Lessons from Marathoning
From left to right: 2014 Chicago Marathon, 2015 Miami Marathon, 2015 Berlin Marathon, 2015 Chicago Marathon, 2016 Chicago Marathon, 2016 NYC Marathon, 2017 Chicago Marathon, 2018 Chicago Marathon, 2021 Chicago Marathon.
Fall marathon season is upon us and, while I am not experiencing any FOMO, I am soaking up all the stories that have come out of races like the Berlin, London, and Chicago marathons (I am a sucker for the Majors). After weeks of consistent working, people are toeing the line of their goal races and making their 26.2-mile journey from start line to finish line. A lot can happen over 26.2 miles; it’s hard to fully grasp the scope of 26.2 miles until you are in it on race day and experiencing everything that comes from challenging yourself to be your best over the course of many miles. So, in honor of all the marathoning happening and based on my experience of running nine full marathons – plus one 50k, but that’s another experience altogether— here are five of the greatest (and hardest) lessons I’ve learned from the 26.2-mile beast:
Lesson 1: 26.2 miles is a long time.
Not only is it long in distance, but it can also feel long in time. The thing here is that 26.2 miles is enough time to feel a spectrum of emotions and go through an entire roller coaster of emotions. It’s in the experiencing of the range of emotions that training really comes to matter because training is where you learn how to navigate the self-talk that comes with the emotions and learn tools for turning the talk around when it dips into negative territory. A marathon is a challenge on the body, but it’s just as big (maybe even bigger) of a challenge on the mind.
Lesson 2: Hard is an effort, not a pace.
When I think back on my marathon experiences, I realize that “hard” was never based on pace. It has taken me some time to reconcile that hard does not equal fast. That race when I PR’d? I felt like I was floating the entire time and I couldn’t believe I ran as fast as I did. Those two races that had similar times? One felt like a struggle from mile five to mile 26 and the other felt like a celebration of strength the second half of the race. I know most of us go into marathons with a time goal in mind but remember that effort and pace don’t always line up in the hoped for or expected ways. When the numbers don’t give you what you want to see, ask yourself how you feel; can you do anything to help things feel “easier”?
Lesson 3: Race day is just race day.
Race day is not a reflection of your fitness or your worth as a runner. Have you ever stopped to think about all that needs to line up to have the race day that you not only trained for but that also showcases all the gains you’ve made as a runner? In my experience, you don’t truly appreciate the impact of things like nutrition, hydration, and weather until those things come into play on a run where there is extra anxiety, adrenaline, and excitement. A “perfect” race day is where everything lines up physiologically and physically and the mind is ready to fight forward. Give yourself the opportunity to be present, the grace to accept what goes down on race day, and the ability to let go of those things out of your control.
Lesson 4: Never underestimate the power of the spectator.
Crowd support can carry a runner through a race. Random strangers screaming your name? That puts a little pep in your step. Know that your family and friends are waiting for you at mile 16? That will get you moving straightaway. Hearing the roar of the crowd in the last 200 meters? It’s hard to not want to kick it up just a little bit. For me, the crowd also helps me break up the mental chatter and, in the past, it has actually helped me break up the race as I ran from funny sign to funny sign, stopping for pictures with the signs I liked the best.
Lesson 5: Race day is your victory lap.
Maybe you’ll meet your goal. Maybe you’ll come close to your goal. Maybe you’ll miss your goal. Maybe it’s something in between all of that. Whatever the case is, race day is the day your have spent 16-24 weeks working toward. Race day is the culmination of a training cycle full of hard runs, easy runs, long runs, early runs, runs that make your question why you want to run a marathon, runs that remind you why you want to run a marathon, runs that bring your closer to community, and runs that bring you closer to yourself. Getting to the start line with the ability to tackle 26.2 miles is a victory because it means you are healthy and injury-free (or, in some cases, mostly healthy and mostly injury-free). Getting to the start line also means you are part of that 1% that runs marathons. Again, regardless of the outcome, the fact that you choose to run a marathon and make it across the start and finish lines, makes you strong and special. Most people don’t choose to run. Most people don’t choose to run long. Most people don’t choose to spend weeks and months working toward one day where you hope everything comes together. But you did make that choice and race day is your time to shine and celebrate all the small everyday choices that got you to the point of believing in your ability to do hard things.
The marathon distance is something that challenges and empowers. I never thought I would run one marathon, let along nine of them. I don’t know where I stand with marathons and whether I hate them or just love to hate them. I do, however, know that marathoning has made me a better runner and a better human because I believe in my potential in ways that I never would have had the 26.2-mile distance never entered my life.
Now I’m curious: what lessons have you learned from marathoning?
