I've never been a fan of running. I don't mind it in sports where it's a means to an end, but not on its own. Still though, I've always idolized runners for their discipline. Last year I saw the clips from the NYC Marathon and was inspired by the support from the city. It reminded me of the Seattle-to-Portland (STP) bike event I did in 2022, where folks cheered us on from their porches as we biked through their neighborhoods. So this year I decided I would run a marathon, and signed up for the San Francsico Marathon for it's iconic route over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I started running for fitness last year, only because I didn't have access to my bike, and the most I'd ever gone was a flat two miles. I knew I'd have to ramp up my training but wasn't too concerned, I had trained for the STP on a similar timeline -- starting seriously in March for the July event. There are a plethora of training guides online, and I created a loose schedule with target mileage per week. I also dove into the world of fitness wearables, and bought a Coros watch in hopes to more effectively measure my improvement.

Starting out was tough and I struggled to complete a 5K without stopping to catch my breath. After a few runs on the same route I had my breakthrough -- I learned how to use the watch to keep a pace that worked for me. I slowly began increasing distance and working in variations like Zone 2 training and trail running to work on leg strength. I felt good and by the end of May was able to run a half marathon.

June was another story, between two out-of-state weddings (one of which became a week long vacation in Hawaii) and a bachelor party in Vegas, I had no free weekends to train. I intended to work in some runs during down time, but wasn't able to run any meaningful distances. Add in the food and alcohol that are part of these events, and it felt like I was back to square one. On July 7th I attempted another half-marathon distance run and struggled tremendously. The marathon was just three weeks away and I had lost all confidence -- if I coudln't do 13 mi, how would I do 26? The rest of July was busy as well, I had family visting from overseas, a house-warming party for my parent's new home, and a camping trip in Yosemite. I accepted that the marathon wasn't going to happen and downgraded to a half.

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Growing up as a Star Wars fan, Yoda's saying "Do or do not, there is no try" was imprinted on me. I took it literally and believed success was binary -- you either do it, or it isn't worth the attempt. Not running the full marathon seemed like a failure. Race day wasn't how I had long imagined it, I quietly ran the route and collected my medal without fanfare or a social media post. In truth, I was dissapointed that I didn't run the full (still am) and did not give myself any credit for completing my first ever running event. This marathon was one of my commitments for the year that were entirely "for me," and it was frustrating to sacrifice success for commitments I made for others.

Now, after I've had some time to reflect, I am able to appreciate the experience. In our elementary school classrooms there was always a banner that read "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Even though I missed my moon, I did get into the sport of running -- I now know how to train, measure and pace myself, and have confidence that I can do it with better planning. I also now understand that Yoda's quote does not mean that the attempt itself isn't worth it, but rather that its important to make an honest attempt. In that sense I can say that I did the San Francisco Half, not just tried the San Francisco Marathon. Besides, I have the challenges of Mt. Whitney and the Enchantments to look forward to later this year.

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An important lesson from this summer is that I need to protect my time. Scrolling through my calendar, it seems I have something or the other booked for every weekend. Beyond the pure time commitments, there is an internal energy cost to this -- you need to give yourself some time to re-energize. As much fun as I'm having at these weddings, bachelor parties, camping trips, etc, I long for simple stay-at-home-do-nothing weekend. I've justifyied it as "I can recharge during the week because I work from home." However time != energy, and the work week brings it's own whirlwinds, not to mention recovery from the previous weekend's affairs. Going into the second stretch of the summer and remainder of the year, I still have a few weddings and excursions, and I plan on applying to MBA programs (including taking the GMAT). I'll have to be mindful of my time and energy to ensure I don't "try" on any of these.