You Gotta Run Thru It!
I have just released the opening episode of my fifth season with the podcast Break Some Dishes and thought I would share something I learned in those interviews. In the episode "Good Neighbors Make Good Rebels" https://megaphone.link/SNW9795777011 we talked to two people who were taking on a chemical company. It's not something anyone woke up and decided to do. It's not on my bucket list, I know that. But these two citizens found themselves in a fight and decided not to walk away. They weren't activists and they weren't even environmentalists. But unbeknownst to them, they were rebels. They discovered something very important. To achieve something great, you often have to leave your comfort zone. This is a valuable life lesson, and one that I inadvertently learned training for marathons...
I have been a runner for the better part of 30 years now. Longer if you count running from dogs growing up in West Virginia. In that time, I have run 9 marathons and 6 half marathons. It feels like more than that, and honestly, I was a little disappointed when I sat down and actually counted my races. Damn honest journalism.
More important than those numbers though, is what you learn by trying to run a 26.2-mile road race. I’m beyond joyful that I’ve managed to run a half marathon with each of my 4 children. I would not trade those memories in for anything. Even more medals. And I’m happy to say my most recent half marathon, with my youngest child, was just this past October. So, I’ve still got a little gas in the tank, although the tank seems to have gotten a little bit bigger.
Many of the lessons you learn training for a marathon apply to life. I realized this when I was training with my youngest. I told her that part of her training would be to train our bodies to run through discomfort. You see, during a good portion of a half marathon, depending on your pace, you’re going to be uncomfortable. Your body has a natural reaction. When you feel uncomfortable, you stop doing what you’re doing and rest until you’re comfortable again. The key in training is to show your body that there’s nothing wrong with being uncomfortable. You show your brain that it’s okay to keep running when you really want to puke or lie down in the road or sit on the curb and cry. Once your brain learns to ignore those feelings, or compartmentalize them until after the race, you’ve learned how to run through discomfort. It’s a really cool thing.
And the other day, when I was thinking about my decision to focus on my passion, our planet’s battle with climate change, it occurred to me that I had run through my discomfort. I had managed to work through all those stupid voices that tell you not to. I had ignored all that common sense and forged ahead anyway and learned how to operate in a state of discomfort. I have learned that this is how you grow and evolve. But it’s much easier to listen to the voices and stay in your lane. There are no lanes in a marathon! You have good miles where you're glad you decided to run, and you have bad miles where you feel like you made another very poor decision. I'm sure Marty Schneider and Karry King, our citizen activists in episode 1 felt the same way.
Those voices, the ones that tell you it’s important how many likes you get, or that you shouldn’t try something you haven’t done before because you’ll fail and embarrass yourself or you shouldn’t share your thoughts. Those voices are just trying to get you back into your comfort zone. Learn to ignore them and run through them. I think that’s the single most important thing I’ve learned from running marathons and making change. Now, who wants to run the next one with me?
