I turned 43 last weekend. It’s kinda hilarious because of the childhood ingrained perception of being „over 40” means.
When I was a kid, growing up in communist Poland there was this TV show. It was called „being 40”.
And the main character was this guy:
This is what I expected to look like at 40. At least that’s what my teenage brain envisioned.
My mid 30s I was fat and pretty miserable. Bad sleep, bad diet, beer. Lack of exercise. High stress of building my own company.
Now, at 43 I’m in the best shape of my life. And there’s of course still some ways to go. I keep at it.
Showing up daily.
Run your age
To celebrate my birthday the proper way, I decided to run my age.
43 is just above a marathon. 43 kilometres is also quite far. I only ever ran a marathon once. Not a fan of long runs.
But the discipline and mental strength required to do that felt fitting.
What’s different this time is that I also raw-dogged the whole thing. No headphones. No distractions. Just me and my thoughts, going step by step.
I ran from Dębki, at the Polish seaside, all the way to Lubiatowo and back. It was 21,75km one way. Going through the woods, with only two small villages along the way.
It was quite hot and humid, so it made the experience tougher but I was smiling. Almost all the way I felt happy and connected to nature. The run wasn’t about beating any personal bests. I ran it at mostly zone 2, on purpose. To take it all in. Reflect in movement.
You are your mind
David Goggins famously said, that if you get to a point where you’re puking from exhaustion you’re only 40% in. You got a lot more in you. Our mind is often blocking us from going a bit further because it values comfort.
And at the same time it decays in comfort and grows in discomfort. New neural connections only form when you get out of your comfort zone.
I’m 43 years old now. No idea how that happened. But looking back I don’t regret anything. Not even the bad life choices of partying and drinking. It all led to a realisation that physical and mental decay is a construct we don’t have to agree with.
Choices
It all happens through daily choices.
What you eat. What you drink. Who you’re around. How you move. How you approach life.
If you look at the world in awe and then go running into the sea to jump headfirst, you’ll be fine. No matter the age. Just remember to keep smiling like a madman. Being mad about life is the way to go.
Being happy, in shape, loved. This is a great life and I’m extremely grateful for it. Some things happened on their own. But a lot of it is attraction because of the good choices.
If you help luck, luck will help you. If you sit on your ass, fuelled with sugar and processed fats, luck will likely go around you.
Age is just a number. It’s how your brain interprets what you can DO with that number what matters. And I’m only getting started.
It’s also why I keep documenting it as I go.
You can also watch a bit of the run in video form:
