What the 400 meter dash and life have in common

You know the feeling when your muffins you spent so much time to make are finally going into the oven, then when you take them out of the oven, it’s the best ones you have ever made. Only to find that the inside of the once respected looking muffin, is a nasty mess of undercooked batter. This is the feeling I get when I run the four-hundred-meter dash.

Like all the great four-hundred runners, Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson, and Harry Reynolds, I train to improve my stamina and strength. Though when running the four hundred meter, you need one more factor to be able to run. Combined with the physical part in practice and running the race, you also need the mentality to compete with your bodies demand. The mental part of the 400-meter dash is the most important factor. During the race, your body is put under a massive amount of strain when you are sprinting for a full lap. Not only are you racing the other runners in your heat, you’re also running to improve your time. Not reaching your personal best time or not improving can cause a runner to get the feeling that there not good at it, or that maybe this race just isn’t for them.

To me, the four-hundred-meter dash is a love-hate relationship. Because the natural man’s response to hard things is normally a negative action such as not doing it or quitting because of the difficulty. So, when I am training and racing, I try hard to keep a positive attitude and tell myself that I need to push harder. After every race, it feels like I am on top of the world but at the same time, I feel like I just was hit by a train. But the reward is big. You get to know yourself during the race, to find out what you want to do and what you need to do. Self-control is a big part of our lives, and it’s what keeps us going and improving. While running the race your whole body is being used, causing an amended effort to keep going and keep doing it. But for some reason I love it. Every season the four-hundred-meter dash is one of my events, it keeps me challenging myself to get better and better. One tip for a four hundred runner is that it’s always helpful to have a good attitude. Just think if you have a good attitude about it, how hard would it be to be positive about life as well.