Now for those that know me I’m not a super focused goal setter, but if I get a crazy idea in my head I sometimes chase it down with bulldog tenacity. Well the thought, decision & commitment to run a marathon was one of those.
* I entertained the thought – This is where actions seem to be born and in my experience the more you entertain a thought the more likely you are to act on it. This can be good or bad e.g. entertaining the thought of a more active lifestyle is so much better for me than entertaining the thought about that yummy looking cake in the tea room… 🙂
* I made a decision – Not so profound as a light bulb moment, but I simply decided that I wanted to run a marathon. Wanting to do something good for yourself will often lead to a decision to do it.
* I committed to it – telling everyone you are going to do something is a good way to up the stakes. Now I’m not just accountable to my thought or decision. I told ‘everyone’, so now I have plenty of supporters to encourage me when circumstances or motivational struggles make staying committed tough.
Now before this reflection goes for too long here are some stats looking back over my 13mth marathon preparation (according to Garmin)
and just for interest sake – the 166,841 calories I burned is equivalent to 3,148 cups of chopped raw carrots … or … 364 cups (same size as the carrots) of hot chips. That would only be one medium cup of chips each day for a year to wipe out 13mths of marathon training … or … 224 hrs of cardiovascular training … or … running 2,348 kilometers . That’s just calorie counting – we haven’t even looked at the shocking differences in nutritional value !!
– Craig
by Craig