Lessons From My Marathon Training

For the most part, my marathon training is on track. But for any athlete training toward their next milestone, it’s not just about following a challenging plan—that’s the easy part. The real challenge is to overcome the unexpected bummers along the way. That's exactly what I am learning this time. Doing long, hard sessions isn’t as hard as holding back from them when my body needs it. The injuries I experienced in the last ten years are testaments to that. Most of those injuries didn't happen overnight, or in a single session. They were the result of me repeatedly stressing my body when it was already strained—sometimes, making stupid mistakes like not warming up at all, and sometimes, pushing myself hard while being on the borderline of injury. The line between pushing hard and going overboard is so thin that it was always tricky for me to spot it, and I was immature enough to find myself on the latter side over and over again. This time, I started my marathon training with one clear goal—to stay injury-free through my journey. But putting principles in place is one thing, following them is the real deal. It takes more resistance than I could imagine. The good part, however, is that I'm staying off when I need to. I was supposed to do a long run today, as per my training plan. And my knee is severely sore after the beating from the last track session, which I didn’t realise back when I was on that track (of course). So I skipped today's run. Was it easy? Hell no. That’s why I’m writing this. But it was the right thing to do. I have a deep respect for sport, but in all honesty, going out and running is a rather simple thing to do (at least for me). What's not simple is holding back—to stay in harmony with your body when it needs you the most, to embrace the recovery, so you get back stronger and better. Maybe that's what differentiates amateur athletes from professionals. I will find out in a few years.
What else? I believe missing a session didn’t just teach me to plan better and avoid setbacks—it taught me something more. It teaches me to sit with my thoughts, to reflect on the bigger picture. Instead of distracting myself with something else—something I'd have done if it was a few years ago—I get to embrace the simplicity of life, sitting at my home and sharing my journey with others, with the hope that it might help someone at some point in their life too.