Marathon Mindset

How do you determine how fast you are going to run?

A friend of mine who I respect dearly recently recommended former Navy Seal and Ultramarathoner David Goggin’s autobiography Can’t Hurt Me to me. Considering I was working my way through several other reads at the time, I decided I would give his podcast/audiobook combination a go so that I didn’t take away from my current reading plan and I could bang out a few chapters in the gym or on a jog through my airpods rather than carving out time to sit down for it. Boy was it a powerful book. So powerful, in fact, that his stories of overcoming and pushing the limits of the human mind and body inspired me one evening to sign up for The Chattanooga Marathon to put his principles and techniques to the test.

I had never been much of a runner. Aside from a couple years in college that I spent running documents from law firm to courthouse and the occasional late-night waffle house run, I didn’t really spend that much time running places. In fact, the only real running I had ever done had been while listening to that audiobook, and that’s only because what was supposed to be a warm-up jog for a lift turned into a two or three mile stretch just so I could have more time with Goggins.

So with no training under my belt, and no real experience or know-how, I pieced together a two-week crash course training program with the help of a friend and got to work. The race was 14 days out and having never ran more than 5 or 6 miles consecutively I had a lot to do.

The Importance of a Pacer

"Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly" -Amby Burfoot

Having never ran a marathon before I didn’t know there was such a thing as a pacer. I thought that since a marathon was every man for himself, you did your thing solo and maybe invited some folks out to cheer you on. I realized very early on during the race that I was wrong.

We weren’t even a mile into the race when I realized that I need someone to run with. I have always known that in order to be successful, you must find someone who has “walked through the minefield” so to speak and walk in their footsteps so I began to evaluate my options for a “running buddy”.

Finding your Pace

There were pacers in bright green outfits that were carrying tall bright green signs that displayed their estimated finish time that were there for that reason specifically: pace setting; however, I spotted an older couple dressed to the gills in racing gear who had obviously ran this race before who were laughing and talking and maintaining a steady pace not too far in front of me. They were both about 5’ 9” and in their mid-to-late 40’s. They had on racing gear from previously completed marathons and were both in much better shape than I. They were laughing and talking and seemed to know everyone that passed them and encouraged everyone that they passed to keep moving forward. I am not sure why exactly I didn’t choose one of the designated pacers. Maybe I am a nonconformist. Maybe I just didn’t like the fact that they had the biggest followings. Whatever the reason, I decided right then and there that they were going to be my new pacers. I would be their race-shadow. We would run this race together.

They’ve Ran the Race

When deciding what I wanted to do with my life, I was given the advice to find someone that is where you want to be and has the kind of life that you want to have 5, 10, 20, and even 50 years down the road from you and follow them. Find out what they do, how they do it, WHY they do it, and who they are doing it for and do the same. This is true whether it be in your corporate career, starting a business, writing a book, building a marriage, or whatever else you set out in life to accomplish. Find someone who has ran your race and follow them.

"The trouble with the rat race is the even if you win, you're still a rat." -Lily Tomlin

Staying Steady

When the race started, there were a bunch of young bucks like me that blasted out the gates full-fledged. They were running on testosterone and excitement, yet my pacers (who had not yet realized they were my pacers), passed them in the first few miles.

The difference in those who started strong and quit and those who were consistent and finished was that they had set a steady pace and maintained it. They had a marathon mentality. They realized that the race isn’t won in the first few miles. It is won one step at a time, consistently, mile after mile for all of 26 miles. They didn’t stop, they didn’t speed up only to slow down. They didn’t slow down to speed up. They stayed steady, and that’s how they were able to enjoy the race while so many others were so focused on the finish line, they couldn’t enjoy the next step.

Same Race, Different Pace

We are all running the same race. It is an infinite race that has no beginning, middle, or end. It consists of much more than we are as individuals. We all are runners in this race. We all have a finish line to cross. It’s up to us to decide at what pace we will run. Will we blast out the gate only to find ourselves blown out on the side of the road a few miles in? Or will we find someone that has ran this race, has set a pace, and navigate the foreign track with someone who has ran that track before?

Losing Focus

At mile 6, having read a lot on how important hydration is, I had chugged water at every hydration station that I had passed thus far, and had to make a pit stop. Luckily, I came across some port-o-pottys. Not wanting to lose my pacers (who were still unaware that I was shadowing them) I made my stop as quickly as possible, and as soon as I finished ran like mad to find them once more.

Looking all around through the hundreds of racers, I couldn’t spot them anywhere. My only thought is that I had lost them, and that they were much further ahead, so for about two miles I was sprinting to find them. I felt lost without them, and we were only around a quarter of the way in so I was pretty determined to find the couple that was unknowingly leading me through my first marathon. I couldn’t though. I was certain they had far outpaced me and hadn’t realized that my potty break had taken so long, and being as tired as I was having tried to chase the down for nearly two miles, I slowed back down to my pace and determined that I would finish the race on my own. I had come this far and figured I could grit it out to finish.

The miles that followed that were very inconsistent, to say the least. I ran a lot, walked a lot, and stopped several times. I passed some folks, and then they passed me up the road. It was a struggle. Despite the hundreds of other racers, I was running that race alone.

Over the Hill

In the two weeks prior to the race, everyone I had talked to that had ran one before told me to beware of mile 20. They said that at mile 20, the demons will start to creep in, and you’ll have to not only fight physical fatigue, but psychological exhaustion. They weren’t wrong.

At mile 20, I started to realize that I was walking a lot. I was taking a lot of breaks to stretch and catch my breath, and every time I stopped, the idea of stopping for good became more appealing. My thoughts were beginning to take on a voice of their own, and that voice was discouraging. I was beat physically. Every step I took was a lifetime record in numbers of steps I’ve taken. Every inch I got further away from the start-line was an inch more to the longest distance I have ever travelled on foot.

Mile 20 was pretty much all uphill. Not just figuratively, but literally. It was about a mile-long stretch on an incline right up the middle of the city to the outskirts where within a few hundred yards back to a steady elevation. I was raging war in my mind with ever step I took. It was one of the toughest mental battles I had ever fought, and by far one of the toughest physically.

"Always remember, your focus determines your reality." -George Lucas

The Power of a Word of Encouragement

At this point the racers had thinned out to where you could see one ever 2-300 yards. The majority had only run the half, and the rest were so widely spread that even though I was stopping and resting every 20-30 feet, nobody was passing me. I was alone. I was headed uphill. I had 6 miles to go but wasn’t sure if I could even make it to the next block. I was derelict. I was about to give up, had my hands on my knees and my eyes fixed on my blistered, swollen feet tucked away in my soaked running shoes when I hear what sounded like a voice of encouragement from above.

“You can do this.”

I looked up, and passing me on my left, moving ever so steadily up the hill was the older couple that were my pacers.

Taken back, I snapped to attention. How could this be? How are they not finished? Had I not fallen way behind 14 miles back?

In my desperate attempt to find my pacers, I had raced by these two somewhere in miles 6-8 during the race. Back then, there were hundreds of folks in the race and I must have passed right over them while sprinting to pick up where I had left off. They had stayed steady. They were just as happy as they were back then. They weren’t talking as much, but they were still encouraging everyone they met along the way. They were still running their race.

I fell in line.

This time, with us being the only people within a stone’s throw on the course, they noticed me. They didn’t seem agitated or curious as to what I was doing. It’s as if they knew all along.

"Somebody is looking at you - and someone needs to see you walk this journey of following God's calling" -Shauna Niequist

I followed them to the finish line. We were about three hundred yards away from it when I introduced myself and gave them both a genuine word of appreciation for staying the course and allowing me to be their shadow. They were very encouraging and urged me to finish the race strong ahead of them.

"It always seems impossible until it is done" -Nelson Mandela

It just goes to show that you never know who is following you. Staying steady is the best thing you can do to finish your race and lead others to finish theirs. A little word of encouragement makes all the difference. It’s not about how you start, it’s about who you finish with. 

Everything you need to know about yourself can be learned in 26.2 miles.