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Last Sunday I accomplished something that I never thought I would ever even consider attempting in my lifetime — running a full marathon. Even though I am smiling in the picture shown above, which was snapped when I had a few tenths of a mile left to go before finishing, my body was yearning for the end. To sum it up, it was a physical and emotional experience, and one that is still too recent to be able to determine if there is another full marathon in me in the future. As I tell many people, asking me now if I am going to run another full marathon again is like asking a woman who had just given birth if she’s going to have another child. It’s just too early to tell. What I do know, however, is that my ability to complete this marathon had everything to do with one simple strategy, which I stuck to throughout the entire process. It sounds so cliché, but it actually was simply this: Don’t ever give up. Now, it sounds so overly simplistic, but for anyone who has trained for a marathon, they know that the training is no simple task.
I registered for the full marathon pretty much on a whim. My wife had just signed up for the half marathon, and I basically said, “Sure…Why not? What the heck…I’ll go ahead and sign up for the full (marathon).” Because I first signed up in late February, and since the event was in late May, I didn’t give myself much time to train.
I had never run more than eight miles before in my life. I concentrated on what I had accomplished, rather than what I had yet to accomplish. The goal was obvious, so reminding myself of my shortcomings and the long road ahead was only counterproductive, so I kept it positive by concentrating on my successes.
My training started out okay. The first obstacle to overcome was my dislike of running in cold weather. Here in Wisconsin in the United States, winters get cold, and we had a lot of snow this year. I remember doing many a training run where I felt like I was running on sand because of the lack of traction from running on the snow. I knew I had to start training right away after registering for the event, so I got myself some cold-weather running gear and got out there. Surprisingly, once I had the right gear to wear, running outside in the cold was actually pleasurable and fun. It just goes to show you that with the proper resources you can turn something that you think will be unpleasant into something you enjoy!
A downside to wearing two pairs of socks and shoving your feet into running shoes is that there isn’t much wiggle room for toes. One of my right toenails started hurting a lot, and then it turned black. I feared that I would lose the nail, but it’s still there, but it doesn’t look pretty. As I neared the end of my training, I got another black spot on another toe nail on my left side. I thought that would be the worst of the pain I had to endure, but I sure was wrong…
About a month into my training, I sprained my right foot. It turns out I was wearing the wrong type of footwear. By the time I figured it out, it was too late. Just when I was reaching a critical stage in my training and starting to drastically increase the length of my training runs, I had to stop running because my foot felt like it was ripping apart. Running was so painful it was unbearable. I had to stay away from running for the better part of three weeks while my foot healed, and all I could do in the meantime was keep up my cardiovascular activity by exercising on a stationary bike. As much as I thought I would loathe the inability to run, it turned out that I enjoyed it quite a bit, because I was able to follow some of my favorite TV series on Netflix while I was pedaling the hours away on the bike! It was quite nice!
Once I could get back on my feet again with the proper footwear, I had to crank out my longest run of my training. What a way to welcome myself back to running! I went out and ran the longest run in my life at that point — 18 miles. I was super sore, and then discovered that while my foot was better, now my right knee was starting to act up. On all future runs from then on my knee was literally a “sore subject,” requiring that I stop frequently to stretch my hip and thigh muscles to relieve the pain (rather unsuccessfully).
Finally, the big day arrived. I wasn’t nervous at all, and it was nice to be with my wife and friends. About four miles into the race, my knee started to ache, and I thought for just a moment about the 22 miles I had left to run. “Don’t give up,” I told myself. “Don’t give up.” I kept running.
I estimate that I lost about 25 minutes of time due to having to stop along the way and stretch, and eventually the pain in my knee was just a part of the pain I felt below my waist. Everything from my hips to my thighs to my knees just ached. I just kept acknowledging the pain and concentrated on my breathing. I would have been much more comfortable and happy throughout the race if my right knee had not been hurting, but my objective was not to finish within a certain amount of time; I just wanted to finish the race. “Don’t give up,” I reminded myself, over and over again.
I ran the entire time, with exception to about a mile stretch after mile 21, when I had indigestion from some bananas that I ate at one of the stations along the way. I was close to losing my lunch, but after walking until mile 23, I felt good enough to run the rest of the race.
I didn’t realize how emotional the experience would be. I felt like laughing at times; I almost cried a couple of times; there was a period about three quarters of the way through when I felt angry and bitter. It was very strange and unexpected. I knew that the race was more about being mentally tough, so I made sure that I continued to not accept defeat. I continued to remind myself that the only limitations I faced were the ones that I accepted. I was not going to give up, and I was going to finish the race, no matter what.
During my training, I had some pre-conceived notions about what this race was really going to be about. I didn’t want to share them publicly, because I just wanted to see how things panned out. I had predicted that my ability to succeed would be directly correlated with my level of mental toughness, and my inability to accept failure as an option, and I was correct. However, I was a bit “lucky” too in the process. I realized this when I got to the race and saw people walking around in walking casts and crutches because they got injured during their training, and could not run the race. I was thankful I was able to enjoy this opportunity.
Sometimes, our ability to succeed in extreme circumstances is linked to our willingness to be mentally tough and our ability to resist giving up. While we may experience setbacks and unforeseen circumstances that place potential obstacles before us, it is our perseverance and determination to succeed which puts us in a position to experience victory. Whatever we accept as the truth about ourselves and our abilities is what we become. From the beginning, I placed within my mind a picture of me, smiling as I crossed the finish line. That picture became the reality, as I smiled at the camera and crossed the finish line.
We have the power to choose not to ever give up. As long as we give ourselves permission to succeed, we can accomplish things others can only dream! Don’t ever give up! Never!
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