I remember I had signed up for a half marathon in August for later that year. It was a very impulsive decision that I made. And mind you, I don’t run. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I do now but a 15 minute job could totally ruin me. That was the state of my conditioning. So I don’t even know what I was doing, signing up for a half marathon when I couldn’t even survive a 20 minute jog…And I knew if I thought about it too much I wouldn’t have signed up for it. But I did. I wanted a challenge and I went for it. I had spent around $150 on the race and I thought that if I spent money, that would encourage me to actually do this.

A few months go by, and I completely forget about the marathon. I realized I had only two and a half weeks left to train for it. I didn’t quite know what to do. And I didn’t want to embrace my non-commital attitude and accept that there isn’t enough time to train for the marathon. I had also spent $150 on it and that I was actually planning on going with a few friends.

So I told myself that I’d I gave it my all these next few weeks. The first week, I started off easy with a 15 minute jog. Next day, 25 minutes. And so on. My final goal/milestone in my training was to hit 40-50 minutes. And I did hit my milestone. That day, I not only hit 40 minutes, I passed it exceedingly. As I hit the 40 minute mark, I felt like I had some left in the tank. And by sheer force of will power, I decided to keep going. My calves were giving away, but I fought it. It was probably the most pain I’ve ever felt in my legs but I still pushed. Then somehow, magically as if by the grace of God, at the 50 minute mark, the sensations in my legs just went away. I didn’t feel any burn. No lactic acid build up. This never happened to me before…I didn’t know how this was possible. I kept pushing and pushing. I kept looking at my watch - hit the 60 minute mark, 70 minutes, 75 minutes, still going strong. Wow, I could keep going I told myself. I eventually stopped at an hour and 25 minutes. Could not believe that just a few weeks ago I couldn’t tolerate a 15 minute jog, let alone something this long.

Now you may be thinking, how could I have possibly done this? Drugs you say? Yes, drugs. Well, “smart” drugs or in other words, nootropics.

I was taking something called Cordyceps at the time to help with cognitive function and focus at work. It apparently also helps with endurance as it does increase your VO2 max by 7% and reduces lactic acid build up. But to be quite frank, I had no idea it would help me to the degree it has. I was surprised I lasted last so long during that one training session. But long story short, my half marathon was a success story because of Cordyceps. I completed in the 50th percentile, which given my circumstances, was not so bad if you ask me…

Cordyceps is simply amazing. It’s one of those supplements that make me go “Wait, how is this freely available to everyone?!” Now I don’t think it should be generally regulated. It’s definitely not up there with the likes of anabolic steroids and PEDs. BUT…I feel as though it does give a sizable edge to athletes. I mean I’ll just say that for me, I felt as though I couldn’t have run the half marathon if I hadn’t been taking cordyceps. I only had two weeks of pretty mediocre training prior to the marathon