Ruiyong is going down a dangerous slippery slope! Please be careful not to continue validating, without FILTER, his thoughts, words and actions!

 Before we get into a new topic of discussion today, allow me to reproduce some words of wisdom from the world of proverbs!

"Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise." Proverbs 19:20

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel." Proverbs 12:15

If Ruiyong has or will have any wisdom from this point onwards, it would be because he started listening to our, or at least some of our advice that came from a combined total of 30 and more years of experience and knowledge with life in general, notwithstanding distance sport, which has usually been our primary domain of discussion and analysis. But a recent facebook post by Ruiyong on 'racing to deceive' has gotten us extremely uneasy and worried about how possibly deep he has sunk into the pit of ethical and moral depravity! This post has been reproduced below in its purest origin, just in case he deletes that post for fear of whatever repercussions. 

Disclaimer: Our views here for this post only are not intended to be pragmatic due to the nature of what we intend to write about: morality and ethics. They are instead intended to be absolute and decisive according to what we view as absolute and decisive. This is therefore also our bias. This bias, or view, is exclusively ours and ours only! We do not intend to claim that we have the best advice/bias on the planet, and that Ruiyong has to only listen to our advice/bias, in full or partially. We do not come, in all humility, from any appearance or lack thereof of ethical and/or moral high ground despite trying to be decisive and absolute in our views, and every one of our readers can be safe in the belief that all our hearts and minds are in 'the right place' FIRST AND FOREMOST, 99% guaranteed(since nothing is 100%). That really means for 99% we have as close to pure a desire as possible to simply and ably impart sound and absolute ethical and moral advice, according to what we view as absolutely ethical and moral, to a man we believe is going down a slippery slope slowly but surely to depravity and/or some sort of destruction, so that his distance career could in all probability become a warning lesson throughout the generations and generations of Singaporean distance and/or non distance athletes.

Here is Ruiyong's facebook post below before we delve into what we do best---CRITICALLY ANALYSE FOR THE TRUTH!

"The traditional Asian adage "Always Be Humble" is cliched. It does not always apply.

As much as training is about humility and honest hard work,
Racing is about deception.

Deceiving yourself - to believing you're faster than you actually are.
Bluffing your opponents - to fearing you're better than you look on paper.
Lying to your body - that no matter how bad you think you're hurting, you can always give more.

And no matter how much everything tells you to stop, you can go that one more mile.

Want to be always right? Just go into every competition saying you're not as good as everyone else, or you can't hit a certain mark. You can't jump this height. You can't throw that far. You can't run that fast.

You will always be right.

Want a shot at upsetting the odds? Psyche yourself up. Psyche the others out. Then hit them with all you have.

That way, at least you have a chance."

Let's now analyse the rhythm of the words in Ruiyong's post, and strain our ears to hear the heartbeat of the 'truth' we are about to put forth! Ruiyong says there are 2 categories concerning distance sport---racing and training. While he says, and we therefore assume he believes as well, that honesty and humility, or truthfulness, should apply in training, you should throw these infinitely beautiful, eternal and time-tested virtues out the window when you race?!!? He justifies these with SEEMINGLY(beware!) logical explanations such as "believing you are faster than you actually are", "making your opponents call your bluff that you're better than you look on paper", and "lying to your body so that no matter how bad you think you're hurting you can always give more." Anybody who truly possess wisdom and knowledge will know that the double virtues of honesty(truthfulness) and humility(meekness) are footstools and foundations of love, patience, kindness, thoughtfulness, forgiveness, respect, dignity and integrity, and always reliably with 100% guarantee(in a world where nothing is 100%!) work perfectly--providing you have FAITH to use these virtues in the first place, which one must provide for out of his/her own willing mind and heart! This brings us to the question--might Ruiyong have a lack of a willing mind and heart and therefore lack of a certain faith then? If Ruiyong cannot carry through the virtues of honesty and humility in racing, and instead have to rely on calling bluffs and other self-deception techniques, then he certainly has a lack of a willing mind and heart and therefore a lack of faith. If he cannot carry through the virtues of honesty and humility, if he cannot stay TRUE and be TRUTHFUL at all times whether in racing or training, might he be guilty of also lacking the other accompanying virtues that lay on top of honesty and humility, such as love, respect, dignity and kindness etc? Yes, to a high probability! When the foundations of truth and humility are missing, those on top of these will likely collapse under its own weight as well!!! Can we therefore say he lacks patience and therefore love for the sport because he is willing to believe a self-made delusion "that he is much faster than he actually is in training", and that this delusion is one of the primary causal effects of his lack of love, patience, respect, integrity and basically all of the virtues spoken of above? Yes to a high probability as well!

It's seems clear, to us, that for all the love of the sport that Ruiyong claims he overflows hitherto, that could not stand up to the weight of our analysis! Something doesn't add up in his love for the sport! You should be starting to then question his motives and intentions for wanting to do what he is doing and saying, whatever he is doing and saying!

Let us try another angle of analysis: we have thought about this momentarily and wondered if Ruiyong might have gotten confused over semantics(ie, confusing the definitions of deception or deceive, which is of something bad or evil in nature, with something of good nature such as thinking positively in a moderate and realistic sense, and/or self-defense in the sense of defending one's own turf and not allowing your opponents to think for even one moment that you are 'easy meat'. 

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, 'to deceive' can mean any of these 3 things, and we will be 'judging' Ruiyong's theories for 'racing to deceive' against the background of these 3 conditions below, AS WELL AS ONE PARTICULAR CASE STUDY!

1)deliberately cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain.

2)(of a thing) give (someone) a mistaken impression.

3)fail to admit to oneself that something is true.

Case study: Haile Gebrselassie raced an Olympic 10000m final on a moderately injured Achilles Tendon, against a Paul Tergat in extremely fine form. The twist: Will Haile uphold honesty(truthfulness) and humility(meekness) in his quest for a 2nd Olympic gold, in front of the watching eyes of Paul Tergat, or will he ditch them and employ 'dirty' deceptive tactics to lure what you and I suppose would be an unsuspecting Tergat into a trap so that Tergat lets down his guard for the race! (though we think Tergat, a Kalenjin, is made of better spirit--ethics/morals than that!)

As documented in Haile's biography, "The Greatest", Haile landed in Sydney with one great concern---not to show any sign of physical and/or mental weakness to his greatest rival for the gold--Paul Tergat. As a result, his injury was a tightly secured affair, with no journalist privy on the matter, except for perhaps Haile's wife, and agent Jos Hermans. So from the press conference for the race to the race warm up at the practice track and call room race lane assignment, Haile did one thing he knew he had to do---NOT TO SHOW ANY SIGN OF PHYSICAL AND/OR MENTAL WEAKNESS to Paul Tergat. Haile even made sure to do some powerful strides within watching distance of Paul Tergat at the practice track. QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is any of what Haile is doing intending to deceive? That means, does any of Haile's actions satisfy any of the 3 conditions for deception above? Let us see!

First: Does the lack of presenting any signs of physical and/or mental weakness akin to deception? NOPE! CLEAR NO! That is the realm of DEFENSE, or SELF DEFENSE! Footballers have all sorts of worries on their minds, from personal worries like family and finance to universal ones like mortality knowing their playing days are numbered! Do they show this worry, or have the need to show this worry on the football pitch just because they don't want to deceive their opponents in that they are worry-free and mentally 100%? NOPE! They weren't even asked a question by their opponents if they had a worry on their minds, why the heck would they voluntarily present their mental struggles and worries in a free-for-all revelation to their opponents who are probably also strangers to them! Nobody in their right minds, including athletes, will present any hint of mental and/or physical weakness WITHOUT BEING ASKED A QUESTION! BECAUSE THEY ARE DOING SELF-DEFENSE! This begs the question: what if somebody asked 'how are you?' before a football match, and you do indeed have some physical and/or mental weakness/problem? The right thing to do would always be the ethical and moral way: BALANCE the TRUTH of your weaknesses with the need to also SAY THE TRUTH to your enemy(your opponent)!!! It's all about balance, it has always been about balance in anything and everything, an issue I spoke about in my previous posts! So you might say something like "oh well i've had some setbacks recently, but I'm looking forward to giving my best shot in this match and hopefully progress to the champions league finals!" While being careful not to reveal the 'setback' you have! This is saying the truth, WITH LOVE AND CARE! Truthfulness always accompanies the virtues of love and care, no matter the circumstance! This is something Ruiyong obviously have no clue about based on his beliefs above racing!

Haile then took some powerful strides in front of a watchful Tergat! Is this akin to deception, since Haile knows the existence of the injury, and is then trying to put on a seeming theater show for Tergat, to show Tergat his lack of an injury? BUT TERGAT DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HAILE HAS AN INJURY, OR NOT!!! Haile isn't trying to change the belief and/or attitude Tergat has towards him, since Haile already knows that Tergat DOESNT know the existence of his injury!!! Definitely NO DECEPTION ON HAILE'S PART!!! What Haile had been doing is this: SELF DEFENSE, AGAIN!!! Haile is making sure he doesn't lose the aura of invincibility already gained long ago from years of championships gold medal racing ability, THAT IS SELF-DEFENSE. If you are a lady and walking down the street with an expensive handbag and somebody snatches from you something that is ALREADY YOURS and you defended with kung-fu kick, THAT IS SELF- DEFENSE! Defending what is already yours, and already gained. Haile isn't trying to gain something more than he already gained by using a method of deliberately trying to cause someone(Tergat) to believe something that is not true, because 1) Tergat doesn't at all know Haile is injured 2) Haile isn't trying to gain anything except to conduct maintenance on what he has ALREADY HONESTLY gained with his gold medals in the years 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999!!!

So since Haile's doing and speaking doesn't satisfy the first 2 conditions of 'deceiving', let us see if he might be guilty of the 3rd conditions---failing to admit to oneself that something is true. Haile went into the race knowing he had an injury, he admitted his weakness personally as well as with his coaches and agents, and knew after the race he needed to go for reconstructive surgery on his Achilles tendon. At no point in time did he deceive himself or view the injury with much less respect than he should, which was why he employed the tactics he employed during the race, which was to sit and kick only at the last moment---in the last 100m! Instead of the usual last 250-400m! Of course you could argue that he shouldn't have raced in the first place knowing the destruction it will cause his achilles, but heck, distance running is his first and only professional job ever, and his existing and surviving depends solely on his ability to run fast and perform, and for a man of his talent and ability, he has a pretty solid exception to risk his personal health and safety for the sake of a chance at retaining his OLYMPIC GOLD! The highest athletic honor in the universe! Haile's circumstances are completely different from a certain Ruiyong racing and training on an injured plantar at the world championships 2 weeks ago! So Haile hasn't deceived himself in any way, although there is legitimate argument that he shouldn't have ran the race.

Bottomline: the legendary distance runner in the entire universe---Haile Gebrselassie, a runner who is an example to millions of distance and non-distance athletes alike, shows us that it is completely 100%(in a world where nothing is 100%) possible to race with 100% truthfulness and therefore 100% humility! If our young singaporean distance athletes do not take after the best in the universe--Haile's ethics and morals, what will they take after? Ruiyong?!? We strongly advise against that after all the analysis we have done for you! Make no mistake, Ruiyong---Haile was so humble in that 10000m race in Sydney, that he mentioned in the aftermath that he was RESIGNED, before the race EVEN STARTED, to LOSING THAT RACE OUTRIGHT TO PAUL TERGAT! He only decided to race because of the cultural weight of expectations from the entire Ethiopia, A DISTANCE RUNNING MAD NATION, and his out-of-this-world distance running talent which was also his professional duty!  It was also an OLYMPIC GOLD AT STAKE! You do not come from a 1) distance running mad nation 2) do not have out-of-this-world talent 3)Not running in an olympic final 4)this is not your rightful professional duty given your academic qualifications and other educated skills!

Finally, with all of the knowledge from the analysis we have made, let us kindly school Ruiyong in his attitudes and mindsets towards racing, so that he does not mislead the entire distance running population, of whom some might be partially or completely blind or taken over by the supposed ILLUSION propagated by a SEA Games marathon GOLD medallist!

Wrong and misguided statement by Ruiyong in black, and adjusted for ethics and morals in red:

"Deceiving yourself - to believing you're faster than you actually are." 

It depends on how much faster you BELIEVE you actually are as compared to your training evidence! If you are training with paces of 1:10:00 for the HM and believe you can run 1:03 on actual race day, surely my dear friend, you are DECEIVING YOURSELF(DELUSION!). However, if say, you believe you can run in the region of 1:09 or even slightly under 1:09, that is positive thinking done realistically and moderately, and you are in no way deceiving yourself! As mentioned above, deception is of an evil and bad nature, and in no way under any circumstances in your life in general should you be deceiving anybody including yourself. WHITE LIES included!! A lie is a lie, a deception is a deception!

"Bluffing your opponents - to fearing you're better than you look on paper."

As mentioned above in our analysis, you never get anybody to call your bluffs, never deceive, never deception! Never, never, never try to make gains by deliberately causing somebody, by your words or actions, to believe something that is not true(ie looking better than you look on paper!). That is not ethical or moral. As presented to you above, Haile didn't do any such 'dirty' thing. Question is, who is your mentor, and what has led you to conceive of sport in such a 'cheap' and 'dirty' manner! I wouldn't be surprise if you would resort to drug-taking, given the kind of ethics and morals you carry in this sport.

"Lying to your body - that no matter how bad you think you're hurting, you can always give more."

Again, clear cut self deception and delusion, if you are talking about injury! You telling yourself during your half marathon world championships race that you can hold out till the end of the race despite an acute pain injury is nothing short of mind-bending depravity. If you are referring to the 'pain' of lactate accumulation, you also DO NOT LIE for one moment to yourself that you are not feeling that pain! I cannot believe you are writing such a statement if you were referring to lactate pain. Ask any elite professional athlete on the planet, and they will tell you that the key to surmounting the pain is FACING AND ACCEPTING THE PAIN HEAD ON WITH COURAGE AND WILLPOWER. That is different from lying to your body, which I perceive as---ignoring the pain, or that the pain doesn't exist, WHICH IS NOT TRUE!  The pain exists, accept it, deal with it, but don't deal with it by lying or deceiving yourself thinking that the pain doesn't exists. Similarly, if you have a problem in life in general, you face the problem with courage and will power head on in a collision course! You do not lie to yourself that the problem is smaller than it is, or worst, that it doesn't exist in the first place, because you will then be digging yourself a deeper pit to sink into! That would then be a delusion!

So get out of the delusion, come back to Singapore for treatment and do not loiter in England any longer. Accept, with all TRUTHFULNESS AND MEEKNESS, that your Rio Olympic journey has come to an end, and work towards Tokyo 2020 for the sake of those who care about you!

If you want to have a shot or chance at Tokyo 2020(qualifying only, not top-ten), do it only with truth, humility, and in both racing and training, and outside of distance sport in your life in general as well! If it can't be done, it can't be done, nothing to be ashamed of. Don't do anything 'at all costs'. That will likely tempt you to deceive, to lie, and to get into an agreement with evil, to your demise. Then refer to the first 2 proverbs at the top of this post again.

It is opportune to repeat once more, to all his sponsors, agents, sports associations and people in top management levels in these associations that Ruiyong is going down a dangerous slippery slope that you probably haven't been concerned enough to heed against. Please be careful not to continue validating through the pathways you have been using to validate him, without FILTER in the form of the words and advice we have provided above to him.