For almost decade, running marathons has been a huge part of my life. I ran my first marathon in my early 20s and got addicted to the sport. Every marathon that I’ve trained for and ran had its’ own set of challenges, breakthroughs and life lessons.
Running marathons has brought me a lot of joy, unforgettable experiences and long-lasting friendships.
I believe that Oprah Winfrey said it best: “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.”
All the marathons, half marathons, 10ks and a number of other races I’ve done make me feel like I’m a part of something.
What has running marathons taught me about life?
- If you failed to prepare, you prepared to fail.
Whether you are doing a marathon, pitching your business idea to angel investors or getting interviewed for your dream job, you have to be prepared.
This can mean doing research on the company you wish to work for, running more miles and writing a well thought-out business plan.
If you show up at the start line of a marathon without having run anything over 10k, then you will have a difficult time running a good marathon. Not only that, but you are also setting yourself up to get hurt.
- Improvement takes time.
You can’t expect to go from a 5-hour marathon to a sub-3 hour marathon in one short training cycle. Every training cycle ultimately becomes the building block for the next training cycle.
It’s also unlikely that you will get promoted to an executive position after a year (or even a few years) of doing an entry level job.
This doesn’t mean that if you are a 5-hour marathoner now that you will never be a sub-3 hour marathoner. It also doesn’t mean that you will never land an executive position if you are currently at the start of your corporate career.
If you want to improve your marathon times, your income or your life, then you have to be prepared for that improvement to take as long as it takes. It won’t happen immediately, but I promise you that it will happen over time if you take the right steps to make it happen.
- Even if you feel like you are behind, you can still catch up to and pass others.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this particular life lesson because it implies that we are somehow comparing ourselves to others and are competing with others. However, I would be lying if I said I don’t ever compare myself to others. We ALL do from time to time.
It’s easy to look at someone who is “ahead of you” in running, career and personal life and feel bad about yourself especially when you see everyone’s highlight reels on social media.
However, I can recall many times when I got passed in the beginning of a marathon only to catch those people with less than 5k to the finish line. So, just because someone is ahead of you now, doesn’t mean you are destined to always be behind them. This can also be applied to real life.
So, don’t worry about “all your friends and acquaintances” running faster, getting married, having babies or getting promoted before you do.
- Some days 30km feels like 3km and other days 3km feels like 30km.
In life, you are going to have good days, OK days and bad days. Some days will be easier than others.
Just like some long runs will feel short and fun. At the same time, some short runs will feel long and difficult.
What I promise you is that you will get through the hard days and you will be stronger than you were before.
Be thankful for the easy and fun days. Learn from the hard days and be proud of yourself for getting through difficult times.
- Forward motion is forward motion.
No matter how slow you are moving, as long as you are moving forward and towards your goals, you are succeeding.
If you know for sure that you are moving in the right direction, you should be proud of yourself.
Before you do anything, ask yourself: “Is this moving me closer to where I would like to be?” If it is, does it really matter if you are going slower than you would like to, knowing that you will get to where you are going?
- You have to keep going even when the going gets tough.
Those last four miles in the marathon…
Those final exams that determine if you pass or fail or graduate…
That presentation or meeting with an executive that determines whether or not you get promoted…
All of the above is hard. Your dedication and determination will be tested numerous times. You have to ask yourself, “how badly do I want to succeed?”
Many times, challenges are put in front of us to see if our dream is big enough and if we are determined enough to do whatever it takes to reach that goal.
- You may (will) have to make sacrifices in order to reach your goals.
If you are training for a marathon, then that means that you may have to do your long runs every Sunday morning. This also means that you may not be able to go out and party on Saturday nights and you have to be willing to make that sacrifice.
If you want to pass your final exams in university, you may have to spend a lot of time studying as opposed to sitting on the couch, drinking beer and watching Netflix.
If you want to graduate without debt, you will most likely have to limit eating out, buying new clothes or going out clubbing. You may also have to spend your free time working a part-time job in order to graduate without debt.
Ultimately, it is up to you to determine if your sacrifice is worth the reward.
If you are interested, check out how I managed train for my first 6 marathons and save for a downpayment.
There were definitely sacrifices but it was all worth it for me.
- Not everyone will understand or support your journey, but you have to be strong through it all.
This is your journey and yours alone. Sadly, some of your “friends” or family members will not believe in your ability to reach your goals.
Some people in your life may even try to discourage you from chasing your dreams. They will tell you that they are protecting you from pain, rejection and disappointment.
For example, they will tell you that running marathons hurts your knees, or that you don’t have enough education to get promoted at work, that you are setting yourself up for disappointment and that going to university is too expensive.
They may tell you that you can’t have a family and a career, especially if you are a woman.
However, if your dream is big enough, you will find a way to tune all the naysayers out.
- You have to forget your last marathon as you toe the line of your next one.
If your last marathon didn’t go very well, you can’t dwell on that negative experience for too long. However, if your last marathon went super well, you should not get too cocky as you start your next one.
Learn from your bad races and be proud of your good races. Just like in life, you have to learn from the failures and be proud of your wins. At the same time, you can’t spend too much energy focusing on either.
- There will always be someone faster or better than you.
Don’t feel bad about yourself if your marathon time is slower than your friends’. Don’t dwell on the fact that your colleague got promoted before you.
In running, just like in life, you have to strive to do the best you can with what you have. If you do that consistently and persistently, then… who knows? One day you will be the person others look up to.
- One size does not fit all.
What worked for some people, may not work for others. This statement applies to everything from marathon training to weight loss to career.
Everyone is unique and everyone has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, everyone’s bodies, opinions, likes, dislikes, values, upbringings and thought patterns are different.
Just because you are not 5’6″ and 100 lbs, doesn’t mean you can’t be a good marathon runner.
Many different things can work for many different people. They key is to find out what works for you and stick with it while at the same time being open to making positive changes as you see fit.
- To see a favorable result, you have to put in the work.
Vince Lombardi says it best: “The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Figure out what it is that you need to do to get to where you want to go and then just do it. It’s simple but not easy because life is full of distractions.
You won’t run an Olympic marathon qualifying time without training and money will not magically appear in your bank account without working, saving and investing.
However, if you train properly for the right amount of time at the right intensity, you will see your marathon times improve. Same goes for your financial situation. If you develop valuable skills that allow you to earn more, you can save more money and invest it in a way that generates a good return.
- Being accountable to someone other than yourself is very valuable.
I’ve always had better results whenever I was accountable to someone other than myself. If you are only accountable to yourself, it’s easy to say: “Oh, I will skip the run today because I don’t feel like it.”
Regardless whether you are trying to level up your finances, improve your marathon times or get in shape, investing in a good coach is definitely worth it.
Olympians all have coaches and so do many other top performers in any given field. A good coach can take you to a level that you never knew you could get to by yourself.
If you are not quite ready to invest in a coach, see if you can find a mentor or an accountability partner. The right coaches, mentors and accountability partners inspire you to push yourself and your life to a new level of awesome.
- In order for progress to become inevitable, you must love and trust the process.
I’m not going to lie, this is a bit of a Catch-22. In order to see progress, you must believe in the process and enjoy it long enough to see results. If you don’t enjoy the process, you won’t stick with it long enough to see results. However, the unfortunate thing is that if we don’t progress quickly enough, we have trouble believing in and loving the process, which leads some of us to quitting.
Trusting the process before you see any progress is very challenging.
I see this with fitness clients all the time.
They often ask me: “what’s the fastest way to get abs and lose weight?”
Some of them don’t like my answer because there is no definitive answer to either part of this question. There are many ways to lose weight and getting abs is a process in itself that requires a combination of proper diet and exercise (more on that a different time).
There is no healthy way to lose 40 lbs in 1 month and you most likely won’t get abs in one week. However, if you stick with an exercise program that you enjoy and eat healthier foods, you will improve your physique. The length of time that it will take will depend on what your physical activity of choice is, how much and how hard you work out, what you eat, how your body responds to exercise as well as a number of other factors (some of which you can and cannot control).
The bottom line is: do not give up.
- Your progress will almost never be linear.
You will encounter setbacks as you chase your goals. Sometimes, you have to take two steps forward and one step back.
Once in a while, the wrong people will lead you in the wrong direction.
The road to success is almost never a nicely paved highway with no hills. Sometimes, it’s a dirt road with huge hills, potholes and steep curves.
For example, I’ve dealt with injuries, extreme fatigue and self-doubt. I’ve hit plateaus and have had to make a lot of changes to see any progress. There were many races where I’ve run slower than before. I’ve run many 50-minute 10ks before getting 40:56.
- You have to be grateful for what your body lets you do.
Regardless of how fast you run, there are many people who would love to be able to do what you do. I urge you to be grateful for your health.
Good health is the most valuable asset you have and it’s important to focus on doing whatever you can to protect it.
Without good health, it’s very hard (if not impossible) to focus on your career, your marathon training and everything else that you want to accomplish.
- There is no perfect plan and even if you think it’s perfect, things can still go sideways.
If you wait for things to be perfect before you start pursuing your goals, you may have to wait for a long time (or even forever). There is no single perfect life plan that will work for everyone. Things will never be perfect. Something will almost always go sideways at some point, whether you are training for a marathon, investing or running a business.
One of my friends who was running a marathon did everything right. He trained well. He recovered well. He ate well, practiced his race-day fuelling strategy and ran all the necessary miles to rock his race. He believed he was in a perfect position to get a personal best.
Unfortunately, he didn’t take into account how hot and humid his race would be. Running in hot and humid parts of the world is hard for those who are not used to the heat and humidity. Needless to say, his race was less-than-perfect. In his case, the heat and humidity caused his race to go sideways. But, he picked himself up, dusted himself off and excelled in his next race a few months later.
- Nutrition is important for both running and life in general.
Whether you run marathons or not, you have to look at food as fuel for the body (and for life). If you put premium gas in your car, why do you fuel your body with cheap, processed fast food?
Your body is your vehicle for life. You can always replace your car, but once your health is gone, it can be very difficult and expensive to regain your health.
Your health is the best investment you can make and it all starts with properly nourishing your body.
- If you are capable of training for and completing the 26.2 mile race, you are capable of anything.
When I started training for my first marathon, I was in a bit of a low point in my life. I was feeling quite bad about myself because I felt I hadn’t accomplished enough and I was still trying to get over the relentless bullying that I endured in high school.
I was not in good shape but was trying to get fit again. I felt weak and hopeless.
I remember how, before I got injured, I enjoyed running while I was in high school. So, that’s what I decided to do again. I ran the TC10k in April 2012 and then signed up for my first marathon, the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon, immediately thereafter.
I wanted to run the marathon just once, to prove to myself what I am capable of. After a solid 5 months of training, I successfully proved to myself that I am capable and that I am enough.
If you’ve ever wanted to challenge yourself in a way that will make you feel good about your accomplishments, run a marathon.
I promise you that the person who starts the race and the person who finishes the race will not be the same person.
- As long as you are alive, you can have another chance.
You trained extremely hard to get a personal best. Unfortunately, your race didn’t go well. The good news is: you are alive. This means that you can have another shot at getting a personal best.
In fact, as long as you are alive, you can have another chance at almost anything: a new business venture, a new friendship, a new relationship or whatever else it is that didn’t go well for you the first (or 10th) time around.
The New York Marathon was one of the marathons where I ran slower than I had hoped. But, I’m smiling because I’m alive and because I’m excited to have been able to take part in this race.
- Even a small step in the right direction is better than standing still.
Many times, we feel overwhelmed and become paralyzed with inaction. This results in us simply standing still. Unfortunately, standing still will not help us reach our goal.
Therefore, we should break our goal down into small steps. After that, we should focus on taking one simple step each day towards our goal.
Even if you take a very small step in the right direction, you will be closer to reaching your goal.
- It’s always good to connect with other people who have the same interests as you.
The running community has been an amazing source of connections for me and many other people who are lucky enough to become a part of it.
Connecting with others over shared interests enables you to feel like you have a support network.
Some studies have even shown that positive social interactions and a feeling of belonging have the ability to extend our lives.
Furthermore, positive social interactions improve your quality of life and your mental health.
I run many marathons and half marathons for the social interactions.
- Celebrate the minor victories.
It’s very easy to get hung up on the big goal, like running a marathon. However, what we need to recognize are the minor victories that lead us to achieving our big goal. Go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back for every run you do. Be proud of every workout that you completed.
Massive breakthroughs are nothing but a sum of consistent, small victories over a relatively large period of time.
Minor victories give us the confidence to forge ahead towards our breakthroughs.
- Always take a few moments to figure out how you can improve next time.
Whenever things don’t go well, it’s easy to get hung up on the bad result. Struggling through a marathon, enduring a business loss and not getting the job you interviewed for can really make a person feel bummed. Trust me…I know because all three of the aforementioned have happened to me in the past.
When things don’t go well, you have two choices: you can dwell on the fact that something bad happened to you or you can do everything you can to improve yourself so you can be better next time.
While it’s tempting to sit around feeling sorry for yourself, that won’t improve your situation.
However, taking time to think about how you can improve and getting constructive feedback on what you did will help you do better next time.
- Don’t be too eager to bust out of the gate at full speed.
When you are starting a marathon, it’s easy to get distracted by all the excitement at the start line. When the gun goes off, it’s tempting to take off at full speed.
However, we need to recognize that in a marathon, you have a long way to go and you don’t want to burn out in the first 10k. Life is also a marathon and you don’t want to completely burn out before you turn 30.
Therefore, it’s important to think things through and pace yourself.
- What others think of your marathon time is irrelevant.
Even if you take 6 or 7+ hours to complete your marathon, who cares what others think of your marathon time? You did a MARATHON and should be proud of yourself.
I bet that the people who judge you on how fast (or slow) you did your marathon are most likely not runners and can’t (won’t) do what you do. The people who judge you negatively because you ran a slow marathon should be removed from your life immediately.
The truth is: what others think of your _______ is irrelevant. You can fill in that blank with anything.
If you found any of these lessons inspiring, useful or relatable, please share this link with your running friends who may be interested. 🙂