What running 52 half-marathons this past year taught me about life and work

I ran 52 half-marathons in 2018. For those counting, that’s one a week (I called it "The 52in52 Challenge"). And no, that’s not the weekly equivalent of a half-marathon, but a full half-marathon (sub two hours) every single week - most of which were DIY runs. What others suggested was foolish, pointless and downright unhealthy, turned out to be one of the most rewarding personal and professional self-investments I’ve ever made. And being one who believes in paying-it-forward, I want to share with you a few of the most profound things I’ve learned in the hope that you too might benefit.

How it really started

You’re probably thinking: there’s gotta be a backstory here, right? I mean, come on - no one goes from zero to running 52 half-marathons overnight! So let me tee this up by taking you back to how (and why) my running craze really started. It’s January 2015, and I’d just finished my master’s degree. Now, this is a monumental feat for anyone, but even more so for me. For starters, I was seven years removed from my bachelor’s degree plus working a fairly demanding job full-time. Even more challenging, my family and I had effectively been "homeless" for a greater part of a year, living nomadically while we waited for our first home to be built. Sounds fun, right?

So with a shiny new degree proudly mounted on my wall, I was naturally elated to finally be finished. But at the same time, a new “dilemma” had cropped up: I suddenly had hoards of extra time. No longer having to use early mornings, late nights and cherished weekends on reading, studying or writing had created a massive void that, I felt, needed to be filled. Sure, you might be thinking that I could go back to whatever normal was before. But frankly, I wasn’t interested in filling that void with meaningless junk. Here’s why: I’d just proven to myself, for two years straight, that I could do vastly more with my life (and juggle more balls than I’d ever thought) just by being more conscious of my time and stingy with my priorities. I had undergone a mind shift.

I was suffering from, well...post-education-blues, and I needed a quick fix. (For what it’s worth: I was and am to this very day a full-throttle, all-in husband and father that both my wife and kids can attest to). So I did what any other sane person would do and filled that void by setting a new course and lofty goal that, up until that point, had always eluded me: I was going to become a serious runner and conquer my first marathon.

So, that’s how my fascination with running really started. Fast forward to today, and I’ve not only run my first marathon but 16 in total. In fact, I’ve nearly conquered the 3:00 marathon mark (I’m still chasing) and last year, I completed 12 marathons in 12 months in what I dubbed “The 12in12 Challenge” (yep, that’s also one a month). As crazy as it may sound, I thought it was absurd to simply stop after running the Berlin Marathon in 2016, especially when I was mentally soaring and in the best physical shape of my life. The same can be said for why I decided to run 52 half-marathons this year. Since finishing my degree, I’ve been on a mission to continuously try something different and push my physical and mental capacities to extraordinary limits.

Yet, the most remarkable thing is how this seemingly endless sense of pursuit and achievement has bled into and served my professional life. I’ve logged more than 2,500 km the last two years alone. And during those countless hours of pounding the pavement, self-talk and reflection, I’ve come to realize and learn a great deal about myself, my life and my career.

Discipline is 360?and 365

I’ve always been a fairly organized and disciplined person, but to fit 52 half-marathons - and all the trappings that go along with it - into an already busy schedule, I had to drastically improve my planning skills. And because the goal was both short-term (one a week) and long-term (52 weeks), I had to craft and commit to a new training regimen every day and week while still maintaining the semblance of a “normal” life.

By and large, this all came down to prioritizing what mattered most and trying to strike a balance between family, work, friends and training - plus anything else that came up unexpectedly. The thing I learned most is that having a clearly defined goal that you’re 100% committed to - every day - makes it ridiculously easy to prioritize goals, both personally as well as professionally.

Sure, there are exceptions, but ultimately there are no excuses. That big night out with friends before a run (or important business meeting)? Sure, but I’m probably not drinking, and I’m likely gonna call it an early night. That new Netflix series I’d much rather watch than do yoga (or prepare a new marketing campaign)? Forget it. Or what about that hectic business trip lined up next week? Better pack my running shoes. All this might sound rigid or even spartan, but I believe that if you take a 360? approach and strive to achieve equilibrium between your priorities and do it every-single-day, anything is possible.

Time is your greatest asset

“But how do you find the time?” is something I get a lot. Listen, one thing that everyone on this planet has is 24 hrs. What separates most of us, however, is how effective we are at managing those 24 hrs. To get the most out of my time and plan accordingly, I use my calendar to allocate fixed periods for tasks and activities (basically my personal and professional "to-do" list) in addition to scheduled meetings- a practice called “timeboxing”. 

The benefits are wide-ranging: first, it helps me strike that so-called work-life balance and keep track of what activities/tasks I have planned and how much time I estimate they’ll take. Second, it helps me prioritize since there’s a finite amount of time available. Next, it gives me a comprehensive overview of the week(s) or month(s) ahead which I can then use to prepare myself physically and mentally. Lastly, it communicates to anyone with access to my calendar (e.g. colleagues and family) what I’m doing during that timeframe (and where). Even better, it provides me with a quick recap of what I’ve accomplished, which is great for status meetings, performance reports or seeing if my training is up-to-speed. For more about timeboxing, check out this HBR article.

Tracking your progress is paramount

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what running has taught me about the importance of measuring progress and how it ducktails beautifully with being disciplined. I’m aware that not everything can be measured or quantified. Trust me, I get it. But a lot can, especially when it comes to running and business. And once you start identifying metrics, measuring performance and tracking progress, you kinda get hooked - particularly if it’s in the interest of achieving an overall goal.

For running, this means using my trusty running watch (Garmin Forerunner 920XT) and accompanying heart monitor and easy-to-use app to keep tabs on my progress and performance (if anything, just to make sure I run a full half-marathon). There are lots of bells and whistles that I don’t even use, and I’m certain there are other measuring devices I could benefit from. But this is my preferred setup, and it works perfectly fine for me.

Likewise, as someone who works professionally with e-commerce and digital marketing, I understand how important it is to measure your performance and know what your key performance indicators are (and why). Again, numbers don’t always tell the full story, but at the end of the day, if you know your destination (goal), but have no clue if you’re headed in the right direction, how fast you’re going, or even how far you’ve come, you’re basically driving in the dark. Good luck with that. 

To be continued...

When I set out to write this story, I actually planned on sharing much more. For example, I wanted to talk about how I’ve learned to see things more holistically and, as a result, revamped my diet completely and even began practicing mindfulness (something I’d been a critic of for years) - all with amazing results. I also wanted to pass along my approach to self-investment, or “me-time”, and highlight how it’s helped me become happier and more successful in life and work. But since this story has already begun to take the form of a novella, that'll have to wait until next time.