If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure if I'd even make it.

I was 10 km into my first half marathon (21 km), and up until this point I’d gone a bit quicker than I expected - but I felt strong.

Then something unexpected started to happen.

Without warning, my quadriceps started to twitch with that uncomfortable sensation of cramping - which was strange, as this almost never happened in any of my training runs.

The doubt soon crept in, and I began to picture myself limping across the finish line far slower than I’d hoped...

Thankfully, that never eventuated.

I crossed the line with a time of 1:37:30, averaging 4:37 per km.

It was such an incredible feeling of achievement (once I finally caught my breath about 10 minutes later…).

Ultimately, crossing the finish line was the result of a deliberate shift in my exercise routine and mindset over the past 9 months or so.

Now the dust has settled, and my sore muscles have (almost) fully recovered, I’ve reflected on the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this journey.

Funnily enough, they have nothing to do with my pacing, footwear, or nutrition.

And I think they apply to almost everyone - whether you run, walk, ride, or lift weights.

So here are five things I took away from the experience.

Lesson #1: I wasn’t really training for a race

A long time before this event, I’d realised I wanted to be someone who maintained a reasonably high fitness level all year round.

The half marathon simply gave me a chance to express that fitness.

This was a big physical challenge for me. But the biggest challenges in life often don’t announce themselves months in advance.

Whether it’s illness, injury or surgery, an opportunity to hike or explore on holiday, or simply keeping up with your children or grandchildren - your fitness will influence how well you handle it.

I’m not training just to compete in events, but to ensure I’m ready for when life throws something unexpected my way.

Lesson #2: It’s about staying ready instead of constantly getting ready

A common cycle goes something like this:

Train consistently for the event, complete the event, lose motivation, then stop training.

Each new goal often means starting from scratch. I’ve been quite similar in the past - the last time I completed an event like this was a 14 km race in 2013 (yep, well over 10 years ago).

This time, I'm focused on maintaining momentum rather than just getting to the finish line. In that way, the half marathon was more of a “checkpoint” than a destination.

Maintaining a sustainable exercise routine means keeping yourself reasonably close to the next challenge - whatever that might be.

Not always in peak condition, but close enough that more opportunities become possible.

Lesson #3: Let the plan make the decisions

I’ve covered a lot of kilometres this year - for me, anyway.

From the outside, that might look like the product of discipline or willpower. But actually, the bigger part of it was having a plan.

This time I outsourced many of my decisions to my Garmin watch.

That meant I didn’t wake up wondering if I should run, or how far or how hard I should go. The decision had already been made.

And that matters, because every decision between intention and action creates friction. Reducing that friction makes it easier to get started and maintain momentum.

Of course you don’t need a Garmin watch - it might be a written program, a coach, exercise class, or a walking group. Anything that helps with the “what do I do today” part.

Was my training plan ideal? Almost certainly not.

But the best training plan is not perfect - it just removes enough uncertainty so you can get started.

Lesson #4: Variety makes consistency easier

Previously, all of my runs looked virtually the same: similar distance, pace, and duration.

This time, each session had a purpose, with a mix of easy runs, long runs, intervals, tempo sessions and recovery runs.

Different sessions helped develop different qualities, but perhaps more importantly, the variety stopped training from feeling repetitive. I looked forward to different sessions for different reasons.

The same applies to strength training, walking, cycling or almost any other form of exercise.

Variety may not be essential for progress, but it can make training far easier to keep doing.

Lesson #5: Trust how you’ll feel afterwards

It’s easy to think someone exercising a few times per week must be super motivated, love training, or have incredible willpower.

But the truth is, nobody feels like exercising all the time. I would often much prefer to hit snooze again on my alarm.

What gets me to the point of starting isn’t more motivation, but learning to trust how I’m going to feel for the other 23 hours of the day.

I know that even if I don’t do exactly what I’d planned, doing something usually means more energy, a better mood, sharper focus and better sleep that night.

Notice these are all fairly immediate benefits - very different from the long-term health outcomes we usually link exercise with.

So don’t chase motivation - just build evidence that exercise reliably improves the rest of your day.

But perhaps the biggest lesson…

You may have noticed none of these five lessons were really about running.

They were about making exercise a sustainable part of everyday life.

I’m proud to have completed my first half marathon, but I’m even happier that doing it didn’t require me to dramatically change who I was for a few months.

I've realised I don’t always need another event in the calendar.

For me, the real goal is to be ready to say “yes” whenever an unexpected opportunity - or challenge - appears.

Thanks for reading!

Until next week,

Jackson

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IMPORTANT:

The information contained herein is of general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any information without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. Any exercise program may result in injury. We recommend you obtain advice specific to your circumstances from an appropriate health professional before starting any exercise program.