So why do we train for marathons? Because training for a marathon is a great way to recharge your life by making changes that will last. Oddly enough, training for a marathon can affect and improve every area of our life, if you let it.
Training for a marathon will get you up and get you moving. Provided you commit to your training and to the process, you WILL get up and move. Every day you will be intentional about your training, whether it be a run day or a rest day. You will teach your body how to live a consistently active lifestyle. The benefits? The benefits of getting up and getting moving are: more energy, a more positive outlook and better health to name a few.
Training for a marathon will challenge you in all areas of your life. From the way you spend your time, the way you do your job and the way you relate to your family and friends - all areas will be affected. In addition to feeling better physically, training for a marathon requires a lot of mental power. When you shift from taking care of others without much thought about yourself to taking care of you so that you can help take care of others when they need it, there tends to be a process of self examination that we all must walk through and evaluate. When you allow this process to work in your life, the result is a better you. It is strange that this occurs during the course of marathon training, but it does. The time spent on your feet training, is a wonderful opportunity to learn all kinds of things about yourself.
Training for a marathon with a group adds fun and friendships. Training for a marathon with a group like ours is the best! We have continued Marathon Makeover year after year because of the power of the group. When you come together with others who are after the same thing - a life change - and are working towards a similar goal, it is much easier to succeed and a whole lot more fun. I have done long runs by myself. It can be done. I have done long runs with my friends and with my Marathon Makeover team. I prefer the group run over the solitary run, hands down!
But why a marathon over just getting out there and running? Because some of us need a big, huge goal staring at us to get us up and moving every day. Because there is something about accomplishing a physical goal under your own power and being able to look back and say, "I did that." It not only gives us motivation to get up and get our training done, it also gives us something to look back on, like a benchmark, and say, "I did that, so I can do _______." It is a victory that no one can take away that you can carry with you into the future to motivate you in other areas of your life.
I stated earlier that my reasons for training for and running marathons are very personal. It is a person thing because it has made such an amazing difference in my life. When I started training for my first marathon, I had to dig deeper than I ever had before. This brought about an opportunity to get to know myself better and learn all kinds of things - about myself, others and life, in general. As I continue to train, I continue to learn and grow. Running helps me deal with daily stress, it gives me more energy, it gives me time to think (sometimes a rare thing for all of us) and provides much needed perspective.
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| My daughter, Anna, me and my running buddy, Pam before the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon. |
The opportunity to train for a marathon came into my life at a very busy time. I was a wife, mother and business owner. I was tired and I was overwhelmed and I was going to train for a marathon. Crazy? Maybe. But it has made me a better wife, a better mother, a better person and now I am doing something that I love and am helping to bring similar changes to the lives of all kinds of people. It isn't always easy, but it is always worth it.
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