Ron Goch
The Telios Group
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April 27, 2024

Following a long break that included sporadic runs from time-to-time, I’m back to running daily.

I never thought I’d come to enjoy and appreciate long distance running as I have the past few years, but as a result of training for and running in my first marathon earlier this year, I certainly have a different perspective of running.

I’m even entertaining thoughts of running in a second marathon in 2007. I thought I’d be one and done, but I’m having thoughts similar to when I’m having a so-so round of golf and then nail that dream shot on the 18^th hole.

Just as the challenge of golf brings me back to the golf course, the ultimate challenge of training for and running in a marathon may just bring me back for another 26.2 mile run in 2007.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group
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April 27, 2024

Thank you to everyone who has called, left voice mail messages, and sent email well wishes regarding my first marathon experience. I really appreciate everyone’s support.

I’m happy to report I enjoyed the experience of completing my first marathon.

Thanks again for everyone’s support!

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

I started training for my first marathon eight months ago and have covered over 1, 000 miles in preparation for the 26 miles and 385 yards. That sure does seem like an awful lot of miles of training for 26.2 miles, but I believe each of them were well worth it.

I’ve learned a lot about myself and have pushed myself beyond limits and doubts to finish many of the runs, especially those multiple long runs of 16 and 18 miles.

It hasn’t always been easy, running on the road while traveling as well as scheduling time with my family to drop my car off at one spot and me off at another area of the marathon course so I could complete my daily mileage. Without the support of my family and friends, I wouldn’t have been able to successfully train.

This has often been the case over the years – many have sacrificed of their time so that I could win, or in this case, achieve one of my life goals and I’m very appreciative of my family and friends support.

I’ve heard it said that we should have goals that both excites and scares us and the thoughts I’ve had the last several months leading up to this week have brought both anxiety as well as excitement.

But, unlike when I first started training, or even a few months ago, I’m more excited today than scared. I know I’ll have plenty of butterflies the morning of the marathon, but that’s normal and I’m certain the fluttering will cease after just a few strides into the 26.2 miles.

So thank you to everyone who has supported my training and goal to complete a marathon. Have positive thoughts this week, especially on Saturday, when all I want for my birthday is to be able to cover the 26.2 miles and cross the marathon finish line.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

Believe it or not, I finished my last long training run in preparation to run my first marathon in a few weeks. It was indeed something to celebrate after completing my last 18-miler this past Saturday.

In the last eight weeks, I’ve logged 280-plus miles as a part of a training schedule I’ve used to prepare for the marathon, and over 520 miles the last 16 weeks.

My body is grateful we’ve reached the tapering phase of the training. It’s time to heal, re-gain full strength, and eat well the next few weeks in preparation for the marathon.

I’m looking forward to the shorter runs, and hopefully most of the aches and pains I’m feeling will subside soon.

And although I said I’m glad the long runs are over, I actually do have one more long run…26 miles and 385 yards to be exact.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

I’m enjoying a day off from running today with less than five weeks to go before I run my first marathon and I’m supposed to say I’m excited for the day of the marathon.

That would be the positive self-talk I’ve been encouraged to adopt in the books I’ve been reading.

The truth is I’m both excited and scared.

I’ve learned I can run a lot more miles than I ever dreamed I’d attempt, and I’ve also learned God didn’t place me on earth to be a long-distance runner…that’s for sure.

But for one day, it’s my goal to be prepared to cover the 26 miles and 385 yards required for the marathon.

The most frequent question I receive is – “So what’s your goal time for the race?” First, I don’t consider a marathon a “race.” Second, I have no “goal time.” My goal is to FINISH the marathon…the same day I start running it.

Stay tune!

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

When I set the goal to run a marathon one day, I didn’t expect all the benefits that have come along with the training.

Along with improving my health, I’ve gained a new level of respect for long distance runners. I was a sprinter through college, so the miles of long distance work is all new to me…and a bit of a shock to my body.

I remember years ago when in college, I received a call from my brother telling me that he was not going out for the high school football team the next year so he could run cross country. My first thought was “Are you crazy? You’re going to give up football so you can run long distances – no ball, just flat-out run for mile after mile? Why?”

My brother was convinced he could be a “pretty good” long distance runner and shared with me that he really didn’t “enjoy hitting people.” Now, this is where I really started thinking my brother may have taken one too many hits rather than dishing out a few hits to his fellow teammates.

He was playing defensive back, and hitting was the FUN part of the position. A wide receiver runs across the middle and just as he stretches out his arms and places his fingertips on the leather of the football – WHAP! – you split the numbers on his jersey.

Well, I thought I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell my brother that I felt he was making a big mistake by giving up football to run cross country, and how he’d regret his decision years down the road.

Wow, was I ever wrong.

Within a year, my brother was calling me back telling me how he was really enjoying being a part of the cross country team, and how well he was performing during the regular season meets. I was stunned. I said “really?” as if I needed to be more convinced he was really enjoying running. He shared with me that he was hoping to do well at conference, the regional, and get this – his goal was to run in the state meet. All I could say was “really?” with a bit more emphasis.

To my surprise, my brother did go on to run in the state cross country meet and was not only one of the standout runners on his team his junior and senior years, but he was one of the best in the state. I couldn’t have been more proud of my brother, the decision he made, and the valuable lesson he taught me.

I’ve carried that lesson with me every day and it’s become especially helpful with our kids when they decide which activities they want to pursue. My wife and I decided early on to support whatever activities the kids choose to pursue.

As for my own pursuit to run a marathon and what I’ve gained, I have benefited from a health standpoint. I was hopeful to lose weight, but to my surprise, I haven’t lost much weight. I feel great; have deflated the tire around my waist a bit, but I haven’t “slimmed down” as I thought I would from running the long miles.

The mental benefits have been more than I expected. I thought it was pretty cool to multitask by running and listening to business CDs, especially during long runs, but have transitioned this past week to running with no headsets and instead focusing 100 percent on running, listening to my body, and remaining in a consistent pace throughout my runs. It’s amazing how this change has helped me be less winded and much more “dialed in” on my runs.

If you’ve never run a marathon and thinking it might be something you’d like to try, I encourage you to read a few stories about the many benefits to running and give it a shot. So far, it’s been an amazing experience for me.

Here are three articles I hope are helpful on the benefits of running a marathon:

So You Wanna Run a Marathon?

Benefits of Running/Jogging Community

Running: Is it the Right Exercise for You?

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group
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April 27, 2024

Good news! I can run 26.2 miles…the distance of a marathon. Well, if given a week to run 26.2 miles!

Actually, I ran 33 miles last week, which included my longest run to date, a 14-mile run on Saturday. Surprisingly, I can still walk. The stairs are a bit challenging, though.

Thank goodness for “recovery days!” I’m enjoying no running today.

The training program I’m following encourages runners not to wear headsets and listen to music, so instead, I wear headsets and listen to business CDs!

I guess I’m not a “real runner” since I use headsets. Oh well. Whatever it takes, right? Besides, what’s wrong with multi-tasking? Due to my slow pace, I was able to listen to quite a few CDs last week! I also learned my body could handle (barely) a 14-mile run and I picked up a few business strategies.

This week calls for a 16-mile run on Saturday, as well as the following two Saturdays, before moving up to an 18-mile long run two consecutive Saturdays, and then I get to “taper back” to a long run of nine miles.

I never imagined I’d ever say “I’ll be tapering back to nine miles.” I’m amazed I’m running these long distances.

I’m usually pretty good at planning ahead on projects I undertake, but the truth is I was clueless to the amount of miles I‘d need to run in training workouts to prepare for a marathon. And, it’s probably a good thing because I’m not sure I would have taken this on.

Although I didn’t sleep well last night – yes, even after taking a couple Tylenol – I’m so glad I’ve taken on this challenge. I’ve learned a great deal in a short amount of time and know once I cross the finish line in seven weeks, it’ll all be well worth it.

As they say, “No pain, no gain.” I’ve had plenty of both.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

For those of you who run or exercise, how many times have you heard “make sure you stretch before you run?”

Well, although physically stretching before you exercise has its benefits, equally important is stretching your boundaries and challenging yourself to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

It’s so much easier – and safer – to just stick to a routine, but it can be so much more rewarding when we stretch beyond our boundaries and challenge our fears versus giving into our fears.

What could you accomplish today if you stretched beyond your comfort zone?

Challenge yourself to learn something new or do something (anything) new that you’ve never done before and see what you learn from the experience.

A challenge I’ve been taking head on is stretching physically before I run, as well as stretching the mileage I run each week. It hasn’t been easy.

One, I really don’t like to stretch, and two, I really don’t “like” running long distances.

This week – according to the marathon training schedule – I’m supposed to run 28 miles. This doesn’t sound like a lot if I was scheduled to run each day (which would breakdown to four miles each day), but I’m only scheduled to run four days and one day includes – are you ready for this – a 14-mile run!

Now, for me, that’s a stretch!

Check back next week to see how I did this week with my stretching.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

I was mentally preparing myself for my longest run ever – a 10-miler – when it started to rain. I thought to myself, “Great, not only do I need to run 10 miles, but now I need to run 10 miles in the rain.”

I pushed the negative thoughts aside and stayed positive.

As I pulled on my sweats and then my sweatshirt, I heard the rain drops change to what sounded like hail bouncing off the windows of our house. I looked outside, and sure enough, it was hailing.

I couldn’t help but start laughing. I said aloud, “Is this a test or just an April Fools joke?”

Has this ever happened to you? You’re all prepared to do something challenging and what seems to be quite the challenge becomes a greater challenge? Well, this was one of those moments for me.

See, I don’t really “like” to run, but I want to complete a marathon. In order to complete the marathon, I need to complete the marathon training, and that means stay on schedule with short and long runs each and every week. Saturday called for 10 miles, and although I wasn’t too excited, I did mentally prepare to do what it took to complete the run.

However, I didn’t plan for rain, followed by hail. I was excited about the sunshine and running in shorts. It’s psychological, but I like running in the sun and not having to wear heavy sweats. But, the weather gods had other plans.

As I finished my first five miles, I actually didn’t feel as tired or soaked as I thought I might at the five-mile point. I thought to myself “I can do this!” I went on to finish the second five miles and it felt awesome. Well, my legs didn’t really feel “awesome” – more like Jell-O – but mentally, it felt awesome!

I started this week’s training with a four mile run yesterday (Sunday), have an off day today (thank goodness because I’m in Seattle and it’s – you guessed it – raining) – and tomorrow (more rain likely) I’m scheduled to run seven miles.

With two months to go to marathon day, I’m hoping it doesn’t rain on “the day, ” but if it does, I’ll have plenty of practice running in the rain!

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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April 27, 2024

That’s a question I’m commonly asked when someone learns that running a marathon is one of the goals on my life goal list.

Well, I’ve paid my “race” entrance fee, have been preparing my mind and body for “the day, ” and with only a few months to go, I’m finding it to be a battle of the mind, which is exactly why I have “to complete a marathon” as one of my life goals.

I’ve read to “stay focused on the positive, ” and to add the phrase “…but it doesn’t matter” to the end of any negative thought that may creep into my mind or out of my mouth (which more times than not happens when I run more than one mile).

I’ve been reading “The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer, ” by Whitsett, Dolgener and Kole, which I probably should have read several months ago. It’s been an informative read and undoubtedly will prove helpful in my training and on the day of the marathon. Note that I didn’t say “race” day!

In the book, the authors share the technique of “self-talk.” They reference how we often talk to ourselves in our heads, and how some even do this aloud. (My wife is one of them, but don’t tell her I told you!) Anyway, the authors share how the self-talk influences our attitudes and behaviors, and how significant this is because these thoughts lead to our perceptions of ourselves.

This is so true!

I’ve often said to people, “I’m horrible with directions.” In fact, just this past weekend I found myself getting lost trying to find a friends home and I’m sure my self-talk wasn’t too positive! I believe I may have talked aloud a time or two as well, and thank goodness no one else was in the car!

Okay, back to the marathon and “positive” self-talk!

For me, preparing and running in a marathon will be the ultimate challenge, especially since I’m not a “runner.” The race is about 20 miles more than I’ve ever run at one time, and the 26.2 miles is more than I’d usually run in one week, let alone one day.

So why do it? Well, that’s the same question I asked myself when it started pouring on mile three of one of my recent four-mile runs. But I immediately followed up those negative thoughts with “because I can!”

So I guess that’s my answer to the question why run a marathon?

Because I can, and I’m thankful I can.

Have an awesome day and keep your “self-talk” positive!

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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