Once, at the end of a race, I mentioned to a friend about ‘hitting the wall’. A passing emergency services staff overhead my remark, and asked with concern where on my body I hit the wall. It was a hilarious moment for us runners.
The Wall is that dreaded myth or reality that marathoners face at around the 30K mark. That is the point where the relatively untrained body, unfamiliar with the distance and its impact on the body, becomes fatigued. Runners who ‘bonk’ may give up, physically and mentally, and decide to walk. Others at Ironman triathlons end up crawling to the finish line, or wobble uncontrollably, or become delirious.
Rest assured that such dramatic finishes are mostly confined to serious age-groupers who outpace themselves. Walking is not a sign of defeat, unless you defect into the coffee shop for a well-earned cold beverage. You can still recover by refueling with energy gels, some fruit or a sports drink. There is time for damage control, and recovery from a temporary setback. Frequent training close to race distance and pace can help us ward off the perceived ‘wall’. We avoid the ‘wall’ as best as we can by sticking to our perceived limits and monitoring our progress throughout the race. If you can still smile or have a conversation at junctures of the race, you are still running within your limits.
Leadership Lessons: Where has your running led you recently? What are the walls, at work, that you run up to? You can run, but you can’t hide from your responsibilities. How do you manage ‘run-ups’ with colleagues, customers and clients?
I recommend reading Bart Yasso ‘My Life On the Run’ (2008). The stories from a runner who run about 1,000 marathons in seven continents is worth it. Strongly recommended.
Photo credit: Dennis Quek (The infamous Wall of Beer as a popular, post-race recovery technique. This photograph was part of our post-Race, t-shirt night).
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