How Lessons From Endurance Running Can Prepare You For a Sustainable Career
“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
If you’ve known me for a while, you’ll know I like to run.
Not quite like Forrest Gump but certainly fond of a trot. (By the way — what a movie.)
When I’m not occupied with keeping my heart rate under control or too busy to think during a speed session — my mind drifts into many streams of thoughts. Recently, I found myself swimming in a stream where my thoughts were comparing the crossover of building both a writing presence and endurance capacity for long-distance running.
Look, I’m neither a professional runner nor writer (yet), but I love to talk about both so why not share what I’ve learned so far? Maybe you’re starting one, or potentially both endeavours and could benefit from insights from a fellow newbie. On the other hand, you may be far down the track and resonate with what I’m about to share or have your own nuggets of wisdom you’d like to add. Perhaps, you’ve considered beginning a new pursuit or career, and this post is enough to get you over the start line.
Here are 15 lessons I’ve summarized so far:
Start low
Go slow
Prioritize direction over pace
Find your community
Rest & recovery is essential
Stay in your lane
Fuel up to maximize performance
Discover what format you enjoy the most
Following a plan and allowing flexibility can co-exist
Focus on laying one brick at a time
Enjoy the process or do something else
Mix high intensity with easy effort
Do more of the thing if you want to be good at it
Use it as a vehicle to express your unique style
Keep your feet on the ground
Out of 15 lessons, I will prioritize 4 of them for this article. My goal is to challenge the status quo of how we live and I believe the 4 lessons shared here do exactly that.
We live in a fast-paced world, where a lot of people feel like they are behind. Burnout is prevalent. Comparison is almost impossible to avoid with more connectivity than ever. More worryingly, so many people are leading lives that are not in line with what brings them sustainable happiness — despite the opportunity to do so never being bigger. My goal with this article is to add a grain of sand to the pile that tips the balance of how we live, in the other direction.
Start low & go slow
A career isn’t built in one year. Endurance isn’t developed in one run. Careers and endurance running are long games.
Going all out in the beginning will lull you into a false sense of reality. The first stretch might feel beautiful. Air in your lungs and a spirit of enthusiasm. Fast forward down the road, your legs start to feel heavy and your lungs begin to burn.
All of a sudden…BANG. You crash into the brick wall and your engine light comes on. It’s labeled fatigue in sports and burnout in the working world.
So what’s the lesson?
Sustainability is the best ability. There is no progress without process. Start with low volume and build slowly. This doesn’t mean being lazy. It represents creating consistency. Your ability to accumulate volume (workload) will build. If you try to rush this — injury is inevitable.
I learned this the hard way when I first started running. Couch to high-volume road running sent my Achilles into shock and brought a halt to running for months. Endurance running is one of those activities that teaches you tough lessons — if you don’t abide by the principles.
Slow is the new fast.
An aerobic base is critical to success in endurance sports. You build this base by consistently training in what’s called “Zone 2”. Essentially, it’s a steady pace that you could maintain for a long time. Focusing on building your aerobic base will help you maximize your performance during high-intensity efforts. Both systems complement one another.
The same can be said in a professional career. Forming consistency will help create systems to make you more efficient when workload inevitably increases. Sticking to the script by gradually building volume is the fastest route to running long distances sustainably. In your career, consistency and reliability will help you go far.
Ask yourself: “What could a zone two rate look like in your professional work? What habits can you maintain day-in-day out to build your ability to handle workload?”
Rest & recovery
You can put the hard yards in, but if you don’t recover the warning lights will soon come on.
When COVID struck in 2020, like many, my work transitioned to remote. This was a monumental revolution in terms of how society operates, but also in how I lived. I know a lot of people struggled and still do with remote working. I have a tonne of empathy for parents or carers attempting to balance their responsibilities with the demands of work.
Before Covid, I was stressed, never switching off, feeling burnt out, and taking work home with me. Ironically, once work was brought to the home — I left work at work. What was happening in the world at that time put my well-being into perspective. I put clear boundaries in place to separate work and life — My phone switched on to Do Not Disturb outside of work hours. A walk in the morning without looking at emails. Heading to the gym straight after work to create a line in the sand.
Those steps worked for me, but they might not work for everyone. Figure out your needs and stay disciplined in protecting them. Flexibility will be called upon at times but it’s the consistent execution of the seemingly small actions that will determine your ability to stay on the road. Like running — it’s unlikely that you’ll operate without some small irritations but if not managed — those irritations will turn into full-blown injuries. Prioritizing rest and recovery are essential factors to sustaining your performance.
Ask yourself: “What is one step you can take to improve your boundaries between work and life?”
Stay in your lane
Every runner is guilty of doing the opposite at some point.
Here’s how it could go: You’re sticking to the pacing target, breathing feels good and progressing nicely. As you meander along, all of a sudden another runner storms by you. No longer at ease, the little egoic voice in your head convincingly encourages you to pick up the pace. While you battle in your head, without even knowing it — you’re running faster. Heart rate is now pumping and you’re swallowing air. What was once supposed to be an easy run is no longer. You’re involved in an imaginary race that the other runner doesn’t even know they’re part of.
It takes discipline and staying grounded to keep in your lane but it is essential if you want to sustain progress.
When you’re in school, everyone around you is pretty much progressing at the same clip. Sure there are variances in academic abilities but at that age, you’re far more concerned about much more trivial matters. Once you graduate, the world opens up. Friends and college mates head off in different directions. You’ll see social media posts about promotions, new jobs, and exciting life updates. The inner critic will question whether you’re doing enough or if you are where you’re supposed to be. Those questions amplify when you get into the working world.
After meeting the sales team at my first real corporate sales role, I remember thinking “Shit, these guys are way ahead of me!”
Regardless, I put my head down, worked hard, and asked lots of questions. Despite making less money than most of the team due to managing a small market, I soon realized that my initial observation was misleading. My manager was thrilled with my performance. The franchise partners I supported valued me a lot, and my accounts trusted me. After 11 months in the role, I got promoted.
I share this anecdote as a means of encouraging you to focus on yourself. The person who zooms by you on an easy run, lulling you into a belief that they’re the next Eliud Kipchoge might actually be a newbie who has no idea what they are doing and ends up getting injured.
Perspective is everything. Everyone is running their own race, stay in your lane.
Ask yourself: “Are you running your own race or someone else's? Are you pursuing a path that is true to you or are you imitating someone else? If you’re not running your own race — what step can you take to course-correct?”
Enjoy the process or do something else
I believe this lesson is the most important.
Endurance running to many people — seems like a complete waste of time. They see it as a punishment. “Why would someone want to run marathons, ultras, or bloody 240 miles for that matter?” When I listen to their logic, I understand it to be fair. What is absent from their awareness though, is that the people running these distances enjoy the process, at least I hope they do.
Endurance running is long and so is your career. If you don’t enjoy the path you're on — why are you doing it?
I’m not saying you have to be overly passionate about the work you do. At the end of the day — work is often a means to an end. But if what you do genuinely doesn’t give you any sense of fulfillment or joy, it’s time for a rethink. The people I’m highlighting here stick out in the workplace. Bitterness, laziness, and an aura of regret radiates their presence every day. Their discontent spills over and impacts the people around them. The people in your life shouldn’t be the ones to pay for your lack of responsibility. That’s no way to live.
Ask yourself: “Does this career choice strengthen me? Can I give it enough meaning to justify the stress? Do I see a long-term path? Does it support the kind of person I want to be? Is this career path positively or negatively impacting the important people in my life?”
Of course, money is an important factor in every career choice but your well-being has no price. Whether it be a hobby or career, what you do should strengthen you. If your responses to the reflective questions above are more negative than positive, then I encourage you to think about what steps you can take to flip the script. You might not be where you want to be right now but you have the power to change that at any time — prioritize what matters and Live Free!
