Right after I graduated college, I started running. I ran not just for my physical health but for my mental health. Running gave me time. It gave me space. It gave me opportunities to clear my head. For me, running was a way to step away from the craziness of life and just focus on the path in front of me. It allowed me to focus on where my feet were—running allowed me to compete against myself and no one else.
When I started running, I could do about one to three miles. I’d sign up for 5k’s and be so excited about the accomplishment that I’d want more. Eventually, 5k’s became 10k’s, and 10k’s became half marathons. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be running these types of distances. The journey there wasn’t always easy, but I just kept focusing on the competition with myself and not with others.
The more I ran, the more in the back of my mind, I had a goal of wanting to achieve a full marathon. According to RunRepeat, approximately 0.05% of the United States population has completed a marathon. Throughout the world, about 1.1 million runners finish a marathon each year, which equates to around 0.01% of the global population. In my head, it was the perfect bucket list item. It was the ideal opportunity to challenge myself to something I thought was almost unattainable at one point.
I kept putting off signing up for a marathon, and finally, in 2022, I decided to sign up for the Newport Marathon in Rhode Island. Training started at the end of May, and the race was in early October. During the first couple of weeks of training I thought, “oh this is a breeze!” as each run was short and didn’t go over 6 miles. I positively thought that training would be this easy throughout. Boy… was I wrong!
July 3 was the run I’ll never forget. Each weekend was a long run. The distance changed, but it was almost always double-digit mile runs. It was a hot and humid day. The sun was beating on me the entire run, and it felt like I was running through the mud with every step. I finished the run just wanting to stop training altogether. The shocking part was that the run was only just over 12 miles. I just felt defeated and that if I couldn’t do these 12 miles with ease, how the heck was I going to do 26.2?!
I kept pushing forward. With the support of my incredible fiancee Ciara and so many others, I kept going. I started to focus not on the end goal but on where I was. And learned to be okay with it. We all want to achieve goals, and sometimes we aren’t close to being there yet, which is okay. The quicker we accept that, the easier it will be to draw out a plan to get there. That following weekend I ran the fastest 10 miles of my entire life. I felt unstoppable, and the energy I got from that run had me even more excited for the next long run. The following weekend I ran 16.28 miles which became the longest run I had ever done in my entire life.
I took time to reflect on those achievements. Although it wasn’t my end goal, I quickly realized the importance of acknowledging my accomplishments along the way. Even when you are training for something, you will achieve things that might not be your end goal but are still impressive. It is essential to recognize those to help you keep pushing forward to get you where you want to go.
July was my best month of running ever, and then early August hit. I hit a wall in my training primarily due to having so many plans going on in life. Finding time for runs and getting the motivation out of the routine became increasingly difficult. I realized not only how vital routines are in training but also have a game plan to adapt when life throws your curveballs, and you have to navigate around your everyday routines. Routines are great, but the ability to adjust when needed is crucial.
I started to kick back into gear near the end of August and quickly began to build my miles back up from where I left off. Again, I reflected on where I was and learned to be okay with it. Often when you fall behind your training schedule or out of routine, you first want to be hard on yourself for not meeting your expectations. The best way forward is to accept your situation and find a game plan to move forward. That’s what I did, and it paid off as I did my first run over 20 miles just two weeks later in early September. Never in my life did I think I’d be able to get over 20.
With one month left until the race, I just kept pushing forward. I signed up for a half marathon before the full marathon to give myself one more challenge and a feeling of accomplishment before the big race day. I broke my record for half marathon time, which was just what I needed to get through the rest of the training.
The closer I neared the end of the training, the harder it seemed to keep pushing forward. Then the tapper week came into play! Boy, was it glorious to be back to small fun runs to save my body’s energy for race day.
Finally, race day was here. October 9, 2022. I felt ready. It was a cold and windy morning, and it felt like it took forever for the race to begin, but before I knew it, we were off. I went into the first half feeling okay but also realized I didn’t have enough nutrients, so I felt slightly off. I kept trying to load up on nutrients to give me energy and finally crossed the half-marathon point. That’s when it became challenging. The first half started with thousands of people, but many ran just the half. As soon as we crossed the half marathon, the number of people running plummeted. It felt like you were in a race against yourself.
Around mile 18, it became a battle of running uphill. It constantly ran through my brain that I wasn’t going to finish. I kept thinking that this was it; I was going to stop there. I had some water/Gatorade and a snack that pushed me through mile 23, and then my body quit. It had had enough. I was ready to give up. I didn’t even want to make it to the finish line at that point. Then, my incredible fiancee showed up out of nowhere at mile 23. She walked with me for about 2 miles and then ran behind me as I finished the last 1.2 miles. I’ll never be able to explain the feelings that overcame me as I crossed the finish line. I broke down into tears. Not only grateful for finishing, but thinking about the incredible partner I had who did everything she could to help make sure I finished.
The moral of the story is not everything is perfect. The training could have been better. The race itself could have been better. But I still made it to the end. You’re going to hit bumps in the road during your training and even in the moments of competition. It’s okay to know that failure can happen. Only some things will be as smooth as you expect them to be. Remember to stay present in the moment, be okay and satisfied with where you are, and utilize everything you learn from adversity to help you keep pushing forward toward your goal!
