Marathons are an outcome. The training is the journey.

Marathons are an outcome. The training is the journey

By Ben Bridges 

I'm convinced that the marathon and everything that goes into it is one of the greatest physical achievements in the world. And if you've ever run a marathon or you dream of running one or you've got one to run, if you give me the next minutes or so, then I can make you feel so good about yourself that there will likely be more marathons on your horizon. And I'm going to split this down into three parts. The training, the race, and the aftermath.

  

So, let's start with the training. If marathon training was easy, everyone would do it. But they don't. So, give yourself a break. To anyone out there who has ever trained so early that their eyes hurt, or so late that their body was screaming for bed, those who ripped themselves out of a warm house into the cold, into the dark, or even into the heat. to those who worked it around their families, their jobs, their life.

 

You have to know how hardcore that is when everything is screaming at you not to train and you train anyway. These moments compounded day after day, week after week, and month after month, they say more about who you are than any marathon day ever could. The marathon day: that's what people see.

Right here is what you see: discipline. A better you being forged. Away from the cheers. Away from the tracking apps. I live for these moments. The inner peace that it brings. The confidence that comes from showing up every day when you want to and when you don't want to. It's the essence of everything. But what if you miss a session or a week or more? I always say zoom out. A missed session here and there in a sea of consistency. It makes no difference. Life happens, so you have to be kind to yourself.

But what about a week or even more? Well, you need to zoom out further. Maybe the training block isn't going the way that you'd planned. And sometimes they don't. And it's okay. Every setback is an opportunity. If it's an illness, give yourself the time that you need. Rushing back is a recipe for disaster. If it's injury, okay, then let's control what we can. That's what a real runner would do. There's no pity party. Just quietly do what you can. Cross training, strength training, seeking advice. Take control. It's just a sign that you need to tweak something or improve something. And ifyou're zoomed out far enough, then you'll know. These lessons can be implemented into another training cycle. You are not a one and done. You're in this for the long haul. Even training cycles themselves are small in the lens that we're looking through.

I'll say it again for those of you at the back that didn't hear me the first time: if marathon training was easy, everyone would do it. It's hard, but you do hard things. What a mantra to live by: knowing what marathon training takes, the dedication, the discipline, the positivity, and the pain, we should all just stop for a second and be incredibly proud of the person that we are creating on this process.

And then when we make it to marathon day, and we will make it sometimes after a great training block and sometimes not so good, we can look back and realize that process is what's important. It's what made us who we are. And now it's time for the victory lap. This is the tip of the iceberg that people see, that we let people see. They may think it defines us, but we know different. This is our chance to enjoy, to show the outcome of all of the hard work. What an incredible honor and opportunity it is to get to run a marathon. And notice how we said get to.We don't have to. What a privilege.

So, I'll tell you what we tell ourselves and all of the people in our community: let go. Stand on that start line. Close your eyes. Take a big breath in. And then exhale and let go. Nothing from this point is going to define you as a person. You see, that's the thing about marathons. You can have a perfect training block and the marathon gods can have other plans for you on race day. Conversely, you can have a below training cycle and have a great race day. In marathons, there are no guarantees. So, we control what we can control and we stand on that start line and we let go. 

Of course, good training, good fueling strategies, and a good pacing strategy are going to skew the odds in your favor, but a good race is still not guaranteed. And that's kind of what draws us back over and over: seeking those utterly transformative experiences where everything does click. That is both rare and addictive. But actually equally addictive is the drive to put right a bad performance. Either of these reasons are fuel for the training fire. It's why you're back out there.

During the race, you must expect to be challenged, to be in a fight, to go to places you never realized existed in your mind. Marathons hurt. There's no point in pretending otherwise. They hurt the 2-hour marathoner. They hurt the 7-hour marathoner and everyone in between. No sense in saying they don't. It's how we negotiate our way through it that speaks volumes about us. I find that in the tougher times, reminding myself that I paid to do this to myself helps. It at least brings a small smile to my face. If the negative voice appears, I welcome it like an old acquaintance I expected to see. I thank it for its opinion and I send it on its way. Not today, thanks. That's all it is, thoughts. But the bank of evidence we've built up over time about how strong we are is easily enough to drown out those negative voices.

Remember: this is the victory lap. What I want today is an amazing experience and I've done everything in my power to make that happen. But if it doesn't happen, I also know it's okay. This is not the end of the world. These things do happen and I'm going to learn from it. But to let it get into my head during the race, that's a no no. I always have multiple goals within my race. So if a PB doesn't happen, maybe I switch and try and run this time. And then if that doesn't happen, maybe this time or maybe my goal just becomes to finish. These goals and moving between them allow me to stay calm, focused, and methodical and not overly emotional. Some days I get to hit my A+ goal as well, but I always have three words in my head overriding everything. try to enjoy.

Ultimately, why are we doing this if we don't try to see the joy in it? And when we cross the line, we've either achieved the goal we set out and had a great time, or perhaps we've fallen short of our expectations of ourselves. Please try to remember first and foremost, we just ran a marathon. That's epic. You're a marathoner. The more you do this, the more you realize you're going to have good marathons and you're going to have bad marathons, but you still ran a marathon. And it's only the tip of the iceberg anyway. It's not the bit that defines you as a person.

And if you're being tough on yourself, try this for size: what would you say to the person you love the most if they were struggling with their performance? Because I bet it wouldn't be anything negative or cruel. So why don't you talk to yourself like that? Everything's just so much better when you realize you need to love yourself too. Yes, it's a marathon, and it's amazing, but it's also just a marathon. It's the snapshot of you, not the whole damn photo album.

And if you have one of those amazing results and experiences, be sure to take your time and absorb it all. They don't happen all of the time, and you've earned it. Don't be quick to move on. Drink it all in. the emotions, the kudos, the medals, the payoff of the hard work. It's these kinds of experiences and feelings that sustain us through that next dark winter or next tough training cycle. When times are tough, these are the memories I call on to pull me through.

There really is not many greater sporting feeling than when a marathon clicks. It's one of the ultimate highs and it can hook you in for years. So, make sure you take as long as you need to bank those core memories.

And when the dust has settled, it's back to the grind. Perhaps we want to run a little faster next time or put right what went wrong next time. Perhaps we're just addicted to the process of trying to be better one day at a time in the dark when no one sees. Because yes, we run marathons, but we're so much more than that. We are the disciplined. We're the intrinsically motivated. We're the inspirations to others. And we're the ones out there getting it done on the days we feel like it, but crucially on the days we don't feel like it. And that  is what defines us. 

So now it's time to get up, get out, and get it.

 Porque podo