Marathons + Times.
As I've grown both as a person and runner over the years, I began weighing the overall experience of a race more of a barometer of "success" than something as arbitrary as the time it takes to cross from one time mat to another placed 26.2 miles away. The last marathon that I raced with the intention of running it hard and fast was CIM in Sacramento back in December of 2008. There I fell about 5-10 minutes shy of my time goal and felt dejected immediately after. In retrospect, it was a bit silly.
And yet, I find myself in a similar situation where I'll be gauging success on whether or not I am able to go from "Stadium to the Sea" in a certain time - this time running the LA Marathon (my 5th straight year) to qualify for 1st corral placement at the fast-approaching Comrades Marathon. I'd like to think I have a little more perspective now and whether or not I meet that time goal won't drastically affect my day one way or the other. In the grand scheme of things, it's just another stepping stone to the 56-mile monster that awaits in South Africa on May 29th.
In the meantime, bring on the rain, the gusts, the spectators and 25,000+ of my closest running friends!
9 comments:
Good luck tomorrow Billy! I love your mentality on this race (and others). I wish you speedy legs and a great race tomorrow! :) See you at the smoree!
Have fun tomorrow! I have no doubt that you are going to run away you goal.
5 straight years - wow. Good luck on a great run and time tomorrow
Right on! Good luck tomorrow. Look forward to hearing how well it goes.
You will do fine (or you won't do fine)! Just don't do what I did last year - focus so hard on hitting a "goal" and missing out on everything around you. And I still missed my goal by over 5 minutes. I ended up "seeing" everything I missed by looking at all the pictures my Facebook friends posted! What made it worse, was I trained with that sole purpose in mind (and not enjoying all the training days) just anticipating success on race day!
As a result, I have changed my way of thinking. It's about the journey not the destination. I still train hard but enjoy it more and I don't even focus on the goal. I know that if I trained adequately I "could" hit my goal for the race and is enough for me. That way, if it's windy and/or raining or my back is out or I have a cold on race day - it won't matter that I didn't hit my goal.
You always come to mind when things appear difficult - "go big or go home." Unless you didn't say that :)
You have gone through some difficult things - family and running injuries - and seem to be doing a good job holding up.
Have patience and never give up!"
Go Billy! Have fun tomorrow and stay positive through the whole day. You can do it. Can't wait to hear the results!
have a great time out there tomorrow! keep that attitude and we all know you'll do great. i'll find you on the course at some point!
Get some good sleep tonight and run your race. You'll do great. I'll look for you for a high five if I head down to the finish line.
Yeah, I had the "bring it on!" attitude before the race, but I didn't even consider wind. I'm lucky I didn't need to hit the medical tent at some point. Wow, it was brutal.
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