During that time, I had run 12 marathons, 11 in New York and one in Philadelphia and was consistently running upwards of 40 miles a week. I could run, seemingly all day, at a 7:30 pace. And while this wouldn't count for much among the Tarahumarra or the Masai, for a Jewish New Yorker with Jewish New York adipose, it was quite an accomplishment. I had made myself into a long distance runner.
Long distance running skills are of great use if you're in advertising. Most goals are accomplished only after long days, nights and weeks of hard work. The mere showing around of work--what many people call a 'road show,' can occupy weeks at a time.
It pays when facing situations like these to do what distance runners do. Drop your hands low to open up your lungs, stand up straight, moderate your pace and chug along relentlessly, come what may. That's how you survive the long haul.
However, every so often a different sort of situation arises. Work is due to the client in 48 hours and we have to be finished and shipped and on the air in four weeks.
In other words, a sprint.
In these circumstances, you keep your head down, you pump your arms hard and you move like a missile. Anything that gets in your way, you knock over. Nothing slows you down.
The best ad people are distance runners with sprinters speed. People who can adjust their wiring to the pace demanded by the circumstances.
Long and loping.
Or short and fast.
They each have their place.
