#MentalHealth and Business: What My 1st Marathon Taught Me

It was the hardest mental and physical thing I have ever done.

And the views along made it worth it.

This was no ordinary Marathon. No bib with a number, no fellow runners stretching, no branded race air tunnel or starting gun, no fans strewn along the 26.2-mile route. No, none of that. This was a run on a backpacking trail through the mountains of south-Central Arkansas. A rocky trail with 50+ wet water crossings – some of them over 3-feet and dangerous because of the mossy rocks below water level. A trail that, on an 8.2-mile stretch, traversed up and down seven mountains with an average of 1400 feet in gain and descend.

Yes, this one was special, and hard – both physical and mentally – and on purpose.

This is part of me. Someone asked me, “Why? Why there? Why are you doing it alone?” Why does anybody climb a mountain, or seven? Because it is there, they in this case. Plus, it was a tremendous challenge, plus and extra mile added onto the marathon distance.

The Eagle Rock Loop is a 27-mile trail (26.8 with a .2 mile spur out and back to a scenic vista on part of the trail) in the Ouachita National Forest. It is about an hour-and-a-half south southwest of Hot Springs. Much of the trail winds along the Little Missouri Wild & Scenic River and the Viles Branch. The aforementioned 8.8-mile trek that crossed those seven mountains is known as the Athens-Big Fork trail. My goal was ten hours. It took me 12-and-a-half. Hit the trail at 6:50 a.m., finished at 7:20 p.m. Just a wee bit exhausted.

The mental challenge was staying focused on the goal while my body was screaming to just stop. My breath and cardiovascular strength were not overly taxed, but my legs sure were. The mountains were the first leg of this run, and what I believed was going to be an easier run from there was hardly that. It was just effing hard. Hard on my mind, hard on my body, but at least it was easy on the eyes.

If that kind of scenery isn’t enough to keep you going, I don’t know what will.

The business world can be such a place, a wilderness of its own. A wilderness with rocks on the trail, in the trail, alongside the trail – not to mention poison ivy! There are mountains to climb, streams to cross, and even a tree root or two to seemingly reach up and snag your shoe. So many challenges, one beautiful goal: to do the best I could and enjoy the view along the way. Your business has similarly metaphorical challenges, which you know better than I do. But the comparison is a worthy one. Stay at it, work through the rocks and hard places, don’t be afraid to get your feet wet, and capture the journey with your unbelievable success.

And take photos and movies.

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