I ran my first marathon last week. It’s a big accomplishment especially because I will become 50 years old next month. As I’m ending the first half of my life, I gained huge confidence for the second half.
I learned a couple of lessons from running a marathon. In this article, I will not talk about planning or perseverance. Of course, they are the requirements but that’s not what I newly awakened.
I want to share my philosophical awakening and a practical tip that I discovered while I was recovering.
Philosophical Awakening
Two different responses to my attempt to run a marathon
I told several people that I would run a marathon in December. Then, I received two different responses. It goes like this:
- “Why do you go to Honolulu next week?”
- “I will run the Honolulu Marathon.”
The first response was said in a nervous and surprised voice:
- “Oh my god! O- okay” or
- “How many miles is it?” or
- “Well, I don’t know why people do that”.
They had different values or they were just overwhelmed by the concept of humans running 26 miles or 42 km. Even if they didn’t intend it, they weakened my will. Actually, during my training, I had a couple of moments when I doubted myself. I hit the wall a couple of times and almost gave up. When I heard their responses, I felt weaker. In a split second, it gave me relief and allowed me to make excuses to avoid it. It was such a temptation.
The second response was said in a confident and cheering voice:
- “Good luck and enjoy it.” or
- “Don’t forget to drink a lot of water.” or
- “I will lend you my marathon medals. Take them with you.”
They are the people who have been there and done that several times. Their voice sounded like a solid rock. They know what is required to finish a marathon and they believed that I could do it too. As soon as I conversed with them, my energy was shifted in a different level. I felt undeniable power and support. And, to be honest, I felt pressure at the same time. But, it’s a good pressure. The bottom line is that I cannot give up. I needed the uplifting pressure more than the relieving feeling coming from making excuses.
Use discernment on what topic you should talk about.
After finishing the marathon, I realized how much their trust supported me. Instead of talking with them, if I had only talked with the people who gave up or never tried a marathon, I would have a different result now.
I should have used my discernment about what and with whom I should speak. Everybody has strength and weakness. My conversation should bring out their strength. Then, it will empower us together. I shouldn’t talk about something that triggers their weakness. It was my fault to talk about running a marathon to the people who would doubt it.
The same principle applies to my work environment. If we have a goal, we have to choose the right people to work and communicate with. I should surround myself with the people who trust me and empower my dream. That should be the first criteria when we choose which company or organization we work for. Leaders in our company or organization should be the people whom we want to become. If the leaders are not our role model and they don’t empower us, then we should make a plan to find the right team. That’s my first awakening.
Jim Valvano, a basketball player, once said, “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, HE BELIEVED IN ME.”
Jim Valvano (1946-1993), American college basketball player and broadcaster
Practical Tip
My second lesson is more like a practical tip about how to quickly recover from fatigue and restore energy.
While I was in training, I thought if I did nothing, it would recover my body automatically. At one point, my weekly running mileage became over 20 miles (over 32 km). I was suffering not only from physical fatigue but also from mental tiredness. When I finished my daily training, I avoided moving at all the rest of the day. I thought that’s the best way to recover. I just worked in front of my computer. Then, I hit the wall and suffered a lot at the time.
The key to recovery is blood circulation.
Later, I learned that we need oxygen, nutrients and water to recover from fatigue. We can drink water frequently to provide water and we need to improve blood circulation to provide our muscles and joints with enough oxygen and nutrients.
If we eat and drink properly, then the key to recovery is blood circulation. If we don’t move our body, it slows down the circulation. When I looked back on my training, not moving was my biggest mistake which I will never repeat. And I discovered that the best way to circulate blood for me is WALKING.
Two auxiliary blood pump – calves
Our heart is the main pump to circulate blood throughout our body. But it’s not the only pump. Calf muscles also work as blood pumps. When we walk, the calf muscles squeeze the deep leg veins and push the blood that rests in reservoirs in calves toward the heart. And the leg veins have one-way valves so it prevents the blood from flowing downward when squeezed. This system is similar to our heart which is composed of valves and contracting muscles. So, it’s referred to as the “peripheral heart”. See the image below.
So, when we walk, we literally turn on two backup pumps and accelerate the blood circulation. Isn’t it amazing?
How long does it take for the blood to circulate through the entire vascular system?
My reference book said that it takes less than 90 seconds for the blood to circulate through all of the blood vessels. And it said that each cell in our body gets fresh blood once every few minutes or less.
When I searched on the internet, LiveScience.com says that it takes about 20 seconds for blood to travel through the entire circulatory system.
Whether it’s 90 seconds or 20 seconds, it sounds like it circulates very quickly. The blood in my veins and arteries flows like a jet stream. The alive body works so hard under the skin. We should acknowledge its efforts more often.
Not moving is laboring.
After understanding this fact, I realized that not moving is laboring. It gives a huge burden on our heart. Driving for hours, sitting in the airplane for hours, sitting in front of the computer for hours, all of them are laboring works. Especially driving or computer work requires more blood in our brain and if our heart works alone, it will be a laborious task.
Moving muscles properly, especially moving calf muscles will relieve the labor from the heart.
How did I recover after the race? I walked every 30 minutes.
During the race, I suffered from cramping in my right hamstring and the pain in my right hip joint. When I finished it, my big toes were swollen. The nails color turned purple and they became twice as big so I couldn’t wear shoes. The next day, I wore flipflops when we flew back to Kauai.
The most painful moments were when I just woke up and when I just finished eating. I assume that our body, especially our heart becomes most relaxed while we sleep or eat. When I tried to move after that, I needed extra energy to ignite movements.
To recover after the race, I set a timer to go off every 30 minutes. Then, I walked for a few minutes every half hour. I didn’t allow my body to sit still for more than 30 minutes while I was awake.
My body recovered quicker than I expected. After two days, I could wear shoes and went out for my morning walk. After four days, I could jog for 3 miles as I managed my aches and pains. In a week, I felt completely recovered and started indoor cardio workouts.
Still I want to give a couple of more weeks for my internal organs and deep muscles to recover before I begin my next training. I’m so happy that I found out the best way to restore my energy.
Conclusion
This is my two lessons that I learned from running a marathon.
I hope you enjoyed my sharing and get some useful information from my experience.
