Running can be a life-changing activity, a passion, an outlet, sometimes (hopefully not often), it can even feel like a chore.  As many long-time runners can attest, running can also teach many lessons that are readily transferable to a wide array of life situations.  Some of these examples are encapsulated in the encouragement runcoach (like many other running coaches through history) gives you along your training journey.

Run through the Line

Running, belief, commitment, and a willingness to see the task to completion are crucial components to success.  Many times a premature decision to evaluate a project or a race midway through eliminates the chance to enjoy the fruits of your labor, or a change of fortune in the late stages of the race.  Marathoners go through rough patches, and can weather them and find success if belief and commitment are strong.  Many a start-up or a long term project has also gone through a dark season or two before things finally look up.  Commit to running the race until completion, and earn yourself the chance to enjoy the good that might still be possible.

Plan your rest days into the schedule

Although not every runner keeps the same schedule of rest vs. training days, every runner has a better chance of avoiding injury and training interruptions when they are able to plan regular rest into their schedule.  Try to push through when rundown, or ignore a nagging sore spot, and an unplanned, and much less convenient rest period might be just around the corner.  Similarly, a non-stop schedule of work and stress can often adversely affect our health.  Although we don’t always have control over our schedules, most would agree a balanced life includes times of planned relaxation and recharging for the next challenge.

A positive attitude makes an enormous difference

Life and running have their fair share of challenges and unanticipated roadblocks.  Depending on your perspective, many of these are temporary, and loom frighteningly large or completely manageable.  When you retain a fundamental belief that a viable path exists out of your current bind, and when you attack a problem with the belief that the problem has a knowable and doable solution, you have a much greater chance of success than when a defeatist attitude emerges first.  Get through that mid-race rough patch by reminding yourself of your training and the strength it has given you.  Pick your way through a tricky professional patch by relying on the skills that have brought you to that point.  Stay positive, and it will soon take the idea of giving up off the table.

Pace yourself

Life is a marathon, and not a sprint.  We say this because we understand that a marathon takes a great deal of patience, training, and learning to succeed.  We also understand that if you start out with a pace that throws caution to the wind, then your end result might be a bit unpleasant.  A life a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Stick to your plan, keep a steady, confident tempo, and arrive on time and in one piece, both in life and in the race.

Practice Makes Perfect

This saying, along with its cousin, “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect,” reminds us that it pays to consider our goals and to make sure we have rehearsed the requirements of the day as much as is possible beforehand.  Just like that important presentation or pitch, rehearsing your fueling patterns during your long run or embarking on routes similar in topography to your goal race will teach you how to flesh out the tricky parts and handle them more confidently.   We perform better when we can eliminate unknowns and focus on executing our plan.  Running long distances can be a great incubator for us to reinforce that habit.

There are many other sayings and phrases out there that encapsulate the similar challenges and successes we go through as runners in and out of our training shoes.  As runners, we are fortunate to have a great laboratory every day, and hopefully our lives are better for it even after we slip off our shoes.