Plan Z
On November 11, 2012 by David H. With 23 Comments
- Race Reports
When all other plans fail, just finish.
That’s what yesterday’s Richmond Marathon ended up being about — finishing. I don’t know what went wrong or why it went wrong or how it went wrong. Halfway through I felt good, was right on pace and ready to kick it up just a notch.
Then the wheels fell off. Not by a little … when the wheels fell off the rest of me fell apart.
Finishing time: 4:40 and a few seconds. Yes — nearly an hour off my “A” goal.
Instead of dwelling on what happened, I’ll leave you with a post I put on Facebook yesterday. These were all thoughts I had along the way. I really don’t have anything else to add right now.
- Mile 1: I love running.
- Mile 3: I love me some Monument Avenue. Who’s buying me a house here?
- Mile 7: Enough with the poop signs already.
- Mile 11: I forgot to tell Scott about this neighborhood and the hills. Oops.
- Mile 13.1: Perfect pace, feeling good.
- Mile 17: If I see Christina I’m dropping out.
- Mile 19: Right about now I need Travis to be the voice of reason.
- Mile 21: I’m never doing this shit again!
- Mile 22: That’s a dumb thought. I should do Disney in January.
- Mile 24: I’m going to cry about everything in life.
- Mile 26.2: I’m a marathoner for the fourth time, who cares what my time was? Bring me beer.
23 Comments
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Your post on FB made me laugh out loud. I read it to out loud in the car on the way home. My addition to your list is I would have diverted into one of the bars in “up town” Fan district. Great job! I love this quote from @coachJenny Finish Time is merely the outcome of the experience. It only defines you if you let it- via @coachjenny Happy Running @marathoningmom
That’s definitely a great quote. I don’t let finishing time define me, but I’m also learning that I kind of let my goal time define too much of my training this past summer.
Sorry to hear about the race but on another note, yes, you did finish!
I see it often among those of us who blog about our marathon experiences. We tend to create expectations, ofted times very realistic ones, and then somehow on raceday something just doesn’t “click” right and the necessary surge for the last 10k just isn’t there. Happened to me twice personally. I’m going to completely reboot my training philosophy before my next 26.2 in March. Anyways, fortunately completing a marathon at ANY pace is a remarkable achievement. Congrats! Your enthusiasm for active living and running in particular is inspirational!
I think sometimes what we forget is to make it clear that it’s a goal, and not an expectation. There’s definitely a fine line between the two that isn’t always clear.
You definitely deserve a beer. Or two.
You’re a 4-time marathoner. That’s all that counts. (And, honestly, the painful races are a better indicator of your mettle than the easy ones are.)
I agree completely with Beth about the tough marathons.
I certainly don’t disagree, but 1 was enough for me 2 years ago. More lessons learned this time around though.
Congrats on your finish…every one is a gift that holds insights into running stronger down the road.
Congrats on the 4th marathon! Your mile 24 thought, HAHA, yeah, I got that one at my last marathon too. I would love you see you run Disney in a pink tu-tu. Doooooo it!
haha. I’m not going to lie. Your mental process really made me giggle. Then imaging you running Disney with some sort of mickey hat on made me laugh even harder.
yep, thats my current mental process.
Congrats on finishing when you were ready to drop for nearly half the race. That is a victory in itself. Proud of you for keeping it together. So many people fall apart after not hitting a goal.
No matter what I do, I will not wear a Mickey hat in any race.
Way to go! You finished a tough race! Sometimes when we have a really difficult race it makes the next one just a bit sweeter
Congrats on finishing!
I think the whole mental process is applicable to so many other things in life. Things happen, get in our way, screw up all our plans, but we still pull through.
Hell yeah marathoner. More medal biting!
Definitely with you on the Mile 21 thought! Congrats on your finish - 4 time marathoner is pretty darn awesome. And thanks again for all your info about Richmond. What a beautiful city!!!
I love this! I think everytime someone runs a marahton they should post something like this. Can’t wait to see what you sign up for next
I’m at a point with running and writing that I can’t do mile-by-mile posts, and it’s really hard to read it like that. So much of it comes down to the experience of the event and what happened (or didn’t happen) to figure out if it was a success or not.
I know it wasn’t your goal but as you said dwelling doesn’t solve anything. Move on to the next one and enjoy! I’ve been wanting ask “what is up with all the poop signs?” They’ve been popping up at races all over the country and they’re not funny, any more.
My race recap would go like this, following your format:
Mile 1 - what have I done?
Mile 3 - is it mile 3 yet?
Mile 4 - worst. parade. ever. (again and again and again)
Mile 11 - Gangnam Style is stuck is going to be stuck in my head for the entire race isn’t it?
Mile 13.1 - wait, what mile am I on?
Mile 17 - why God? why? (Lee bridge)
Mile 19 - …-_-
Mile 22 - why is my pee brown?
Mile 26.2 - Can’t wait to do this again, now get me to a doctor.
Yeah, a lot of that too, minus the brown pee.
WTG on finishing ANOTHER marathon!!
Us marathoners certainly are strange birds.
I have to say, my latest marathon that I did was very similar. It didn’t go ANYTHING like I planned. But, at some point during the race, you have to abandon any goals you had and just have the main goal of finishing.
You still did a great job David! Be proud!
Congrats on no. 4!! Might not have been the 4th marathon you expected, but you still finished it and have no doubt there’s still something to learn from it. Not that that necessarily makes it easier.