You accomplished 16 miles on Saturday (for some of you, a little less)! What a monumental accomplishment! Did you know that now is the biggest, most important time to watch out for the Fear Factor? Not the TV show where you have to eat worms, but the fear that is going to creep in telling you that you still have to knock out 10.2 more miles to accomplish a marathon and that you might not have what it takes to do this.
Each year, we have had runners and walkers accomplish the 16 miles and then drop out because they can't imagine doing 10.2 more miles. Keep in mind, FEAR is False-Expectations-Appearing-Real and you have to do battle with your self-limiting beliefs that want to tell you 10.2 more is impossible. It's FALSE! You can do this! Let me put into perspective.
When you started Marathon Makeover, most of you could only do 1 mile. Now you have accomplished 16. That is a 1500% improvement! Amazing!
To go from 16 miles to 26.2 miles is only a 63.75% change. What is 63.75% compared to 1500%? Keep in mind, that jumping from one mile to two miles is a 100% increase. Here is another way to look at this:
16 miles to 18 miles = 12.5% increase
18 miles to 20 miles = 11.1% increase
20 miles to 22 miles = 10% increase
22 miles to 26.2 miles = 19.09% increase
Don't be afraid of eating the elephant with the small bites and don't let fear get in the way of your long, hard earned, waking up at 4 A.M., reputation on the line, feeling alive, new life-long friendships goal of finishing the Chicago Marathon! You can do this because YOU ARE A MARATHONER!
5 comments:
Thanks for putting it in perspective. The beauty of MM is that we carry each other as a group and have made some wonderful friendships that will last a lifetime. I had my negative moment a week ago and now have come out stronger than ever!!! Everyone goes through it. The only thing that I am sad about now is when we will not be meeting every Saturday morning as a group once we conquer Chicago!! Suzanne
Thanks for beating us to the punch. I thought that very same thing on Saturday afternoon.....I just had to tell myself that the other 10.2 was between my ears.
I realized on Saturday that I can do that 26.2 miles...had my doubts at the 15 miler. You have made it easier to understand "with the math" how we can and will do the marathon! Thanks!
I thought it was about time we had a pep talk from you! We all need and appreciate it very much!!
Thanks!
Jana
Mark, you ought to think about blogging more often...you're words of encouragement are sometimes all we need for a slight pick-me-up! Thanks! And BTW-- I couldn't even run ONE MILE when we started...so that's a little more than a 1500% improvement!!!!!!!
Thanks for the blog!
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