How To Prepare For A Marathon Like You’d Prep For A Meeting

Whether it’s running a meeting or running a marathon, the outcome greatly relies on your preparation. And, it’s not just about the amount of time spent preparing, but how you spend that time can make or break your results. Let’s look at the fundamental principles to great preparation that apply both to meetings and marathons, as well as just about anything!

Know The Goal (And Make Smaller Ones To Get There)

If the objective isn’t clear, your meetings can run off on tangents just as your training sessions can become a scramble of random workouts that have little relevance to what you’re trying to achieve. In meetings, people may have different priorities in mind and can go off-topic. Think about how much time you have for the meeting and what you need to achieve in that time. Is it aligning the team on a timeline, or how to measure success on a deliverable? Once you know what you’re trying to achieve you can create mini steps that get you there. Maybe you need to present certain data that supports your argument, or you need to make sure specific stakeholders are present, or you need to get answers to certain questions before the team can make an informed decision.

The same principles apply to running a marathon. Determine what you want for yourself from running the marathon. Is it just finishing, or do you want to hit a certain time? Set the goal and work backwards from there to create small steps that get you to success. For example, you can note your average mile pace and make short-term goals to bring your time down, such as supplementing your distance runs with speed work to help you achieve that goal. And remember that running a marathon requires different training, and even a different lifestyle, from running other events, such as a 5k or—on the other end of the spectrum—a 100 mile ultra-marathon. Daily 6 mile runs are great for fitness but won’t be enough to get you through the marathon. On the other hand, training for ultra long distances might make the 26.2 miles sound like a breeze, but it won’t give you the speedwork and recovery you need to get you to your best potential time for the marathon. Know your goal, and design your training accordingly.

Setting the goal from the beginning and steering your training—and team discussions—back to the objective will always help keep your goals on track.

Get The Right Tools

When working to reach your goals, the tools you use can set you up to either thrive or fail. In a meeting, you might need a computer and screen to present, a solution for remote collaborators to join, and your stats and references on hand as your colleagues fire questions your way. Preparing an agenda helps to align everyone beforehand, and scheduling an end-time lets everyone know how much time is allotted to get things done.

You also need the right tools to perform your best with the marathon, from the right sneakers to the proper pre- and post-workout formulas to get your best training results. CarnoSyn^® beta-alanine is a key ingredient in pre- and post-workout formulas that helps increase the working capacity of muscles so you can reach peak performance. Beta-alanine buffers the onset of lactic acid, delaying fatigue, and prolonging performance. But not all beta-alanine is created equal. CarnoSyn^® is the only patented beta-alanine proven by science to enhance athletic performance, and it always contains the highest quality ingredients due to our stringent quality control process. That’s why customers ranging from track and field athletes to NFL players and Olympic hopefuls choose CarnoSyn^®, and why it can make a difference in your marathon training.

Plan For Obstacles

Use foresight to anticipate any potential barriers to your goal. Do any colleagues have hesitations about what you’re trying to accomplish with a project? Is the process typically slow when you need to be agile? Should you expect potential push-back from leadership? Having a plan to mitigate these challenges will help you overcome them quickly.

Training for a marathon can have plenty of detours, from an inflamed achilles to a week with the flu. Know that these things are part of the process and allow your body time to heal. In cases of injuries, you can plan for low-impact activities that still get in the miles, such as swimming, pool running, or cycling. Supplementing can help with recovery too—CarnoSyn^® beta-alanine helps muscles recover faster, as well as reduces fatigue after workouts. In cases of illness, be patient in your recovery and prepare to ease back into training. If proper rest, nutrition, and supplementation have been an integral part of your training, then you’ll already be setup to recover as quickly as possible.

Know Your Strengths And Areas For Improvement

Maybe you’re great at making sure everyone’s voice is heard but then struggle with keeping time for the meeting. We all have the things we’re better at, but knowing our weaknesses and preparing to counter them is what makes the difference in our outcomes.

Where do you struggle most in running a marathon? What can you do to improve? Focus more attention on this in your training and you’ll be better prepared to fly through your race.

You’re Not Done When The Meeting Is Done

There’s always follow-up tasks, whether it’s new timelines to be crafted, working sessions to be scheduled, or documents to be sent. Similarly, what you do right after running the marathon is crucial to your recovery. Stretch—a lot—and get body tissue work done. Eat a good recovery meal and don’t forget your post-workout formulas. Get at least 8 hours of sleep for days following the event to allow your body to recover properly.

Reflect

How did the meeting go? What could have gone better? Apply this to the next meeting. We should also ask these questions of ourselves in our athletic performance. How did the marathon go? Did you start too fast or just right? Did you maintain or reduce your pace as the run progressed? Did you get enough sleep and rest the days preceding the event? What did you eat the day before and the morning of? Should you try something different next time? Take the time to assess all facets of your performance—identify weak spots and make a plan to improve them—this practice will bode well in fitness and business alike.