With "Find Your Shadow" as his motto, Muhammad Mulyadi sees no limits and continues to push himself with Sydney Marathon now on the horizon
A hustler through and through, Sydney Marathon-bound runner Muhammad Mulyadi juggles not only running and a full-time job, he is also a coach at Elevate Performance Coaching.
The 46-year-old known for his speed and endurance, effortlessly maintaining a cool, calm, and collected demeanor when most would already be struggling to catch their breath. You know what makes it better? His hair never goes out of place.
Watching Mulyadi run, it's hard to believe he once suffered a broken femur from a severe accident.
"When I was 18, I was involved in a road accident and had an intramedullary rod inserted for about one and a half years. Thereafter, I had to live with a bit of limping," he recounted.
"Going through that was tough for me but I guess it was a gift. I had nothing else to rely on except for my legs so I guess I just had to keep running. I had to keep myself active and running was what I had. I just continued to move on."
How does he juggle it all, and what were his biggest struggles during his marathon training block? Sportplus.sg caught up with Mulyadi to find out.
How do you manage your time between your job, coaching, and training for the Sydney Marathon?
It’s all about how you manage the 24 hours you have a day. It can be done by proper planning.
Everyone has the same 24 hours and most of us have full time jobs. I believe it’s all about time management. I have a 9-5 job which sometimes requires some overtime. For Elevate Coaching, we have a roster so we’re always rotating amongst ourselves.
For marathon training, there’s a training regime I stick to. It’s not so easy when I’ve got a day-to-day job so I have to move things about sometimes to fit everything in. The important thing is to be flexible because we aren’t full time runners.
What's been the biggest challenge in preparing for the Sydney Marathon while maintaining your other commitments?
To me, the biggest challenge training for Sydney Marathon is finding time to rest and recover. This is the most important part of marathon training. If you’re not able to find a good time to rest, your sleep gets affected and that’s when your body starts to ache and you won’t feel physically good. It’ll affect your recovery for your next training run.
What are your personal goals for the Sydney Marathon?
I’m just trying to do my best. I have a target time which I hope to beat. Of course, all that comes down to how well I plan. What’s most important to me though is enjoying the moment, specifically for this year’s Sydney Marathon. I’m very much looking forward to running with the rest of the Friends of Sydney Marathon especially with the Elevate Performance Coaching family. It’s not just running for yourself, but running together with everyone else.
What makes the Sydney Marathon special for you personally?
On a personal note, the Sydney Marathon is something I’m looking forward to because of the surroundings, the route and of course, Sydney itself is a great city to run in. I’m looking forward to running somewhere overseas.