Deciding to run a 26.2 mile course in a controlled time was not a natural choice for me. To say I was not the “athletic type” would be a serious understatement. On top of that, I hate to sweat. I mean it, I just do not like it even though I know it is great for me and for my skin, I just don’t like it. But the decision was made and commitments were given. Since I am a person of my word, there was no turning back. If you read my first post in this series you see how I was challenged to take on a full marathon: Lessons I learned : You need good shoes.
So here I am standing at the starting line with my new shoes. Now what? How on earth am I ever going to get to 26.2 miles when I can’t even get to ½ mile at this point. Seriously, when I started on this journey a ½ mile was a really big thing for me. From even my early years, I was never interested in sports, never liked attention, and preferred staying in-doors. Marathoning for me was marathon movie watching. Now, that I could get behind. But, that will not help me finish this goal.
The first thing you need to do after you get those shoes is set a plan up. Planning is something I love to do. Ask anyone who knows me well. I love to plan things and I often tell people “I can to be spontaneous! Just let me know in advance so I can plan for it.” I take to planning like a duck takes to water. Personally, I think it is a great skill to have and find it handy for all kinds of applications in life. I have even planned some wonderful vacation trips that I have yet to take, but the plans are all there.
So in order to create a plan you need to do the research. I read everything I could get my fingers on for running, endurance training, and articles interviewing endurance athletes. So, basically I went in search of advice from others who went before me. Of course, no one was just like me but their experiences gave me a great deal of guidance on how to design my plan.
Looking forward to the end goal, successfully completing a full marathon, seemed like an impossible dream. But, I ignored the end goal and focused on the smaller steps to get me there. I did not start out each training session wondering how I would ever go from a half of a mile to completing 26.2 miles. I started out each day looking at what the plan was for that day and followed it. I just kept doing that over and over until before I knew it, my training runs were 18 miles.
The planning guided me in making the impossible happen. I have the medals to prove it and while I no long participate in endurance sports, they remind me that what may seem like an impossibility can be achieved. Just make the plan and do it!
What do you want to achieve in your like that seems like an impossibility? For me, I know I have several things I would like to achieve and many plans I need to make to hit those goals.
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