Embracing Ambitious Goals: My Marathon Journey

Have you ever set a goal so ambitious that it seemed almost absurd? Instead of shying away, what if you embraced the challenge head-on.

Life offers us a single chance to make our mark. We can either watch from the sidelines, drowning in regrets and missed opportunities, or we can embrace the audacious, facing our fears head-on, unafraid of failure. Instead, we learn to rise stronger after each stumble, dust ourselves off, and persist until we achieve that extraordinary moment. A moment of personal triumph. A moment of the unimaginable. A moment of the unexpected. I'd love to share with you my story of a moment where I truly believe I achieved the extraordinary.

Competing in a marathon has been on my bucket list ever since I discovered my love for running. During COVID when we were in lockdown and gyms were shut, running became my outlet for both my mental and physical wellbeing. While I would tell myself each year that I wanted to register and run in a marathon, I was terrified. The self-doubt, the possibility of it not ending well for me, the possibility of not being able to finish, and of course, the possibility of making a fool of myself. As the years went by, COVID passed, and I continued to pursue my love for running, but a feeling started to sink in that perhaps competing in a marathon was more aspirational for me and not realistic. My friends and family had heard me say it hundreds of times, "I really want to run a marathon," and at this point, they would brush it off by saying, "You should - you should register." And I never would register. And then it dawned on me in 2024. Why would I put myself through an ordeal that I was terrified of, especially when competing or completing it held no true meaning for me aside from crossing it off my bucket list? Was it enough for me that it would be cool to be able to say I ran a marathon? I didn’t think so. Was it enough that finishing a marathon would provide me with a sense of accomplishment of achieving a physical challenge that in my mind was huge? I wasn’t convinced. So, then what?

I didn’t know. But what I did know was that I was going to figure it out using my tried and tested approach of self-reflection, idea generation, and problem-solving aka my morning run. So for the next few weeks, I continued my daily 5 am runs, except now as I cleared my mind, my thoughts were focused on the why.

I recalled that during COVID, my daily morning runs became an integral part of my day. And what I loved about it was the fact that it was a time that I was cut off from everyone and all distractions, a time when I could release stress and focus my thoughts on the things that were important to me. It was also during COVID in 2021 that my son, 14 years old at that time, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was a difficult time for us, and like most kids and their families, we were completely caught off guard. I would use my runs as a way to manage my stress and worries about my son’s health. From the shock and despair, my wife and I had to quickly snap out of it and make my son realize that he would most definitely lead a normal healthy life. We knew if we didn’t put on a brave front, we risked him spiraling into depression and sadness. We took it on as a family, we talked about it openly with friends and acquaintances, and we did everything possible to help normalize it for him.

I began prioritizing healthy habits and the need to be physically active more and more with the intention to instill the discipline of healthy habits with my kids. I knew if I could role model healthy active living to my son and encourage him to be and stay active, managing his blood sugar would be easier for him. The first six months were tough for him, but slowly and gradually, he became independent, being able to finger poke and test his insulin himself, being able to calculate and determine his insulin dose, and self-administer his insulin shots himself.

The next six months and beyond, he continued to thrive and show his doctor his level of responsibility and independence in managing his blood sugar to the point where he met the criteria of managing his A1C1 well enough to transition over to a blood glucose monitor and then an insulin pump. I recall how proud I was of him then and still am. He had every reason to slack off and let things slide from a health perspective, his academics, and his social life. And if he did, I know I wouldn’t blame him – he was going through a major life change. He had a carte blanche from me to mope, complain, indulge in self-pity, throw a tantrum, emotionally blackmail me to get his way for whatever he wanted. But he didn’t! He showed me that regardless of the obstacles and fears, you face them, accept the challenge, and triumph. And he did like a pro!

That was it. Soon after his diagnosis, I recall my runs becoming longer and longer over time. It was then that I had started the practice of dedicating the miles I was running to someone or something I was grateful for in my life. The practice gave me peace, and I felt a sense of euphoria not just for the sense of accomplishment in running a long distance but also having spent time just reminding myself of that someone or something I was thankful for. It was during one of these long runs when I unexpectedly ran the equivalent of a half marathon – I had been thinking of my son's journey and his bravery and thinking to myself how proud I was of him, how he had inspired me through his actions, and how thankful I was for his spirit, courage, and determination to take control of his situation.

It was then that I began toying with the idea of wanting to run a marathon. The aspirational thought of running a marathon had stuck, but the why had faded away. As I remembered what I was thinking and what I was experiencing at that time, I recalled the desire to run a marathon to show my son that he had inspired me to do something difficult and hopefully inspire him to run a marathon with me one day. Having revived the memory and moment in my mind, I felt the drive once again and the need to register for a marathon right away and start training for something I had no idea how to train for. I now had purpose and action which would keep me motivated.

That weekend on July 27, 2024, I registered for the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. It was now real, I had 12 weeks to train and prepare for the most difficult and grueling challenge of my life.

As I told friends, family, and coworkers, everyone thought I was crazy. “Who registers to run a full 42-kilometer marathon for the very first time with just 12 weeks to train? You should’ve started with a half marathon.” But that was not my goal. That was not what I aspired to do. That was not what would provide me that sense of accomplishment, and most importantly, that was not my Purpose! I had made a commitment to myself that I was going to run a full marathon for my son. I had no idea how I was going to do it, how it would turn out, but I knew I was going to cross that finish line!

And so, I did on October 20, 2024, I put myself through the toughest physical and mental challenge I could’ve imagined. Did the day go exactly as I planned? Definitely not. At about 22 kilometers, I started experiencing cramps in both my calf muscles, but I continued on. Running at times, limping at times, walking at times, and making pit stops for the medics to help relax my calves. The medics encouraged me to call it a day given that I had surpassed the half marathon mark. But I continued to push through. I reminded myself why I was doing what I was doing and visualized myself crossing that finish line.

I reminded myself of all of those that thought I was crazy, and I reminded myself of all of those that had shown up and were waiting to watch me cross the finish line. I told myself I was going to finish the marathon running and not walking. I conserved enough of my energy and willpower to push through the pain in my calves to run the last 10 kilometers. As I neared the finish line at the last 2 kilometers, my son was waiting there and jumped in and ran beside me, helping pace me to the finish line.

On October 20, 2024, I ran and completed my first-ever competitive endurance race. I am the only person amongst my friends, family, and cousins that have ever run and completed a full marathon. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. Having never done anything like this before, I imagined it would be difficult. I never imagined it to be this difficult. Would I ever compete in a marathon again – absolutely I will! I will, however, give myself more than 12 weeks to train.

I truly believe that running my first marathon has had a profound impact on me. Putting yourself through something that extreme, requiring a disciplined training regimen for many weeks, proves that anything is possible – provided you put the time, energy, and focus into making it happen. But most importantly, when your actions are driven by purpose, that is when the unbelievable becomes real.