Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 52

PJ’S PIECE
By PJ Moses
Down but Not Out
I watched a heavyweight boxing title fight a few months
ago, an epic bout between two of the best fighters ever
to put on boxing gloves. It was a former champ against a
current champ, a hard-hitter against a skilled strategist with
a good chin, and nobody knew what was going to happen,
or how it was going to end...
A
s the fight went
on, the strategist
was piling on the
points, but the hard-hitter
put him down on the
canvas more than once,
and so the last round
would decide the outcome.
It was like a real-life Rocky
movie! The strategist was
knocked down again,
and everybody thought
that’s it, no way he can
get up. The hard-hitter
even lifted his arms and
acknowledged the cheers
from the crowd, but the
strategist wasn’t done yet.
He got back up. He chose
to keep fighting, and not
just accept defeat.
No matter
how hard it gets,
though, every second
we are blessed to have is
like a nugget of gold. We have
the chance every day to be better than before,
and to be better than we thought we could be. Life is beautiful... just as that Italian
film said!
In my life, I have been to the depths of the darkness, but I passed through it and I
found my lane. The fear of falling back to where I was is a constant worry, though.
No matter what changes I make, and how many peaks I tag, literally and figuratively,
I can’t outrun the fear and the doubt. But my saving grace has been the time I spend
alone in my running shoes, on a long stretch of tar, or a winding single-track. It clears
my head and fuels my passion to be the best I can be with each step.
Fuel the Fire Inside
You run your own race as you live your life, by the strength of your heart and mind,
and the fire in your soul. Your goal must be to burn your fire so brightly that they
can see it on the other side of the world, but every time you choose to quit, you are
throwing water on the flames. Every time you choose to keep going, though, you
are throwing more fuel on it.
Running can be like that, too. When you start off, you feel as strong as an ox
and as fleet-footed as a springbok, but there will come a time during your run,
especially if it is a long run, when you feel like you can’t take another step. But the
top of any hill is just a few steps away. The top
of the mountain is a climb away. All you need to
do is believe and persevere.
If you have to walk for a bit, then walk. If you
have to take a breather, then do just that, but
don’t you ever quit on yourself. The temptation
will come to give up, but don’t give in to it,
because if you do then a habit of quitting will
form. Just like winning is a habit, so too is
losing, and you don’t want that. Winning is not
just about being in first place, it is also about
getting to the finish.
Now you may not be a boxer in a title fight, but those choices are still yours to make,
and it applies to running, too. Will you stay down, or will you rise up and keep going.
Life is made up of these accumulated choices, and in the end, the way you choose
to live will determine the quality of it, so choose what is right for you and keep going.
Life on the Run
I find that life always seems like floating somewhere out on the blue vastness that
is the ocean. Sometimes you find yourself on nice calm seas, and everything is
blissful and beautiful in your life. Other times, you are being spun around by the
biggest waves you’ve ever seen, just trying to keep your head above the water and
not sink beneath the surface.
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ISSUE 124 OCTOBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PJ is a former Cape Flats gangster who took up
running, and writing about it, when he turned his back on that dangerous
lifestyle in order to set a better example for his two sons. Today he is an
accomplished runner, from short distances to ultra-marathons, recently began
working in running retail, and his exceptional writing talent has opened still
more doors in his new life.
He fought the remainder of that final round with renewed vigour, launching a high
tempo and accurate attack, and when the fight ended in a draw, nobody who had
watched it was too upset about the result. All the talk was about the last round
knockdown and the comeback. He was down, but he was not out. He chose to
fight, and that earned him a better result than the one he would have gotten if he
had stayed down.