About five years ago now, in a misguided attempt to make myself exercise through the winter, I signed up for a marathon. One with 4,000 feet in evaluation to climb no less and I had never run more than 9 miles in my entire life. I figured I would have no option but to haul my skinny ass outdoors on the regular basis. Oh how I was wrong.
Fast-forward to the big day and I had trained precisely 10 times and still have not run longer than 9 miles. Okay maybe a little bit more but not much. But here are a few things I learned along the way:
Rock your playlist. It’s a no-brainer that great music makes exercise more fun and inspires you. “Eye of the Tiger” comes on and I think Rocky only to get more inspired and run up that hill even faster. For some reason I love me some Adele when running as well.
Make sure you’ve made a long enough playlist to last the entire race and your phone is fully charged and ready to go the day of the marathon! I have had my phone die on my before during the race and that’s no fun.
You need as much fan support as you can get. This one’s especially important if you’re running alone, like I was, because there’s nothing like a familiar face to shame you out of quitting. Just don’t stop to talk – you ain’t got time for that.
Okay, so this is one of my weirder methods to get to the finish line, but bear with me: I always visualize a beautiful women screaming at me to keep going and NOT to give up. Just don’t be too disappointed when they are not at the finish line waiting for you.
All joking aside my last piece of advice is to remember to smile! It might seem tricky when you’re tired and achy, but I honestly felt like it was easier to run when I had a smile on my face telling myself I am doing something great. Or maybe the smiling tricks my brain into thinking I really love running? Give it a try. If all else fails, at least you’ll look great in the official photos.
Onward and upward my friends,
Stickboy