Virginia Beach

Why Success is Like A Marathon

September 5, 2011 Michael Hicks Blog, 10

Well, we did it again: my wife Jan and I ran another half-marathon, this time at Virginia Beach, Virginia. This was our third half-marathon, and was by far the most challenging.

For those who may think we’re nuts, you’re probably right. That would be especially true for this race (well, “event” would be more appropriate for us, since we’re not racing against anything but exhaustion), because we didn’t have time to train for it like we did for the previous two we ran. Just as a hint: running 13.1 miles without some serious training is a Bad Idea.

Amazingly enough, my legs didn’t fall apart on me. I was deathly afraid that I’d have a recurrence of the shinsplints I got after we ran this race last year (note: shinsplints are amazingly, incredibly painful), and I’ve also had problems in the past with tendonitis in my left knee.

Jan, however, suffered problems with both knees. She’s been having issues with her left knee on shorter (3 miles or so) runs, and during the race that knee started hurting first, then the right one. And just to let ya know, Jan shrugs off pain that would make me curl up and bawl like a baby, so she was really, seriously hurting, and had to have both knees iced after the finish line.

But the real reason I’m telling you this isn’t to recap our run: it’s to tell you that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things if they set their minds to it. Jan and I both hated running, but we set ourselves a challenging goal of being able to run half-marathons, and we did it.

The life lesson is one that I’ve applied to my career, setting the challenging goal of leaving my relatively secure and well-paying day job to pursue my dream of being a full-time author. As the saying goes, it’s not the courage it takes to finish something, it’s the courage it takes just to start. And thanks to readers like you, I’ve been able to make that dream come true.

For me, that’s just the start. The other trick is to have the guts and endurance to stick it out like Jan did in this race. I say that because book sales aren’t guaranteed, and even though things have been quite bright thus far, I expect that there are going to be some tough times along the way, because that’s just life. But if I believe that if you stay focused and determined – and don’t give up – you’re going to succeed in the end.

Running, Success, Virginia Beach