A movie made by Mladen MatiΔeviΔ few years ago, documentary that made me smile a lot last evening when I saw it. It is autobiographic movie that says so much about human mind and will.
"How to become a hero" shows us a man who has not accomplished a lot in his life – according to his own words. A man who turns to look back and started to question goals he had and how many of them he reached. Then one day, while sitting in his sofa in front of TV, drowning his desperation in a can of beer, he saw a broadcast from Rotterdam Marathon and it sparkled an idea in his head. He decided to run full marathon race (42km – 26.09 miles) in order to prove himself he is the same person he was and that despite his age (he just turned 40) and his weight (116kg – 255 lbs) he can beat his limits.
I laughed most of the movie because of the way he described "torture" he needed to go throught to be able to run the whole race. His body was not fit at all, first day he ran 700 meters and almost dropped dead π His family and friends laughed at him at the beginning but became a lot of support once they found out how serious he was about that. He was narator during movie, explaining in his own words and Belgrade slang, problems and funny situations he went through.
On a serious side, being in training more than a half of my life, I could relate to most of the problems he met. In our minds, there is a constant war between our strong and our weak side, one willing to fight and another who whispers to drop everything and take a rest. A loooong rest. Devilish voice who make us think it would be easier not to fight and to try to find and easier way. That constant battle shows who we really are. Thinking process that changes when things become serious. And painful.
I remember Mladen when we practiced kendo… so many years ago π He never accomplished much but the way he practiced was different than in most of people I met before and after. He gave his heart to the last beat in every training, proving that mind is stronger than body.
At the beginning of a movie he said: "At movie academy, my professors said I have a talent but that I will never accomplish much because of a bad temper I have."
I disagree. With that race he accomplished a lot. To start with self respect. With this movie he made a day of most of the people much brighter. An inspiration for a days that are about to come. And respect.
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Another Belgrade Marathon started 30 minutes ago. About 20000 people will fight their own battle with 42km path. Some will fail and some will win. But they all tried and this is what really matters :up:
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gdare 
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Sounds like a good movie.
I wish you could see it. It is a nice movie.
It is :up:
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I probably won't be able to get it here π¦
The battlefield of the mind :knight: :faint:Good post! :up:
Sounds like an interesting movie :up:So… why aren't you out running? :p
Besides seeing it, I would love to get this movie for a couple of people. It might help one of them, who will be 40 in May.
As a former dedicated marathoner myself, I am sure I would have been able to relate to whatever situations in that movie. The taste of your own lungs? Vomiting one kilometre before the finish line? Ditto diarrhoea? A broken Achilles tendon? Shin splints? The feeling of having the flu a whole week after a run?I have no doubts that my marathon days have a big impact on my present mentality.I guess that goes for everybody who's been challenging themselves to a certain degree.
Wow, this is something. Congratulations. My personal record to 5km was 23 minutes but I never ran marathon. I will be 40 in June. Maybe I should try to prepare myself for the next one π
That's out of my league now, but if I wasn't ill I could be persuaded π
Sounds like a more serious version of Run Fatboy Run. I've never been a fan of quitting myself. When things get rough that just means the rewards will be all the sweeter once it's over and done with.
Clint – I would be glad to send it to you jut I am not sure you could watch it with European codes – this is dvd :(Mags – thank you :knight: :DRose – I practiced this morning at home, then walked 9km and had a 1.5 hours of aikido training; enough from me, I guess :left:Pam – I can check with distributor if this is USA code compatible (and South African, of course); I will be glad to send you a copy if you like :)Allan – you keep on surprising me π how many times you ran marathon?
I haven't got the exact number. About 25. My best time was 2:44 and a few seconds.
I'm glad you shared about this movie, Dare….While somewhat unrelated, it reminded me of how Ava just got a bike… And I take her out every day so she can petal happily up and down the block. This is a test of my will. My knee is getting stronger all the time, but it still catches, taking my breath as I feel it fail me sometimes, and her pace isn't as slow as I would find comfortable. Somedays, after work (where I practice jump shots for at least an hour, climb MANY flights of stairs, and swim another 2 hours five days a week) I feel tired. My knee sore…. Sometimes swollen a bit. But I sigh, and find the strength to go…. Because not only does pushing myself help me and my recovery, but because it makes her so happy. I'm glad, in a way, that she motivates me to do this.
Now I want to watch this movie!
Allan – :yes:Mik – I haven`t seen "Run Fatboy Run" but heard about it. I use to say to my students in martial arts training when we have hard practice – everything is in widening limits. One knows where is "red line" then make a small step over it. Next time the red line will be farther and it will need moe to reach it and step over it. These trainings I call practice of a spirit :DJava – you are aware of a state your knee is in and this is good, if you know what I mean; you know your limits; but there is no other way than to go on with living and give yourself the best you can out of it; you will have to strengthen it and keep it in as best condition as you can; because in time, as you grow older, your body will become weaker as it will happen to everybody of us; this is normal process, only, you don`t have that luxury to quit :left: anyway, somehow I know you won`t :DAbbacus – hey, nice to see you here again :up:
Ah! Practice of the Spirit produces Spiritual muscles! :knight:
Mags – :yes:San – marathon swim? how long is that, 42km like a race? :faint: I know I will be able to do marathon race (with proper one year training) but marathon swim is just out of my league; something in the structure of my muscles, I think;
Oh no, marathon swim is one that is the same time, like 3 hours. That would be about 12 km. Although the purists would say a marathon swim would be 42 km or so, like the English Channel. There is a lake here in British Columbia about that length and I would like to try that some day. As soon as I get that "why would you want to do that?" voice out of my head.
I had a moment like this about 8 years ago. Someone encouraged me to do a marathon swim. And I thought no, why would I want to do that? All that training! It is so true that the negative thoughts prevent you from doing so much in life. I wanted to quit so many times. I'd go to the doctor, physiotherapist,chiropractor because I was in pain from all the training. I was hoping they would tell me to stop. No luck. And then I read a biography of someone who had done something similiar but even more difficult. I did as she did and wrote down affirmations on little cards that I kept in my pocket all the time. Any negative thought I had I would pull out a card and read it. At first I thought it was so stupid, but after a few days I began to believe, and before I knew it, the training became enjoyable and the race was successful. It's all in the mind.
San – at one point in a movie when Mladen was running 21km just as a test to see if he can do it, after the run he stopped, exhausted, and said: What the Hell I needed this for? :lol:Java – you`re welcome π
:o. Thanx Dare!
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Yeah like wolfie boy said… π¦
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*takes notes*thanks Darko ! π
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Interesting post, Darko.As I read it I was thinking to myself that there are many types of marathons.
Thanks Ed. Waiting for something to happen, with or without personal effort, could be a sort of marathon too. To stay on a pace despite everything π
Waiting on Godot. I'm exhausted already. π
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