a lesson.”
This tenacity is widespread in elite athletes like Dani Mateo. Nonetheless, any non-elite runner, with persistence and consistency, can develop a routine to proceed coaching and dedicate free time to bodily exercise, overcoming setbacks and disappointments. If we set sure targets, whether or not small or massive, due to that willpower, we will construct sturdy and constant pillars able to withstanding the pains of a coaching plan. While you fall wanting your objective, it’s solely pure to really feel disenchanted. Course of these emotions and suppose long-term. Progressively and with out realizing it, willpower and self-discipline lead us to stay like an athlete.
A nonconventional way of life
“Non-elite athletes deserve plenty of credit score as a result of they produce other jobs, households, and quite a few obligations. Regardless of that, they run and prepare exhausting due to their enthusiasm and pleasure. It makes them joyful,” admits the Spanish athlete.
“Non-elite athletes deserve plenty of credit score as a result of they produce other jobs, households, and quite a few obligations. Regardless of that, they run and prepare exhausting due to their enthusiasm and pleasure. It makes them joyful,” admits the Spanish athlete.
Dani Mateo
Many occasions, such dedication means swimming towards the present, prioritizing relaxation over an evening out with buddies. Earlier than turning skilled, Dani Mateo already knew what it was prefer to buck the pattern, to be the ‘odd one out.’ As a teen who excelled in working, Dani needed to take the tougher path: being disciplined to proceed coaching and bettering. ‘Most likely that part of life, whenever you’re a teen, is the hardest time for these of us who begin dedicating ourselves to sports activities professionally. These are the years when most of your pals wish to exit, occasion, and have enjoyable. As an alternative of becoming a member of them, you have to say no and go dwelling to relaxation as a result of that you must be in the most effective situation to coach the following day. In these moments, you’re feeling social strain and want nice willpower. There comes a time when you must understand that the game is our job, and being in the most effective situation is our accountability,’ he explains.
However how can this dedication be maintained throughout years of coaching? In accordance with Dani, ‘you all the time want small targets that enable you take steps towards a a lot bigger ambition. An athlete’s profession will be very lengthy. Endurance and taking it gradual are wanted. Reaching small targets is what makes us progress.”
The Greatest Purpose: Paris 2024
Dani Mateo’s subsequent objective is to signify Spain within the Olympic Video games, as he did in Tokyo in 2021. ‘It was an odd expertise in Japan. We had been in Sapporo, away from the remainder of the athletes. Because of the COVID restrictions, we might solely prepare and run on a small circuit,’ recollects Dani. ‘The race itself was powerful but additionally represented a really joyful second for me. It was the end result of a protracted course of, a dream come true. Hopefully, I’ll be an Olympian once more.”
After a couple of months with out main competitions on the calendar, Dani Mateo has new challenges in sight. He has returned to the grueling routine of coaching for a significant marathon. In Valencia, he’ll try to realize the Olympic normal to qualify for a spot on the Spanish staff subsequent yr. With hardly any days off, his coaching plan contains many double-session days. Within the morning and afternoon, Dani goes working on the roads of Soria, a rural, sparsely populated space the place it’s not unusual to not cross paths with anybody whereas working.
This coaching additionally cycle features a 25-day altitude coaching camp in Granada. ‘The marathon plan may be very powerful, and you must take it daily,’ he explains. ‘In actuality, it’s just like the race. You simply have to consider the kilometer instantly forward and no additional. Finishing every coaching, little by little, helps preserve motivation and provides a way of liberation.’
The remainder of us might not goal to take part in a world championship or the Olympic Video games, however we will set equally bold targets. Maybe we goal to finish a 10k in lower than an hour, qualify for the Boston Marathon, or end the majors marathon circuit. Setting these targets and having the mandatory willpower and self-discipline to proceed coaching makes us really feel and act like athletes.
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