Today let me share with you my lessons learned when I ran a marathon. It’s been two weeks since the event and I;’ve had some time to reflect on this milestone.
As with most major life events, let me just document it here on the blog. It is one more thing ticked off my bucket list and I can say it’s right up there in terms of my things I’ve done in life.
1. Always know your WHY
The major reason I was going to run this distance was really just to prove to myself that I could. Every time I had to get up at 4am in the morning, when I had to modify my diet, when I had to do all sorts of strength exercises, I always asked myself WHY I was doing all these.
When I had to fast-walk the rest of the way because my knee was giving out, I was tempted to stop. To just walk off the course and have my husband pick me up. But I reminded myself of my WHY. I talked myself into finishing, despite being one of the last few runners in the race.
That proved to me what was just a theory in my mind-that I can run 42K. Now it’s a reality: I could run that distance!
2. Have a plan and stick it (as much as possible)
I took a 16 week plan to prepare for this. It’s a reasonable enough time to prepare, I thought, since I had been running pretty consistently months before I started training.
Truth be told, I was not able to stick to the plan in the four weeks leading up to event day. Around that time, Katie would be waking up in the middle of the night and not sleep. Therefore, I also did not get enough sleep. Not enough to have the energy to get up and run.
My point is, once you know your reasons for doing something, you have to know HOW to get to your goals. Have a plan. Sometimes it does not have to be very detailed, because let’s face it—there are so many factors out of our control. But having a roadmap is a big factor in accomplishing things.
3. Move to the side and allow others to pass
It is courtesy for runners to step to the side if someone wants to pass. There were many, many runners who passed me. Older runners ran past and I stepped aside to let them go ahead. It’s just the right thing to do and seriously, blocking people’s way is just rude.
It’s the same in life. Why would you stand in the way of someone who wants to get ahead? Everyone has their own dreams. Have the grace to let people pass you by, because they have their own timeline to accomplish their goals.
4. When things go bad, it won’t necessarily get worse.
It was at 24K that my left knee started to give out. This had been bothering me during my training weeks, and I took enough rest days to hopefully make it better. It started out as an uncomfortable niggling, but I could still run my pace.
Eventually, it got too painful that I had to do my 100-50 count (run and count 100, walk and count 50). At its worst I did 50-run and 100-walk.
It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse.”
Ann Trason, Ultramarathon Legend
Fortunately, the pain did not get worse, it was just there–a steady reminder that I cannot run the way I wanted to for the rest of the race. But I could walk. And so I did.
The lesson here, folks, is bad things can happen, but it might not get worse. There is always a way out. As in running a race–there is no shame in walking.
5. “I did it” does not mean “I’m done”
A few days after the marathon, I had to ask myself what I wanted to do after this. I mean, 42K had been at the top of my running goals ever since I started running. Now that I’ve done it, what’s next?
Here is an interesting article about “runners’ blues” — a sort of depression that runners go through once they have accomplished their goals.
Some people would think about running a longer distance (ultra marathons). Some would train for the World’s Major Marathons. Right now, my goal is to just continue running and improve my time on all categories. I am not sure I’ll run another marathon any time soon.
I think it’s the same thing as in life. It never stops. Once we accomplish the goals we’ve set out, there is another one to reach. That’s what makes it interesting.
There you have it, friends. These are the five of my lessons learned when I ran a marathon this year. It allowed me to get to know myself better. It’s made me want to get better at running, and also in other aspects of my life.
What have you ticked off your bucket list recently? Share them here and let’s talk goals and dreams 🙂
