Running The Extra Mile

As some of you know, I have just completed my first marathon. I attended the 40^th Ottawa Race Weekend. What a trip.

When I first decided to sign up for the race, Ottawa was still covered in meters of snow. I remember sitting in front of my computer on a January morning, sipping my coffee in my winter robe. I kept on glancing outside wondering how I was going to train for my first marathon in a great Canadian winter. Stubbornly enough, I convinced myself that it was a great idea and that the challenge was accepted. Once I decided in my mind that I was going to do it, there was no turning back, no matter how bad it might get. So, I went out and bought the Runner’s World Big Book of Half-Marathon and Marathon training guide. I started by reading the introduction, but flipped immediately to the appendix where I would find the training schedule. As a former student-athlete, it was always something I wanted to have in front of me. Whether it was my schedule for two-a-days in pre-season or my spring training schedule, I always wanted to know what I was getting myself into. It was never a deterrent, even if it demanded a great deal of time, dedication, commitment and passion. I couldn’t believe the mileage I would be doing for the next 20 weeks. Running 4-5 days a week was no small task. These runs included yasso 800s, short runs, hills, sprints, time trials and of course long Sunday runs. This may not mean much to some of my readers, but let me tell you this, training for a marathon isn’t simple lacing up your shoes and getting out there. It takes preparation, commitment to your logistics and constant trial and error.

As you develop yourself a “running brand”, you have to go through many obstacles in the first few weeks. My challenges varied. I had to get used to changing speeds as I ran, monitor my hydration and making sure I felt full enough to run long-distances. I think my toughest challenge was getting up every Sunday morning at 5:30 am in the winter cold weather to complete my 15 to 22 mile runs before I had to head to work for 11am.  In the end, it was worth it.

I arrived Sunday morning to my race and felt ready. The night before, I did what most runners do, carb load with two large plates of spaghetti with a small splash of tomato sauce. I slept a full 7 hours and woke up ready to take on the day. As I crossed the starting line, I knew that I had to risk everything I had done 20 weeks prior to race day in order to finish my 42.2km race. As I ran each kilometer, I basked in the beauty that surrounded me. Ottawa is a great city to run in, but the people are what really took my breath away. Marathon runners may be some of the most resilient and determined athletes I have ever encountered. The physical preparation, mental toughness, psychological and emotional preparation are imperative for these runners. And it is those who stick to their training plan that succeed, no matter what the time they finish. I was happy with my preparation, but what I was most grateful for was the people that showed up that day to cheer me on. I had friends and family that cheered me along the way. I have to give a special thanks to my dad. He had ran in the Boston Marathon a month before and decided not to run the Ottawa Race Weekend this year. But he found me at different points of the race and ran by my side. It was such a great surprise and such a source of my inspiration. My almost 60-year-old father was running as though it was destined for him to do so. He is such a graceful runner. I am lucky to have such inspiring parents that have always showed me the value of doing sports and committing to my goals. Although it felt amazing to finish such a race, it was the journey that really made it worth the while.

Here are 5 lessons I learned during my marathon training:

1. The first few weeks are going to be tough. Running 4-5 a week is no easy task, so stick with it. In a few weeks, running will become a pleasant part of your schedule.

2. Get to know your body. Any runner will tell you that aching knees will be the least of your worries. Long distant runners know that there is so much you discover about your body during training.

3. Have faith that you can finish. Whether it is completing a 5k run or a 32km run, have faith in yourself and your training that you can finish.

4. Give yourself a round of applause after every Sunday run. I know that each Sunday was such a rewarding run because I pushed myself to a new high. Give yourself a round of applause as you finish your LSD (Long Slow Distance) run. On race day, I remember doing the same as I crossed the finish line.

5. Enjoy the journey. This goes for your training and race day. It doesn’t matter how many people you pass or may pass you, the point of it all is to enjoy what you have been through the past few weeks and the 42.2km you will be clocking that day.

Whether you are thinking about running a 5k run or a marathon, commit to your goal. You can do it. Find inspiration around you, but above all find inspiration within you. Each run is an opportunity to dig deep and get to know you on a whole new level. I know at the end of my training and race, I had a newfound respect and appreciation for myself. Visualization is key. If you can see yourself completing your running event in the mind, it will manifest itself in the body. No matter what obstacles or challenges you may face, know that at the end of the road is success, sense of accomplishment and profound respect for yourself and others like you who have committed to their goal.

Purpose

I firmly believe that purpose is the key element to any goal or dream. Anything worth pursuing has to have purpose because even when your journey takes you off the well-worn path, purpose will keep your dream, goal and yourself in check. I thought for this post I would talk about my journey. Using oneself as an example to explain something so difficult to define.

I recently graduated from my masters in conflict studies. Excited to take on the world, I find myself applying for jobs, internships, emailing people I respect and admire for advice and plotting a way to enter the world of development. Most people that I know would describe me as an audacious and resilient individual. I refuse to quit. While it’s a tough process to enter my field, I will make it. Why? Because I know that I have purpose behind my pursuit. I have a passion for this world. I see how much good and potential we have in this world. It’s not about just about making a paycheck, settling down and working to accumulate enough funds for retirement. While that may be a beautiful goal for some, I know I need more. I want to see change because I believe it exists. I want to have an impact on people’s lives as many have had on my own. I am looking for an opportunity to work with a dynamic team that creates and implements innovative, effective and sustainable programs. Whether it is to create better political governance or helping a community to rebuild the fabric of society, being part of a greater journey than your own is exciting, refreshing and encouraging. I believe that having the right kind of energy, a refreshing vision and the willingness to seek something you truly want is the greatest journey one can go through. And I have seen the outcomes manifest themselves in my own life.

Whether it was getting a NCAA Division 1 scholarship to play the sport I love while pursuing my degree or graduating magna cum laude in my masters, I know that having purpose is what got me there even when times were tough and felt as though all odds were against me. As I seek an opportunity to start my career, I remind myself daily that this is my way of contributing to a stronger global community. The bigger the goal, the bigger journey. You have to really commit. My friend Kelly once told me that in order to gain more than we have today, we must risk everything that we have done so far. She told me that in college and it became part of my mantra for my vision and my journey. So, to all the people who are truly pursuing what they want in life, keep going! You are not alone on this journey. Know that your resilience speaks volumes and that time is the only thing that stands between you today and your destination.  Pursue your dreams. Remain resilient and patient. And above all, live with purpose.

Take the Plunge

Here I am four weeks after completing my masters. I am left with a greater depth of understanding about conflict yet my questions seem to have tripled in the last two years. There is so much to learn; yet you can never truly understand anything in its entirety. But you can commit yourself to become knowledgeable about a topic that interests you. For me, it was conflict, but more so peace. I took two years to attempt to understand the breadth of the concept, and what I was left with was more questions. I took the plunge into a topic I knew would be difficult to wrap my head around, yet even after reading about the difficulty of defining it, let alone bringing into fruition after a conflict, I still believe in its potential. I see the opportunity to expand our knowledge and comprehension about the concept of peace. There lies an unshakeable potential in peace, one that neither war no fear can sustain.

Peace is such an interesting concept because it can manifest itself however an individual, community or nation conceives it. Our ability to create and build it empowers us to define through our context. Finding I,t building it, maintaining it or monitoring it are all vehicles we used to achieve peace. I remember putting up a sticky note in my planner at the beginning of my masters of a quote I believed to be true. Truth created by my own social construction, environment and people I had met thus far in my life. “The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.” I believe Dag Hammarskjold realized the potential and the challenges that face the idea of peace. Whether the battle is within or between people, the pursuit should never be abandoned. Set backs are inevitable, yet they can sometimes shed some light to a better path.

I have now graduated and still seek more knowledge and understanding about this concept, this idea of peace. I see potential in the young professionals, my elders and in every place I have travelled or lived in. By opening your eyes and seeking more knowledge and understanding, you open many doors of opportunities to connect with people, enable yourself to look past your fears and seek a deeper understanding of the world, but above all yourself. Fear is inevitable, but have the courage to take the plunge, because the next time you decide to, it will feel like its second nature.