Why debugging feels like mile 20 of a marathon

If you’ve ever run a marathon, you know about “The Wall.” It typically hits around mile 20 (kilometer 32), when your glycogen stores are depleted, your legs feel like lead, and your mind starts playing tricks on you.

Debugging a complex issue has a remarkably similar feel.

The Parallels

The Initial Enthusiasm

When you first start a marathon, adrenaline is pumping. Fellow runners are cheering, the crowd is electric, and you feel invincible.

Similarly, when you first encounter a bug, there’s almost an excitement. “I’ll find this in no time,” you think. You fire up your debugger, set some breakpoints, and dive in.

The Middle Miles (Hours)

Around mile 10-15, reality sets in. The pace feels harder than it should. Doubts creep in. “Why did I sign up for this?”

Hours into debugging, you’ve checked the obvious suspects. Stack traces lead nowhere. Log files are a maze of noise. You start questioning your career choices.

The Wall

Mile 20 hits. Your body screams to stop. Every step is a conscious effort. But you’ve come too far to quit.

That moment in debugging when you’ve been staring at the same 50 lines of code for hours. The bug must be here, but you can’t see it. Your eyes hurt. Your brain is foggy.

Pushing Through

Here’s what helps in both scenarios:

  1. Break it down: In running, focus on the next mile marker, not the finish line. In debugging, focus on one hypothesis at a time.

  2. Take a break: Sometimes the best debugging happens after a walk (or sleep). Your subconscious keeps working.

  3. Phone a friend: Rubber duck debugging works. So does asking a teammate for fresh eyes.

  4. Trust the process: You’ve solved bugs before. You’ve finished long runs before. This one is no different.

The Finish Line

There’s nothing quite like that moment when you finally find the bug. That one misplaced semicolon. That race condition hiding in plain sight. The relief washes over you like crossing the finish line.

And just like after a marathon, you swear you’ll never do it again. Until the next bug appears.

What’s your debugging wall story? I’d love to hear about the toughest bug you’ve squashed.