by Wendy Bright-Fallon
Here is a story about what the NYC Marathon taught me about grit.
How much resilience and grit do you have?
Good news: We have much more than we think.
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they have a second.
~William James, American philosopher and psychologist
In a sea of 56k+ runners and hundreds of thousands of organizers and supporters, I didn’t feel left out, I felt right at home and connected to everyone. Not because I was running – but because every single one of us was there with one goal: to experience the New York City Marathon. It’s nearly a week later and I still get goose bumps remembering the strong vibe and total celebration of life that we witnessed – a true testament to resilience and grit.
My husband and I were part of the “Support Squad” cheering on my sister-in-law Tracey and her training partner Joanne – both of whom are accomplished runners and athletes. Allow me to brag a moment – Tracey has now run four of the six World Marathon Major Series – Boston, London, Chicago and New York City. Tokyo and Berlin are next and if she chooses, Sydney just got added. And the number of IronMan and triathlons she has under her belt is growing strong. oh, and she is Team USA. Plus, Tracey is a cancer survivor which has its own level of grit…
You have more in you than you believe you do. You are gritty!
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were cheering strangers on mile after mile – for 26.2 miles. We all felt this great joy from the electric energy! We walked A LOT (we clocked 20.1miles on our Aura rings) and navigated the NYC subway system in order to see Tracey at mile 8, mile 18 and again at mile 24. She stopped at all three to give us all the biggest hugs!
It was a kaleidoscope of characters. Old, young, fat, fit, walking, running, laughing, crying. Some were gutted – just barely putting one foot in front of another. And others were high-fiving the crowd, skipping around and zigzagging across streets to say hello to friends and fans. Every single person out there was an inspiration.
A woman we saw at mile 8 and again at mile 24 was running with hand crutches (the kind you use if you have balance issues). She had the biggest smile on her face as the crowd erupted in applause as she passed us. She even took a minute to raise her crutches in the air giving us all a salute of thanks. (more of her story)
There was an old man walking/running with a cane and a handwritten message on the back of his shirt that said: 56th marathon and counting.
One person was dribbling a basketball while running (presumably the whole time). I wonder if he had blisters on his toes AND his fingers by the last mile?
Tears streamed down my face countless times as I watched people dig deep. And I wasn’t alone in expressing this feeling. Joy was everywhere…even for the ones who were struggling. Everyone cheering was inspired. Everyone running was inspired. We were witnessing resilience and grit.
Our mind keeps us from doing hard things. Train your mind for grit.
The prefrontal cortex has a protective mechanism that tends to override our legs and lungs- which are screaming to stop this nonsense. But the truth is that our body is much more resilient.
We can do hard things.
YOU can do hard things.
Maybe your hard thing isn’t a marathon. Maybe it’s lifting heavy weights, leaving a bad situation, getting to the gym, writing a book, starting a new job.
Marathons are long.
Life is long.
How do you finish?
One step at a time.
Later that night, one woman – who wasn’t moving very fast and leaned heavily on the wall when she got into the elevator – had a marathon medal on. After exuding congratulations, we asked, “How do you feel?”
Her eyes got wide and she said – “I feel broken.” But then she smiled.
Live YOUR life – not someone else’s. Too many people are waiting for something to happen instead of making things happen. We think too often about the results we want instead of doing the thing to get us there. The action is where we build grit. Each person running that marathon put in thousands of hours to get there – they didn’t just show up and do it.
Give your dreams all you’ve got and you will be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
You’ve got grit!
To read my own story of running a half marathon, go here.
Pictured here is Tracey with her main squeeze Steve and my husband Dana.
And this is the whole Support Squad with Tracey and Joanne the same night out (more grit) at a broadway show (which we all cried at too!)
