by Jeanne Dasaro
Since age 15 I have been a distance runner. My high school and college years focused on races like the 1/2 mile, mile, 5k, and 10k, and since then I’ve completed a 1/2 marathon (I never managed to complete a marathon, but I’ve still got time). Lately I am struck by the similarities between distance running and entrepreneurship.
Most people don’t wake up and say I think I am going to run a marathon. Likewise few people decide to start their own business. Both running races and running businesses involve countless hours of dedication and training. Each require particular knowledge and expertise, whether you’re planning speed workouts or developing your skills in a particular industry. It seems with both you’re constantly keeping track of your progress, making adjustments when your performance isn’t spot on, and working with colleagues (or teammates) to keep yourself and each other going. There are hard days, like a fartlek workout on a 90 degree summer day, and there are easy days that feel like a recovery run on a cool summer night.
Jeanne after completing the La Jolla 1/2 Marathon
These days I feel as though I’ve just passed mile marker 8 with 5 miles left to go in my half-marathon. It’s hot, my muscles ache, I missed the last water station, and I am beginning to wonder how I got into this situation in the first place.
Just as I begin to doubt myself, I remember a training run where my muscles felt like they were on the brink of collapse and I ended up running my best time, or the time a fellow runner who had been trailing me the entire race, sensing my pace was slowing, said “Come on, let’s stick together through mile 10,” which is not unlike nailing a presentation to a venture capital firm.
It’s in these moments I recognize the value of training and dedication. It’s because of these two things I’ve demonstrated to myself in the past that I know I will finish this race and one day my start up will stable.
