Perseverance

If I had to name one thing that long-distance running has taught me, it would be perseverance. Perseverance is defined as “steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.”

In my first year of running, my goals were to run a race every month, to complete a 5k in less than 30 minutes and to complete a 10k race.

And it was a challenge. Dedicating a day once a month to go out and run as hard as I could, usually for a 5k, was not easy.

The 10-kilometer distance was particularly troublesome. I was so close to completing 10k one day in February so I pushed myself to finish and found I’d hurt my knee. The injury forced me dial everything back a couple notches that Spring and some of Summer.

I did manage to complete a 5k in under 30 minutes that April though. And most importantly I stuck with it.

The second year, 2017, I decided was the year of the half marathon.

Suddenly I was going from running an hour at the most to having to run for more than two hours.

My first half was in April in Olathe. Most training plans are three to four months long, which meant I was out running through the heart of winter.

During the race, I discovered my training plan wasn’t exactly sufficient and I found myself running out of gas a few miles from the finish line. So I bore down and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. And I crossed the finish line — I could barely walk afterward — but I did it! And only a few minutes slower than my goal.

Then I did the same thing for my half in October, except this time it was the heat of summer.

I selected a different training plan for that race, one with a significantly higher number of miles. The plan for the first race averaged around 50 miles per month, under the new plan I logged more than 170 miles during the peak month.

Make no mistake, there were days I didn’t want to do it. It was raining, it was windy, I wanted to stay in bed, there’s a heat index of 105!

But again I stuck with it and on race day I crushed it! I even finished a few minutes faster than my goal. I had persevered.

And I’d like to think that trait has carried over into other aspects of my life. You’ve likely heard the saying “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” applied to any number of life situations. Since becoming a distance runner, that saying has taken on new significance and I often think about it. In a sprint, you take out as fast as you possibly can because there’s an only a short way to go. But a lot of training for the longer races is teaching yourself to know how hard you can push for an extended time.

There are too many examples in my past of things I’ve given up when the going got rough. But this new little hobby of mine has helped give me a new outlook on life.

Now when the going gets rough I know to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and know there are better times ahead, maybe just over that hill!

And speaking of marathons, I decided I’m going to go for my first full marathon (26.2 miles!) this April. So I’m already a couple weeks into the new training plan. I’m using the same method as I did for the second half, and the mileage is starting to rack up.

But boy has it been cold! My run on Friday morning was five miles. When I walked out the door the weather said it was 10 degrees with a windchill of minus 5! Ice literally forms on my facemask and eyelashes!

It’s crazy, but I love it! One foot in front of the other.