5 Lessons from Running 1,400 Miles

From where I live, it’s 1,408 miles to Homewood, IL, population 19,000. In 2023, that’s the distance my legs have carried me. From home to Homewood.

I’ve reflected more than once during some very difficult runs on an out-of-context passage from the Bible’s Book of Proverbs:

The wicked run when no one is chasing them. — Proverbs 28:1

I’ve been running since 2008, but I’ve only identified as a runner for the last couple of years.

I started 2023 with a running goal that felt hard but attainable: 1,400 miles.

Accounting for 4 weeks off, to meet that goal I would have to run just shy of 30 miles per week. If you’ll pardon the pun, having a long track record of running, I was confident I could meet the goal.

Then, there was injury in May and sickness in October that cost me almost 8 weeks and led me to abandon the goal. In late-October or early-November, I got back into running. November 28th, I realized that if I could manage to run 200 miles in December — I’ve never run 200 miles in one month — that I could still make my 1,400 mile goal.

With support of some good friends, I set out on my quest: 8 miles per day, 6 days per week.

I got to the second week of December and made a rash decision to run 75 miles that week — another first. As I rounded a corner at mile 73 for the week (it was only mile 23 for that day), I severely strained a muscle in my left leg. I limped most of the way home, but managed to finish at 76 miles for the week.

Once again, I wondered if the goal was out of reach. I was benched for a few days while my leg healed. The first runs back were short and slow.

On December 28th, as the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, I stopped and took a selfie less than 300 yards from home. Where I stood marked the culmination of a lot of hard work. I had accomplished 3 remarkable, literal milestones in my running journey:

• 76 miles in one week. My previous best was 60.

• 200 miles in one month. My previous best was 160.

• 1,408 miles in one year. My previous best was 1,053.

Never let an experience go by without extracting some lessons from it, right?

Here are 5 things I learned running 1,400+ miles in one year:

The Common Lessons

There are a handful of “common” lessons that come from doing hard things. Maybe I’m cheating by calling this one lesson.

• Taking time to identify lessons couched in hard things makes dealing with hard things easier.

• Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger or leaves you permanently maimed.

• Sometimes, the preceding outcome is a choice. Sometimes, it isn’t.

• Often, doing hard things with others makes them easier. I was fortunate to be able to do almost 50% of my runs with friends.

• Embrace discomfort. Doing something hard, by its definition, stretches your capabilities and capacity. Easy things are not hard. (Thank you Captain Obvious.)

Physical toughness not required

I don’t frequent the gym. I have some dad strength, but I’m not physically strong. I can’t squat hundreds of pounds. I can barely do a squat under my own body weight.

For certain, there is a mental-toughness component required to stick to anything hard. Muscle mass is not required, however, to accomplish most hard things.

Grace is necessary

In May, when I suffered a setback due to injury, I got down on myself because the injury was a direct result of running when I knew I needed to take a break. Consequently, I had to take three weeks off to recover. I was hard on myself because the injury was self-inflicted.

Even when you don’t choose the hard thing, you can still be unnecessarily hard on yourself for allowing a bit (or a lot) of discouragement to creep in.

When I started feeling well enough to run again, I knew I could make up the lost time. The month-long plus illness in October, however, pretty well destroyed my hope of achieving my goal. That translated into not trying as hard as I could have in November which translated into having to work a lot harder in December.

While slow and steady doesn’t always win the race, consistency is key to finishing. Grace is required when consistency falters.

An increase in self-awareness

The single-longest run I had during my journey was 27.1 miles, a bit more than a standard marathon. The body burns a lot of calories covering that much terrain. I frequently run 15 or 16 miles with a 20 mile run mixed in every couple of months.

Mathematically, 27 is 35% longer than 20, but feels 76.3% harder. (76.3% = a LOT)

Unless you’re an ultra-marathoner who eats 26-mile runs for breakfast multiple times per week, there is a significant amount of fatigue that comes with a 20+ mile run. When your body is that tired, everything else seems to fade away. It’s just you, the pain in your legs, your breathing, and your thoughts.

Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence. — Thomas Szasz

Long runs are great for introspection — sometimes questioning your immediate life choices. That’s where I agree with Mr. Szasz. However, courage and intelligence are not at odds with each other. Facing a difficult challenge often requires both courage and intelligence.

For a person with cancer, courage is required to endure the treatment. Intelligence says that keeping to a healthy diet and following the doctors’ instructions contribute to better outcomes.

Don’t be blinded by what’s broken

When I have acute pain that’s not resolved with over-the-counter pain medication, I tend to fixate on that pain. To be fair, it’s hard not to focus on pain, particularly when it’s intense and prolonged. (Grace. Remember?) Spending too much time hung-up on the pain, however, caused me to lose sight of the fact that with moderate adjustment, I could have achieved my goal without the kind of effort required in December. I was fortunate that the strained muscle in December only set me back a few days, and that I had racked up extra miles that provided a buffer for the days I had to take off.

You can let hard things define you or you can choose how to define yourself because of the hard things you endure. Hard as it might be, it’s always a choice.

I’m getting older. The thought I entertain these days is that 1,400 miles in one year was a flash in the pan; a one-off “experiment” not likely to be repeated. Fortunately, I learned some useful things along the way.

If you’re looking for one takeaway, remember this:

There is value and opportunity to learn and grow from the moments and seasons of difficulty in life. Don’t waste them.