This was originally a Toastmasters speech I did, but I think it has a good message. It’s based on the quote by the running coach, Mike Fanelli: “Divide the marathon into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.”
I personally have several marathons under my belt with two more on the horizon. When I heard this quote for the first time it made SO much sense to me.
When you begin something that will take a lot of hard work, determination, and perseverance, your brain is and extremely powerful tool. At this point, there are positive thoughts galore. You know you can finish the marathon because you trained for it! You put in the time and effort. You woke up early to get your runs in, you read information about what food to eat and how to have better running form so you wouldn’t get injured. You’re mental toughness can overcome blunders and mistakes are easy to learn from. When you run a marathon, it’s easy to make the mistake of starting out too fast. This causes your heart rate to be high and can eventually wear you out. However, you’re energy and enthusiasm is sky high so when you do start getting worn out, the adrenalin is waiting a ready to kick in.
About 1/3 of the way in, there may be some stumbling blocks. That could be some hills you didn’t expect, or weather that you were prepared for. It could even be that you dropped some of your gels and didn’t know it. At this point, you’re brain will start telling you things that even though you know aren’t true you can begin to believe. “You’re not going to finish this race.” “What in the world have you gotten yourself into?” “ What if you don’t make it to the cut-off?”
When your mind starts turning on you, it’s time for your personality to shine. Your personality is your character; it’s your foundation, ideals, beliefs. When I’m running a marathon, for me this is cheering everyone else on, telling the police officers thank you for standing at the intersection, singing out loud, dancing while I’m running by the live bands. Before you know it, you’re not listening to your mind and your personality is carrying you one step at a time.
All of the sudden, about 2/3 of way through, you start feeling pain. This could be emotional pain because you’re actually on the backside of the race and you really didn’t know if you were going to finish a few hours ago. It could be physical pain like blisters or cramps. If you listen to your mind for a split second at this point, you’re doomed! For some reason, thanking the police officers doesn’t seem all that appealing anymore because none of them respond anyways. No one is laughing at my singing anymore and if I have to cheer on one more person that passes me, I might just puke!
After doing this several times, I know the second the pain begins, I allow my heart take over for the rest of the race. The heart can endure whatever it takes to finish. The heart can overcome the brain any day. And, the heart is your personality on steroids! If you told yourself you were going to finish with your brain, and you have to type of personality that got you into this in the first place, your heart will carry you through.
I believe we’ve all run marathons. Some on our feet, some in our jobs, some in our lives. Life has everything to do with running a marathon in this regard. Next time you find yourself beginning a new project or job remember to divide it into the thirds and run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.
Thanks for this, great information