Hi, JereMaya - it's daddy. Today is May 14th, 2022. And for our 16th episode, I'd like to talk about running. The main reason I bring this up now is that earlier this month I completed my second marathon. And even though I was utterly exhausted and neglected this podcast for almost a month, I am still on cloud nine, thinking about it.

Running 26.2 miles is no easy feat. And so while I am recovering, I'm giving myself a little grace for not keeping up with my goal in a weekly podcast release. There's a lot of new things happening in life. All very good things that I plan to share in future episodes.

So going forward, I'm adjusting to a monthly podcast. And if I'm lucky, maybe two times a month going forward. While I am disappointed. I can't keep up the original goal. I know my life will be a bit more balanced from this point on.

So for our time today, I'm going to share why I think everyone should run at least one marathon in their lifetime, what's it like to prepare for a marathon, and some key learnings in my journey of becoming a marathoner.

So you're probably asking "Why dad, why put yourself in this situation where you do something that doesn't seem like a lot of fun, it seems to be painful, and yet you do it for a very long distance?"

And honestly is someone told me five years ago that I would run a marathon much less two marathons, I would probably have bet money that I never would. For the first 39 years of my life, I never really enjoyed running or was any good at it. But then one day in the summer of 2019. I asked myself, "Mike, why aren't you good at running?" Was I doing it wrong? What if I had the ability to improve my athleticism. Is it even possible for a slow person like me to be able to improve my speed. If the zombie apocalypse happened would I be one of the first to be eaten, because my stamina is terrible?

And as these questions filled my head over a few weeks, I began to research how people actually get into running. And I quickly learned that one of the best ways to motivate people to run and build strength is to have a key destination goal in mind. And what stood out to me as impossible and unlikely, it seemed at the time was that anyone can complete a marathon. So I made that lofty bucket list, item goal to do that. I know I couldn't do it in that moment, but if I had several months to train, maybe just, maybe it would be possible to do it. And I definitely didn't want to delay too long where I grow old and won't be physically able to try. So I knew I had to start soon.

So I signed up for one way to advance. And in March, 2020, I achieved my goal. That was after four months of disciplined training, running four to five times a week from three miles a time to up to 18 miles for a long run.

And since I wasn't fast to begin with speed was not as important as mileage. I learned that as you take it easy in your training- meaning you don't sprint or you go all out during most of your runs- then your legs will start to develop those long distance muscles and you'll build endurance over time. So long as I never overexerted myself, but slowly increase my mileage by no more than 10% each week, I was able to gradually improve my performance as the months went by. Ultimately up to the peak of my training, I was running about 20 to 30 miles a week. And by the time the first marathon happened, which was in Napa, my goal was to complete the marathon in less than five hours. That's an average pace of 11 minutes and 27 seconds per mile.

And on that eventful day, I ended up running the marathon in four hours and 34 minutes, which equated to an average of 10 minutes and 27 seconds per mile. That's a one minute pace faster than I had intended. And when I crossed that finish line, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to run another one because it felt amazing to accomplish something most people don't do. And best yet, based on what I've seen in myself while training, I know that the more I train- the faster, stronger and tougher I become. It's a very rewarding experience to know that all that hard work. That investment of time and practicing proper techniques pays off.

And that is why I decided to pursue my second marathon.

But because of the pandemic, I couldn't raise my second marathon until two years later after Napa. Which, by the way, I got really lucky with that first race because the national lockdown happened to literally one week after the Napa marathon. So I've had two years to train. It was only the last five months that I intensely trained. And that was more than enough.

And I hit my stretch goal and new personal record of completing the Eugene marathon in less than four hours. To be exact that was three hours and 58 minutes - with an average pace of nine minutes and six seconds per mile. Definitely one of the proudest moments of my life. And I'm already thinking, when can I run that third marathon, which really makes me smile.

So that's my story of why I pursued a marathon. And then my second and believe me, JereMaya, coming from someone who used to be incredibly slow at running and really did not enjoy it. Training for a marathon is life changing. People may tell you that, but you really don't believe it until you experience it. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever done, but it's also something that was quite simple to plan and just get started.

Of course it's not easy, but with the proper guidance, an environment that allows you to run freely and a support network to encourage and enable you to focus on your goals- it can be done. And when you get to that finish line, you know, in your heart, that if you put your mind to anything, you can achieve something meaningful. I've grown so much confidence and now I admire this mindset of perseverance and patience. So sometime in your life, when you have the flexibility and schedule to dedicate time to improve yourself, please consider running a marathon.

So now that I've planted the seed for you, twins to try a marathon. I should balance out this episode to describe the most difficult part of becoming a marathoner. While the marathon is quite the ordeal. The hardest part of being a marathoner. Isn't the marathon race itself. It's the training that goes into it.

Marathon training is super time consuming. And when you're done running, you'll be quite exhausted and you'll need to eat and rest. To give you an idea of what a marathoner's scheduled looks like, I'd be running five to seven miles, at least three times a week. That's typically on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And then on the weekend, I would choose either a Saturday or Sunday to go on a long run, which can be anywhere between eight miles up to 20 miles. I embraced having two to three rest days as typically Monday, Friday, and Sunday. If I'm not cross training.

So, as you can see, when it comes to time and energy marathoners sacrifice a lot. Your plans with friends and family are constantly a struggle because even if a run is over, you may be mentally and physically exhausted. You may not even want to talk to anyone that day. It takes a while to find that balance.

So there you go. JereMaya. You've heard the best reasons to join a marathon and maybe the best reason not to prepare for a marathon just yet.

But after all I've shared today, I'd like to leave you five key takeaways.

The first: adventure is out there, whether you're in a midlife crisis, getting bored or really want to improve yourself physically and mentally, I encourage you to try something new and different. Get outside your comfort zone. That is the surest way to grow. Did you know that less than 1% of the us population has completed a marathon? So for the 99%, I recommend pursuing that adventure.

Second key takeaway. Do whatever it takes to be healthy. My number one goal is to be present and live a long, full life with you. I approached the marathon training as an investment in extending and raising that quality of life. This also led me on a transformation to a plant-based diet, which I'll have to share in an upcoming episode.

But in the end. Do whatever it takes to be healthy.

Number three. Running properly is actually fun. After reading books and listening to many friends who run marathons, I realized there is a right way to run, to move fast, joyously and painlessly. Once you find that efficiency and begin testing your limits on top of the endorphins, kicking into your body, you get addicted to this activity. You also increase mileage gradually over time. Every time I pass a new record. I was overjoyed and my self-confidence just continued to grow. In fact, a three mile run today is now considered a short run to my typical runs every week, which totally would have blown my mind if I heard that five years ago.

And that goes into my fourth key takeaway. When you train for a marathon, you begin to feel like you are gaining super powers. As you run longer distances, you can also experiment running more intensely. When I first started training comfortably. I was running at, you know, a good 11 minutes, 30 seconds per mile pace. And within a week of doing some more research on how to run properly, my mile pace reduced to 10 minutes at 30 seconds per mile.

So it's just amazing through knowledge alone. How faster and more efficient you can run.

It doesn't mean I applied more energy. I just ran more efficiently -there were so many ways I was running inefficiently and I'm still learning today how to run better.

And now the final and fifth takeaway. There is humility and inspiration when people run faster than you. During my first marathon, an elder man with a big pot belly passed me. I was shocked. And then an elder blind woman passed me -a blind woman. I couldn't believe it. Soon, dozens, if not hundreds of more folks, people, I would never guessed who could run a marathon, passed me and I was running at my best mile pace at the time. I learned that day that people of all ages, abilities and shapes can tap into that same magic with even more focus and determination. They make me want to train harder and run faster.

So JereMaya, as you can see, I'm addicted to running and exploring more ways to train and improve my performance. One of the best decisions I ever made was to pursue a marathon. And I think you and your friends would find that running would change your life for the better. Love you.