You know, I never actually wrote down what I learned training for and running the marathon. I had a note on my phone for a while as I would pick up nuggets I wanted to keep with me, but that note is long gone and I've only got one blog post to say for. So, as I now sit on the other side of 1,000 miles run in 2023, here's what I can remember learning along the way.
I remember realizing that it wasn't just my marathon; it was our collective marathon, and no one was running it alone. It was during our 18-mile run that started at Mile 20 of the marathon course and went to Mile 11 and back to Mile 20. Someone was stretching their calf on the curb at some point, and I remember asking if he was alright, and he said he was good. Something so simple like that made me realize we were all in this together, and no one was training or running alone. That was really cool.
There were little moments in training where the coach would ask everyone to raise their hand if they were about to embark on the longest run of their life. I raised my hand twice in training, and the immediate "holy shit, this is about to be the longest run of my life" feeling made it seem so simple.
And it really WAS that simple. I mean, sure, running 26.2 miles at once, or running 1,000 miles in a year isn't simple, but you're just running. Even the morning of the marathon, I had told Hannah, it's just another run. And of course it wasn't. Of course it was remarkably spectacular and something I'll always cherish. But from the perspective of the physical endeavor, it was just another run. Only 6.2 miles longer than something I had done less than a month ago.
The actual bigest thing I learned in training was that, over the course of a marathon, you have a LOT of time to work through things. Something might feel achy, something might feel tight or tweaky, something might feel sore...you've got more than enough time to sort yourself out. And every single time, it did. The ache or tightness or soreness would go away, either because my body warmed up, I became acclimated to it, or I straight up forgot something was bothering me in the first place. And honestly, that learning applies to life so hard now. We have a LOT of time to work through things in life. Work might not be perfect; relationships and friendships might not be perfect; whatever is going on in life might not be perfect; but we've got more than enough time to sort ourselves out.
And the biggest thing I learned in running 1,000 miles was that it really was as simple as showing up. Today is the 344th day of the year, and I've run on 184 of those days. I could take the rest of 2023 off and would still run on over 50% of the calendar. One out of every two days. That means you run when it's cold, or windy, or rainy, or raining, or downpouring, or snowing, or early, or late, or dark, or you're hungover, or you're hungry, or you're thirsty, or your back hurts, or you're tired, or you're sore, or you straight up just don't feel like running. Showing up is all it took, because I knew I would come out the other side. Every run I've ever had, I've come out the other side. My fingers always start to warm up after 2-3 miles. My body starts to figure itself out after 4-5 miles of a long run. Gels help. Water helps. Slowing down helps. Chasing people down helps. The right song at the right time helps. Emptying the tank at the end of the run helps. For all these things that help, for all the times when I need help...you always come out the other side. Every step is another one closer to the parade. But you gotta show up.
