On Your Mark When I was younger, I was a sprinter in track and field and could never imagine running longer distances of even 1000m. Do you remember the Canada Fitness Award Program in school? Every year I would tank at the Endurance run – 1600m and 2400m. This part of the testing was heavily weighted in the overall badge you would earn (Excellence, Gold, Silver and Bronze). Of course, I would run as hard and as fast as I could because that is what I knew, thinking, “fastest time to finish was all that mattered.” But my sprinter mentality trying to use that same tactic for longer distances proved futile again and again. This asthmatic sprinter struggled going beyond the 400m mark and had no stamina left. Because of this, I would usually end up earning a bronze standard on this event (or less even). The conclusion I drew from my youthful experiences at the time was that I could never be a distance runner. That would be impossible! This stayed with me for almost 3 decades. Fast forward to recent years and I still like to go fast but I have learned to be like the “tortoise” in the children’s story, going slow and steady. This is where I truly see my best results. More than the eye can see However, there is more to my results than simply speed and pace. That does not give the full story. Incorporating results with Heart Rate (HR) zones, consistency, nutrition, hydration, sleep, cross training and variated runs all add to speed and pace for a more rounded view impacting results. I also keep the 80/20 rule in my running whereby 80% of my run distances or time should be in the low intensity/easy zone and 20% in the challenging high/hard effort zone. I started my marathon training journeyjust over a month ago and have observed a few learnings from the experience. Comparing my last two most recent long runs from January 15th and 23rd below. On initial inspection of the data, you would think that the faster distance times would mean that the results were good and that I had earned my 13-year old “Excellence” Participaction badge. In reality, the run caused me to be physically ill. The last 2 km I began getting an intense headache and my vision was seeing halos. I was shaking and was nauseated. When I reviewed my run results a couple of days later, I realized, that I was going too fast, and my heart rate was in too high of a zone. A week later, I went out again determined to slow myself down. The overall results of the second run were much better. My time was slower, but I wasn’t physically ill like the previous week. I had earned my “Bronze.” Insights How does the above “tortoise” story relate to my profession as business systems analyst? It’s important to check assumptions about your data driven metrics to have a full perspective of the story. Understanding the whole story and not just relying on the data is key to actionable insights. Although circumstances may initially feel like failure, that doesn’t mean that is always the case. How you decide to look at the outcome and gain insights and perspectives from the experience, is how we truly grow. Remember to slow down and keep your HR in the optimum zone. And, take that recovery walk break as it will help you go the distance in the end.