Running Marathons - How to Come Back After Missing Your Time Goal in Your Target Marathon
Running experts generally agree that we have two "fast" or "target" marathons in us per year.
That usually translates into a spring marathon and a fall marathon.
We train roughly 4 months for a marathon, run it, then have a few months of recovery and maintenance before we start training for the next one.
This holds true if we are shooting for a time goal or trying to qualify for Boston.
So, we pick a specific marathon and gear all our training towards that race.
But, as we know, anything can happen on race day.
It could rain, snow, or be too hot.
You could get sick the week before the race.
Many factors can contribute to less-than-perfect race day conditions.
For those of us who are not genetically gifted to be able to go out a qualify for Boston every time we run a marathon, we put all our "eggs in two baskets" - that is, two target marathons per year.
And, when we don't run the race we think we should have run, we can be a bit hard on ourselves.
This has happened to me more than a few times.
After a number of races in which I have been disappointed, I have learned that it's not always about the time - it's about the experience.
That's not to say that I cheerfully exclaim, "Oh well, I didn't make my time; that's ok, maybe next time.
" No, it's hard to go through 4-6 months of intense training only to miss a time goal.
Most of us can't just go out and run another hard marathon next month.
But what we can do is ask ourselves, "What is the opportunity in this?" "How can I continue to use this training, this high level of fitness, to help me reach my goal?" First we must acknowledge our achievement.
We just ran another marathon - 26.
2 miles is a long way.
And, it is not an achievement of the weak of body or spirit.
Then, we must let go of the disappointment of not achieving our time goal.
Let it go and move on.
That usually translates into a spring marathon and a fall marathon.
We train roughly 4 months for a marathon, run it, then have a few months of recovery and maintenance before we start training for the next one.
This holds true if we are shooting for a time goal or trying to qualify for Boston.
So, we pick a specific marathon and gear all our training towards that race.
But, as we know, anything can happen on race day.
It could rain, snow, or be too hot.
You could get sick the week before the race.
Many factors can contribute to less-than-perfect race day conditions.
For those of us who are not genetically gifted to be able to go out a qualify for Boston every time we run a marathon, we put all our "eggs in two baskets" - that is, two target marathons per year.
And, when we don't run the race we think we should have run, we can be a bit hard on ourselves.
This has happened to me more than a few times.
After a number of races in which I have been disappointed, I have learned that it's not always about the time - it's about the experience.
That's not to say that I cheerfully exclaim, "Oh well, I didn't make my time; that's ok, maybe next time.
" No, it's hard to go through 4-6 months of intense training only to miss a time goal.
Most of us can't just go out and run another hard marathon next month.
But what we can do is ask ourselves, "What is the opportunity in this?" "How can I continue to use this training, this high level of fitness, to help me reach my goal?" First we must acknowledge our achievement.
We just ran another marathon - 26.
2 miles is a long way.
And, it is not an achievement of the weak of body or spirit.
Then, we must let go of the disappointment of not achieving our time goal.
Let it go and move on.
- We must press on.
- We must maintain our fitness.
- We must hold on to our positive attitude.
- We must set new goals and make new training plans.
- We must pursue our goals with tenacity and courage.
- And, We must KNOW that we WILL succeed.
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