The present moment

Ordinary things are not written about.  They are mundane, and we go through them without noticing.  Tales are written and passed from one generation to another because they have something extraordinary about them.  Marathons are mystic because they are extraordinary in their nature.  Their whole point is that they are anything but easy and they strip you from every comfort that nowadays we are accustomed to.  Hadrian Bonello seems to have gone one step further.  It made him feel alive and live the very present moment, forgetting the past in the process.

Hadrian, another marathon, and this time you’ve even recorded a personal best with a timing of 2:46, beating your own optimal time of 2:47 which you’ve achieved 13 years ago.  Congratulations!  How does this achievement compare with you representing Malta in Judo in the Small Nations Games?

This year’s marathon was truly a memorable one. Comparing it to other achievements in my past I must say that anything fantastic that happens in the present just overcomes  what happened in the past. I think way back 16 years ago when I was chosen to take part in the Small Nations Games, I was really happy but those memories fade away and are easily forgotten. The same goes for the marathon of 1999. It was my first marathon but I cannot remember the elation I had when I finished it. I definitely must have been extremely happy but other than a couple of photos that I have I don’t recall anything in particular about the finish. Anyone who does a personal achievement in the present cannot really compare the elation of the past. The present will pass as well and we forget the sacrifices we did in training and also we tend to forget that we ran a hard race. We always look forward to what follows.

I remember in last year’s marathon going up the hill at Blata l-Bajda, I swore that I would not ever run the full marathon again. I remember I was in so much pain. All that moaning was easily forgotten because I did it again this year.

It’s been said that if you win something you run 100 metres, but if you want to experience something you run a marathon.  Was this marathon a simple task of running on your given pace, or did you go through a lot of emotions on the way?

Yes, that’s right. If you want an experience, you run a marathon. Running this year’s marathon was no simple task at all. Firstly there was the pressure of failing to achieve the predicted time for the race and secondly whether I would be able to make a personal best. The week prior the race everything was going the other way round. Nothing was going right. I was feeling a lot of negativity about  whether I would be able to do a good run or not. I was terribly worried about the weather conditions not being right. I was eating more than I normally do and also in the tapering week I felt my running was slow and very tiring which makes you think that something is not right. But my coach, the awesome Has Kesra, told me that my training was complete and if I follow precisely the race tactics and pace I would finish exactly on the predicted time. I still recall his pep talk as we were driving to Mdina on Sunday morning on race day. It really fired me up.

Having achieved your time I am pretty sure you never hit the dreaded wall at KM32 or thereabouts.  Is avoiding the wall simply a case of running strictly on a given pace?

In the 90’s I remember everyone talking about the wall and the dreaded 32km point in the race when everything you trained for just disappears. I don’t remember if I had or had not felt it back then. My coach told me that the wall is only imaginary; something of the mind. So he prepared me for this. He said that if I follow the pace to perfection especially in the very initial stages of the race and think positive about the race then while tiredness would come in, mentally the body will continue to drive me at the same pace in the final stages of the race. There was no wall at the 32km mark or afterwards. When I arrived at the dreaded hill in Blata l-Bajda I looked at the watch going up and found myself running the dictated pace. It was simply amazing.

You remarked you were suffering from a Gluteus Maximus injury.  Did it ever effect you during the marathon, and were it ever at the back of your mind?

Right after the last MAAA race I developed this injury which was really hindering my speed sessions and making my easy runs feel like someone who just started running. I spoke to my coach on this and he showed me some stretching techniques to try and eliminate this pain. I had to simply stretch three times a day for about 30 to 45 min specifically focusing on the gluteus maximus. The pain started to ease up but it did not disappear. I was running comfortable at an easy pace but in my speed session I was not pushing myself hard. A couple of days before the marathon Has told me that the pain will disappear on race day, the adrenalin will kick in and the pain will go away. It did and I did not feel one single twinge along the 42km run.

What enabled you to better your time from last year’s marathon?

The coach is the trainer, the mentor and the motivator. Has Kesra gives so much to his athletes and we follow his guidance to the dot. It is like a little child putting his trust on her father when trying to jump for the first time into the sea. Knowing that whatever happens her father will be there to catch her. Trusting in the coach and his methods of training is the most important thing as an athlete. Believing in yourself that your preparation will enable you to perform optimally in the race comes after that. I knew that my preparation for the race was going perfectly; I was making better times than last year over the 5km and 10km races so mentally I was saying to myself that if the times are improving than eventually my marathon race time would also improve. It did, there were no mishaps, the preparation was done to the book and the pre-race build up went smoothly (in a way!!).

Finally, after such a marvelous marathon, what’s the main motivation for the rest of the season?

There are only two more races that I want to do until summer kicks in, the MAAA Marsaskala 10km and the Mellieha 10km. The main motivation is to do a personal best over the 10km distance. Currently it stands at 35:46 and it was done way back in 1998. That is my current vision or goal. The current reality is that I am fit and strong to race. My path now is committed to move to that vision. If that does not happen life goes on, we look back at the achievements of the past running calendar and move forward to work in reaching that goal.