What my marathon training has taught me about my career development

The London TCS Marathon is one of the 6 major marathons in the world and I have been fortunate enough to be chosen by this amazing British charity called Oxfam to run for them this October 2nd. The training has been really hard but has taught me a lot about my personal and professional life. This is a personal blog and is not about running (well it is a bit) but more about lessons I have learned during my long runs:

Lesson 1:? Be at peace with your pace: by far the most difficult lesson in my case, in order to go farther you need to go at an appropriate pace, a pace that allows you to keep the right cardiac frequency. I always want to go faster to exhaustion, it has taken me time and lots of telling off from my trainer to realise the importance of being at peace with my pace. It happens in our professional life as well, going faster doesn't necessarily mean you will even get there, so be at peace with whatever pace is the right one for you.

Lesson 2: Is always you against you: This is what I love the most about running, I am very bad at team sports, but running is just about me against me. Never compare yourself with someone else's journey. Focus on your goals and silence that little voice in your head that tells you that you won't be able to achieve it, that voice is a liar and your worst enemy. That voice is the only one you have to beat. Silenzio Bruno!????

Lesson 3: Get yourself a mentor: My running coach is a former athlete from my little hometown in Venezuela, his running knowledge and motivation has been key for me, his? long voice notes about anaerobic thresholds, gels, recovery strategies, etc has helped me to prepare. Mentoring is such a powerful tool. Find yourself somebody you would like to learn from. Any aspect of your life could benefit from people with more experience.???

Lesson 4: Rest days are as important as the hard training days: Resting is important to recover, and should be taken seriously. I see so many people being ‘OOO’ but still working, time off is important for your productivity and mental health. So take your days off as seriously as your hard work days. Work hard but also play hard.???

Lesson 5: Fight with your Impostor syndrome: Again, that little voice in your head: You are not a runner , you are not fast enough, you are not good enough. Impostor Syndrome is something we all fight at some point in our career (some people more than others) and could lead us to just not want to pursue our goals. The way I fight every day with my Impostor syndrome is with over preparation and extra planning, some days I win against my Impostor syndrome some days not, and that is ok.?

Lesson 6: Surround yourself with the right people: My family & friends has been crucial during my long training. Having the right support in your life does make a huge difference. Same happens at work, having the right team is just a game changer. That is why hiring managers have a huge responsibility to bring the right people to our teams. Work people become your community, the people you can rely on. Taking into consideration the amount of time we spend at work this is really important and has a big impact in your work life. Be involved as much as you can on hiring, onboarding and team culture building.?

Lesson 7: Failure is good: The amount of bad runs I have had, slow ones, in pain, horrible weather. I learned a lot from each one. You may fail at something, but you can use the information that you learned during that time to move forward in a more successful way. Failure is a stepping stone to success. Always!

Lesson 8: Discipline beats motivation, every day of the week: Waking up early every day to train could be exhausting, motivation is not always there for me, my mind prepares all good excuses to not go out: it is raining, I am tired, today it will be a busy day at work. ?But discipline never fails me. For any goal you have, don't rely on your motivation, that goes away really quickly, better to rely on discipline: plan, execute, repeat.?That is the way.??

Lesson 9: Work hard and smart: Reality is that nobody else would do the training for me. To accomplish your goals there is not any other way than working hard and smart on them. Focusing your efforts on the right things and implementing deep work can make a big difference. Training for a marathon is not just about running, it is yoga, strength training, swimming, cross-training. So is our professional life, don't focus on only develop one part of it, your tech skills are is as important as your soft skills (they are really Power skills)?.?

Lesson 10: Enjoy the Journey: No matter if my run is 15K or 25K, I always enjoy the journey, saying hi to people, dogs! They are always the best part, the sun, the rain, the trees, my music, the audiobooks. It is? always the little things. Enjoy your journey and be kind all the way through. Everybody else is on their own journey.

Lesson 11: Having a purpose makes a difference: As I mentioned before, I am running to raise money for Oxfam. They are doing amazing work supporting women living in poverty to raise their voice, get fair living wages and decent working conditions. Coming from a country that has suffered from poverty and gender inequality for decades, this is a cause that is very close to my heart and I think the possibility of being able to help will take me to the finish line. (I hope)

With less than a month to go I am sure the marathon has more life lessons in store for me, and I can't wait. If you would like to help me make a difference in the lives of these women ?here is my campaign, Your support would mean the world to me! Thank you! also if you are in London that day please come and say hi, I will be probably dragging myself to the finish line.

If you are a runner I would love to know about what other lessons running has taught you.. Thanks for reading and see you in Strava!