Tycoon Women Moments: My moment of persistence

Turning over the next card and its moment number 5

The Moment of Persistence

choosing not to give up

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I never give up. I will stick at something relentlessly and if necessary find a different way of doing it . So persistence is an everyday feature of my life. My moment of persistence reflects the closest I have ever felt to accepting defeat and giving up. That is running the London Marathon in 1991 – 20 years ago.

The training was gruelling. That particular winter was very bitter and I remember going running every evening and my ears being so cold they felt like they could snap off.

But I got through the 40 to 60 miles running you have to do each week. The advice you are given about training for the marathon states that you don't actually have to practice running a whole marathon. i.e. you don't have to run 26 miles before the actual race.

If you can run 13 miles comfortably they say that you should be able to complete the marathon. I'd actually manage 17 miles as the longest distance I'd run in a single training session so I felt totally prepared. That is until I hit the wall at 19 miles. I have blog about what it is like to hit the wall in a previous blog, however to save you having to look it up here is the description again:

"The wall: after running continuously for about 19 to 21 miles your body reaches a point where the only really effective way of conveying the experience is with the use of imagery from the most gory, hellish horror movies you've ever seen. You know the ones that make you look away from the screen and wince before peeking out from half closed eyes to see what other parts of the victim's anatomy are being sliced, flailed, torn, shredded, nailed etc by the bad evil thing doing all the damage. The wall is like personally experiencing the pain and torture in all these films at once. Hell is too pleasant a word. Having been through childbirth a number of times, I'd say possibly that might come close ...well maybe not. But you get the picture.

Hitting the wall is literally like hitting a brick wall at 1000 miles per hour, front on, without the protection of any form of vehicle.

It is so painful, you think that it is not possible to move any part of your body at all, let alone put one leg in front of the other. However, it's do or die. If you stop you've had it. You know you will be out of the running for the medal and certificate with 40,080th in 4hrs 20 min proudly exhorting your achievements. This is the point that separates the pack into “the finishers” and the "sorry not this time Joes".

Running past the wall has got to be one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I’d just passed the 19 miles mark when I hit it. Hell, pain, disbelief that moving could be that difficult. As I got slower and slower I realised I was coming to a stop and if I stopped I would never start again. Then suddenly I could hear my name being called.

"Auntie Ola, Auntie Ola, yeah, Auntie Ola, Auntie Ola"

It was my two nieces and their mum who were watching in the crowd cheering me on, willing me to keep going. Three small voices of encouragement in a crowd of thousands all shouting different things. But it was enough to re-energise me and slowly I started to run a bit faster, eventually getting back into the flow. I waved to them and kept going to the finish line.

Sometimes when the going gets tough, in order to keep moving forward, you need a little bit of encouragement from someone you know cares about you succeeding. Make sure that on your way up to your success; remember to take these people with you. You never know when you might need them to cheer you on. "

The song that represents this moment for me is Jackie Wilson's Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher And Higher because the love of my nieces lifted me to the heights of success by keeping me going.

What is your moment of persistence and what song would you use to represent it? Please share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit. I look forward to reading about them.