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Writer's pictureThe Useless Runner

The 12 minutes of hell

All-out [adjective] ~ /ˈȯl-ˈau̇t/

"Made with maximum effort."


My dad always used to say "En lo poco, se conoce lo mucho" (It is in the trivial things, that you learn a lot). What it means is that in those little or small actions from others, you get to know a lot about them. I hold this true to this day.


In the context of sport, it means that in those small bursts of energy, you can measure how much you have progressed with your training, and how prepared you are on your training journey.


There is a running test called 'the Cooper test'. It is a 12 minute flat out, all effort run, which was developed to measure fitness in army soldiers. In modern times is used to measure athletes fitness and vO2Max estimation.


The trick with this test is that if you start too hard, you will quickly slow down after depleting your reserves, and if you start too slow, you don't maximise your efforts and end up covering less distance.


This is one of the tests I hate the most.


Those 12 minutes go by very slowly. Like they are never ending. I call them the 12 minutes of hell.


I did this test yesterday, and managed to cover 2.1 KM in 12 minutes. This indicates that for my age and gender, I am in 'good' condition. It was excruciating. I started way too fast and spent the last 8 minutes just trying not to slow down too much. In the end I was sweating like crazy, gasping for air, feeling sick, and with fluids all over my face. I felt terrible.


But this was also a wakeup call.


I have been slowly working on feeling better again, and have been able to work on myself slowly, getting my habits back, learning to balance life, family and sport. I feel like I am doing a good job, and even though I still have those moments of sadness, I am managing to translate them into energy on the running course. I am able to absorb that energy and put it to good use. Is hard work, but is fulfilling to feel that I finally have some control over what is happening to me.


Yesterday was not just a cooper test run. It was the beginning of the road back to being myself again. It was a way to go out there and leave it all on the field, up until the last drop. It made me feel empowered, and made me conscious of the long way I still have to get back to who I was. It made me realize I must be a better person, a better father, husband and friend. At the end, when you are depleted, tired and feeling sick, it wakes you up to the reality you are now facing. It empowers you.


I want to write history, not for the world, but for myself, for my family, and for those close to me. Those who know me and know well all the things I have gone through. I want to be remembered for who I really am, and not for the sad person I once became.


Time to work hard, and be the best I can be.


In the end my dad was right, because it was in the trivial things, like a 12 minute flat out run, that you get to know and learn how much you really need to work to be better, and you know where you are and what you need to do.


Thank you Dad. I never doubted your wisdom. Porque en lo poco, se conoce lo mucho.


Thanks for reading.





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