How to Finish A Marathon in 52 Easy Steps…
First off, I would argue with myself that these steps are SIMPLE, but NOT necessarily easy.
I remember when I finished my first running event, a half marathon about 6 years ago.
13.1 miles…it seemed such a crazy distance when I first started.
When I crossed the finish, I was on such an emotional high…I was ready to roll when my friend, Wesley, asked if I wanted to keep training to be ready for a full marathon 3 months later.
YES!!!
And then the training continued…
The week after the half marathon, I had to run another half marathon PLUS a mile…in the early morning darkness…all by myself.
Not. That. Fun.
Ok, back to the point…how to finish a marathon in 52 easy steps.
Step 1…start with — wait. We have to backup…
Step before step 1…do you WANT to run a marathon?
I mean, I always dreamed of being the sort of person that ran a marathon.
But actually running one? I’m not sure I can…
Ever notice how much of life is like that?
“I want to be that kind of person, but I’m not sure I can actually do the steps it takes…”
Growth and progress takes work! It’s waaaayyyy easier to just sit on the couch than it is to go for a walk.
Way easier to just yell “KNOCK IT OFF!!!” from across the room at my kids when they are bickering with each other instead of going over to actually engage them in conversation to see how I can help.
My mom has a saying that burned itself into my brain…
“It take so little to be above average…but it still takes it.”
So, now that you have decided you want to run a marathon…(or maybe you just want to critique my steps and tell me how I’m wrong…*smile*)…let’s start with step 1.
Step 1 — take 1,000 steps.
Step 2 — take 1,000 steps.
Step 3 — take 1,000 steps.
I’m sensing a pattern here…
But seriously, to walk a marathon will take 52,400 steps. (assuming 2000 steps per mile)
And who is to say that you have to do them all without stopping?
What if you did 1000 steps each day?
53 days later, you have walked the distance of a full marathon.
I can already see the email responses…
“THAT’S NOT A MARATHON!!!”
“THAT’S CHEATING”
“DOESN’T COUNT”
But why not? Why can’t we do a marathon distance over time?
After all, EVERY. SINGLE. MARATHON. is just that distance of 26.2 miles that a person has travelled under their own power over the course of time.
Every marathon I have run I have taken water breaks, walk breaks, bathroom breaks.
If I’m not doing a marathon at an official race type event, then I get to make the rules for what the time limit is!
It’s the race event that creates the time limit. NOT the actual distance.
I’ve seen other areas of life where we give ourselves these artificial timelines that only exist internally.
Eating, fitness, business, investing, personal growth, so many things in life where we just make up timelines on how long we think it should take.
And if we don’t make it in that timeframe…it feels like failure.
We do this with weight loss — we focus on the scale instead of focusing on the process.
We do this in business — we look at the lagging indicators instead of focusing on the leading indicators.
We do this with investing — we get bogged down because it seems to be taking longer than it should.
If it takes you 5 hours to finish a marathon, that’s awesome. If it takes you 7 hours, still awesome. If you have to break it up over 7 days, still awesome.
In fact, I think you could argue that the person who breaks it up over 53 days is possibly awesomer! (I know, not a real word…)
That person had to stay on target for 53 days to finish that distance.
That is consistency.
And it produces results.
In relationships, in business, in real estate investing, the stick-to-it-ness is what it takes to actually make it.
Whatever is facing you today, and we all have something, will you take the next step? Or decide it’s not worth and just give up…
All you need to do is take that next step…
And the marathon becomes a matter of when, not if.
Keep on keeping on.
