On Oct. 27, I’ll run my eighth marathon. Whenever someone asks me, “What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?” or “What’s your biggest accomplishment?” I always reply, “Running a marathon.”
I don’t say, “Running my first marathon” or “Running the Miami Marathon” because while it’s the same distance, no two courses are alike and there are countless things that could go wrong in the span of 26.2 miles— things you plan for and things you don’t.
There’s no doubt that completing seven marathons in the span of 5.5 years has made me a better runner. What surprised me the most was how much it has helped in my professional life as a PR specialist.
Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned while training for marathons that I’ve applied to PR.
Have a plan.
Just like I don’t expect myself to wake up on Oct. 27 and run 26.2 miles without having spent 18 weeks preparing for the day, I’d never expect to launch a successful PR campaign without a carefully planned strategy. Always have a plan that will lead to your end goal. It helps to have smaller milestones throughout. In running, these smaller milestones (like running a 5K or half marathon race) act as something fun to work toward, and they break up the monotony of training solo. (For those interested, here’s the marathon training plan I’m using this year.)
Have a support crew.
Repeat after me: “I cannot do this alone.” Whether it’s someone senior you can use as a sounding board, a colleague that serves as your cheerleader, or someone helping you complete the grunt work, having a team is important. For 18 weeks over the summer and into early fall, my boyfriend is both my personal cheerleader and my water angel, often meeting me at the halfway point on long runs so I can replenish my water bottles. I couldn’t do it without him.
Do the work when you’re most productive.
When it comes to running, I’m a morning person. I hate running in the afternoon heat and would much rather spend my summer afternoon sipping on rosé with friends than preparing for an evening run. I also do all my writing in the morning when it’s quiet and my brain hasn’t yet been fried by a day of emails and crises. Do the work that will help you reach your goals during your most productive hours of the day.
Schedule everything else around your big goal.
Everyone in my life knows that during the 18 weeks leading up to a marathon, my long runs are priority. I’ve learned to say “no” to anything that will keep me from logging those big miles. I move things around when I need to, of course, but I know if I want that personal best on race day, I have to stay focused. Do what you can to prioritize the activities that will help you meet your big goal and learn to say “no” to things that will steal your time and attention.
Have a strategy to push yourself past “the wall.”
During this past weekend’s 14-miler, I hit a mental wall at mile 7. (Yes, 7.) My legs could move, but my brain was not down to run another seven miles home. Luckily, this isn’t the first time I’ve hit the proverbial wall, so I used the strategy that always works for me in that situation: I ran the miles in half- and one-mile increments to divert my brain’s attention away from the number seven and focus on smaller victories. Whenever I hit a wall during a project at work, I try to focus on smaller milestones to help push past the mental block.
Celebrate your milestones.
I’m not above giving myself a tiny pat on the back for a job well done. If it’s a fast, short run, I’ll take a moment to be proud of myself. But when it’s pushing through a tough, long run, I always celebrate with chocolate milk. It’s not something I usually drink, but love, so knowing that chocolate milk is at the end gives me the boost I need.
Be patient.
Marathoners aren’t created overnight and neither are successful PR campaigns. Plan accordingly, put in the hard work, and trust that things will fall into place.
Train for the downhills.
I made a huge mistake when I ran the Richmond Marathon in 2015. The first half of the course was sneakily downhill — and I didn’t train for it. I was on track for a huge personal record until the second half when my quads starting burning. My finish line photo was of me crying because it hurt so much. The lesson here is to look ahead to identify any potential roadblocks and then prepare for them.
Trust your training.
There are always going to be highs and lows whenever you’re trying to achieve something big, but trust that your strategy will get you to where you need to be. And if you need to adjust your strategy along the way, that’s OK. Trust that your experience and expertise will guide you in the right direction.
Learn from your mistakes.
With every marathon, I learn something new. Whether it’s how to better train for the next one (downhills!) or a more effective way to break past the wall, there’s always a lesson learned. Once you’ve achieved your goal, take the necessary time to look back and see where you made mistakes or where you could have done something better, so the next time, you’ll be better prepared — and deliver stronger results.
