Chicago, Five Years Later: Lessons From My 10th Marathon
Five years ago, I ran my first Chicago Marathon on my birthday. This year, I came back to Chicago for my 10th marathon.
The most important result? My performance has not declined significantly over those five years. I can still run a marathon in around 3:20 while balancing family life, business responsibilities, and international travel, as an age-group athlete, not a professional runner.
What can endurance sport teach us about business and leadership?
1. Consistency creates momentum. Around 900 km of structured training over three months: easy runs, intervals, long distances, strength work, and recovery. No shortcuts, no magic formula, just a system followed consistently. In business, sustainable growth works the same way. Small, purposeful actions, repeated over time, build capabilities and results that occasional bursts of effort cannot replace.
2. Endurance is built over years, not weeks. Strength, stamina, and resilience come from a long-term commitment to continuous improvement. The goal is not simply to achieve a great result once, but to maintain the capacity to perform, adapt, and keep progressing.
3. Discipline means knowing when to adapt. Chicago brought challenging heat and humidity. Adjusting my pace was smarter than blindly chasing a target. In business, too, commitment to the goal must go hand in hand with flexibility in execution.
4. Sustainable performance requires recovery. Training harder is only part of the equation. Recovery, sleep, strength, and energy management are essential to staying effective over time. Constant intensity is not a sustainable strategy in sport, leadership, or business.
5. Lead by example. Sharing the marathon experience with my sons reminded me that our habits influence the people around us. Our actions, consistency, and attitude toward challenges can inspire others far more than our words alone.
I try to build TEBIN the same way: step by step, with a pace we can sustain for years.
Are we investing in our health and energy as seriously as we invest in our business?