Get comfortable being uncomfortable - Lessons learnt from endurance sport

I have a few different motivations for writing this. Firstly, the London Marathon was last week, 42,000 people running 42.2km, each and everyone one of them on their own individual journey to get to the start & finish line - inspiring. Secondly, it's getting close to 6 years since I ran my first marathon (Melbourne 2016) which profoundly changed my life and opened my eyes to a world of ultra endurance sport. Thirdly and most relevant, I made a promise to myself to do things that put me out of my comfort zone - writing and sharing this is one of them.?

For many, running a marathon is enough to be significantly out of their comfort zone. It was Dean Karnazas, the American ultra runner that said “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip” - I believe this relates to so many aspects of our lives.?

In October 2016, after I shuffled around the MCG to finish my first marathon I knew I wanted to go again, even though I could barely walk for two days afterwards there was a sense of achievement and itch that needed to be scratched. I’m happy to say I scratched it, since then I have done a number of other events, marathons, ultra-marathons, an IronMan triathlon and most recently a 100 mile run on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. So what is this all about and how do these hobbies help me in everyday life? Well, here are a seven things I’ve learnt:

1. Failure is very rarely fatal - Failure is good, from failure we learn and when we learn, we grow.
2. Your mind will quit long before your body will.
3. Resilience is one of the most valuable attributes you can develop.
4. Focus on the process and not the outcome.
5. Set goals that scare you - you might just surprise yourself.
6. Surround yourself with people that push you for more (in a healthy way).?
7. You have already achieved much more than you think.

Running or endurance sport isn’t for everyone and that's the beautiful part of it. Everyone has their own fears and goals, this is just the outlet I choose.

For anyone reading this, I challenge you to do something out of your comfort zone, today - It may be to host the morning meeting/zoom call, to stand up and speak at an event, to enter a 5km run, it could be anything - you will know what it is and when you do it that sense of achievement will be addictive.

As Dean Karnazas said, if you’re not pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, you're denying yourself an extraordinary trip - Be extraordinary!