I am running the Big Sur marathon in May to raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you can, please make a tax-deductible donation to my campaign at this link. Thank you!
Back in October, I jokingly commented to my family that I was going to sign up to run a marathon. Well, I didn’t think I was joking (although I am not at all sure I was serious), but my children certainly did. Their ceaseless laughter led me to actually sign up, perhaps to prove them wrong, perhaps to prove something similar to myself.
Now, it is more than 5 months later, with 1.5 months to go before the big run (Big Sur, May 1). Here is a summary of what has changed during this time:
| October ’10 Rick | March ’11 Rick | |
| Exercise | 2 times/wk,no cardio | 5 runs a wk starting at
3 miles, now averaging 8 miles each |
| Endurance | Could run only 1 mile
at 12minute pace |
Just ran 6 miles in under 60 minutes |
| Longest Run Ever | 3.5 miles | 16 miles (I just ran a circle
around Hilton Head Island) |
| Heart Rate While Running | 164 | 146 |
| Weight | 210 | 192 |
| Diet | Watch what I eat | Watch myself eat
EVERYTHING |
| Nipples | Normal | TMI |
| Energy | Lethargic during day, stay
up late at night |
Energy during day, crash at night |
| Compliments | Seldom |
“Wow, and to think that just a few months ago your head was as large as a pumpkin!” |
| Attitude | Fear and Uncertainty | Optimism and Accomplishment |
| Alcohol | Drink more than I should | Drink more than I should
What is this, prison! |
| Libido | Normal…uh…ish | “Hide your kids, hide your wife..” |
What have I learned from all this? That training is like a train. If you get on, it will take you to a predictable destination. These changes are totally surprising to myself, but not to those who have run marathons before.
If you commit to the program – not just the big, challenging parts, but the middle, mundane boring parts as well, all of them – you will emerge at the end a changed person. This is the same for any major challenge you take on in life.
It’s not the destination that you are committing to. It’s the journey. And if you commit your heart and mind to the journey, all the destination stuff has a way of taking care of itself.