You know how sometimes weight just creeps up on you? One pound here and there, when you buy some new clothing item you just go up a size gradually, before you realize what’s happening? That’s me. I’m probably not the only one to whom that has happened.
I decided a little over two years ago to change that trajectory. I didn’t want to be out of shape, didn’t want to set that example for my kids, didn’t want to feel winded and less than able to do anything. So I started running.
When I started running-again, mind you, this was a little more than two years ago-not a lifetime process-it was hard. I could run a little, walk more, run a little, walk even more. Gradually I built those walks into runs, but never more than three miles. I swore up and down that I would NOT be running a marathon. Not for me, I said. No desire to throw up-poop on myself-lose toenails-all the usual icky things that have happened to marathoners. Plus, it’s boring, right? 26.2 miles by yourself with your thoughts is a LONG time.
But a half marathon-THAT I could do. So I did one. Then another. That distance, as it turns out, is fun for me. I can do it, enjoy it, finish in a neat two-hour package and move along. So call me a regular runner-not fast, not slow, walking sometimes, but finishing my runs.
Then came 2014 and my decision to run for NC House 82 in the Republican Primary. Me and my big mouth. I said, “If I lose the primary, I’ll run a full marathon.” Because obviously, I felt confident in my ability to win that primary election.
I lost. Got my ass kicked, in fact. (Well, not a bad showing for a newcomer to the scene, but I HATE losing.) So. It became time to make good on my words.
Signed up for the full marathon on the last sequential date for some time, 12.13.14, at Kiawah Resort in South Carolina. Even hornswaggled a couple of my delightful and amazing friends to take this plunge with me. (They aren’t just good friends, they are GREAT friends.)
We trained, followed our schedule, worked through some injuries along the way-and we made it. Here’s what I learned in the process:
1. Body Glide is the best product ever designed, ever. Because, well, chafing SUCKS. And you don’t know about it until you get in the blessed after-run shower.
2. I am quite a good spitter. I haven’t yet mastered the snotrocket, but I’m still young. You may wonder about the importance of this fact-it IS important to have good trajectory so as not to hit the runner behind you.
3. There is an outfit difference between 27 degrees and 44 degrees. I know that sounds weird. Perhaps it’s because I’m a Southerner with thick blood. But for real.
4. My left hand warms up faster than my right hand. And it doesn’t make a hill of beans the gloves I’m wearing or if I have those little deer-hunter hot pocket thingies. My right hand just won’t warm up until mile 3. This knowledge sounds useless BUT it helps me focus on the relief which WILL come.
5. The bling matters. Now, I have personally been on my soapbox multiple times about how we give a trophy to every child for every thing (‘Oh honey! You breathed in AND out today!’), but in running this kind of distance, the bling matters. No, I won’t ever be on the podium (unless there is a zombie apocalypse and the rest of the crowd fails to show up and the timers are still in place), but I still want good bling when I cross that line. See, it’s a symbol that I can keep, to remind me of a day when this was indeed possible.
6. You are, in fact, a runner. Since I started running later in life, I didn’t identify as a runner. In high school track, I threw shot and discus. I only had one fast mile EVER, courtesy of Amy Norris, who was crazy fast and I NEEDED to get that fast mile to get the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. (told you I am competitive!) As it turns out, just lacing up the shoes and doing SOMETHING makes you a runner. Stop judging yourself.
7. I can indeed do this. I’m fully aware that I give off the impression of having skin as thick as iron, but I have a very harsh critic right close to me-her name is Leigh Brown. There were many moments during training when I doubted my ability to do this. Hell, my doubts were very strong around miles 19-22 (the miles that Virginia references as ‘the dark miles’). But I finished. That will show the negative version of me, won’t it?
8. Cheering counts. Maybe you are a runner-if so, you already know how critical it is to have someone-anyone-call out your name as you run those endless miles. If you are not a runner, you may not understand this. It seems pointless to stand there and clap for people who are running on by you in various stages of misery, but trust me-they hear you. They know you are there. Plus, there will be a runner at some stretch who boosts you just by speaking to you in a dark mile. Then, you have the glory of returning that favor to someone else.
9. There is NO magic bullet. Yes, you can do this. And yes, you might read some article somewhere about some wunderkind who finished their first race ever in like an hour with no training. But marathon training is a process. You can’t get there if you don’t put in the hours and the miles. There is a reward at the end and oh-it’s SO much sweeter because you earned it. You really earned it.
10. My race is not your race. You can’t compare yourself to others. Stop it. It’s unfair to your own wonderful self. You don’t know from whence I started. You don’t know where I’m going. (Frankly, I’d like to know, so if someone can tell me I would appreciate it!). That runner you are silently judging? May be coming off of her last chemo treatment. His wife may have left him. She is working on losing 100 pounds. It’s his fastest time ever. It’s her slowest time ever. YOU DO NOT KNOW. All you know is that you are running for YOU.
You knew I would flip over into real estate coaching at some point, but hear me out, k? Maybe you want to sell as many homes as someone else-but perhaps you don’t want their business model. That’s okay! Maybe you want a team like mine and maybe you are the happiest solo agent in the world. That’s okay, too! The point is that what you accomplish depends on you. It’s of course okay to have targets and goals, mentors that you emulate-but when you stress yourself out because they are in a different place, you have to stop it.
Growing a successful business-in real estate or in ANYTHING-requires discipline and training. You’re not too good or too old or too slow or too fat or too ANYTHING to learn more. You can mark your journey by others but it’s YOUR journey. Learn to enjoy the ride. It’s worth it. And if you decide to run-buy Body Glide. For real, y’all. It’s amazing.
