Miles, Smiles and Meaning
Miles, Smiles and Meaning
The Marathon Requires More
There is more to the Marathon than simply running. To have a successful Marathon race requires training, discipline, meaning and support. Motivation is nice, but it is fleeting and can leave you when you need it most. It is as much art as it is science to properly align the multitude of elements and factors that influence the training cycle of the Marathon. It can feel cumbersome and overwhelming to orchestrate and coordinate everything that pieces together the beautiful mosaic of the training cycle.
The race itself only takes one day and is relatively easy to plan for. The race is on a Saturday morning so we’ll be arriving to the runners expo and packet pickup on the Friday before. The race itself will only take 5-6 hours and that includes arriving early to the starting chutes, the race itself (4hrs) and the follow on cool-down. Race Day is the Easy Day. It’s the 16 weeks of training that is difficult and as of today, I’m three weeks away from the start!
The 5 Love Languages : What’s that got to do with running?
I’m a veteran of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and during that time of 2003-2012 we had a multitude of deployments. These would put extreme strain on families and marriages as we’d be separated for months with deployments ranging form 6months to 15 months in length. As a result, the Army made a great decision to start investing into “Marriage Retreats” that focused on building resilient and strong marriages in a time of war. At one of our marriage retreats, the Chaplain introduced us to the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.
The theory is that everyone gives and receives love in 5 different ways.
Acts of Service
Gifts
Quality Time
Words of Affirmation
Physical Touch
Everyone places these in their own preferred order of importance and sometimes a couple’s order doesn’t align. For example, I show love with Acts of Service and Physical Touch, whereas my wife’s number one way to receive love is Quality Time. You see the disparity there, between how I am showing love and how she wants to be loved.
So what’s that got to do with running?
Simple: Quality Time.
Training for the Marathon takes time. Time on the track, time on the trail, time stretching and rehabbing. The 16-week training cycle takes time to plan, time to execute, time to eat and time to rest. I think my last training cycle I spent more time training with Robert and Dave than I did laying on the couch with my wife. Which, when viewed from the perspective of a runner in training is good, more training, less sitting. Yet from the perspective of growing and maintaining a strong marriage, I need quality time with my wife that doesn’t include running. Compromising my marriage for a race is not negotiable. Thus, when training for the Marathon you need support. Support from your spouse in the form of understanding. Not that I am running to get away from her, but running to be a stronger, healthier and better husband and father.
I’m lucky. My wife is supportive of my decision to train, for a second time. So as long as I ensure she gets the Quality Time she desires. Happy wife, happy life. It also helps she is a runner as well!
Support
As discussed above, support from the family is essential to a successful training cycle. Support from friends is needed, much appreciated and a catalyst for turning boring, uncomfortable, monotonous miles into conversations on life that distract from the pain.
“If you’re going to get captured by the enemy, be sure you get captured with a friend. Your odds of survival drastically increase if you have someone with you. Dealing with the fear, pain and overall shit of the situation is best when shared with a friend.” - PR Expert.
When you’re going through hell, keep going! It’s also better to go through it with a friend by your side. When life gets tough or unbearable, it’s those people who choose to help you through that end up being the best of friends. The principle behind this is no different when it comes to running.
Having a couple of friends who will keep you accountable, log those long miles with you or push you hard on those tempo runs is a game changer. My last training cycle I ran a lot of miles, almost all of them with friends. This next 16-week training cycle will be tough, I’m glad I’ve got friends there trudging forward with me.
The Plan
You MUST have a plan! The idea of just “winging it” or “Fuck it” will not suffice. I’m not just talking about the running plan either. You need to have a plan for when it’s 2:30pm and the last time you ate was at 7am and that Double Bacon Cheeseburger is singing like a siren at you, fooling you into believing it’s safe harbor, when in fact it will derail you and destroy you. You need to have a plan for when it starts raining, or when it’s dark, for the heat and humidity. Will you be static or dynamic when adjusting to the inevitable hurdles that are bound to approach?
My running plan is being developed by Coach Amy Brown of https://www.runwithyourheart.net/ She’s an accomplished runner with multiple Boston Finishes and has an extensive background in running. Most importantly she’s around my age, a parent and works. Being able to have a coach that understands those dynamics when training for the Marathon helps. She is developing a 16-week training plan that will include track work, tempo runs, long-runs, strength training and anything else that will help in my goal of a sub 4hr Marathon.
Why? What is the purpose? What is the meaning behind all of this?
You’ve got to have a reason to commit. Without conviction and a passion to achieve set out goals, you will falter. Why set the goal of running the Marathon? Is it to be in the true 1% of the world or maybe it’s more personal. What was the purpose behind choosing 26.2miles as the goal or a sub 4-hour finish as the goal? What is the meaning behind all this running?
To complete the Marathon is a commitment. A commitment to the plan, the goal, to your friends and most importantly to yourself. Running is not about racing against someone else or competing with another runner. Running is a competition within yourself. Do you have the ability to do better today than you did yesterday? Do you have the patience to actualize delayed gratification through discipline and consistency? Do you have the will power to continue, when it seems difficult?
I’ve posted many times my “why” or my purpose behind this decision. I run because I can. It’s that simple. Why choose a Marathon? Because it’s not easy. What is the meaning behind all of this? To live a life of action, of movement and interaction with my fellow man. To use the faculties allocated to me by God to do good in this world.
Miles & Smiles
It’s simple, in this life you should do the things that make you happy. Running with my friends make me happy, it makes my life better. Thus, I choose to run. I choose to race and I choose to be involved in my run club. Be sure to smile when running, it makes the journey a little better and can change your mood and attitude.
I’m THREE weeks out from the beginning of this training cycle and I feel this will be the best one yet. In this cycle I’ll be running in North Carolina, Utah, Kansas and New Hampshire. Completing the City of Oaks Half Marathon and the Tuna200 again. Miles upon miles with my friends leading up to 20 or more of us running the Richmond Marathon.
It’s a great journey, that’s about to begin.