You can't finish them all...
A great 20th century poet/philosopher once said,
“You got to know when to hold ’em. Know when to fold ’em. Know when to walkaway…know when to run”.
Running was exactly the plan but it didn’t quite workout that way.
I started out the day thinking I was going to complete my third marathon. Instead, I ran my slowest half-marathon ever and opted out at the 13.1 mark.
A Quick Social Commentary
There are a lot of people that would not write this article. Fitness coaches are obsessed with making themselves look as good as possible. Do they want to be a good role model or are they the ultimate narcissists in our society. You choose.
One of the problems with social media is that viewers are always looking at the best parts of someone’s life and that leads to a false sense of reality. We are really good at crafting images and showing you what we want you to see. It is a double edged sword in that people can either get motivated or get envious and depressed. Either way you are never getting the full picture.
The truth is that when you are always trying to go beyond what you have done in the past… you just can’t do it every time.
If you do, you aren’t pushing yourself. There will be that inevitable crash at some point. It hurts at the time but in the big picture, it is not something to get embarrassed about or shy away from. If anything, it is a learning experience. It is positive feedback that you are hitting against your next boundary.
Yes, the Beat the Heat Marathon/ Half Marathon 2019 was cold, wet and muddy. It is easy to use that as an excuse but I can’t.
My half-marathon times have been on the downside for over a year now and I haven’t been able to figure it out. True I have been dinged up and I haven’t put in the needed time to prepare but on a more fundamental level, I am not having fun with this anymore. I fell into a mindset where I felt I had to do longer distances faster. There was logic to that, for a while. When my times stopped improving, I felt I had to push harder. By the way, this strategy seemed to work a lot better when I was younger!
The kicker to all this is that you never realize it until you are in far over your head. Ever watch the Roadrunner cartoons as a kid? I loved Bugs Bunny and all those old cartoons. Remember when Wile E. would chase the Roadrunner up in the mountains? The Roadrunner would make a sharp left turn and Wile E. would keep on going. Eventually he would realize his catastrophic mistake and hold up a sign that said “Yikes” before plummeting to his demise.
That was me on Saturday.
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The odd thing is that I was prepared. I felt good and had a high level of confidence…until the race started. I couldn’t keep up with the pack and I couldn’t even hold my training pace. In all honesty, the mud wasn’t that big of a deal but it must have sucked the energy out of me.
The other odd thing was I had to pee literally the whole race. No joke, I had to stop and pee about 8 times in 13 miles. I have no idea why this happened but as soon as I was done, I had to pee again. I was losing a massive amount of water. I didn’t do anything different the night before or the morning of. All I knew was something was wrong and if I kept this up I would get dehydrated later in the race.
The race has a six hour cut-off and by mile eight my energy was gone. I knew I wasn’t going to make the cut-off. In fact I was going to struggle to finish teh half-marathon.
This is where the little wisdom I have, came in handy. This was the first time in a race I was 100% certain I wasn’t going the full distance.
I never want to be that person who gives up but that day I truly believe I didn’t have a choice in the matter.
Here is the reason I am posting this. My clients hear me say this all the time and it is one of the most important pieces of advice I can give to anyone.
Every race is there to teach you about yourself. That is why you sign up and show up.
This race, by the way, The Beat the Heat is just one of the fantastic races put on by www.alloutmultipro.com
They did a fantastic job and the volunteers went way beyond what was expected. It was cold and windy and they were out there all day.
Back to my point, the lesson learned is that I need to take a step back in my training and attack this problem from a different angle. I am a grinder. I am not fast but I can keep a slow, steady pace for a long time. 26.2 miles should never be taken for granted. I have the attitude that I can roll out of bed and grind my way through anything based on sheer will. That is not the smartest way to plan life.
Luckily, as I was out there suffering, I had time to put together a couple ideas to implement.
- No more long distance races until I can keep up a competitive pace.
- By working on my 5k times I will build up a good mileage base. My first goal is to run consistent sub 30 minute 5k’s.
- Once I can do that, work on 10K times. Work towards a 60 minute 10K.
This is how my mind works. Hopefully this gives you something to think about. Things will blow up in your life. It happens.
I didn’t lose the race. I learned valuable lessons and I will keep pushing forward.
The Bottom Line
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Running is a very personal thing for people and one of the best ways to connect with yourself. it is more than something you “do”, it is who you are. Each workout is a chance to work on your body and mind. Before your next workout, think about building
- Physical Strength
- Mental toughness
- Warrior Spirit
Where are you on a scale of 1 to 10?
