On Monday, I struggled.
I went on my first run in more than a year.
It was hard.
I stopped multiple times. Walked some parts. But I got it done.
As I was running, I kept thinking:
“This is part of the process. I’m supposed to struggle. I mean, I haven’t run for more than a year. It’s totally normal. Just do what you can. In a few weeks, this will be easy.”
I realized this was a very different conversation in my head than when I started running.
I started running in early 2021 because that’s what you could do to get out of the house and get some exercise.
The first time I went for a run I lasted 8 min. Yep, you read that right. 8 minutes…
The conversation in my head?
“This is stupid. And really, who likes to run anyway? I can’t do this. I need to stop. I CAN’T. I DON’T WANT TO.”
But I kept going.
After a few weeks, I got a watch and started logging my runs:
In my head?
“I’m so slow. And I’m so tired. I think I’ve run enough. I mean, I did 20 min, that should be enough. I don’t think I can do it anymore.”
I kept going.
5 months later, I ran my first 10K:
“I can do it. Just a bit more. I’m so close. Let’s go faster now, faster. This is the furthest we’ve ever been. Let’s goooo!”
I kept going.
At the end of September, I ran my first half-marathon. The longest I had run before this was 15K:
“I can do it. This is easy. Let’s save our energy for later. If I continue this strong I think I can make it under 2 hours. I can do it. Stay focused.”
In December I finished my first marathon in Belize:
If you had told me when I started running that in less than a year I would finish a marathon, I wouldn’t have believed you. I can’t run for more than 8 minutes and yet I’m finishing a marathon? No way.
Since then, I’ve run another half and another full marathon.
Every race, every run, is easier than the one before.
But this Monday I struggled.
But I struggled differently.
Not the “I can’t do this” struggle. But the “this is part of the process” struggle.
I have run hundreds and hundreds of miles. I know I can do it.
If I had to run a marathon today, I could. Yes, it would be hard, slow, and painful. But I have the belief I can. And that makes all the difference.
The conversation in my head is different.
Over the last week, I’ve had calls and exchanged emails with lots of people about getting 4 hours of their time back.
They didn’t say it, but most didn’t believe it was possible.
I get it.
To someone who’s always running around, 4 hours of freedom seems impossible.
To you, 4 hours IS your marathon.
Right now, you won’t believe it.
Because right now, you feel like a ping pong ball bouncing between professional demands, family/home needs, and then laziness when you’re exhausted from the first two. It’s an unending cycle.
Because right now, you’re drowning in emails and conference calls and don't feel you’re able to get "real work" done.
Because right now, you’re very busy every day and cannot really think strategically.
Because right now, you feel you’re always putting out fires, always working on the urgent and not on the most important.
Because right now, you’re overwhelmed by your to-do lists and the amount of things you need to do and you’re on the brink of exhaustion.
It’s time to change the conversation going on in your head.
The way to run a marathon is to start running 8 minutes.
The way to get 4 hours of your day back is to get 2 hours of your week back.
I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Dan