I'm a failure for not seeking failure

Brad Dixon September 19, 2019

Writing can be so cathartic - a great way to unpack thoughts then rearrange and repack before continuing on with the journey. I have a marathon coming up this weekend and I’m looking forward to having a run in my home town, with some good mates. I've had a great build up with 2 x runs over 30km, and a solid half marathon hit out where I finally was able to get one over my good friend Rich (bragging rights for the year - no Rich I won't stop mentioning it).

My marathon PB is 2hrs 47min 04sec run at the Hawkes Bay Marathon in 1999 - over 20 years ago. This Saturday is a great chance to go under that. I know I could run the race in around 2hrs 50min, but I feel it's time to run at a pace that I haven't attempted before. In doing this I risk more but have the chance to push limits. I keep telling my athletes that failure is a step on the journey towards success and lately I have become comfortable with my conservative, no risk approach to training and racing. Not risking failure, and not pushing limits. Not this Saturday - I'm going to put it out there.

David Thoreau famously stated an un-examined life isn’t worth living. I’ve been coasting lately. I’ve become very comfortable with my routine. I want to start growing and learning more by adding elements of discomfort back in again. Discipline becomes easy when it becomes a habit. Time to move along that spectrum of self discovery. It starts this weekend by going out at a personal best pace and attempting to hold it. The last 10km of a marathon is similar to landing an aircraft in distress. The body feels like it’s falling apart and it requires maintenance of the system, being relaxed as the discomfort rises, and not crashing before the finish. I hope to push my limits a little more on Saturday. It’s time to increase the chance of failure to encourage more discomfort and maximise growth. Growth doesn't eventuate in comfort.

Looking forward to the lessons this weekend. See you out there.

*I ended up placing 3rd overall in the Tauranga Marathon with a time of 2hrs 51min 58sec. I was unable to hold the pace I started out at. I did land the plane over the final few kilometers.

Brad Dixon is a sports physio, coach, and wellness evangelist based at EVERFIT Physio & Coaching. His passion is promoting enhancing daily habits that nudge people towards potential and save the planet. His book ‘Holistic Human’ is available here - https://everfit.co.nz/Store/Category/Book . The power is in our daily habits! Connect with Brad at www.everfit.co.nz, Facebook, Strava, Instagram (@everfitcoach), and YOU TUBE https://youtube.com/c/EverFITcoach

Running around the base track of the Mount

Back