'For now, I actually want to have a lot of time to train, not a lot of games."
Today, Li Zicheng, who has passed the age of establishment, settled in Ningbo with his wife and children, as china's earliest runner to break away from the system and make his own professional attempts, from being bored with running to reaching a fever pitch for running, from the initial "to survive" more than 40 races a year to now focusing on 4-5 games, the 31-year-old Shandong youth told us a history of professional runners' struggle.
#213是起步并非巅峰
#长周期备战 + training mode adjustment promotes improvement
If you don't count the Xiamen Marathon at the beginning of the year, Li Zicheng only ran two full marathons in the whole of 2020, namely the Wuxi Marathon in early November and the Chengdu Marathon at the end of November, both of which brought back the championship trophy.
For more than half a year, in the public began to have "old", "no", "transformed" and other such voices, Li Zicheng defeated a group of domestic masters in Wuxi to run 2 hours 14 minutes and 52 seconds to win his fifth Xima Chinese championship; more than 20 days later in Chengdu, Li Zicheng, who ran this track for the first time, ran 2 hours 13 minutes and 06 seconds, creating his best personal performance in recent years. At the end of December, in the Taizhou Marathon, he ran another 63 minutes and 22 seconds in the half distance.
Popular enthusiasts define plums as "back to the top" at the end of adulthood, but plums don't think so, in his words. 213 was a phased start, not a return to the top. Summarizing the gratifying results of 213, Li Zicheng said that the main reason was the systematic training of up to 10 months cycle, plus some adjustments to the training concept.
"The Chengdu Marathon is actually faster than the 213, but the track is not very flat, there are several tunnels underneath, and the last two kilometers into the park are not very adaptable." Li Zicheng said, "The original expectation for 2020 was around 212-213, waiting for the game to start before May, but there has been no event, and then simply start training until October, and then play again in November." 2020 has basically completed the set goal, and the only regret is that the 2021 Xiamen Marathon has been cancelled. If Xia Ma can run, running into 213 I don't think it will be a big problem. ”
In addition to the accumulation of a long cycle, Li Zicheng revealed that this year's training concept has changed greatly, and the training plan refers to some suggestions from Jia Chaofeng, a teacher at Northeast Normal University. Jia Chaofeng has represented the country in the Asian Games, the World Championships, etc., and has also won the championships of many well-known events such as North Malaysia and Ranma, and has repeatedly accompanied the national team to Kenya for foreign training.
"She gave me some advice, which I think is very useful, my original understanding of marathon training is still more inclined to 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and this year's adjustment has made me change a lot." At first, some of her suggestions were not very understandable to me, and there were some emotions. After practicing for a while, I found that the advice she gave me was really good, much better than my original method, so our biggest change this year was the change in training method. ”
"This year has released the fatigue of these years, and the physical state has picked up a little." I used to have a very high frequency of participation and I was satisfied with being able to keep it around 215. Especially in the early years, there was almost no time for systematic training, so it was difficult to have a breakthrough. There have been no races since the end of 2020, and the whole 10 months have been training, plus changes in the training plan. So running to 213 is a start, and I don't think it's time to get back to the top. ”
Summarizing the entire 2020, Li Zicheng believes that this achievement at the end of the year is the result of the payment, but his peak is still in the future. He took the distance of the year-end Taizhou Marathon half-course project to explain his physical condition and the correctness of the training direction.
"Taizhou this track has a lot of turns, there are 4 turns, and the right angle of 90 degrees is also very much. Although the track was difficult, it still ran 63 points and 22 wonderful, and I am satisfied with this result. With this result, it shows that my training effect or direction is right, and now the training method is right. ”
#5年职业化之路
#曾3年参赛百余场, the reason is only to repay the mortgage
Friends who have entered the running circle for a few years should be familiar with the name Li Zicheng, and the public has the reputation of "a brother outside the system", which stems from the extremely high frequency of Li Zicheng's early participation and the number of championships. Moreover, he is also the first athlete to truly break away from the system and make a complete professional attempt on his own, which is not the path he planned for himself at the beginning.
"When I first practiced sports, I originally wanted to be able to win the national championship at the National Games in 10,000 meters, and there was only this goal, and there was no other goal. Then after retiring, he returned to the local area to be a coach, which was the original idea. Li Zicheng said, "As I get older, I find that being a coach seems less attractive." ”
At the age of 10, he entered the junior sports school, at the age of 16, he entered the Shandong Provincial Sports Team, and at the age of 23, he chose to leave the system. Talking about the reasons for retirement, Li Zicheng said that the amount of training in the professional team in the later period was too large and the sports injuries led to a little fatigue. This fatigue is not only physically, but also psychologically very tired.
"When I retired, I didn't really think about being a professional athlete, and when I retired, I didn't want to run, and then I was called by my friends to participate in some mountaineering and cross-country running competitions. Later, after playing with my friends like this for two years, I felt that this was very good, why not continue to run like this? Li Zicheng said, "I retired in 2013, and in 2015, a brand came to me and strategically hoped that I would run a marathon." In fact, before that I was mainly running trail running and the field, it asked me to run road running, will sponsor me. Since then, I have officially become a professional marathon runner, and it has only been 5 years now. ”
For the difference between professional and professional, Li Zicheng frankly said that doing careers will be busier, time is more tense, and everything must be handled by themselves. Whether it is from diet, training support, sports injury recovery in all aspects, it takes up a lot of time. He believes that from a universal point of view, the professional team has less energy dispersion, can train with peace of mind, and is more able to produce results.
In 2015, he competed in 45 races including mountaineering, half-horse and full horse, winning 42 championships. In 2017, he competed in 17 races, 12 of which he won. Some media statistics have shown that in 2015-17, Li Zicheng participated in 126 races in 3 years, which is almost unimaginable for the output of a top marathon runner.
There is only one simple and simple reason for such a high frequency of participation - to run the ranking and earn prize money. Li Zicheng did not shy away from talking about this, and said that he had a clear goal for himself at that time, to earn 30,000 yuan per month before the funds could be operated. At that time, Li Zicheng, who had retired from the Shandong Provincial Sports Team for two years, was only 25 years old.
"In 2015, I settled in Ningbo and bought a house in Ningbo. I used to live in Zaozhuang, Shandong, and the house in Zaozhuang was several thousand pieces and a flat, and the house in Ningbo was about 20,000 square meters at that time. So I'm faced with the problem that buying a home loan puts a lot of pressure on money. So you can only run crazy races, to earn bonuses, to pay off your mortgage. Li Zicheng said frankly.
"The state of those years was to run and earn money, because you have to survive." If you don't train much every day, then in order to reach a high level. So what about life? Because I was not a person after all, at that time I had a wife and children and a family so out. Li Zicheng recalled, "So in those three years (2015-17) crazy competition, there used to be a habit, that is, almost no training, only competition, with the race instead of training." But this [pattern] still has an impact on the athletic career. ”
Since 2018, Li Zicheng has gradually reduced the frequency of competitions. Only high-quality events such as North Malaysia, Guangma and Hanma were selected, and thanks to the high prize money of the Chinese Marathon Grand Slam and the Asian Grand Slam, Li Zicheng gained a lot in 2018. This harvest is not limited to money, but also honor, as well as physical gain.
"From 2018, the frequency of competitions has been gradually reduced, and the purpose of the reduction is to prolong their own sports career, and they cannot overdraw their sports career in advance." This kind of crazy game can be done for a year or two, and for a long time so long than maybe this person will be ruined. Li Zicheng said, "When people's economic ability is stronger, they will begin to have some pursuits." So I began to pursue results, the number of entries was shrinking, and the results were steadily improving. ”
Li Zicheng now has 3 main sponsors and a partner who will help him with brokerage affairs. In addition to being a steady sponsor, he runs a sports company and is also doing training camps for popular players. It can be said that from 2013 to the present, the 23-year-old young man who came out of the sports team has opened up his own mature business territory.
#热爱是最大动力
#从让我练, to me to practice
In Li Zicheng's running philosophy, love is the biggest driving force, and there should be no strong purpose for running. This shift in perception was only made after he became a professional runner, and his reflections during the pandemic convinced him even more.
"When the tournament pressed the pause button, everyone was thinking, this is your real answer. In 2020, I have been training for the whole year without interruption, and I have been practicing very systematically. It's not that I'm practicing systematically, it's not about preparing for the next game or whatever, it's that I feel like I finally have time to train, and I'm eager to train. Li Zicheng said, "Actually, for now, I would like to have a lot of time to train, not a lot of games." I'm already passionate about running, I love running, and I want to keep improving my level of exercise. Because you love it, you want to do well. ”
Li Zicheng said that any industry that wants to be top-notch must love to support. His pursuit of grades has now passed the stage of needing to repay the mortgage, and he believes that the source of motivation for still pursuing grades is love. And the benefits brought by exercise are not only physical, but also include the strengthening of mobility and the upward movement of living conditions.
"The understanding of this love of training actually came after 2015. However, at that time, the goal was only to run faster, or did not know that I was passionate. It wasn't until after 2018 that I really felt that I really loved running, because I couldn't stop, and it would be very uncomfortable to stop for two days. I enjoy the joy of running every day, and if I don't get up one morning to run, I feel that the whole day is in a muddy state. He said.
Li Zicheng's day starts at 5 o'clock in the morning, gets up on time at 5 o'clock, starts running at 5:30 o'clock, and has breakfast around 8 o'clock.
"If you can eat breakfast well before 8 o'clock, you can send the child, if you practice more that day, it is too late to send, only the wife can send it." In the morning, I will wash the training clothes at home, and then return to the social media messages, Douyin, Weibo, Gollum, WeChat, etc., I have two WeChat accounts, 10,000 WeChat friends. Li Zicheng said that he arranged 24 hours a day, "At noon, I will eat at 11 o'clock, sleep more at 12 o'clock, get up at 2:30, train at 3 o'clock, and finish at 5 o'clock." Come home in the afternoon, play with the kids for a while, and then have dinner. After dinner, I also accompanied the child, replied to the message, and went to bed until 10 o'clock in the evening. ”
Now Li Zicheng has 13 classes a week, except for Sunday afternoons, other times are trained. The rest of the time, in addition to spending time with his family, he is also playing his own company and trying to make some transformations outside of the sports field.
Li Zicheng revealed that his running performance of the sports career will have 3-5 years, hoping to go to a higher level in the future days, 2021 is best to refresh the PB. However, for the running thing, he did not set himself the so-called ultimate goal.
"I don't think I have any ultimate goals myself because I love running. Love this thing, you just want to make it better. And not to say to yourself that it imposes a goal, must be how. That's not necessarily a love for it, it's purposeful. Li Zicheng said, "I think now I can improve every year, I am very happy." I will repeatedly summarize my training, repeatedly improve, let my efforts develop according to the results I expected, I think this is what I want to see most. So there is no ultimate goal, just to constantly improve yourself, and constantly have a new understanding of running. ”
"In the new year, the goal of being accurate to the number is to run into 212, it is best to be able to refresh the PB (2 hours, 11 minutes and 46 wonderful)", Li Zicheng said, "Other expectations, my children will go to primary school in September this year, I hope to have more time to accompany my children, after going to school, elementary school, junior high school, high school... There will be less and less time, and I hope to spend more time with him. ”
In the nearly two hours of dialogue in the morning, Li Zicheng's high-frequency keywords are "love" and "family", the 31-year-old Shandong Han, a professional athlete, husband and father, ran out of his own world with his feet and melted running into the blood.