Just a little more than a week ago, I finished my first marathon. It was a thrilling experience largely due to the unbeleivable sense of accomplishment. That said, I did not finish without some problems. About mile three, I felt a hamstring start to heat up and by mile 5 and 1/2, my entire right leg was in full revolt, lit up from my rear end all the way down to my ankle. At that point, I simply was not physically able to continue running and I had to stop and walk.
My first thought was that I really wasn't sure I would be able to do another 21 miles. As I walked, I considered my options and once I had a calm head, I realized that my training had prepared me to deal with problems during the race. First thing to remember, it's not supposed to be easy, after all, it's a marathon. Second thing to remember, in the months of training, I had similar problems and was able to work through them. Third thing to remember, I never ever planned on winning the marathon, all I had to do was finish.
After about a mile to a mile and a half, I tried a light jog and found that I could manage that. A little while later, I found that I could get back to a slow run but I slowed my overall pace by about 10% to 20%. With these adjustments and a plan to run about 3 to 4 miles at a time followed by a half mile to a mile of walking for the duration, I was able to complete the marathon in 5:31:24. Considering the difficulties I was having, I was thrilled with that time.
I never could have accomplished this at all without a plan. Starting out, I knew very little about marathons and even less about training for marathons. Luckily, I knew a physical trainer who knew a lot about training and he put together a training schedule for me that lasted several months.
I guess I could have put together some sort of marathon training plan on my own but I certainly would not have known the most efficient way to do it. Also, I'm not sure that a plan I put together could have prepared me for what to do if things went awry, as this plan did. I'm a pretty smart guy but that simply isn't my area of expertise.
Today, it seems that "do it yourself" is all the rage. Everyone pumps their own gas. Many people prefer to go through self serve check-out lines. There are tons of books and videos and internet sites dedicated to helping us do things ourselves. And while I have to admire a certain self reliance, I also think that (especially in my case), it can be easy to become a jack of all trades and master of none.
We hear all the time about setting goals. Setting this goal is crucial to knowing where you are going BUT to accomplish this goal, you have to follow up with a plan. And sometimes, your best chance for success is working with someone who already has some expertise in this area. For a physical challenge, it may be a physical trainer; for a business challenge, it may be a businessman or a CPA; for a legal challenge, it may be an attorney and of course for a real estate project, it may be a real estate broker. Certainly, you may be able to do it on your own, but it may also be that your best chance for success is to have someone with that expertise give you a hand. Food for thought.
Have a great day, all.
David
David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY 40299
BTW - if you need any help with real estate, give me a call. I specialize in Commercial Real Estate and work with Landlords, Tenants, Buyers, Sellers and Investors. I handle Office, Industrial, Land, Investment and Retail properties. I am licensed in KY and IN. OR, if you just want to shoot the breeze about marathon training, I am open to that as well.
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