Fight On! A Lesson from the Marathon...

There is a point, actually more than one, during a marathon where you think you're not going to make it.  Your quads hurt, calves hurt, arms hurt, and you feel like a tractor-trailer just backed over you about five times.  Often times people refer to this as the wall.  In every single marathon I've run, I have hit this point at least 2-3 times during the race.  The first time it hits you just take take some GU and have some Gatorade, focus on something else for a mile or two, and then you feel better.  The second time is a bit rougher and you might need to slow down for a bit, take in more GU or sport beans, and drink just a bit more Gatorade.  But when the big one hits and you've already been weakened by the first two walls (for lack of a better terms), that's when your metal is truly tested.  That's when you become a marathon runner because it takes extraordinary mental and physical strength to push through pain that makes you just want to lay on the side of the road and have a beer.  It becomes a matter of just moving step to step, breath to breath, and minute to minute.  And...if you can eek it out for just a few minutes, then you finally push through to this state of elation that simply cannot be understood unless you've had to do it.  No matter what your time, if you've finished a marathon, then you've done something that most simply won't try to do.  An extraordinary accomplishment.

What I love about running is how often it applies to your daily life.  For example, April is a busy month in my work world and if you look at the totality of everything that has to be done, then it can look daunting.  Much like the marathon, I know there will be walls to push through.  Much like the marathon, there will be times that multiple walls may hit you and you have to figure out how to get through them.  All the tasks that need to be accomplished will get accomplished, but I've found that focusing on it one step and one day at a time is the only way to do it.  Figure out what has to be done in the moment to keep things moving forward in the right way, do that every day, and then by the end of the month you will have accomplished what you set out to accomplish.  In the marathon it's the same concept, run the third mile and concentrate on the third mile so you'll be ready for the fourth mile.  That, my friends, is why I love running and why it helps me.  Running helps me practice how to approach challenges in a self-controlled environment so that I am ready to handle challenges in an environment where there are a ton of moving parts.

Have a great day.  At this point my marathon selections are down to 10/2 (Trail Marathon in Battle Ground Indiana) or 11/5 (Monumental Marathon in Indy).  I was thinking of the Indianapolis Marathon, but as Sarah point out that's the day after our 5th wedding anniversary.  That would be sort of silly for me to plan a marathon on that weekend.  No doubt.  So...the Indianapolis Marathon is out.  It's either road or trail and I've got some time to decide.  That's another blog post in itself.  Happy running to you!