Written by Luke Gibson
Who else tries to cram more than is humanly possible into their allocation of 168 hours in any given week? What sacrifices need to be made in order to undertake a time-consuming, physically exhausting goal? None of these were considerations when I signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon, which took place on the first Sunday in July.
Truth be told, if I’d analysed how I could fit it into my already overloaded life, then I probably wouldn’t have registered. There’s a lesson already: commit to something you really want to achieve in order to make yourself accountable, and deal with the consequences later!
These days athletic endurance events are more popular than ever. The events on offer at the Gold Coast Marathon Festival include a 42.2km marathon, a 21.1km half marathon, and the 10km, 5km and 2km Junior Dash. These events are capped so I felt fortunate in early December to have scored entries in four separate events for our family of three, knowing many others missed out.
I had to fit my training around doing my fourth subject part-time at Charles Sturt for my Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology). It was fortuitous I only chose one subject this session. Add that commitment to dealing with a chronic autoimmune disease, caring for our son with a disability, balancing work, and studying a TAFE Diploma. My cup was well and truly overflowing.
Yet I committed to doing the 18-week marathon training program and was able to tick off about 85% of the work. This included topping out at a 35km training run three weeks out from race day.
How do you fit it all in when, in order to tick every box, you ultimately have to sacrifice even more sleep? Well, every second counts. I would read textbooks for university at the supermarket between bagging bananas and finding the lactose-free Norco chocolate milk! Those precious seconds when I would wait to pick up my wife from work had me writing a couple of sentences for an assessment. Somehow, magic happened and although it always seemed like organised chaos fitting everything in, I got to the start line of the Gold Coast Marathon.
The four events combined had 43,000 people registered, with 17,500 of those entries being for the marathon. By mid-afternoon the marathon finisher numbers were just over 14,500, meaning that nearly 3,000 people either didn’t get to the start line or weren’t able to physically complete the event. I followed my race plan, fuelled correctly, hydrated efficiently, and stayed in the right headspace.
My time was slower than I wanted, but for the first time in my marathon history, having completed nine marathons previously, I never once thought I wouldn’t finish. This was a major win.
Beyond the victorious finish line vibes, a far more affirming feeling set in. My research topic in this course is the correlation between mindset and performance outcomes in endurance sports. This primarily stemmed from achieving the dreaded DNF (did not finish) at Busselton Ironman (3.8km swim, 180km ride and 42.2km marathon run) in late 2023. In that event, I nailed the swim, but was pulled off the bike course at 150km when the officials told me I wouldn’t make the cut-off. I didn’t even get to run! This set me on a path where I needed to understand that reality: “what exactly prevented me from crossing the finish line that day?”
It not only became an obsession for me to find the answer, but the more I talked to other athletes, the more I realised how integral mindset is in all aspects of endurance events, from the training through to race day. And this has wider appeal: “how can we translate these results to maximising our potential in all aspects of life, not just in an athletic context?”
Beyond the experiment I conducted on my own physical and mental boundaries, and my efforts to push beyond them, I somehow fit more into my life than I ever imagined through canny time management and sheer willpower. I also managed to achieve a High Distinction in both assessments for my elective “Writing for the Stage and Screen”, which was hugely gratifying.
The fact is, I wouldn’t have been able to fit all this juggling into my life without the ability to study online through Charles Sturt. Being able to fit study and assessments in and around my life has been the key. Whatever you want to achieve in life, make the commitment, keep yourself accountable, and you will find a way to make any goal a reality.
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