What running 25 half-marathons in a year taught me

My running app reminded me recently that I did my first half marathon on Nov 6 last year and inadvertently induced me to reflect broadly over the last year plus. I thought of sharing some of my reflections in the hope that it might be of some value to some of you. Like a long run, this post is long. Warm-up…

Before I delve into the lessons I have picked along the way, I will share some thoughts around the start of this journey itself – the reason why I decided to pick-up running. Even though I have been a good athlete through my life, I was never a natural runner and definitely not a long-distance guy. It was in early fall of 2015 when I started running and that too was a mile or two at first. I was in the worst shape of my life – 30 pounds overweight, marginally diabetic with high cholesterol and bad overall vitals. In addition, I was also frustrated with the lack of stimulation, intellectual challenge and upward movement at work, where I had grown rapidly and delivered a lot in a short span of time but the future progress wasn’t forthcoming. I knew I had to change something or maybe everything! I started with health as to pull off anything big, I needed to be in the right physical and mental frame of mind. 

I have always loved the outdoors and San Diego beaches and trails have always given me peace and thinking time. I needed both. I decided to take baby steps and started with mixing up short runs with walks and hikes. I was in terrible shape and did not even have an iota of running muscle. I would regularly pop in aspirins to bear the hurt from sore ankles, knees and feet. But I persisted. Slowly and steadily I added more yards and feet to my runs. I also started hitting the gym during the week days.

Roughly two months into my new pursuit something amazing started happening. As I would run in the tranquil trails of Torrey Pines overlooking the ocean or on the wet sand, my thinking about all aspects of life would become sharper and clearer. As if the mental fog would dissipate and a new and simple inspiration would instead take it place. As I mentioned above, I was not only in a terrible physical shape but also in a less than happy professional state. I needed clarity around what to do in the one life we all live, take charge and do things differently going forward. I started making mental notes of things I wanted to change, my equation of happiness and a meaningful life and a road-map to achieve these. It hit me that in the midst of constant motion at home and work, I had forgotten to refine my life road-map in over 5 years. Much like businesses need definition around Pillars of Success and road-maps to execute them, it was time for me to dust off mine from the time I had quit Investment Banking/Wall Street roughly 5 years back (another story for another time).

Like all things, my pillars of happiness were simple and just a few:

I will share my elaborate thoughts on the choice of the above themes, what do they fully encapsulate as well as my execution plans in a subsequent post but several amazing things happened over the course of the following months:

• Lost 47 pounds

I went “all-in” on the healthy life-style push. Started controlling my diet and have been calorie counting for close to 2 years on a daily basis. I lost over 47 pounds (eventually hit 145 lbs) in the matter of 8 months, got all my health indicators back to healthy range and haven’t felt better in a long time

• Left the safety of Corporate America

I left my vice president gig at a large company in 2016 and explored several entrepreneurial options before starting a new venture earlier this year. I failed or hit a dead-end on at least 4 different things before settling on my new venture and have worked 60-90 hours a week for close to 2 years but I am in a better spot

• Finished 25 half marathons in a year

I don’t run in organized races or events. I run for my own sanity and clarity. I set a target of "17 in '17" and have now gone way past the original goal

Running has not only been a core part of the health push but also meditative and a way of decompressing in almost non-stop motion of personal and start-up commitments of my new venture. It has also allowed me to gather, organized and refine my thoughts about my entrepreneurial journey and I see a multitude of lessons from my running which I think are applicable broadly across start-ups and life (in random order):

• Introspect frequently

This will be the beginning of your run. It will be the run, the finish line and the start of many new runs. This is where you reveal your true self to yourself. It defines your race and even whether you want to race/run. As wise people have said since ages, the best conversations that we can have are usually with oneself

• Run your own race

I don’t run against others or try to beat a certain time. I run for my own reasons. Find your reasons, goals and run your own race not according to what others do

• Set goals, measure and manage

Goals allow you to be thoughtful about your limits and also test and push them. But don’t just set goals. Religiously measure progress and manage your time, priorities and focus accordingly. Keep things simple. Goals, measurements and managing progress should all be simple and quick

• A dose of insanity

Setting out to run 17 half marathons or leaving the security of a well-paying corporate job and going out on your own are both against conventional wisdom which preaches playing it safe. However, in order to actualize oneself and achieve more out of the one life we live, you have to be borderline insane. I have seen this repeatedly over the course of the last several years now observing numerous entrepreneurs who put all on the line to pursue their dreams and visions

• Ignore the naysayers and detractors

There will always be many who won’t believe in either you, your will or your record. Ignore them and continue your journey. You don’t run for them. Leave them behind and only focus on the road ahead

• Soak in the experiences, sights and sounds as you move

Constant motion will ensure that you have constant experiences. Tons of it. New sights, people, sounds, courses, flora and fauna. Take it in, relish it and grow

• Finding the next gear

We all have this. When it looks like that the progress is slow or non-existent or when you are not making your time/goals, we can always motivate ourselves to go a notch or two higher in our focus, motivation and effort. This brings me to…

• Momentum is amazing

Build on it and capitalize on it fully. When you hit the higher gear, don’t down-gear and relax. Continue making rapid progress as there will be periods of lull and slow progress again. The first half of this year was brutal for me as I was launching our venture and I fell behind in my semi-annual goal around my runs. Then I hit a purple patch where I ran 15 half marathons in 20 weeks to not only get back on track but be done with the 17 in ’17 goal as why slow down when you have it going. Just push hard while you can and relax once you are done

• Decompress

No matter what you have going, always decompress, even if for a little bit. Take off your gear and just lie down. Eat, spend time with family, get back to the normal. Disengage from everything and lose yourself in your thoughts. Best thinking and clarity comes when we are in sync with our inner self and get time to align our priorities and actions with our true beliefs and our code

• Passion

Always do things that you are passionate about. Don’t waste valuable time pursuing a career, activities etc. which don’t give you a dose of rush or stimulation. Even seemingly tough challenges and pursuits become fun and easy when you are passionate about them

• Pain, stamina and strength

Things worth doing are mostly not easy else everyone would be doing them. True passion will make the journey fun and go fast. However, the pain, and tests of stamina and mental strength are very real. Bloody feet, scrapped limbs, missing toe-nails are all real. You have to overcome all of this to get to a better steady state. Hang in there because…

• All is in the mind

Once you know that your course is the right course, you can pretty much do anything just through will-power and mind-control. Tell yourself that you can’t give up, be resourceful and make up your mind to succeed

• No better time to start than today

There is no waiting for tomorrow. Every moment is precious. There were weekends when I would be exhausted and physically and mentally drained to go run. But I knew things would not necessarily get better the following week. So, just went and ran. Sometimes even straight from work in my jeans and my non-running shoes. Just do it

• Sacrifice and prioritize to unlock time

We all have only 24 hours in a day and our plates are always more than full. However, many things are worth sacrificing and saying no for. Focus on your top priorities and you will be able to always carve out time for the things that matter. Long distance running takes a fair bit of time and given the unending demands of a new venture on top of family commitments, there’s hardly any free time. But through a regimented approach, sacrificing on non-value added activities, I was able to keep my commitment to my running in a very demanding year 

• Convert your starts

Several times after the 8/9 mile mark, I would feel exhausted and the temptation of just stopping would be immense. However, the knowledge that converting a start into a win, much like in selling to a potential customer or in raising money from a venture capitalist, is paramount. You have to make every semi-decent opportunity count and take things to the finish line

• Patience

Life and start-ups are a marathon or may be a series of half-marathons! Progress and change are not overnight. You have to continue grinding it out and move forward but pace yourself. Don’t approach it like a sprint.

• Perseverance

There are always moments of weakness when you would feel like folding down or giving up. Don’t as long as you know it’s still worth doing. Persevere for that the feeling of accomplishment after the long haul will be sweeter than anything you could reward yourself with

• Staying the course vs. pivoting

Many a times I had to change my planned course due to high tides or trail renovations. However, I knew there were other ways of getting to the “goal”. At the same time, several times I would run through chest-high tides and would be drenched in salt water or had to run in the rain (yes, thankfully San Diego finally got good rain in 2017). I knew in my heart when I wanted to change or not change the course despite all hurdles. There is value in knowing which course gets you to the finish line. While staying the course, persevering and patience are all important, sometimes there’s no sense in continuing on the same path. Constantly read the landscape, think ahead and reassess whether to maintain the original path or pivot. Pivoting for the right reason is critical for survival and success

• At the finish line, celebrate

When you get there, take a breather, look back and celebrate. Celebrate often and well. I did. Pressed the pause button on my calorie counting for a few days and ate a few pints of my favorite ice-cream :)

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Reading this must have felt like a half marathon - well done! Got to go now; time for another run.