In typical Christian Thurman fashion, I ran a marathon this year and practically kept it to myself. I think my mom posted about it, but I never worked up the nerve to make a post or talk about it at all basically lol. But that didn’t stop me from writing about it, and feeling a lot of big feelings as I trained, ran, worked through an injury, and ultimately crossed the finish line on April 26th, 2025. As I trained, I had a lot of thoughts and insights about myself and about endurance running in general. I’ve decided to boil down my favorite lessons that I learned, and share them here with you! I hope that they are helpful in your walk through this wild and wonderful life, and maybe on your journey towards a race day in the future (for me, it’s the Indianapolis marathon in two weeks!).
- The hardest step is getting out of the door.
Humans are built to run. Our entire bodies are engineered to persevere. The way that we sweat, our bipedal nature, the way our muscles are structured, you are simply built to run! No matter what distance, I found that the motivation and energy to get out of the door is the hardest part of every run. Once I’m out of the door and my legs are moving, the miles come and go. Just the other day, it took me two hours to get out of the door and run. I had 7 miles on the docket, and it took me twice as long to get out the door and run than it did to actually run! I told myself if I ran, all I had to do was run 3 miles and I could call it quits. But once I got on the road, the desire to keep going filled up in me and I kept running. I’m telling you this story to tell you this: to be completely honest, you are more capable to do most of the things that you want to do. Whether that is running a marathon, starting a business, going back to school, or whatever big dream you want to pursue. Starting is always the hardest part. So muster up your courage, put on your running shoes, and get out the door. It’ll be worth it.
2. Celebrate every run.
If the hardest part of every run is getting out of the door, You’ve already won when that door shuts behind you. When you change your perspective on what it means to accomplish what you are seeking to do, your perspective on life and your perspective on your results change with it. If you set out to do five miles one day and you only get a half mile in, you’ve already won. If you don’t have the energy for the run today, you are banking that energy to run tomorrow. Whether you “fail” or “succeed” (whatever that looks like for you) you are taking steps forward toward your goals. You are making progress in the right direction. You might not be where you want to be in the moment, but you are getting there! Every step out of the door, every run no matter the distance, is preparing your body for the future. Celebrate that.
3. Race day is coming, but it’s not here yet.
I am a natural procrastinator. I can be disciplined if I need to be, but for the most part if I don’t have an end goal or date in mind, I can’t get myself to do the things that I desperately want to do. Having a race day set for me did two things: It motivated me to stick to my training! Whether I was ready or not, race day was coming; and I would rather be ready for it. But as I kept running, the runs got longer, my legs got more tired from all of the work that I was putting in, it was nice to have grace for myself and know that race day is coming, but it’s not here yet. I had time to grow into the runner that I wanted to be on race day. Find that tension and sense of urgency that keeps you moving forward. Race day is coming, but it’s not here yet. Keep working, and find that balance that works for you.
4. Everyone that finishes gets a medal.
I had a bad race day. 4 weeks away from the marathon, I suffered an injury. I had a 20 mile run scheduled for that day, got 15 miles into the run, and my knee locked up. I got some advice from a friend who is a PT, started to recover, and got to about 90% recovered on race day. But on the day of the race, I got 20 miles in, both of my calves cramped up, and my knee locked up again. I ended up walking 4 out of the last 6 miles, and missed my target finish time by almost an hour. I had another friend that ran the same race, and crushed it. He was able to run hard, finish strong, and set a PR in his marathon time. At the end of the day, we both have the same medal hanging on our shelf. For big races like the marathon, the goal isn’t about how fast you are (unless that’s your career, and then it’s a different story) but for 95% of all of the racers that sign up for a marathon, the goal is never about beating someone else: it’s about crossing the finish line. We can get so caught up in looking to our left and right and seeing how everyone else is performing that we lose the goal that is right in front of us. Keep pushing toward your goals. Because even if someone gets there before you, or faster than you, or better than you, or any of those demoralizing comparison words; as long as YOU finish, you end up in the same place as them. So keep your eyes on the finish line, run your race, and finish. Get your medal.
5. Keep Running Old Routes.
One of the most fun experiences about running is discovering new routes to run, seeing new and beautiful sights, and finding your favorite running trails. But sometimes, it is vital for your training and for your personal experience to go back to those old routes that your feet are familiar with and run them again. There are a couple of reasons for this: You know what to expect, and you need to see how much you’ve grown. When I started out training for my marathon, I wasn’t able to run 2 miles without stopping to walk and catch my breath. I have a convenient 2 mile loop around my neighborhood, and it was just about the hardest two miles in the world for me back in September. Now, almost a year later, it is still one of my favorite ways to get my miles in. At this point, I’m surprised that I haven’t started to put a rut on the sidewalk on that run! And every time I am making my second or third loop around my neighborhood, I take some time to remember that this path used to be the death of me. The route hadn’t changed a single bit: but I grew up a lot. On those days where you might be frustrated that you didn’t accomplish all of the things that you set out to do; when you didn’t run as well as you expected; when you are looking forward to the future and just cannot fathom accomplishing your goals: go find the old roads that you used to run. If you made it then, you can make it now. Keep pushing forward! The you of the past dreamed of being the person you are today. Make sure future you can say the same thing.