I just finished my second marathon, and honestly, I learned more in those 42 kilometers than I expected. It wasn’t just about running. It was like life decided to give me a crash course in perseverance, mindset, and what it really takes to finish something hard.
How it went down
Kilometers 0-10: Started nice and slow. Felt good, relaxed, just enjoying the whole thing.
Kilometers 10-20: Found my rhythm. Was running a bit faster than the people around me and feeling pretty confident.
Kilometers 20-30: Things started getting real. Went from running to jogging to walking. My body was sending me some serious warnings.
Kilometers 30-35: This was hell. Pure hell. My legs hurt with every single step I took. It wasn’t my heart or lungs – they were fine. It was my leg muscles screaming at me every time my foot hit the ground. My mind was bored, my body was done, and I just wanted to quit.
Kilometers 35-42: My brain went crazy. Every step hurt. But somehow I kept going forward, one foot in front of the other.
1. Just decide you’re going to finish
No matter how slow I was going or how bad I looked, I made up my mind. I was going to finish this thing. Didn’t matter how long it took or how many times I had to walk. I just just kept telling myself “I’m finishing this race, period.”
2. Pain is weird I like that
Here’s something crazy that happened. My legs were killing me and I was walking because I couldn’t run anymore. But then I thought “let me just try running again and see what happens and you know what? I ran for 2-3 kilometers straight when I was close to the finish.
The pain was real, but maybe I was making it worse in my head than it actually was. Makes me wonder how many times I’ve stopped doing things not because I actually couldn’t, but because I convinced myself I couldn’t
3. Your brain will try to talk you out of it
When I was exhausted and everything hurt, my mind got really creative with excuses. “You didn’t sleep enough last night, so take it easy.” “You have work tomorrow, don’t push too hard. “You’re just an office worker, you don’t need to prove anything.”
4. Think about who you want to be
When I ran out of motivation and energy, I had to dig deeper. I started thinking about the kind of person I want to become. Someone who’s fearless, who can handle anything, who doesn’t give up when things get hard.
To become that person, I had to prove to myself that I could finish this marathon no matter how much it hurt. It wasn’t about race anymore. It was about being who I want to be.
5. Life really is like a Marathon
At the beginning and middle of the race, I saw lots of people way ahead of me. But I kept running at my own pace, not rushing or sprinting. Slowly, I started catching up to some of them. Then when I got tired and sore, they got ahead of me again.
It hit me that this is exactly what life works. We shouldn’t judge others base on who’s “ahead” right now, because it’s a long game. The person doing better than you might not be in five years and with vice versa. What matters is being consistent and sticking to your own pace.
6. Stop comparing yourself to everyone else.
Everyone in that marathon had different goals. Some people just wanted to try their first marathon. Others wanted to beat their personal best. Some just wanted to finish without collapsing.
It’s pointless to compare how fast I’m running with someone next to me especially with your friends because we’re not even playing the same game. Same thing in life. Why compare your career to someone who want to climb the corporate ladder when your goal is to learn skills for your own business? We all want different things.