Storytime Sunday
I am going to make this a regular occurrence. Every Sunday, I will post a lesson I’ve learned through a hopefully entertaining story. Sometimes the stories will be mine, sometimes they will be other’s. Every time they will be an allegory.
The Itch to Change
Last May, I decided I was going to run a marathon. Just like that. I woke up and said, I’m tired of being lazy. I need to run a marathon. I wanted to set a goal I wasn’t entirely sure was possible and try to achieve that goal.
So I found a marathon training schedule online and started that Monday. I was ready to go!! Monday rolled around and I started by running 3 miles. I have always been able to run 3 miles, so it wasn’t all that hard. "I have this thing in the bag", I thought.
My first long run came along on Saturday. 6 miles. That was tough, but I pushed through it. I was starting to get discouraged. Maybe this wasn’t as easy as I thought.
Just Not Driven Enough
Monday came along and I was busy that day! I didn’t have time to run the 3 miles, so I skipped it. I’ll make it up later in the week, besides, I can run 3 miles with no problem, I thought.
I ran 4 miles that Thursday, but that was it I was supposed to run 3 on Monday, 4 on Wednesday, and 3 on Friday. Saturday rolled around and I was supposed to run 7 miles. I skipped it because I was busy, and planned on doing it Sunday. Sunday came and I ran. I got about 4.5 miles into it and had to stop. I walked back to my house and quit the program. If I couldn’t run 4.5 miles, there is absolutely no way I can run 26.2.
My Own Mastermind Group, and Making the Commitment
Two weeks later, I started talking to my brother-in-law. He told me he wanted to run the same marathon that I did. He also had never run a marathon before, but really wanted to try one. I decided I would give it one more shot. This time, I signed up for the marathon and paid the non-refundable entrance fee.
I started the training program again. This time, I decided that it would be a priority in my life and put it before everything else. No more excuses. If it meant I ran at 1 AM, that’s what I would do.
Begin with the End in Mind and Baby Steps
It was tough; I’m not going to lie. When you start training in June for something in October, it is really hard to see the end goal. When you get winded and almost have to stop running after 5 miles, it is really hard to think that you’ll be able to run 26.2 miles.
I followed through, though! By the end of September, the furthest I ran was 20 miles! My brother-in-law had run 23 miles. The race was quickly approaching. Every piece of literature I had read said not to run the full marathon before the actual race. They said 20 miles was enough, and so I ran 20 miles. Hell, I could squeeze out those last 6.2 miles, no problem. I was running 6.2 miles before breakfast on Wednesdays.
Race day came. I was excited and nervous. The race started and off I went! My three goals were to a) Finish the race, b) Not die, and c) Finish in under 4 hours.
My first half was a stellar one. In order to finish in exactly 4 hours, I had to run a 9 minute and 9 second mile pace. My pace for the first half of the race was 8 minutes and 30 seconds. AWESOME! I could slow up if I had to, even down to 9:45 mile pace and still beat 4 hours. I was feeling great.
A Rocky Road, but Don’t Quit, no Matter What
Then came mile 18. I was starting to get very very tired. My pace had dropped off to a 9 minute and 15 second mile. Not horrible, and I could still make the 4 hour mark easily, but I was seriously running out of steam. Only 8 more miles to go.
Mile 20 was where I started having the real trouble. I had to start walking. My pace fell of dramatically. I was now down to a 10:15 pace. I might be able to make the 4 hour mark.
Nothing Prepared Me Better for Running a Marathon than Running a Marathon
Mile 23 was where my body just quit on me. I had to walk more than I ran. The last 3 miles were somewhat uphill, and my pace fell off to about a 11:00 pace. I didn’t understand it. How could this be? I trained just as the program had told me.
I finished at 4:09. I missed the 4 hour mark by 9 minutes. It doesn’t sound like much, but 9 minutes is a lot considering I could barely make it across the finish line.
The Consolation Prize: A Much Better Life
I had met 2 of my 3 goals, (the most important 2 of course). I was absolutely drained after the race. But looking back, the week or 2 after the race, I had never felt so good in my life. I was in great shape and I had more energy during the day than I ever had before. I looked great, felt great, had more patience, more energy, stamina, drive, self-pride, happiness, and fulfillment than before I started.
Even though I didn’t finish in the time I wanted, I finished. And my life was 100 times better because of it.
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Sunday, 4 May 2008 Filed under: Leadership, Starting Up by Bryan
