Hello Colleagues whenever or wherever you are. Welcome to the Joyful Attorney Podcast. I’m your host, Professional Certified Coach and Practicing Attorney Laura Kelley. 

How do you know if someone’s run a marathon? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you. Much like vegans, Crossfit, Peloton, and Keto, marathon runners have a tendency to be very vocal about their lifestyle. There are very few ‘stealth’ marathon runners out there. 

And because I ran the Miami Marathon this past Sunday, I’m going to talk about running a marathon. But before you skip this episode, I’m going to talk about how training for and running a marathon is the same process you can use for leveling up…whatever that means to you. I’m not going to talk about the tedium and pain that is running for 4 and a half hours nonstop…much. I promise that even if you only run if something’s chasing you, you can get something out of this episode. 

First, how you run a marathon is how you do everything. One step at a time. All big projects and goals are just a series of small steps.

Eliminate “I can’t” or “I could never” from your vocabulary. Whenever a client tells me that they can’t do something, I like to ask “why would you limit yourself with that belief?” You can. You may not want to, but you can. Think about a goal that you would like to accomplish, but at some point somewhere someone told you or you told yourself that you can’t do it. So you stopped. Or you delayed. I don’t know what it is, but if you can dream it, you can do it. I remember I used to say “except for becoming an astronaut, at our age that ship has sailed.” But look at Jeff Besos and Richard Branson - or the close friends of Jeff Besos and Richard Branson who got to travel with them. Who knows what possibilities exist when we stop believing “I can’t.” We are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine, but we don’t give ourselves the chance because we are afraid. Afraid that it may hurt. Afraid to fail. What if that kind of fear is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real? Fear is information. Are you at risk of serious physical injury or death in the immediate future? No, then embrace the fear. Feel the fear. And do the thing anyway. At one point I was running next to a man with cerebral palsy. There were multiple people in wheelchairs, some pushing themselves and some being pushed. There is no “I can’t.”

Constraint. Constraint means to focus on one thing at a time. I highly suggest that we focus on one project or goal at a time. Trying to do too much all at once is a recipe for burnout and overwhelm. When it comes to marathon training, it’s best to focus entirely on improving your running ability as opposed to trying to build muscle, be great at cycling, or something else. Doing some cross-training is great to avoid boredom and to shake things up. You don’t have to make your whole life your new project or goal, but you do want to make it your primary focus. 

Make a plan. Remember any goal or project is a series of small steps, but in order to get to where you are going, you need to know where you are and how you arrive at the destination. Figure out everything that needs to be done for you to achieve your goal.  Then break it down into steps.  

From there, put each step of the plan in your calendar. Make sure you have a set time period to complete each step. For marathon training, I put every single training session in my calendar. I knew exactly what I was supposed to do and when. There was no confusion or indecision about what I needed to do because I had a plan and it was clearly written on my calendar. This step is the most powerful one for getting projects and goals done. 

Prioritize sleep. What does this have to do with achieving your goals? Everything. Sleep is fundamental. If you don’t believe me, go back and listen to the episode on sleep. I’ll put it in the show notes. That said, prioritizing sleep means prioritizing yourself. Not social media. Not tv, ‘although there might be an exception for “90 Day Fiance Before the 90 days,” my current obsession. #TeamJasmine.  Sleep is the absolutely best thing you can do to improve your health in every way possible. Prioritize sleep. 

Fuel your body appropriately. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Similarly, you need energy to achieve your goals. In marathon running, this means ensuring you have adequate nutrition to fuel your body, but this is not just for running. All of our human activities, especially thinking, require energy. You probably know that when you eat like ish, you feel like ish. So try to make substitutions for nourishing food that will help you fuel appropriately and feel good. And perhaps a little less alcohol? 

Anticipate obstacles, including discomfort and strategize. When I was gathering up my gear, I knew that pain was inevitable. I anticipated what could happen and how to prevent it or how to work with it. When you run for hours, you sweat a lot. When your wet, salty clothing rubs against your wet, salty body for hours, chafing happens. You can expect blisters on your feet, burns on your skin, dehydration, lack of energy. You can’t wing this. I started my marathon day off at 4am by slathering myself with a bar of friction defense. I packed energy gummies in my racing belt,I had a plan to stop at every single water station. Likely, you already know what obstacles lie in front of your goals. Get real and clear about what they are. Have a strategy to overcome them. 

Recognize that only you can do the work. Sure, it takes a village, and I highly recommend surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and your vision, but at the end of the day you are 100% responsible for your success. No one else. You must be willing to take full ownership and responsibility. 

Don’t compare yourself to others, you don’t know their journey. Comparison is not only the thief of joy, but also it’s a very imperfect metric. You truly have no idea what other people have been through. Their journey is theirs. Yours is yours. Stay in your lane - literally when it comes to running. Do you. Don’t worry about anyone else’s race.  

Repeat to yourself “light, tall, relaxed” and “midfoot strike” over and over again. Ok, so maybe this isn’t so great for non-running, but “light, tall, relaxed” is a great reminder to check your form. How are you as you go about your day? Are you hunched over? Shoulders at your ears? When I say “light, tall, relaxed” I bring my head up, I hope my heart space, I drop your shoulders. Adopt a mantra or saying that allows you to check your physical and mental form whenever you feel out of alignment. 

Slow down if you need to, but don’t stop. Stopping kills momentum. It can be that much harder to get going again. Once I stopped running I could feel all the pain in my legs and my feet. No bueno. I’m so glad I didn’t stop during the course, because I may not have gotten back up. By all means, slow down. Modify your pace. Change your time frame. But please do not stop. 

Celebrate every single accomplishment. I have been very open that I have a dream to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Well, I didn’t get close. But during my very first marathon, I had severe gastrointestinal distress…and let's just say I stopped a lot. In the end, I finished and I was proud that I crossed the finish line, but it was not what I was hoping for. So, I decided to do it again. And this time, I didn’t have to stop, but I didn’t make my goal. But I learned a lot. I learned that I can run for 4 and a half miles without stopping. I know that my nutrition was on point. I know that I need to place moleskin on my chaffing areas. So, I’d like to try again. And maybe again. 

This may not be the end of the journey. Where to next? If you can dream it, you can do it. The first step is believing that you can. 

One final point - all elite athletes have coaches to help them with all these steps no matter how good they are. And you can have side-by-side coaching as well with myself - the Joyful Attorney - to help you on whatever path you want to take to bring joy, harmony and balance to your practice or personal life. Please get in contact with me through the joyfulattorney.com for a mini-consultation. I’d love to hear from you and learn all about the exciting goals you have set yourself. 

Until next time.

Stay joyful.