5 lessons from marathon training for a better life

You can run a sprint, or you can run a marathon. You can’t sprint a marathon.

Ryan Homes

A Marathon distance is 42.2 kms. 26.2 miles. Nothing more, nothing less. Every year thousands of people run a marathon. It is definitely not a race for the faint-hearted and not something you should do spontaneously.

Jay and I decided that I will run one marathon each year. Over the period of 7 years I have run 7 marathons in different parts of the world. We have moved continents in the last 10 years but running has been a part of us the whole time. It is a common thread that connected us to the place and people.

Here is why you need to train and run a marathon for a better life

1. Build discipline – Training for a marathon, builds so much discipline. You can’t miss many of the training runs. It will make you plan for your runs, days, your diet, and your entire life around the training plan.
2. Doesn’t need much to get started. If you are physically able, running is something you can do irrespective of your location, past, or family history, with little equipment.
3. Manage time better – Once you start training for a marathon, You will quickly realize how much of your time it consumes. You will learn to say no. It will make you manage your time better to accomplish all the things you’ve always wanted to.
4. Breaks mental barriers – Marathon training breaks all kinds of mental barriers, you didn’t know you had. Whenever I talk to someone about training for a marathon, in the first 5 seconds of the conversation they come up with excuses about why they don’t want to run. Here are some of them, I can’t find the time, it hurts, A LOT, it hurts my knees, I don’t think I can do it.
5. Delayed gratification – You can’t train for a marathon in one day. It takes months of training. But everytime I cross that finish line for a marathon, I cry like a little baby. The feeling of accomplishment is immense. If you suffer from shiny object syndrome, you need to train your ‘delayed gratification’ muscles. Train your brain to wait for fruits of labor. This is one area that will greatly escalate your life quality.

There will loads of sore muscles, tears, blisters, but the end result of achieving a tangible goal is incredible. There are so many lessons while training and running a marathon that you can apply to your life. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend signing up for one and getting started. There are heaps of training plans available.

Let me know if you do run marathons. Share your lessons and stories with me.