What running a marathon teaches you about mindset

In 2017 I made a huge error in judgement.

I was craving a challenging goal so I signed up for the Chicago marathon. My new boyfriend eagerly offered to do it with me. No pressure then. 

There were a few small problems to overcome. 

#1 - I literally couldn’t run a mile. 

#2 - I absolutely despised running.

#3 - The marathon was only 6 months away.

In the early days I snuck in a solo run without my boyfriend . I wanted to make sure I could “hang” with him in our training runs. 

My first run was 3 miles. It was a disaster. I was in tears by the end of it.  

Not because I couldn’t run 3 miles but because I totally psyched myself out by the end of it. How will I ever run over 8 times that distance!?

Next up my boyfriend and I did our first run together. The Shamrock Shuffle. My first ever 8k. It was brutal and I was embarrassed at how hard I found it. 

After that run I strongly considered dropping out of the marathon.

But my pride wouldn’t let me. It’s not in my nature to quit because something is difficult. Plus I’d told EVERYONE I was running the marathon. And I was running for charity. 

I knew I was locked into this. I HAD to do this!!!

6 Months later I crossed the finish line of the Chicago marathon. I had hundreds of miles in practice runs under my belt. And I beat my boyfriends time by 0.1 seconds :-) Not bad for a non runner.  

The marathon was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life. I dragged myself around the course and it was far from pretty. 

A year later the “new boyfriend” was now my fiancé. And we then ran the Vegas marathon - I let him cross the finish line first ;-) We shaved an hour off our time. 

Running one marathon let alone two was once an impossible goal. The single biggest factor to going from 0-26 miles was mindset. 

I took it one mile at a time.  

One training run at a time.  

At moments during the marathon it even became one step at a time.

I now know with certainty that you can achieve ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING if you believe first that you can. 

5 life lessons the marathon reinforced to me:

1) Celebrate your progress along the way - even the small wins.

2) You can do anything you want to as long as you first believe it AND are willing to put in the work. Self-belief goes a long way in EVERYTHING and nothing beats hard work.

3) Meet your fears and the challenge head on. That's where true growth begins.

4) Preparation is everything. A marathon is actually hundreds of miles and the finish is just the last 26.2. This hold true for most goals - we stand and fall on our preparation. If you work hard before the main event you can approach it with so much more confidence and assurance.

5) Consistency is key. Consistency is really about commitment and it's the gateway to success.

What can you achieve in 2021 with the right mindset?