Life is all about ups and downs, it is full of surprises sometimes it gives us joy and sometimes it amazes us. I remember nine years ago I ran the first and only marathon in my life. And, as with entrepreneurship, I did not really know what I would face in the upcoming days.
Whenever you take a new path you hear many stories from others like stories of heroism and determination, success and failures, of sacrifice and pain, from falls and injuries, of triumph. stories of life, but also of death and despair. Those who had already experienced and felt it assured us that it was a wonderful and an unforgettable experience; Those who would never run it questioned me and made me doubt the wisdom of the act, the strength of my heart and the risk involved.
Every day, before dawn, I left home to meet my quota of kilometers, hoping that discipline would be enough to run 42 thousand 195 meters in a single run. My goal. Do it in less than four hours. 240 minutes as I calculated was the magic number in my head to determine whether it ended successfully or not. The figure was based on previous races of 5K, 10K or half marathon and I was happy with it, although in reality I had no idea what life would be like after kilometer 21.
I didn’t sleep well that night before the marathon. My fear was not listening to the alarm clock. Also, I could not stop thinking about “the wall”. I panicked to crash with her: reach that point in the race in which the wear is such that your legs stop reacting, breathing becomes difficult and your muscles begin to cram. That could happen, approximately, at kilometer 33. The last nine kilometers would be the most difficult as one can expect.
Not the beginning Not half. The final phase tests your ultimate sacrifice that what you are made of, when you have already traveled a good distance. Just like in the enterprise.
That dawn of September I woke up with determination, but also with fear. The big day had arrived and the only thing I had left was to run like anything to achieve my goal.
Every journey starts with the first step and the uncertainty of the first step comes to your mind when you start that will it succeed or not, I began to move between the uncertainty of the first kilometers with a multitude of runners. I passed some and others were passing me. At first I felt pressured, but i kept trying to follow a rhythm that was not mine, but little by little I was finding my cadence and getting into my career without paying attention to others, I only focused to myself.
I started enjoying it afterwards with every single step I was making, I felt joy and felt that I was doing something meaningful in my life. The city looked magnificent and it seemed to me that the people who watched me from the sidewalks always encouraged me to keep going. As if running was an undertaking, some looked at me with admiration. As if in my act there was something unique in me, something superhuman and inspiring reserved only for a few.
And yet, after kilometer 21 - half the way - my legs started to feel tired. The smiles among the public seemed less obvious to me and each kilometer became longer and longer and more difficult than the previous one.
Yes, just like in the enterprise.
The crisis saw her come past kilometer 30. An annoyance and anger was present with each step just above my left knee. It hurt and I could not ignore it but i was determined. By 33 I knew that I had injured my leg and that I was about to crash into the dreaded “wall”. And as it can happen when undertaking, the perfect plan that had been drawn for the race suddenly was altered.
The suffering seemed absurd to me. And for the first time since the dream of running a marathon had arisen in me, I began to doubt if I could finish it or not. Without thinking too much, from one moment to the next, I stopped running and just walked … i was not looking at the people standing on the sideways just thinking something in my head that whether i would be able to finish it or not, my legs were giving me the answers.
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The broker and the Coca-Cola
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He was thirsty, craving something sweet and there was no supply station nearby. My body asked me to somehow give back the energy that had taken away. The tour had taken me to an area of the city that I did not know and that looked deserted. Here there was no one to encourage me to continue. In addition, the clock indicated that it had been more than four hours since it started; I would not even approach my goal of 240 minutes.
And then I saw it. His outfit was that of a real marathon runner. His red shirt matched his shorts and his body was thin, but marked. It also did not run. In fact, he walked more slowly than me. In his hand he carried a can of Coca-Cola and when you are that thirsty anything can seem delicious to drink or to eat. The Coca Cola looked delicious. When he saw me, he started the conversation.
-How are you going?
-Wrong. I cannot anymore.
He smiled as if he had been through this many times. Then he extended his arm with the soda can.
-You want?
I nodded and the drink of a stranger gave back the faith in myself.
-If you can!
Two words were enough to make me feel like I could run again and after thanking him for the soda drink I tried again.
I throttled myself started by walking and eventually started jogging again. So for nine more kilometers. I crossed the finish line with a time of 5 hours and 3 minutes, but more satisfied than if I had fulfilled my mission.
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The true marathon
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Today is just over a year that, after losing my job, I made the decision to start and try my luck as a freelancer and an independent consultant. I have no way of knowing if I have reached kilometer 33 of my route, but what is a fact is that there are days when I feel that I am right there just about to reach, with my knee hurt, facing the “wall” and with the doubt of I can reach the goal by hanging around my head.
But just like that day, and despite the fatigue and tiredness, I have not stopped moving, to advance one step at a time, always looking forward, focusing on the goal to achieve, with the confidence that when I think I cannot continue, someone will appear to offer me a drink of his soda, a word of encouragement or a simple advice and again I will get throttled by encouragement and will continue my journey again with more enthusiasm. Now that I think about it, it has always been like that. In the most difficult moments, in moments of doubt, there always appears someone who with a couple of words returns your faith in yourself.
Because that happens in marathons, in ventures. And yes, also in life.