London Marathon and Changes

After watching the London Marathon in April, I was pondering how training and running the London Marathon changed my belief about my capabilities. I took the challenge of running the London Marathon in 2010. Prior to this, I couldn’t even run straight for 5 minutes without stopping. Training for and completing the Marathon helped me to have greater self- awareness and taught me about resilience and helped me to understand the power of our minds. I would like to share with you my 4 insights running the London Marathon taught me about change and confidence.

1. Running 26.2 miles takes a lot of training. This meant the big C, yes, Commitment! Training 4 times a week running in all weather, rain sleet and snow. Whatever you want to change in your life requires commitment.

2. Some of us are great at initiating change and have bags of energy and enthusiasm especially at the beginning, but lack the tenacity to see change through to completion. As Hallie Gebrselassie ,who won 2 Olympic Gold medals and had world records running the Berlin Marathon  said “ Anyone can run 20 miles it’s the last 6.2 miles that count “and how right he was! This tenacity comes from digging in deep when the going gets tough and reminding yourself of why you are running this marathon or making this change.

3. Break down any goal into manageable tasks. No one in their right mind would try and run 26.2 miles on their first day. We need to have a plan and we need to focus on what needs to take place in order to get to where we want to go.

4. Your mind can be your friend or foe. When you are trying to make changes, our minds have this uncanny knack of telling us things that are simply just not true. When I got to mile 24 I was spent, my mind was telling me “to give up you can’t do anymore” but I knew I couldn’t give up when I was so close. I pushed through and dug in deep and ran the last 2. 6 miles. So, when making changes, have discernment and let your mind be your ally. As Henry Ford once famously said “if you believe you can’t, you can’t and if you believe you can, you can”