One Mile At A Time

Until you put your trainers on and start running, you’re never going to get to the finish line.

Until I met my husband, I didn't exercise at all, but he’s been running since he was a teenager. And every year since 2002, he’s completed the Great North Run (a half marathon).

One morning, years ago, I casually asked him if he thought I could ever do a half marathon, and he told me I could if I trained. He suggested I enter the Great North Run ballot. If I didn't get a place, it was no loss. If I did, I could decide whether I wanted to attempt it.

So, I entered the ballot and got a place.

I asked him what a respectable time would be, and he said anything under two hours was really good. So that became my goal and I had six months to train.

To get under two hours, I needed to run all 13.1 miles at a pace of around 9 minutes per mile. So for my first training run, I set a target of 3 miles at a 9-minute mile pace.

What a joke that was!

My first mile was not even close to 9 minutes. And after 1.5 miles, I gave up, burst into tears, and walked home.

My two-hour goal felt impossible.

But I’m a stubborn little thing, so I carried on training. And six months later, I crossed the line in 1h 59m 57s. I achieved my goal.

It wasn’t easy. There were so many times during training that I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. Even on the day, there were moments I felt like just stopping to walk. But I pushed through. And I did it.

I love telling this story because it shows that you can achieve your goals (however impossible they might seem) if you are willing to put in the work.

But you’ll never achieve those goals if you don’t ‘put your trainers on’ and get started.

It’s the same for most things in life really – losing weight, writing a book, learning a skill, starting or growing a business – set the goals, put the work in, and you’ll get where you want to be.

I couldn’t have woken up on day one and run 13 miles in under two hours. But I did the work - I did what was required to get the result I wanted. One mile at a time.

And I did it with my business. I set my goals and then put in the work to achieve them. One day at a time.

If you are looking for overnight success or “magic beans” you’ll be looking forever. But if you start putting the work in today to build the business you want, you can get there.

You can buy the fancy kit, learn all the theories, and make grand plans, but until you put your trainers on and start running, you’re never going to get to the finish line.

Pictures don't tell the full story

I don't run half marathons any more - my knees are too knackered, but here's a picture of me after completing my 5th Great North Run in 2022.

Look how happy I am.

But what this photo doesn't tell you is that my left knee gave out at around 11.5 miles.

I had to hobble the last mile and a half while trying my hardest to hold the tears in. Tears of frustration at being so close to doing what I had set out to do. And tears of pain because every time I tried to push on, my knee just screamed at me.

So instead of finishing in under two hours fifteen, I limped across the finish line in just under two hours eighteen.

Of course, you wouldn't know that by looking at my happy, showing-off-my-shiny-medal photo. You just see the end result.

And that's something you have to be careful with on social media too. You'll see plenty of people sharing their success stories and making it all look so easy.

But you don't know what they went through to get there. You don't know how hard or painful their journey was.

It's too easy to see the end result without acknowledging the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.

So next time you feel disheartened because everyone apart from you seems to be smashing it, just remember, you might not be getting the full story.