5 lessons from my first marathon
2 weeks ago I ran my first marathon in Napa, California.
It was one of the craziest experiences of my life, an event that was simultaneously rewarding, surreal, painful, euphoric, punishing, mind-breaking, humbling and honestly life-changing. Who knew 1 day could be described by so many different adjectives at once.
Here are 5 big things that I took away from the whole experience:
You can do anything you set your mind to, IF you commit and put in the work. Corny and cliche, maybe, but after completing this marathon, it’s something I now fully believe. For years I was firmly entrenched in my identity as a non-runner. Anytime someone brought up running a marathon, my brain’s instinctive response was “That sounds terrible, I could NEVER do that.” Yet here we are.
Fear is the best compass for what you should do next. If you let fear guide you, you’ll do things you never imagined were possible, and experience growth that you could never have accessed in daily life. Every physical challenge I’ve undertaken in the past 2 years (bodybuilding, powerlifting, running) has happened because I’ve let fear steer my course, and this marathon was the ultimate fear and the ultimate heading for me.
Clear expectations are the best way to create a growth mindset. Before the race, Steve Magness told me to set expectations and have numerous goals (A, B and C), so that regardless of what happened, I would meet my goal and feel good about the experience. For me, goals A and B were specific time goals, and C was simply completion of the race. Using this strategy ensures that you can frame any event in a way that highlights your wins, and sets you up to grow rather crumble under the weight of discouragement if you miss a goal.
Running a marathon was one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know that I’ll ever do another one, but knowing that I was able to experience such profound discomfort and push through it is evidence to myself (for the rest of my life) that I’m capable of doing hard things.
Even though the last 5 miles were grueling, the experience itself was FUN and one that I’ll treasure forever. Getting to run through the lush Napa valley with one of my good friends, getting to see our families there supporting us, and experiencing the energy and atmosphere of an event where thousands of motivated people are pushing themselves, was truly special.
If you want to hear more about my experience with prep, race day, how my body composition changed over the course of the build, and what’s next for me, go listen to my most recent episode of the Go Do Something Today podcast on Spotify!
