Determination is key to the success of a long-distance runner. Lee Kar-lun began his sporting career as a football player before turning to long-distance running in 1981.
It took him years of sacrifice, dedication and hard training to win the Hong Kong Athlete of the Year award in 1993.
'Sometimes it is very boring to train alone,' said Lee. 'The way to make yourself feel less dreary is to enjoy the process, rather than to have a suffering mentality.'
To enjoy running, one must learn the correct running posture in order to avoid injuries.
The first thing is to relax your shoulders and muscles. Also, your elbow must be at a 45-degree angle and your fists should neither rise above your shoulder nor fall behind your waist when running to save strength.
However, perhaps one of the most important things to bear in mind when running is not to thump the sole of your foot on the ground, as doing so will concentrate all the shock on your knee cap. Lee suggests that runners first land on their heels and then roll their feet on the ground.
While it is common sense to do warm-up exercises before running, many people ignore the need to relax their bodies after training.