I have never run a marathon.
And because I have never run a marathon, I can say with certainty that it’s impossible. A hilarious conception. A totally insane, completely preposterous, unthinkable, unimaginable, completely unattainable idea. The very thought of running 26.2 miles — let alone one — is frankly absurd.
From my understanding, this seems to be the general consensus, with less dramatization, on running a marathon. Running a marathon is nothing short of a superhuman accomplishment that very few people can imagine actually doing.
The second someone even mentions the term “marathon,” most of us immediately picture ourselves in this context and consequently dismiss our ability to do so.
However, despite this generalized mindset, the idea of running a marathon is overwhelmingly captivating, engaging and intriguing. It’s a huge accomplishment that some part of us might crave to achieve.
Maybe not so powerfully that we’re compelled to start training, that is, but enough to grab our attention, picture the glorious finale and wonder if we’d ever be able to complete such an arduous journey.
A marathon is a perfect metaphor for the underlying, hardly achievable, totally ridiculous goals we all have. We all have unnoticed, quiet ambitions we tuck away in the back of our brains we often write off as impossible or too crazy to genuinely acknowledge.
We don’t think about these ambitions often, but when we do, it brings slight bursts of inspiration. There’s just something exciting about something so absurd. But it’s a short-lived excitement, smothered by our own perception of reality.
About a year ago, I ran into a Nike-clad woman in a hotel elevator. When she asked me if I was in Boston to run the marathon, I looked at her like she was crazy. But all she said was, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
I wasn’t convinced.
In middle school, when I ran/walked a 14-minute mile during the dreaded gym test, I just assumed that I would never be able to do much better than that. Running was hard and uncomfortable, and I didn’t enjoy it.
Apparently, I could never be good at it. I simply accepted the fact that I was fated to fail at something so challenging. It seemed to me that you either had a five-minute or 15-minute mile, and there was very little you could do to change that. Some people are just born faster, right?
Of course, this is not true. While some people might be at an advantage for running one, or two or 26 miles, that does not make it impossible for anyone else. Even the kid who got a five-minute mile in middle school gym class couldn’t randomly wake up one morning and run an entire marathon.
It takes dedication, purposeful intent and a lot of training. But even still, we assume we would never be able to run a marathon, even though most of us have never made any effort to do so.
There’s a major difference between not being able to run a marathon and not wanting to run a marathon. We usually assume that we’re incapable, due to the daunting nature of the task and our profound lack of experience.
But the woman I met in a hotel elevator was completely right. Running a 26-mile marathon is not impossible, even when you start out with a winded, exhausted, 14-minute single mile run.
The same is true for the seemingly ridiculous aspirations we have. When we’re not instantly perfect at something, it’s too easy to assume we’ll never be good enough to actually make it an accomplishment.
But anything challenging takes time, dedication and an open-minded attitude. I don’t have to run a marathon to know it’s not easy. But I can’t say it’s impossible if I haven’t even tried.
