Track and Field Blogs - Ryan Hall

With three months to go before the Olympics begin I am now putting the finishing touches on a vision that birthed 10 years ago during a long, slow, painful, fifteen-mile run around the lake. Now, after all I have been through I have just 105 days to pour myself into my training and prepare for the biggest opportunity of my life. All the training, all the discipline, all the depression, all the sacrifice, all the joy, it was all part of the journey that has prepared me for August 24th.

I love the Olympics. I always have. Growing up I had Olympic rings scribbled all over my text books. I find the symbolism of the rings to be quite dramatic with the five rings representing the unity of man from each of the five continents. There is something powerful about the unity of man. Anyone who has ever been to a Boston Red Sox game knows what I am talking about. I had the privilege to go to a game before the Boston marathon and I must say I have never seen a crowd go so crazy for their team. I could just feel the energy flowing in that stadium, and the players must have too because when the crowd would start going crazy big things would happen on the field. Unity of man, it is a taste of heaven and that is what the Olympics is about. This is also one reason why the marathon is such a special event. I always love to look back behind me before the start of a marathon to see the masses lining up behind me. They are all there with one mission. Sure maybe each has their own goal or motivation but we are all there to test the limits of our body over 26.2 miles.

The Olympics is not only about unity but unity with a purpose. The Olympic slogan for the upcoming games is "One World One Dream." The organizers describe this slogan as representing the Olympic spirit of "Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream" furthermore it stands for "the common wishes of people all over the world, inspired by the Olympic ideals, to strive for a bright future of Mankind." A brighter future for Mankind is something we can all long for. As an athlete in these upcoming games, I hope that I can carry out these Olympic ideals and contribute to the progress of Mankind. The great thing about the Olympics is it gives athletes the opportunity to use their success to help others. Since qualifying for the games, it has been incredible for me to have opportunities to get involved with so many great causes. The most difficult part was deciding where to spend my energy.

When I look at how I want to use my running for the "bright future of Mankind" I think of what are the biggest needs in our world today and how can I use the gifts God has given me to help out. When I was approached by World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization working to fight world poverty and injustice, I already had a heart to help the poor but I didn't truly realize the full extent of world poverty. For example, I learned that half of the people in the world, nearly 3 billion people, live on less than two dollars a day. Just yesterday, I was doing my easy 35 minute afternoon run and thinking about how every three seconds a child under the age of five dies as a direct result of poverty. It has finally hit me that we have a major problem here. I know that a major problem can't be fixed overnight and I realize that I am just one man but if I can use the gifts God has given me to feed one more mouth that otherwise would not be feed, then it is worth it. One of my favorite verses from Message version of Romans simple says, "strength is for service." I am convicted that whatever strength I have been given is not strictly for my enjoyment, but also carries with it the responsibility to carry out the Olympic spirit of providing a bright future for all humanity.

This new passion to fight global poverty has brought so much more meaning to my running. I thought about it when I was training for London, and even in the race itself, I remember looking around at the group of purely African runners and thinking that maybe I wasn't African but I was running for their people as well as my own. I have been inspired by fellow runners Paul Tergat, Lornah Kiplagat, Kip Keino, and many other African runners who have become successful and used their fame and wealth to go back to their communities and help people. As an American, sometimes I find myself getting frustrated that the Africans have become so dominate, but if they can use it as a means to fight the poverty of their communities than I wish them the best of success. In the Olympic games I have a lot to run for. I run for God, my wife, my family, my coach, my hometown, for America, and for my fallen friend Ryan Shay, but I also run for Africa, to provide clean water for their people.

I believe that many fellow athletes have the same heart but maybe they are unsure how they can use their passion for running to help others. The cool thing about World Vision is that now people can run a race to fight world poverty. Check out www.worldvision.org/team if you are interested in joining the team and adding a whole new dimension to your running. We also recently shot some videos for World Vision and launched a new campaign to give people the opportunity to participate with me in my Olympic marathon and my pursuit of fulfilling the Olympic ideals (ryanhall.org). Who knows how world poverty could change in the upcoming years if we all come together and decide to do something about it.

This new passion has really fueled my training over the past two weeks of running. It has been four weeks since London now, but it seems like it was only yesterday. I took one week of complete recovery, meaning no running, and then a couple weeks of easy jogging. Last week I finally started some light workouts and was surprised at my starting point. It usually takes a couple weeks of workouts to be able to operate below five minute per mile pace but this hasn't been the case this time around. I did a much better job of staying on top of massage, ice bath, stretching and strides than I have ever done before and it has paid off. I feel that my legs are full of run, as I like to say, and ready to begin the intense training that will be required if I am going to make a run at a medal. Next week the real training begins as I head up to Big Bear to start training at altitude.

I am really excited to have the support of my older brother over the next three months as he will become my pacer (on a bike) for all my workouts. I find that having someone along on the bike is the perfect training solution for me because it allows me to have someone pushing me along without getting competitive. I have used it a little in the past but never for an entire marathon buildup. I believe it could make all the difference for me. I am also excited to be back in the mountains in my supportive hometown. The have begun a "Move a Million Miles for Ryan Hall" campaign that has been very encouraging to me. They are trying to build community fitness and overall well-being by logging a million miles by the time I run in the Olympic Marathon. We are currently at just over 100,000 miles and they encourage everyone, everywhere to join so feel free to log your miles ( moveamillionmilesforryanhall.com). I don't think their is an Olympian in the country with such a supportive community. I am really blessed to call Big Bear Lake home.