I love running races, but always get nervous for the first race of the year. Last spring, my friend Diane asked me to run the Houston half marathon as my January half. I saw that the marathon was only $5 more (and she and her husband and brother normally do the full marathon) so I signed up for the full, too. Well, that and I figured it would be easy to train as an add on to NYC. I also thought it could provide some much needed motivation over the holiday season. And it did. But I am still nervous…
We took a photo with my fave runner, Meb Keflezighi, at the expo. He signed our bibs with the advice “Run to Win.” Good thing that these days “everyone is a winner” – right?
A cool perk for signing up for the Houston Marathon is that you can get an online, interactive coaching program from Run Coach for only $25! I have been using it since before NYC and have been enjoying the tailored 4 day a week plan. I told them my # of days/week that I run and entered in race times for base paces for my workouts. As the season progressed my paces were updated based on my results. Good stuff!
They also sent some great tips for the race. Here are my favorites:
Excerpt from “Tips for the Marathon” by Tom McGlynn
Before the Race:
Think about what you did, not what you didn’t do in your training. When you go to pick up your race number or run into old friends, family etc. everyone will want to ask about your training so they can tell you about theirs. Forget about theirs and don’t compare yourself to anyone. The training plan that you completed has been highly successful for many runners. So when “joe cool” tells you he did ten 25 mile runs just remember all the good workouts you have completed.Remember the 3 ‘C’s’:
Confidence: Have confidence in your ability and your training. Remember all those hard workouts you did. Remember those early mornings, late nights, sore calves, tight hamstrings etc. – they weren’t in jest.
Control: You must relax yourself early in the race. You absolutely must go out under control and run easy for the first 18-20 miles. The marathon is evenly divided into thirds (in regards to effort): 1st 10 miles, 2nd 10 miles and 3rd 10K. Save yourself for that last 10K by running easy in the beginning.
Collection: Keep your thoughts collected and on your objective. In the typical big city marathon there will be about 250,000 distractions along the way. The further you get in this race the more you need to focus on yourself, goals and race strategy. Don’t let the fans and competitors into your zone.
The Ebb and Flow:
I said before that I can’t guarantee anything about the training or the Marathon race itself. Well, I can guarantee this: you will feel good at some point and you will feel bad at some point within the race.Marathons always ebb and flow, runners never feel terrific the entire way. We always hit little walls. If you hit one just focus on the next mile, don’t think about the end of the race. If you take each difficult moment one mile at a time you will usually feel better at some point. It always comes back because. . .
You Always Have One Cup Left:
That’s right – you always have one cup of energy left. The difference is that some people find it and some don’t. Remember what normal, untrained people do when they feel discomfort – they slow down and feel better. You are not a normal un-trained person.You are a marathon machine! As a machine you will have to dig down at the end to determine if you will have a good effort that you can be satisfied with or not. Go get that last cup!
I love this advice and the awesome advice I got from my new friend Quinn, too! I will try to remember this advice, keep my chin up, enjoy the warm sunshine and be grateful that I can run 26.2 miles. And, I will remember that I run these miles not only for myself, but also for my IRun4 buddy Nolan and for Meg Menzies, a runner like me, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver on her training run on 1/13/14. That will be a “win” for me, so I can take Meb’s advice on my bib and “run to win” after all!
Anyone else running today? Good luck! I will be back later to let you know how it goes!