In one month, I will be running my 4th marathon. And ironically, I’m not actually very good at running marathons which begs the question, why in the world do I keep doing it?
I honestly don’t know. It’s a weird runners thing.
I have very little, if any, natural ability as a runner. I will say I have some good mental chops for long distances, as I really do enjoy the longer runs, and have found that elusive place known as “flow” many, many times, so surely there’s some genetic writing there that makes me good at this marathon thing. Or maybe I’m just really, really stubborn.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have to work REALLY hard to be even in the middle of the pack. I have to constantly remind myself that an 8 on the effort scale for me is the same as an 8 for Kara Goucher. Just because her 8 brings a 6 min/mile pace and mine brings a 10:30 doesn’t make me any less of an athlete. Just a slightly slower one. (thank you, girls at Another Mother Runner for teaching me that)
My marathons have all been slower than even I thought they would be and I THINK I’ve figure out why. My PR is 5:36 and I have a BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS goal of breaking 5 hours this time. But that would be possible only if everything lines up. It’s POSSIBLE but truly, not probable, and I’m OK with that. So here are my goals, in defending order or probability:
- Goal 1 – break 5 hours (again, my training has supported this so it is, actually, possible)
- Goal 2 – PR. There’s actually a very strong chance of this happening.
- Goal 3 – only walk through water stops. Again, this is how I’ve trained. This can absolutely happen.
- Goal 4 – to have fun and feel good afterward. This is ALWAYS a goal and one I have, thankfully, always achieved. No reason to think this won’t happen this time.
- Goal 5 – run, walk, crawl, FINISH.
- Goal 6 – not be an idiot (this goal is to be employed only if an injury or some sudden illness should strike. My overall health and being able to run for a long time is FAR more important than any of the other 5 goals)
By having various goals out there (again, stolen from many other coaches and resources, not my original idea) I’m guaranteeing that at the end of the race, I’ll be able to walk out (Lord willing) feeling like I did my best, no matter what curve balls may be thrown at me.
I’ve done the training, so truly, there can be no failure in this race. As Hal Higdon has said in my ear over and over . .
“You became a winner the minute you started this training program.”
Thanks, Hal. You’re so, so right!
Happy Running.
Jen
Do you do anything special to try to prevent injury? One of my goals for 2015 is going to be to strengthen my core – my aerobic instructor says a strong core is the key.
Yup. Cross training, strength training and not pushing through pain all help. Of course, I’m bad at all of this except the pain one! Being fit overall, not just running, seems to be the secret sauce!
I set myself a big scary goal (that I haven’t really verbalized to anyone but my coach and a few friends) for the Goofy Challenge. In the past I’ve felt like my training was pretty strong but the weather on race day was not something I was used to and it definitely affected me on course.
Best of luck reaching your goal of breaking 5 hours. Just keep telling yourself that you believe you can!!
Thanks, Leana! We can be really well trained but there are just those few, infuriating things (like weather!) that we can’t control, right? Best of luck to you in the Goofy! My husband did it last year and loved it! Not sure he’ll ever do it again but he’s glad he did it once:).