Peak experiences are positive happenings that have a profound and lasting impact. They are life-changing, and in retrospect are often considered the finest moments of our lives

In my very first post I mentioned how running was not my favourite sport and how I finally stopped doing it because of my knee issue. About seven months ago things suddenly changed. During a catch up dinner with friends, my husband and a friend jokingly tried to convince me to do a marathon. I say jokingly because my husband injured himself just as he was about to start training for his first marathon and they thought it would be funny if I actually did a marathon first before him. That night I insistently rejected the idea as I did not see myself as a runner and could not imagine being able to run such a long distance. Marathon = 26.2 miles (42 km) = 5++ hours of running. Geez that sounded like a long and painful thing. I couldn’t run nearly a fraction of that time without stopping and saying to myself enough of this silly tiring and painful thing called running! Although I did admire those people who can do it but back then I thought that it was a crazy and unachievable idea for me.

Surprise… surprise… A few days later I changed my mind, although I seriously did not know what lured me into it! I started with short distances (2 - 3 miles) and finally I created a full marathon training program. In the last 3 years I had not done much running and the longest run I did was probably only 2 miles. So finishing up a marathon was going to be a huge stretch goal. And now as I am writing this post, I finally completed my first marathon in Ottawa (yay!). After months of training and various injuries along the way, finishing 42 km in 5hr 8min was tough. During the race, there were times when the pain was paralyzing and when the distance just seemed never ending. However, with the encouragement from stranger supporters (all those random high-fives definitely brought up extra energy) and many positive self-talks along the way (see below), I crossed the finish line. It was strenuous but at the end it was very satisfying! :)

A few weeks into my marathon training program, I came across David’s book and with many good reviews out there, I decided to read it to see if it could help my marathon training. It was definitely a good motivational book, it will inspire you to keep up the training. However, there are a couple things in the book that I disagree with and I will also discussed those here. For now, let’s start with my top 5 insights from the book.

1. Setting the right goal

Setting the right goal in running and in everything you do in life is important because it can determine the overall experience. Throughout the book, David reminded runners that for their first marathon race their goal should be “to finish” the race instead of having a time goal to achieve. By doing so, runners will guarantee to have a satisfying and successful experience. This is a critical lesson for beginner marathoners.
As you get into the training program, you might feel very confident and start thinking about setting a finishing time for your first race.

Let’s use my case as an example, imagine if I were tempted enough to set a goal to finish the race in less than 5 hours but because of my foot numbness during the race I only managed to finish it in 5hr 8min. Did the additional 8min really matter in the grand scheme of things? No, it did not. But because I changed my goal (and hence my attitude) from “finishing a marathon” to “finishing a marathon in 5 hours”, how I felt at the end of the 26.2 miles would be different. I would be disappointed for the extra 8min that I did not manage to shave off. 8min after spending 5 hours! What a shame! A slight modification in the goal setting would make a huge difference in the overall experience. Luckily I didn’t change my goal and the whole marathon experience was still a motivating one to me.

The importance of goal setting is applicable in your day-to-day life as well. Everyone is unique and what is important to you is different from what is important to me.
By knowing what matters to you most, you can change your goals in your life thus creating tremendously more satisfying and successful life experiences while avoiding stress, disappointment, or feelings of failure.

2. Being in the “flow”

Why are some people good at what they do? Besides lots of training and experience, there are many other factors, and one of them is the ability to focus and being in the flow while performing the activity. When you are in the flow, you focus on the task at hand. You put all your resources, energy, and motivation into performing the work. It is therefore no wonder that you will perform really well when you are in the flow.
In running being in the flow does not mean you won’t feel the strenuous nature of your running sessions. It means you are able to put your mind and energy into your run and complete the training you need to do. When you complete your running, it is then that you will feel the satisfaction.

So in general when you are in the state of “in the flow” you are fully focus and involved in that particular activity, and only when the task is completed and you look back on it, you will be flooded with the magnificent feeling of completing it.

3. The power of your mind over your body

Running a marathon is tough on anyone. Not only physically but also mentally. What I learnt the most from the book and throughout my training was the power of your mind over your body. The following quote from the book summarises it best:

… you never know what you can do until you try. If you listen to what others say, you may not try at all. If you listen to your body, you may quit too soon. What your mind believes, your body believes. Your mind is the key.

Completing a marathon represents a victory of your mind over your body and anyone can do it!

4. Having a positive attitude

To complete a marathon, a lot of us need to learn having a positive attitude not only in running but in life as a whole. It is an important mental preparation to face the long grueling marathon training and the race day itself. There are many ways to become more positive, the method given in the book is to add “but it doesn’t matter” to the end of any negative phrases or situations that you are facing. Because it is true that in life there are a lot of things that really do not matter.

Attitude has nothing to do with facts and everything to do with perspective.

5. Acting “As If…”

Another way to help with having a positive attitude is by acting “as if…”. By changing your behaviour, you can change your attitude and mentality. For example, if you act as if you are confident (the behaviour), then you will become confident (the attitude). Just like Amy Cuddy said in her TED talk on body language “fake it till you make it”. So acting “as if…” and having a positive attitude always go hand-in-hand. One important mental tool that helped me out during my race was the positive self-talk. When I got to 20-mile point, it was tough. Yes it was only 6.2 miles left out of the 26.2 miles but those 6.2 miles seemed to be extremely far away. I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Luckily I remembered about positive self-talk, so I chanted to myself that “I love running”, “I am a marathoner”, “This is awesome”, “I am a finisher”, etc. Note that I didn’t say “you can do this” or “you love running”. This is very important because by changing the subject to I rather than you, I become accountable to the thought and therefore I believe and act like a marathoner myself.

Now, despite the motivation and some good information provided in the book, there are two points I disagree with.

A. Training schedule

First of all, I am sure the training schedule and method provided has been proven to work. However, as I followed the schedule and started getting various overuse injuries, I went to see a doctor. He made a comment about the aggressiveness of most of the marathon training schedules out there. For beginners (anyone who hasn’t done long distance (above 10 miles) for more than 6 months), it will be tough on their bodies to do the long distances once a week. However, the training schedule in the book asks you to consistently do 16 miles and 18 miles long run once a week for 5 weeks in a row. This is tough on your body and increases the likelihood for getting injured which will put you further back from race preparation. Other training guides such as the New York Marathon guide, suggested alternating between 16-miler / 18-miler every fortnight with a 10-miler long run in between. This will therefore allow your body a bit more recovery time.

B. Taking pain killers

When you hit the long distances week after week, your body will hurt. And what did the book say on how we should deal with pains? Take pain killers! I personally don’t like taking too much medication and taking pain killers to mask pain from running cannot be good for you. When you are two months into your training, you should be more in-tuned with your body and therefore need to understand the different types of pains. Pain is a signal from your body that something is happening. If you only experience pain due to muscle growth, then it is not necessary to take pain killers. The muscle growth pains are good because that means you are getting stronger. But if the pains are due to injuries, then yes you can use the pain killers only after you know what are the injuries and their causes as well as how you are planning to treat them or change your running habit to avoid them in the future. Simply taking pain killers so you can continue doing another 18-miles the following week isn’t smart.

Besides these two points, I found the book educational and motivating. Remember that you can do anything you want in life as long as you put your mind to it and marathon is no difference. Just like what Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you're right.” Let me leave you with a final quote from the book:

Distance is also relative - a marathon is short compared to the journey of life.

It is a highly motivating book for runners. This is a must-read for beginners marathon runners. The book will give you guidance on physical and mental preparation for your first marathon race.