3 Tips to Run a Marathon (like Long-Lasting Projects)

A Marathon is a big run. It is 42.195 Km long or 26 Miles and 385 Yards. That is 60.000-70.000 footprints.

It is like an infinity, easy available to men, having the following attributes: cheap (you need no more than 100€ to buy proper shoes, pant and t-shirt), portable (of course, it is), handy (quite sure you can do it).

It requires 4-5 hours to run each for ‘normal’ people and 36 weeks to train from scratch (according to Jeff Galloway). So, many people hire personal trainers, get running tables, go running at the time the tables tell them to do (even if they do not want to), fill those with their current results, etc. Ok.

But what if you have no sufficient time as those required by “BOOK ON RUNNING” or you do not want to design things so?

My guitar master used to say me: “Self-Training is the most difficult one to learn but it gives you a priceless satisfaction. You will be able to do whatever on your own”. I learn (a bit one) from Jeff Galloway but I decide to self-train me, adopting a different approach.

I am a (Vietnamene) Martal Artist, I use to get hints from esoteric concepts, coming from this, in order to run a Marathon. These are easy applicable to all other long lasting projects, however.

Let’s see the 3 most interesting ones.

 

Numerable Infinity

Infinity is not for men, on this world. So, you have to accustom to a “nice-price” one: the very big issue. Even if very-very-very big, an issue is still numerable. You can split in subsequent goals to reach.

Fibonacci comes us to help, usually. Marathon is a distance running, distance is the key, the number of Km or Miles are to be used as middle-target; moreover the ratio Mile/Km is quite Golden Ratio; that is, given a #Km in Fibonacci sequence, it is roundable by preceding Fibonacci number as #Miles. The following table is good for Marathon:

 

 

General: what is the key of your project you can split it into? Reach out this and start using Fibonacci to figure out middle-tartgets.

 

The Tao (Proprioception)

Running is moving your body fastly, in a straight forward fashion (line direction, Yang), by yourself. That is, making your navel (belly-button) to go from Marathon start point to Marathon finish line (whatever your legs do in the meantime). But all body gestures and movements are circular. Each limb (arm or leg) is jointed to the body by a point (shoulder, hip), it could turn on (round, Yin).

You have to combine Yin & Yang: to go on a line (Yang), combining (Tao) many round-house movements (Yin). The art of learning the Tao part is named proprioception (‘proprius’: own + ‘capere’: understand). For running a Marathon there are some simple examples: foot-moving (touch the hearth on heel, suddenly scrae the external, pass on toes from external to second and go to the air); navel (keep on the same quote from hearth, adapting to the go through).

In General, for each Long-Lasting project, an analogous “proprioception” should be adopted, adapting the achievement of the goal (go straight-forward) to the scenario (turn when it is needed).

 

Resource Management (Energy Saving)

Each long-lasting activity require a long strain, a big amount of energy. So, you need to manage it clevery, acting differently in subsequent times and phases:

• before: have get sufficient one before (e.g. Marathon: eat well, sleep enough; General: collect needed elements, prepare for extra-effort)

• during: manage efficiently your inside one (e.g. Marathon: don’t start running too fastly, breathe loudly; General: take the right time for every activity and phase, take the right breaks)

• continuing: get extra from outside one (e.g. Marathon: Trees, Sea, Rocks and, above all, Public; General: Teammates, Stakeholders, Shareholders, etc)

 

I have run 13 marathons, by now; I am searching out for the 14th, right now.