Collected Notes on Running

I ran a pretty terrible half marathon in January of 2023. I had scheduled it as a goal to work towards.

I didn't prepare enough. I spent the two months prior traveling around the Western Cape of South Africa and subsequently starting a very demanding job for a fast-growing startup in Manhattan.

When race day came, I did run the 13.1 miles, but not in great form. I ran 10-minute miles. And, when I used to ran track and cross-country in high school, my best mile time was somewhere between 5 and 5.5 minutes.

Nike has a great guide on preparing for half marathons.

Rules

1. Decide how much to run before the run and never run less than that amount
2. Once running is started, do not stop (unless it's part of interval training, etc). This includes for non-piercing pain. For piercing pain, your form is likely wrong. Fix the form, but do not stop.
3. Don't complain! Ever!
4. You can run more than you initially set out to run, but once you decide to you have to run that full amount

Leadership Training

Two of the rules, not stopping and not complaining, are key elements of leadership. And a lot of the reason I run is actually mental training to not stop and to not complain.

Another great rule on this note is not explaining. "Don't complain, don't explain". You don't owe people explanations.