The 2022 Seaside Half Marathon wasn’t my first time running 13.1 miles, but it was the first time I got licked by the effort.
When I started marathon training in the summer of 2019, I had a plan.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I’d run anywhere from 4.5 to 6.5 miles, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’d run 2 miles but at a faster pace. Saturdays, I’d go for 7+ miles, depending on the training schedule’s recommendation.
All of that hard work paid off; when it came to running 13.1 miles, I was able to fluidly check off milage and accomplish my goal.
Fast forward to 2022. I signed up with months to prepare. I knew how to train…I just didn’t do it. Cold weather, daylight savings, and a predilection for running outside, not on the gym’s treadmills, kept me from getting out and training like I needed to.
Instead, I’d go run when my partner was at home on weekends or during the day. I did get my stamina up, but it wasn’t enough. By the time the marathon rolled around, I was only able to run about 10 miles, but running more than that wasn’t tenable. Still, I naively believed that if I could run 10 miles, then of course I could run 13.1…it’s just another 5K, after all.
Nope. I was wrong. I walk / ran / suffered the final 3.1 miles of the Seaside Half Marathon. Afterward, I threw up the water, vitamins, and energy drink I’d consumed before and after the race (there’s no way to fake being unprepared). I was nauseated for half the day after that. I couldn’t believe how much that run kicked my ass.
I’d naively assumed that having previously done a half marathon, having previously buckled down, I could just jump right back in and finish strong. Nope. Not even close.
I now have a greater respect for what a huge accomplishment running a half marathon is, and I also can’t help but draw parallels between running a half marathon and writing a novel.
Here’s what being unprepared to run a half marathon taught me about novel writing.
Running and Writing a Novel Require Preparation
Running a successful half marathon requires preparation. I think of all of the stretching and strength-training I did as prep-work. That effort saved me from getting injured and helped me get as far as I did.
As writers, we spend a lot of time stretching and strength-training by studying the art of writing, reading other stories, and building the framework for our own novels.
For the character-driven novel that I’m working on, structure is proving to be the bane of my existence. As I dabble with ideas and map things out, I’m also reading up on John Truby’s input and am listening to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels (her works are very character driven) to see how she executes structure. Structure makes all of the difference in maintaining conflict and tension in a story and in the reveal regardless of whether the work is character-driven or plot-driven.
As much as I want to start writing this novel, I know that if I try to start writing without doing the necessary prep-work, my efforts and time-spent will be a waste.
Running and Writing a Novel Require a Plan
For the 2022 Seaside Half Marathon, my plan was to get out there and run. (“What, like it’s hard?”) Leading up to the race, I was running once a week. I’d ladder a couple of miles on top of my previous week’s run believing that would be enough. It wasn’t.
In writing terms, this means you can’t spent your week thinking about your novel before sitting at the computer for half a day on Saturday to write it out. Here’s what’s going to happen to your writing if you only write once a week:
· You forget where you were.
· You’ll waste time digging through notes.
· You’ll stumble getting back into the groove.
· You’ll lack the stamina to go the distance
In the end, this kind of writing habit will take you longer to cross the finish line, and it will be harder for you to hold on to momentum, resolve, and focus. A lot of works gets abandoned this way.
Running and Writing a Novel Require a Daily Commitment
While it may have been somewhat obsessive, running every day made me an absolute beast when it came to having the stamina for distance runs. My running schedule was:
6.5-mile Monday
2-mile Tuesday
5.5-mile Wednesday
2-mile Thursday
4.5-mile Friday
7.5+ mile Saturdays
Sunday rest
Your writing should be the same. You shouldn’t wait six or seven days before you get back to your work. If you’re a serious novelist (even if you have a full-time job), write daily.
If you say you don’t have time, I call bullshit. We make time for what we care about. I used to make time for running (obvs), and I still do. I also used to make time for TV and drinking, and those things kept me from writing. Sure, they were “relaxing”, but you know what wasn’t relaxing? The imposter syndrome and anxiety I got from having stories that needed to come out that were trapped inside of my poor decision-making.
Now, I drink non-alcoholic drinks that have a great placebo effect, and I have plenty of time and motivation for writing. So, figure out what you can jettison to make time for writing and when that time needs to be (early morning? Evening? Midday?).
Here’s a great writing schedule to try out:
· 4-hour Monday
· 2-hour Tuesday
· 4-hour Wednesday
· 2-hour Friday
· 6-hour Saturday
Or flip it…do 2 hours on MWF or 8 hours on Sunday. Just do SOMETHING. Skip Tuesdays and Thursdays and make your MWF 5- or 6-hour sessions. Make it work for you.
Running and Writing Require You to Respect Yourself
The time to write is there. Find a time where you can have as few interruptions as possible and make sure that everyone in your home knows that you’re not to be interrupted.
That is one thing about running that’s easier than writing. If I’m out on a run, my kids can’t wander in and ask for a snack every five minutes nor can they or my SO bang on the door and stop my progress (interruptions are the bane of every writer’s flow).
I’m very grateful to have my partner; he supports my writing, so he’s happy to parent while I’m writing, just as he watches the girls while I run. It does take effort to condition the people in your life to respect your writing, though.
I’ve learned that nobody is going to protect your time for you. If you show yourself and your writing time the respect that you want, other people will follow suit. If you show that you can be interrupted and pulled away from your writing time, then you may as well start drinking now.
Running and Writing a Novel Require Training for You to Finish Strong (or at All)
The last 3.1 miles of a half marathon should be the glory miles. The hard part is over; you can taste victory at 10 miles…but only if you’ve trained. If you haven’t trained, you’re nauseated, you kind of want to die, you’re wondering how the speed walkers are passing you…the only thing you care about is finishing; you could care less how you do it.
The same is true with your novel. If you don’t train and prepare and plan, by the time you get to the end, the part where everything is supposed to come together for a huge, glorious reveal and satisfying finish (light a cigarette, baby), you’re going to phone it in. All of the tension is going to fall apart, and it’s going to flop because you’ve lost momentum. Your energy is sapped, your focus is gone, and you just want to get it over with.
That is not how you want to end your book. You should want to sing “the end” from the rooftops, not vomit in the sand between the back of a portaloo and someone’s million-dollar Cape Cod-style McMansion.
Final Thoughts
I now have the utmost respect for the marathon process. It’s true that writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. I took for granted how efficiently I trained for and ran a half marathon before this one. I’d thought it was easy because I was training so regularly. I’d long-since forgotten the days when I first started running when I couldn’t get past 1.5 miles even at a snail’s pace.
The same is true for writing. You will start slow. You have to build up to those 5- and 7-hour writing days, but if you do and are consistent, then you’ll finish victoriously, holding your competent, completed manuscript above your head. And…if you did all of the foundational work…plotting, outlining, structuring, etc., then you’ll need very little editing on the back end, and that feels pretty damn good, too.
Hire a Writing Coach
Novel writing is just like marathoning, which is why people hire coaches for both running and writing. If you’re a writer who wants to get whipped into lean, mean writing-machine shape, contact me, Amy, owner of Creative Editing Services. I’m tough, compassionate, and efficient. I’m only interested in working with serious writers who want to taste victory, who are serious about crossing the finish line.
I’ve been a professional writer and editor for 15 years and have an MA in creative writing and in publishing. Contact me at amy@creativeeditingservices.com and check out the website for more of what I do to help writers polish, perfect, and publish their writing.