Even though my result in Boston was very disappointing on Monday I still learned a lot and felt that the experience was well worth the effort I put into that race. Here are the five big takeaways for me from Monday’s race:
- As well as you prepare you can never control everything in the marathon. I know for certain that I prepared better for this race than any marathon I have ever run, yet I ended up running the slowest time I have ever run by a long shot. I made some mistakes in my final week prior the race that directly impacted the result. I also refused to adjust my race plan once I knew I was not 100% healthy and tried to force my body to do something it was capable of doing.
- Stick to your training plan when tapering for the marathon. This was my biggest mistake! Nine days out from the race I had my final tempo run (5 miles) planned. My legs were feeling great because I had been cutting back my volume. I decided to not hold back and run the tempo run about 25 seconds a mile faster (5:22 pace instead of 5:45) than planned just because I felt good. This is closer to 10k pace than the planned half marathon pace. Though the workout felt good and controlled I have not run anything sustained at that pace in years and my calves rebelled. They were tight all week and resulted in my having to focus all week and trying to recover instead of preparing properly. Had I done the workout correctly I do not think I would have had any issues leading to the race.
- When you’re not 100% healthy the marathon will win. I should have adjusted my race plan and been more conservative knowing my calf was tight and not completely healthy. Instead I decided to ignore it and tried to forge ahead. By mile 3 I knew I could sustain what I was doing. By mile 8 my leg was on fire. And finally by mile 17 I could no longer run on it.
- Finishing a rough day is just as rewarding as finishing a perfect day. The last nine miles I wanted to step off the course so often, but I kept telling myself I didn’t come this far to quit. The crowds, medical personnel and other runners were so encouraging. I was also getting constant text messages from friends and family that were tracking me. All of this kept me going and I eventually finished the race satisfied that I had persevered.
- The running community is amazingly supportive and encouraging to each other. I had numerous runners ask how if I was ok, encourage me to keep going, offer my salt tablets and gels all while they were running their own races. I was encouraged by their generosity and camaraderie.
Fortunately, I don’t think any injury to my calf is more than a muscle strain that should recover fairly quickly and I am already contemplating what’s next. The biggest thing I have gained from this experience is just getting back in shape and having goals again. I am excited to move forward and hopefully eventually be back in Boston to have chasing a different outcome than this year.
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