Six non-trivial life lessons from running

I’ve run almost ten thousand miles in the last three years and four marathons, each one faster than the previous one, but I resist “running-wisdom” stories. They are full of cliches and takeaways so trivial that you’d think they were stolen from another blog or written by AI. Yet here I am, writing my own “life lessons from running” story. In this note, I am trying to stick to the stated theme: talk about the lessons that can be learned and not digress to describing why I love running.

#1. Running doesn’t solve your life’s problems. It doesn’t make you superhuman. If you are struggling with business, money, family, or parenting, becoming a runner won’t solve your problems. You can be super disciplined in running and a total mess in another plane of your life. In other words, for all my love of running, I think it’s important to avoid over-glamorizing running.

#2. Running can reverse your perception of aging. Approaching my mid forties, I’m a much fitter version of my younger self. That’s an understatement. I would completely destroy my younger self at any race. And it doesn’t stop here. I can see myself improving for another decade, well into my fifties. I can see myself running at a much older age — say seventy. Of course I can’t predict my health but I can visualize being a good runner for decades to come. It’s super exciting.

# 3. Consistency is everything. Nothing eye-opening here. But I’ll go further: to achieve excellence, consistency means doing something every single day, no…