I recently finished a half marathon in downtown Chicago on the beautiful waterfront of Lake Michigan … in January. Yep, it WAS cold! I completed the 13.1 miles and received my finisher’s medal but wasn’t at all happy with my finish time. The first seven miles went great—right on goal pace. 

I took fuel and water around the 8-mile mark and then felt my body begin to let me down. The wind started to feel colder. My muscles began to cramp up. Before long I found myself running a half mile at a time, then walking for a bit and then running again, watching my desired finish time pass me by. 

After working through the emotions and realizing that I had nothing else to keep my mind occupied for the last few miles, I began to look a little more closely at the reasons why my body wasn’t set up to finish the race as I had hoped. It was easy to blame the day, the wind, the ice, but none of that was the root cause of my failure. As I turned it over and over in my head, I began to realize that maybe the reasons behind my poor performance went a little deeper. Not only deeper, but maybe they also held some analogies as to why some projects in other areas of my life and work feel unfinished or not complete in ways I had wanted.  

Based on my realizations, here are a few areas I decided to focus on as I look toward my next race. Maybe a couple of them will resonate with your work or home life. Walking through them now may allow us to learn together so that the results might be different on our next attempt.

You will race like you train. 

My training plan for this race was 12 weeks long. I felt like I had put in the time and miles; followed the plan to the last detail. Easy run days, speed work, hills, long-slow runs, the works. But had I really? I took another look at my plan and realized that maybe I hadn’t put in the work I thought I had. Rest days, travel days, cold mornings, sore legs. All in all, I was supposed to run a total of 305 miles during training and when I added up all the excuses, I had missed 81 of those miles. Whoa!! 

When I looked back at my training runs, I also noticed that I had the tendency to run the first 4 miles and then walk for just a bit to recover. When I really analyzed it, I allowed myself to do this in over 70% of my long runs. Surprising once again. 

How could I expect race day to be different from my training runs? Race day is simply a reflection of training. By allowing myself to slack during training, my body was conditioned to expect it during the race as well.  

The moral of this story is that you will get out what you put in. There is no easy button or buying the perfect solution. No shoe or other piece of equipment will compensate for the hard work missed or the 100% not given during the training plan. Race day showed how prepared I was.  

Doesn’t this hold true at work as well? Too often, I feel like we expect to just show up to the “big event” and somehow achieve different results than we had prepared for. No word of advice or new technology is going to be a substitute for the hard work put in during “training.” We need to put the time in now to see the desired outcome tomorrow.

It’s a mental game. 

While running I find that my mind seems to break down first. My head starts to tell me I’m tired and I should stop way before my legs do. I recently read an article about leaning into discomfort while performing at a high level during a race. Coming to grips with the fact that I am going to be putting my body through stress for the next couple of hours. Working to tell myself that I can handle anything for two hours—which has become a bit of a personal mantra—and it’s making a difference. 

Tame the mind and the body will follow. The same is true in business and life. Our mind wants to tell us that we aren’t enough or that we don’t have the answers. If we listen, things will start to fail. Think of someone you look up to, whether an athlete or a business leader. What is the difference between them and you? I am willing to venture that it’s primarily in the mental part of the game. They have trained the mind as well as the body and have found ways to push through and stay the course when things get hard. 

Without fail, I find that when I approach a training run with the thought etched in my mind that I will finish the run strong and without walking, it happens. When I allow myself the space to say something like, “We’ll see how many miles I can get today,” I am seldom happy with the results.

The RIGHT stuff.

I am extremely particular about “the stuff” I use on a long-distance run—the same shoes, the same fruit flavored gels, the same meal the night before the race. I lay out my clothes and pin my bib to my shirt the night before. Everything is prepared, thought through and in a routine. How foolish would it be to wear new shoes on a race day? Imagine the blisters! Or to try different gels and risk upsetting a digestive system already under duress? 

The same holds true when we approach work. Why wouldn’t we want to have a routine? What’s first? What tried and true resources can be leaned on? You can’t wait to start thinking about how you’re going to run when you’re in the middle of the race. 

During a race, I never take the fueling options offered on the course because I don’t know how my body will react to them. How can we think that business would work differently? Let’s use a new product or tech and test it out? Let’s use a new vendor and see if they come through? No. We need to plan out the process and the players and use the tools that we know work. The time to experiment is during training.

Something will go wrong. 

Inevitably, something unplanned will occur during a race. My watch might suddenly die, leaving me without pace or distance data. My headphones could cut out, silencing the motivational music that fuels my stride. Or as one memorable morning proved, I might even forget my shoes (yeah, it happened). 

The important point is this: you cannot let a single setback, however frustrating, derail weeks or months of dedicated preparation. You'll need to dig deep, find a way to adapt and persevere. Instead of dwelling on the mishap, actively search for the bright spots—the encouraging cheers of the crowd (they make a difference) or the beauty of the surrounding scenery—and use these positive elements to push you through the remaining miles. 

This principle extends far beyond running; it's a truth that holds equally strong in our work lives. Just as in a race, unexpected challenges will inevitably arise. A presentation might crash, a key client might express dissatisfaction or a project deadline might change unexpectedly. Don't allow these unforeseen obstacles to overshadow the progress you've made. Instead, consciously shift your focus. 

Identify what's working well—the collaborative spirit of your team, the positive feedback from a different stakeholder, the satisfaction of overcoming a previous hurdle—and amplify those successes. I know it’s easy for me to say this now from a place of calm, when the pressure isn't immediate. But cultivating this mindset is a skill that can be developed and practiced. It’s the difference between letting a single misstep define your journey and using it as a steppingstone to greater achievements.

Measure, but don’t obsess.

I am a massive fan of technology, and I love the results my tech can give me during a run. For example, the watch I wear can tell me how long my feet stay in contact with the ground and if my left foot stays down a millisecond longer than my right. But really, how is this information going to help me? Even if I concentrated on nothing else, I’m not sure I could shift my stride enough to see a measurable difference. Even if I could, would it matter? Would changing that metric make me a better or faster runner? 

I have noticed the same pattern in business. Is what we’re chasing worth the chase? Are we watching the right numbers? There are certainly many worthwhile numbers to monitor and maintain, but are you watching the ones that will make a difference in your business? The ones that are truly in your control and influence? The ones that, if improved, will move the needle? Too often, I have found myself hunting down results that didn’t really matter. 

A few weeks have now passed since that race, and I have come to grips with the results. My recovery runs and rest have allowed me the space needed to look at my goals and attack my next training plan with renewed vigor and excitement. 

Success, whether in running or in business, is built on a foundation of consistent and dedicated preparation. It's not enough to simply have a plan. You must commit fully, both physically and mentally, to the process. You must train your mind to overcome obstacles and embrace discomfort, just as you train your body for the endurance required to finish the miles. Establishing reliable routines and focusing on the right metrics are also essential. And when the inevitable setbacks occur, you must adapt, persevere and seek out the positive to fuel continued progress. 

Ultimately, the lessons I learned running translate directly to my professional life: success is achieved through hard work, mental fortitude and a steadfast focus on what truly matters. Let’s all commit to implementing these lessons and I’ll see you on race day!