1.
Congratulations! You're one of the lucky few who got into the New York City Marathon!
2.
You're super excited that you've been given the opportunity to participate in one of the biggest marathons in the world.
3.
Then you remember that it's hard to run 26.2 miles when you haven't run one mile in about two months.
4.
And whenever you tell a friend that you're running a marathon they look at you like you're insane.
5.
But you don't have any time for that bullshit.
6.
So you pull your lazy ass off the couch...
7.
And buy all the running swag you can find.
8.
And THEN you start running.
9.
And you quickly realize just how much this is going to suck.
10.
So you have yourself a brief moment of paralyzing self doubt.
11.
And then you dig deep and push through.
12.
Pretty soon your weekend plans revolve around your lonely long runs.
13.
And you develop deep, meaningful relationships with your music playlists and podcasts.
14.
You fight through ankle pain...
15.
... and you ignore the existence of your knees.
16.
You even reluctantly change your diet.
17.
You learn that nipple bleeding is painfully real.
19.
Slowly but surely you work your way up to that 20 mile training run...
20.
... and suddenly you start feeling confident.
21.
And then you immediately start dreading the possibility of getting hurt...
23.
So you start cutting back on your runs, avoid socializing, and stay home.
24.
Then you start worrying that you've cut back too much.
25.
And you spend the days leading up to the race questioning yourself, sweating nervously, and of course — carb loading.
26.
But deep down you know that you've never been more ready for anything in your life.
26.2. And you know, no matter what, there's a pot of gold at the end of this road of misery.
