What If…
Tip for the day: If you wear a water belt or carry a handheld and you find the nipple is sticking, just rub a little vegetable oil on it or give it a squirt of Pam and work it up and down a few times. Works like a charm.
Today was a 15. The plan called for 14 but I’ve been adding a couple miles to my long runs and since this weekend is my first MP run and I’ll be damned if I’m going to make that any tougher, I figured I’d leave that as is and just add one measly mile today. No biggie, just stating this so if you’re doing Pfitz, you don’t wonder why my schedule looks a little weird.
I left at 6:30 and a few minutes after, it started pouring rain which lasted for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was wonderfully refreshing but I wasn’t thrilled, considering I had a long way to go in wet socks and shoes. But when the unexpected happens, you just have to chalk it up to something that could happen during the race, and deal with it. The wet socks didn’t bug me till mile 13, but once I got home, me and my pruney little toes were delighted to get those shoes off. Avg. pace for the run 9:22.
Do people ask you the same questions when they find you’re a runner? I always get “What about your knees? How are they doing?” which I find charming, as if that’s the only thing that can go wrong with a person’s legs, and “What do you think about when you’re running?”. This last question always leaves me stymied. I think about everything and nothing. I’m always “thinking hard” whether I’m sitting quietly or running, so it’s just more of what I’m always doing.
Today, one of the things I was thinking about is failure. I have this want: a want to BQ, to finish the marathon strong, and all I can do is train as well as I can and hope the weather and my body allow that to happen. But it’s true for a lot of people that, when looking at their training, are set for a successful marathon when something unforeseen happens that dashes that hope to the ground. At least for that day.
So I’m working on being prepared for failure, at the same time I’m working at succeeding. I want to cover all my bases and be circumspect if this time, it doesn’t go my way. I italicize “this time” because I really like italics, but mostly because when I signed up for Steamtown, I thought of this first one as a test to see if marathons are even for me. Now that I find myself thoroughly enjoying the training and the long runs and, well, everything about it…I know this is the start of a long love affair with the marathon.
But it spooks me to hear the constant warnings given to new marathoners, “don’t make a goal your first time, just enjoy it, blah blah blah”. It’s almost as if you’re expected to fail. Which doesn’t make sense to me if you’ve trained correctly (ie. using a proper training plan and fulfilling all the required workouts and paces). What is it about a first time marathon that makes a well-prepared runner blow-up? I know it happens and could happen to me as much as anyone.
Which brings me back to what I was thinking about on my run today, preparing for failure. It’s probably not a smart thing to do in that it could mess with my head too negatively, but I’ve been imagining what it will feel like to not get my goal. In a way, this takes a pressure off, because my thinking self can relax and just know that blow-ups happen and the next marathon will, hopefully, be a chance to redeem myself.
Can you believe I’m already imagining the funeral for my goal? Yet all my paces are perfectly on track, no problems with any of the runs so far, but still…learning to give myself a break just in case.
Tags: hydration, race goals
August 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I did my first in May and I totally hear you - “Don’t have a goal for your first” - Please! How is it possible to go through 18 weeks of this and not have a goal? “Don’t have an unrealistic goal” is a little more on the mark. Part of the intoxication of the marathon is you finish believing you could probably have done better, and the next thing you know you have another training schedule in front of you - enjoy it (sounds like you are).
I also ran in the rain in NJ this morning - loved every freakin minute of it!
August 6th, 2008 at 11:06 am
What a great comment! This in particular, “Please! How is it possible to go through 18 weeks of this and not have a goal?” I don’t get it either. And yes, I agree with you 100% about setting unrealistic goals making more sense towards a bad outcome. I don’t want to overreach, but then again, I don’t want to relax into a comfort zone, so I’ll be re-evaluating starting this weekend on my MP run. Must remain honest with ourselves, that’s all we got!
Glad you got the rain, too, neighbor!!
August 6th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I had all these same thoughts too, Flo. That “Don’t set a goal, just aim to finish” piece of advice is really corrosive. You need to have a goal, if only for pace-setting purposes. The training really works. The tapering really works too, although it may not feel like it at the time. My first-time concession was to set a slightly conservative goal. Speeding up in the second half is a lot more fun than hitting the wall hard. I did not hit the wall, but I passed plenty of runners in the final miles that had it written on their faces.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Well Jim, your race is emblazoned on my brain as the perfect example of everything gone right. I do think it’s cool that you had a slightly conservative goal which you filled out nicely. I don’t think I have the confidence for picking it up, myself. Whatever goal I go out with will probably be the best I can do, since my getting a second wind is so unlikely, no matter how many faster finishes I apply to these long runs. At least Steamtown is largely downhill.
August 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
We are all a little different, by physiology as well as temperament, so you know best what’s right for you. Take advice form other runners with a pinch of salt, including mine. It just happens that negative-splitting is my style. If you are more flat-to-positive, that puts you in the majority, I think.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I have a love/hate relationship with marathon. Its one of those things you just cannt keep away from.
I think everyone has some sort of goal in mind while training whether they admit or not. Even my “casual” marathon training has a goal in mind. True not has high has yours but still a goal of what I think I can do.
http://brucemcintosh.blogspot.com/2008/08/43.html
August 6th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Bruce, just read your blog! Happy Birthday, Sweetie! I hope you’re having a great day and your speedwork went well. 43 is a fabulous age and no fooling, it just gets better with each passing year. Have a great dinner out and Many Happy Returns (whatever that means).
August 6th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Jim, prior to this training, I’ve been flat to-positive, so it’s been a great lesson in this training plan to run all the mids and longs negative. I’m just not sure if I can count on it in the crunch. Congrats to you for making that your normal routine. Great way to race, that’s for sure.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Flo, I was SOOOO obsessed with qualifying during my June marathon that I didn’t have any other goal. It was my third marathon, so I didn’t really my situation applied for “don’t have a goal for your first marathon” comments. However, it was the first one for which I actually raced.
As you know, I didn’t BQ, and in fact, I was 15 minutes behind my BQ time. But you know what? I finished strong with a HUGE smile on my face. It just didn’t matter that I didn’t BQ. I felt I had a great race; it just wasn’t my day. I learned so much and I know I have a BQ in me. But in no way would I consider that failure.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Betsy, that’s a smart point, thanks for bringing it up. I guess the first thing to do when getting used to the idea of failure, is to stop using that word “failure”! It’s a stepping stone to the next attempt, is what it is.
August 17th is your day, girl. That’s when the BQ goddess will smile down on all marathon runners, particularly those who have been plugging away as you have, and voila…there it’ll be. You deserve it, Betsy, and I’ll be wishing on you the best marathon of your life. So far.
Many more to come, I’m sure. Congrats on signing up for Seattle, btw!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
A few more thoughts… (but first I have to point out that I DO know how to speak English; I just didn’t bother to edit my comment that well
At any rate, I think another reason common wisdom states you shouldn’t have a specific goal for your first marathon is the amount of training involved. If you’ve never put your body through that, to have the added pressure of a BQ could totally disillusion someone on the marathon, not to mention put them at greater risk for injury. However, you know yourself the best, and how you will respond to such stringent training (and from what I can tell, you’re doing great!)
So keep doing what you’re doing, and if for some reason the BQ doesn’t happen, there WILL be other opportunities. In fact, there’s a woman our age who frequently posts in the RW Women’s forum who came within just a couple minutes of a BQ during her first marathon (I think she was just 4 minutes off). She then BQ’d in both her second and third marathons. So obviously it CAN be done!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Ok, first, I had to read that first paragraph over and over before I realized you were not talking about anything dirty.
Second, I think you’re being a smart pessimistic. What’s that saying? As a pessimist, you’re either right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win! (Although I’m sure you will do great, especially with that race day adrenaline.)
August 6th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Flo-my first marathon was also Steamtown-what I hadn’t prepared for mentally was that it would be 85 degrees and humid (same day as the Chicago ‘07 disaster). It messed with me physically, as well as mentally. Also, please add hill work and lots of it-Steamtown has plenty of steep uphill climbs, especially at the end…just sayin’
August 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Kai, I know…I was going to write “put vegetable oil on the shaft”, but thought better of it.
Lisa, Ugh, I so did not want to hear that. I was just saying to my BQ ladies on the RW forum that at least it won’t be 80 degrees in October. I never realized it was the same weekend as the Chicago debacle. Oh well, what are the chances for two years in a row? (don’t answer that, global warming could make it completely possible).
Doing good on the hillwork, thanks. Long trail run last Sunday and been doing my mid-longs on my mile-long hill the last two weeks. I didn’t do it today, figured 15 was punishment enough, but will keep up with the hillwork till the end.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Another thought - We tend to concentrate on numbers during training, and have a time goal for the race. But we walk away with much more than that. It does not matter how many marathons I may do in my lifetime, I shall always remember the adventure of this first one.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Heh heh, she said nipple
Seriously Flo, your training is going so well it makes me jealous. I think that you get on race day what you put into the training. I know that I train minimally, so I get a mediocre finish time, and I am okay with that until I have the time to put more effort into it. BQ is not my goal, I just enjoy being able to run again! It is just as fun for me to read of your exploits, and those of so many online friends as they accomplish their goals. If that is running vicariously, then so be it. And yes, I have fond memories of my first marathon, even if it was slightly over 5 hours long 
August 7th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Tobey, I remember seeing your schedule and was surprised you even had time to run, much less train for a marathon, so you have my total admiration no matter what time you come in at! Hope you’re right about getting what you put in (barring weather, GI issues, cramps, etc
).