Marathon running is socially encouraged orthopedic self-harm disguised as virtue. 42 km of joint erosion, cardiac overreach, and dopamine-chasing disguised as discipline.
Before you commit to run a marathon, take a moment and pause. Ask yourself: Why is running a marathon my goal?
Odds are, you’re either unconsciously copying someone else’s coping mechanism or seeking social reward and Instagram likes through performative suffering – and calling it “fitness”. That’s not discipline. That’s mimesis. Read Girard. You’re not chasing health but someone else’s pain prescription, hoping it will fix your own.
And if you really need to suffer publicly to feel alive, maybe it’s not your body that needs training, but your fear of sitting still without applause.
If the idea of running a marathon truly comes from your heart, then you’d run 42 km on a Tuesday at dawn with no witness. If you need a start line, a medal, a round of applause, and pictures for social media, then you are suffering through a socially accepted identity crisis.
Let’s get physiological. Marathons attack your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, suppress your immune system, and can induce irreversible joint damage – knees, hips, ankles, worn one kilometer at a time. Cardiac scarring is a real risk. Cortisol floods. Lymphocyte counts crash. This really isn’t health but a ritualized system failure.
Discipline is not a spectacle. Movement is not masochism. Read Body by Science (Doug McGuff & John Little). Explore movement systems like Ido Portal’s (or try Kung Fu). Train for capacity, not applause.
Stop running from the void. It keeps up.
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