Hey friends,
Welcome to the 53rd edition of the “Level Up Ladder” newsletter.
In this one, I talk about my experience in my second half-marathon, why it was a lesson in resilience, and I will recommend a TV series and a book.
Warning: lots of photos and details from the half-marathon.
1/ Some updates from my side
I love the marathon memes, as much as I love the CrossFit ones. They’re funny and true.
Of course, people should talk about their passions. Our hobbies unite us. One of the most important pieces of networking advice is to find a common interest with someone.
How hard is it to talk with someone you don’t know?
How easy does it become when you find out they are from the same hometown or that you both enjoy skiing?
Right?
Anyway, because last Sunday I was set to run the 21K in the forest, I spent the few days before relaxing.
On Friday, I went for a slow run and a long walk in the evening, and on Saturday, I went to a swimming pool. It was the first time I swam in years. I like swimming, it’s relaxing, but, my gym subscription doesn’t cover any pools, so I can only go from time to time, on my wife’s invitations.
After the swim session, we went to have brunch at our favorite place in Bucharest, Noua Bar and then relaxed for the rest of the day.
I was pretty nervous when I woke up on the day of the marathon, as my watch showed me a bad recovery. Overall, I had an average recovery of 35% for the whole week, even though I didn’t drink and slept for at least 7.5 hours every day.
I drank a cup of coffee, wrote in my journal, and we headed to the race, we had to be there a bit earlier as I took someone else’s number on Saturday, by accident, so I had to replace it before the race.
We took a cab because I figured out it would be very hard to park there because of the event. I set the wrong pin on the map for the destination, so the driver had to do a detour. Because he was hurrying, he hit the car in front of us at a stop.
I was already thinking, “We’re going to have to call another cab," “we might miss the start," and all these negative thoughts that come through your head in moments like this.
Fortunately, the car in front was fine, and they just left, no police, no contract between them, nothing.
So, we got there in time, I got my correct number, I met some friends from the gym and some colleagues from my MBA, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and cool. The weather was perfect and the race was about to start.
My initial plan was to run at a pace of about 5:40/km. As I was talking with some colleagues from school, they said they would run at 6:00, and I said, “What the hell, maybe I should do that too.”
And we started the run.
At the beginning of a race, it’s very crowded, especially in this one, as it’s in the forest and the pathways are very narrow. So, I thought to myself, let me accelerate a bit so I get out of the crowd. After 1 km, I had a pace of 5:05, and it felt good. I thought it was fine, I’ll settle somewhere between 5:30 and 5:40, and I’ll try and accelerate in the last 4 km (this is what I did in the last race).
4-5 km had passed, and my pace was still around 5:20, so I kept going.
I finished the first 10K at 53:11, which is my personal best for this distance.
(Sorry, I know that these details are very boring if you’re not a runner, the thing is that it’s quite a big difference from a pace of 5:20 to a pace of 5:30, at least for an amateur runner, like me.)
And then it started to become harder. And harder.
I didn’t take a water backpack as I did last time, because it doesn’t look that good and it’s quite uncomfortable. There are some hydrating points along the way, but you have to stop and you lose time. I tried drinking from the cup while running, which was not a good idea. I was also stuck with the cup in my hand (you can’t throw it in the forest, obviously).
So I hydrated less and less.
Then, it started to get a bit warm.
I ran almost the whole race following a guy who had a good pace. It was mostly me and him and some people from time to time. You would do all these circles in the forest, so I got bored of seeing only trees.
And then my legs started hurting. I was OK from a cardio perspective, but my legs were stiff. I could feel my quads pumping.
I was at km 15 when I was thinking that maybe I would not accelerate at 17, maybe I would do it at 18.
I was getting more tired.
At km 17, I said I would accelerate at km 19.
My legs were hurting more and more.
I wanted to stop. I even stopped for a few seconds.
Then I kept going, and I was saying to myself:
“Think about your training”, “You can’t stop now”,
“Just put one foot in front of the other, just one foot in front of the other”.
I must have said this to myself a hundred times.
It was all I was thinking about.
I understood there was no way I could accelerate at any point.
Then, with one km to go, I fell. It was not a bad fall, but still, I scratched my right arm and leg. A guy coming from the back helped me get up. I felt the pain when I started running again.
But I kept going.
And I managed to accelerate for the last 500 meters or so.
I finished the race. I was so tired, and my legs hurt like hell.
In the end, I managed to finish with a pace of 5:27, better than my initial plan. But I was still a bit disappointed.
It’s fabulous how our minds work.
We set our goals, but deep down, we want more from ourselves. We expect more from us than we do from anyone else.
When I started the run with a pace of less than 5:20 I felt I could keep it up and beat my old score. Even though I didn’t plan to do that initially.
So, then and there, in a matter of a few seconds, that thought replaced my initial plan. It was the new goal.
And I was upset about not making it.
There is a good exercise to practice in times like this. Ask yourself:
“If you had a friend who was in this situation, he wanted to finish the race in less than 2 hours, he struggled in the second part of it, still finished, and in 1:54 minutes, would you congratulate him or dismiss his efforts?”
And this is a good lesson for life too.
We should be more happy with our accomplishments.
Of course, we need to strive to get better, every day, but that doesn’t mean we should look down on our progress.
It’s a thin line that we often cross.
If we’re always unhappy about our results, because we know we have the potential for more, we might just not try at all.
The brain is smart enough to tell you to avoid something, so you don’t feel disappointed. Because that's what you’re saying:
“I am not happy with this race. I wanted more. I could have done more.”
And this is something that I need to work more on.
Being happy with what I have and what I do.
It’s a lesson I need to practice more.
Anyway, the race is done, it was a good one.
Next stop, June 1st, Rimini, my first Hyrox event.
I’m very eager to get there.
2/ Recommendations
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
I am re-reading this book, and it’s probably the first book I would recommend to someone who wants to start saving and investing.
Baby Reindeer on Netflix
This dramatization of a real-life stalking case will shake you a few times before the end. No wonder it has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 100%.
(Not for the faint-hearted, though.)
Dall-E permits photo editing
As shown in this LinkedIn post, you can now use a brush on your ChatGPT-generated photos to modify parts of them. Very useful, if you have a pro subscription.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter.
I hope you have a great weekend, friends!
Leo
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P.S. 2: If you want to take your productivity to the next level, check out my extensive Productivity course that can accelerate your career.