This Sunday (April 23rd) I will run the London Marathon. 42km. In training, I have run a marathon a week on average. Needless to say my legs are looking forward to a well deserved rest, however my brain is more focussed than ever… read on to see what I’ve learned (and these lessons stretch way beyond running).
Lesson #1
Wherever you are going in life, have a clear idea of where you want to end up; be that at the end of a day, week, year, career or end of a run. The hardest runs were in new territories or locations where I didn’t know where I was going next and couldn’t visualise the end. That said, imagining the feeling that will come when I arrived at that destination was one method which helped to get me through!
Lesson #2
Take it one step at a time. This has been some great advice which kept me grounded on the long long runs. The first 5km were always so challenging for any distance as I looked to the long route ahead. Bringing myself back to the present moment, looking down at my feet, looking a few metres ahead for safety, always got me to where I needed to be later that day (and the future).
Lesson #3
There will always be ‘niggles’. Not a week has gone by where I haven’t felt a twinge or some muscle behaving in a funky manner. Whatever challenges come my way, it’s the story I attached to these moments that turned them into something that defeated me or defined me.
Lesson #4
Run your own race. How many times I have returned to my local running route around Parc Cinquantennaire after 20km+ and have been overtaken by somebody (or I sometimes I have overtaken them!). Doesn’t matter. They might be training for an ultra marathon, or practicing sprints, doing interval training or just starting out on Couch to 5k. Who knows? In short, you never know what is going on with somebody else, so be aware of your judgement of them and moreover, the judgment you have for your own performance.
Lesson #5
What you resist, persists! One of my favourite quotes, and so so true. Somedays it just isn’t your day – there were times when I was tired, I overloaded my diary or simply didn’t feel like it – and these were gifts. I’ve experienced months of this in the past; pushing myself mentally or physically (mostly in work) to move mountains. I forgot it’s the river that cuts through the mountain with its constant, persistent flow. ‘Going with the flow’ doesn’t mean giving up – it just means you save more energy and channel it for when necessary.
I could write all day about my musings – but here are just a few from a Monday morning in Marathon Week. And for those interested in why I am running, you can sponsor me here.
