It’s A Cliche Because It’s True
By: Mimi Albert
I talk about running a lot. I love to talk about running so much that I started a podcast about running. But the thing about running is that there is a perfect running metaphor for everything. So much that it’s become a cliche - it’s a marathon, not a sprint. This pandemic, it’s a multi-day last person standing race with no end in sight. Running teaches us to be patient. That’s directly applicable to anything in life - don’t expect immediate results or seek instant gratification. Go slow to go fast. Take your easy days easy so you can run your hard days hard. Well that’s the same in work and in life. Rest and decompression is essential for avoiding burnout. We all have bad workouts just like we all have bad days. When that happens we need to have self-compassion and practice positive self-talk. You give me any work or life situation and I will find a running analog to share.
But there’s something that makes running very different from the rest of life. Running doesn’t go through a restructuring, at least at the every day amateur level. Sure standards may change. What was a BQ or an OTQ one year may not be the same the next, but unless the Queen decides to change the marathon distance again, a marathon is 26.2 miles. A 5K, by definition, remains a 5K. Running, unlike other aspects of life, for the most part, is a meritocracy. You get out of it what you put into it and you are rewarded or disappointed accordingly. Running is within your control. We all deal with injuries and bad days. Not all races go to plan, and it certainly doesn’t feel fair when we’ve had the best training cycle of our life and we don’t achieve our goals. But there is always another race, another training cycle, another chance to improve.
For the past five years I have been studying burnout. Beyond physical and emotional exhaustion, burnout may occur when you don’t feel valued. If there have been changes at work that leads you to feel de-valued and undermines your work and years of service, not only will you be incredibly upset, but those feelings will quickly turn to burnout, which can have devastating consequences. Work will say it’s not about you, but it sure feels like it is. Running challenges you. It tests you. It may frustrate the hell out of you, but at the end of the day, it always rewards you.