#8 ELEVEN LIFE LESSONS I Learnt From Running 11 Marathons
Thoughts from running eleven marathons around the world 🌏
Hey Guys!
Hope you have had a good week!
This week is a bit of a trip down memory lane for me.
I want to delve into eleven lessons I learnt from running 11 marathons that today, I am trying to apply in my life (albeit with varying degrees of success).
It may come across as a verbal dump as I’m literally setting out the first thing that comes to my mind, but please indulge me!
Seriously though, I hope (and believe) there’s something in here that you can relate to and if it gives you a bit of oomph for your week ahead, that would be terrific!!
Have a great week ahead!
David
LESSON #1
JUST GET STARTED
🇦🇺 2011 Sydney Marathon
🏁 4hrs 23mins 52secs (6:15mins/km | 10:03mins/mile)
Wearing trainers that were far too heavy, not having ever done a “long run” (i.e. 25km upwards) in training, I clearly had no idea what I was doing. But the one thing I should give myself some credit for: I got started.
LESSON #2
TRAIN SMART
🇸🇬 2012 Singapore Marathon
🏁 3hrs 52mins 18secs (5:30mins/km | 8:52mins/mile)
Soft sand running only a week out? Recommended by no one ever, but there I was barefoot on Sydney’s world-famous Bondi Beach thinking that this would help with my stamina (which arguably it did).
However, I did not realise that the muscle groups required for uneven soft sand running are different to running on the roads.
A week later, I was in Singapore for my second marathon and at 12km, felt a sharp pain in my left knee due to over-straining it on the beach. I managed to fight the pain pushed through to the end, but it was a lesson for me to train smart and not do anything out of the ordinary without factoring in sufficient buffer time.
LESSON #3
PRIORITISE QUANTITY OVER QUALITY
🇯🇵 2013 Tokyo Marathon
🏁 3hrs 15mins 05secs (4:37mins/km | 7:26mins/mile)
I was in Japan for an offshore elective as part of my university coursework. The end of the course coincided with the Tokyo Marathon so it was perfect timing.
To train for this, I decided to dedicate 1/2hr before class and 1/2hr-1hr after class each day for three weeks.
I figured that if I was able to spend this amount of time on my feet each day, then I would be able to run strongly for that length of time in the marathon.
It turned out to be the case and I clocked a massive PB, and so my takeaway (and advice for others) is that when you’re starting out in your distance running journey, prioritise quantity over quality.
LESSON #4
WANT GOOD? DO IT ALONE. WANT GREAT? DO IT WITH OTHERS
🇨🇳 2013 Beijing Marathon
🏁 3hrs 20mins 16secs (4:45mins/km | 7:38mins/mile)
After the result in Japan, I was looking forward to seeing how much I could improve. Suddenly, a sub-3hr marathon didn’t seem like an impossible task.
So while I was studying Mandarin in Beijing for one year, I eagerly signed up for the Beijing Marathon.
I felt strong in the first half, hitting 21km bang on 1.5 hrs. If I could keep this up, I would record my first sub-3 marathon. I decided to go for it and surged ahead of the large pack I had been running with.
9km later I found myself in no man’s land - the worst possible feeling in a marathon -with no one to pace with and help conserve my energy. I felt my legs become heavier and heavier with each passing km, and the pack that I left behind overtook me soon enough.
While the end result was still respectable, it was an important lesson for me.
If I want good results, I can get these on my own. But if I want great results, I must work with others. Working with others helps me conserve my energy, helps me fight those dark thoughts telling me to give up and helps power me through the infamous “wall” that comes in every marathon.
I’m sure I’m also helping them with the same as well.
In other words, only by helping others am I going to truly help myself, achieve great results and realise my full potential.
LESSON #5
VALUE EXPERIENCES OVER RESULTS
🇨🇳 2014 Great Wall Marathon
🏁 4hrs 36mins 23secs (6:33mins/km | 10:32mins/mile)
The Great Wall Marathon is classified as an “Adventure” Marathon.
It was exactly that, with 5,000+ steps on a section of the Great Wall of China as part of the route.
The marathon was one of the most memorable experiences that I’ve signed up for. The timing was irrelevant.
Results are important of course, but experiences define me more than my results. At the end of the day, no one cares!
LESSON #6
HAVE A PLAN
🇩🇪 2014 Berlin Marathon
🏁 3hrs 04mins 50secs (4:23mins/km | 7:03mins/mile)
Along with Tokyo, Berlin is part of what is known as the Abbott Marathon Majors.
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile on the calendar, the series comprises annual races for the cities of Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Wikipedia
For amateurs like myself, upon completion you are rewarded with a “six star finisher” medal.
I made it my aim to complete this set of six before I turned 30.
In signing up for Berlin as my second marathon major, I followed a specialised training programme for the first time and felt in great shape.
My objective was to lower my PB below the qualifying mark to gain entry into the Boston Marathon (the qualifying mark was 3:05:00) and I managed to do that by 10 seconds!
I credit having a training plan for that.
LESSON #7
BELIEVE THAT MY TIME WILL COME
🇺🇸 2016 Chicago Marathon
🏁 2hrs 52mins 36secs (4:05mins/km | 6:35mins/mile)
5 years after getting started, I was finally able to crack the 3 hour barrier!
I always believed that my time would come.
I just had to wait several years more than I originally thought.
LESSON #8
DOCUMENT AS MUCH AS I CAN
🇺🇸 2017 New York City Marathon
🏁 2hrs 53mins 42secs (4:07mins/km | 6:38mins/mile)
With the go here, go there, do this, do that pace of life so many details of each day seem to wash into a perpetually spinning tumble dryer cycle of weeks, months, years…
In writing this week’s issue, I looked back at this blog post that I wrote after the race. It is rather detailed if I may say so myself!!
I look back now and it brings back memories of so many small details that, four years later, I have forgotten. I am glad I kept a record and this is a good reminder for me to keep documenting as much as I can.
LESSON #9
THE ONLY THING I CAN CONTROL IS ME
🇺🇸 2018 Boston Marathon
🏁 2hrs 58mins 13secs (4:13mins/km | 6:48mins/mile)
Leading into this race, I was transitioning between jobs which meant I had more time to train. Not surprisingly, I felt that I had both the speed and endurance to break the 2:50 barrier.
Mother nature had other ideas.
Freezing temperatures, driving rain and strong headwinds meant that I did not come even close.
I was still happy with it in the knowledge that I’d done everything possible to prepare for it.
Sometimes things are just out of my control. The only thing I can control is me.
LESSON #10
REMEMBER LESSON #5
🏴 2019 London Marathon
🏁 2hrs 57mins 32secs (4:12mins/km | 6:46mins/mile)
The London Marathon was the final marathon that I needed to complete the set of six majors and achieve my goal that I had set some years back. At age 29 and one year before hitting the big 3-0, it was indeed satisfying…
…for about 10 minutes after the race!!
So the lesson for me here is to remember lesson 5!
What is even more satisfying and lasting are all of the experiences along the way stretching back to 2013:
LESSON #11
FAMILY IS EVERYTHING
🇦🇺 2019 Gold Coast Marathon
🏁 2hrs 52mins 28secs (4:05mins/km | 6:35mins/mile)
I’m really thankful to my family that I am in the position to have pursued this hobby of mine over the past decade.
Not everyone is in a position to do this so I count myself really lucky.
My Mum and Dad have there every step of the way and have also been physically present for many of them.
Family is everything!
This week’s video
In this week’s new YouTube video I accompany my friend, Janice, on her rendition of Memory from Cats. Please have a listen!
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