301. My First Ever Marathon DNF: What Every Runner Can Learn From It

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Last week, I did something I never thought I would do.

I stepped off the course at mile 13.1 of the Buffalo Marathon and recorded my first ever DNF.

After completing seven marathons, I finally had a race that didn't go according to plan.

But here's the crazy part...

Just six days later, I found myself standing on another marathon starting line. And by the end of that race, I crossed the finish line of marathon number eight.

In this episode, I share the full story behind my first DNF, why I made the difficult decision to stop, why I chose to run another marathon less than a week later, and the biggest lessons I learned from my entire spring marathon training cycle.

If you've ever had a race not go according to plan, struggled with setbacks during training, or felt like one bad race erased months of hard work, this episode is for you.

You'll learn:

✅ Why knowing when to stop is not quitting

✅ Why one race does not define your fitness or your training cycle

✅ The mindset shift that helped me move forward after my first DNF