A bit of jogging

The context of this piece is that others and I did a bit of training with my Manager Adil Driouech. He ran 250 kilometres across the Moroccan Sahara as part of the Marathon de Sables: a veritable pain chamber of long distance running across rough terrain in barbequing heat carrying your own gear. Sounds like fun, right?

Before I get into this article properly, the training I did was very limited in comparison to Adil, and at the end of it I did not go on an exodus across the sands. I simply ran around Singapore and completed the more modest 42.1 kilometre Sundown Marathon. I found this a strange mix of both enjoyable and very much unenjoyable at the same time.

So here is what I have learnt from running with Adil, other than the fact he is a bit masochistic (a pre-requisite, I think, for doing an ultra-marathon).

1.?You are more adaptable than you think you are.

I have never really seen myself as a distance runner. I like doing sports that mainly involve shorter intense bursts, i.e., bouldering, running 5 kilometres as fast as I can, and various team and racket sports. The furthest I had ever run at the start of this year was 20 kilometres and that was quite a long time ago. On one training run, Adil told me we were going to do over 40 kilometres and 43 kilometres later my first marathon distance run was completed. A few weeks later we upped that to 50 kilometres.

If you don’t see yourself as particularly strong, coordinated, strategic, creative or, like me, not having much endurance, give whatever it is that you want to do a try. You may surprise yourself.

As a note of caution please do build up to this! I hadn’t run much but I do already have an active lifestyle which helps with physical preparedness.

2.?You don’t always need a formal event, award, or qualification to have worthwhile achievements.

Ok, so on this one I must admit running in an organised event with other people all aiming for the same goal is a great experience however, some of those training runs felt like real accomplishments in themselves. Did the fact that my first marathon distance was not a formal event matter? Not really, you still know you have completed something you haven’t done before which was difficult and pushed you mentally and physically, and that brings its own satisfaction.

A good balance would probably be having some goals that you can celebrate and achieve with other people and then other goals where you realise that you do not need the validation of others, and that your own progress which is known to you is enough.??

3.?The power of not letting people down.

On those long runs I felt like stopping many times. However, knowing you are helping someone train for something bigger stops you from giving up, and not losing face in front of other people helps with that too.

Either way if you do something difficult with other people you can push each other to achieve more than you thought you were able to.

4.?Pain comes and goes.

I was surprised that when doing long endurance training, discomfort ebbs and flows. My assumption was that fatigue and pain would just build and build. To some extent it does, you do not feel as fresh at the end as at the start. However, it is pleasantly surprising that the pain and the tiredness do not just steadily build but comes and goes. If you can push through for long enough, you will have respites.

I have found this is also true of difficult mental work as much as physical-if you can push through the discomfort, it can get more comfortable.

I want to be clear that I am not suggesting anyone overexerts themselves to a dangerous level. If you have a genuine injury, heatstroke, severe dehydration, or you are experiencing various other serious situations please do stop! ????

5.?Whatever you are going through someone else has it tougher, so keep it in perspective.

I think this can apply to most parts of life. I am often guilty of wallowing in self-pity when negative events happen. ?

When I was running very early in the morning and I was tired as it was unpleasantly humid with no breeze, I had to remind myself that firstly, it was my personal choice to be out there and secondly, I wasn’t doing a very tough ultra marathon at the end. In addition, I wasn’t running wearing thermal layers in tropical heat with a weight vest on. (See, I was right about the masochistic comment at the start of this article!)????

The training experience has been a good reminder to me to have empathy and realise that whatever difficult events I am going through, be it physical or mental, then someone else will be facing a bigger challenge.

6.?Friendly banter helps you do better.

This is one to be a bit careful with as I know a lot of bullying in the workplace is hidden behind “joking”. If meant in a genuinely fun way though, a bit of a joke helps keep things in perspective and takes unnecessary seriousness out of already pressured situations. I found a few light-hearted jokes at my expense about not being able to complete the task at hand did help me. This is something I think must be adjusted to every individual, however in my case I find a little making fun of each other helps an arduous task seem less daunting.???

7.?Trails don’t end, they just lead to more trails.

I have learnt a lot about myself on the various training runs and after completing my first marathon. It has been a continuous journey of self-improvement. There is always further to go, just keep moving, even if slowly, and you will proceed from where you are now. Next for me is the Cambodia Angkor Wat marathon, then we will see what comes next.

Now get off your backsides and get moving!

Note on Adil Driouech’ s Marathon des Sables run: Adil was running the Marathon de Sables as a journey of self-discovery and to raise money for underprivileged children through UNICEF. He is very near to his target—if you feel like donating a little spare change you have, any amount is appreciated. Please follow this link: https://lnkd.in/gZqTaC32