Getting Ready - 2014 OM

Getting Ready – 2014 Ogden Marathon

I am 4 days away from running the 2014 Ogden Marathon.  I have NEVER been so publicly open about my racing goals.  The “public humiliation” of not achieving it is starting to haunt me.  With that being said, I’m still glad I have shared my journey. 

At the end of the 2013 Ogden Marathon, I was determined to be a better runner.  I dove into books, articles, essays, and websites that had anything to do with running.  Some of research was reading blogs about ordinary runners like me that set a goal and totally failed.  I’m grateful they “exposed” themselves so that I could learn.   

Around this time of personal transformation, the 2013 Boston Marathon took place. I have always loved watching the Boston Marathon on TV and was hoping for some inspiration.  That year did not disappoint and I watched the race through different eyes.  

The race started with ladies from Portugal, Germany, Japan and Colombia.  They had a significant lead on the chase pack.  None of the Africans even made an attempt to catch the leaders.  One of the announcers made the comment regarding the Africans, "they are just being patient to make their move."  

I'm sure those Africans could have surged ahead, but they wanted to be smart and tactical in their racing.  They knew what their bodies could handle.  After 23 miles of relative dawdling, the race turned and Rita Jeptoo (an African) was in command.  She threw in a surge and left the other women in the dust.  Her "patience" plan paid off. She won the 2013 Boston Marathon.  One of the most prestigious races in the world.

I thought about Jeptoo's race strategy for a long time.....just being patient to her process/journey.

 Shortly after that race, I read an article about process outcomes by Coach Jay Johnson.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

- Lao-Tzu

You’ve no doubt heard this.  And you’ve probably recited it in your mind on a run or at the gym when you’re just beginning to get in shape.  You have a goal in sight and this quote brings you back to the current moment.

But the problem is that many runners forget all of the steps between the first one and the goal.  If your goal is to run under two hours for the half marathon then you need to be honest about all of the little steps to get to that goal.…and what I’d rather see you do is to get the goal out of mind completely, but rather focus on the process, not the outcome.  Process orientation, not outcome orientation.

You should have goals, but you should take it one step at a time.  And you should be honest about the fact that you don’t know how many steps it will take to get there."

A gal named Christie that I met via my online training log just completed an Ironman 70.3.  She’s tough as nails.  At the end of Ironman race report she said,

“So the realization – working your ass off, and being dedicated, and driven, and focused is all necessary if you want to achieve big things.  But just because you are a hard worker, just because you are dedicated and driven and focused does not exempt you from being PATIENT TO THE PROCESS.  I think too often we get SO focused in our big dreams that we forget things happen in stages.  We forget that those stages include both failures and victories.  I think it is important to stay focused…relentless…have that inner fire burning BUT take a minute to recognize those small steps.  Appreciate and celebrate the small victories and the fact you are progressing!”

So here I am at another point in my running timeline and I hope my bookmark has moved in the right direction. Learning, getting stronger, building mental toughness, helping my body endure higher mileage. Have I been patient?  Have I focused on the core essentials of running?  Am I not far enough in the process that I shouldn't even race on Saturday?  I don't know the answer.

When I created this benchmark chart, I was beyond disappointed that I had only run .75 miles more a day (4 miles/week) than I did in 2012.  WHAT!  I started pouring over my training logs…had I really missed that important step of running more miles? 

Marathon Mileage Benchmark
	#1 SGM	#2 OM	#5 OM
	2011	2012	2014
Total Miles Run:	533.01	649.83	726.22
(20wk cycle)
Slow Miles	533.01	519.89	559.62
Fast Miles	-	129.94	166.60
Average Miles/Week	26.65	32.49	36.31
Average Daily (5days)	5.3301	6.50	7.26

But then I realized that cross training, stretching, and strength training don’t have a box in my workout calendar.  Yet, they are equally important to logging miles.  I ran eight 40+ mile buildup weeks in 2014 and only three in 2012.  My rest weeks in 2014 had significantly less mileage and more cross training so I could truly recover (but it skewed my overall averages).  I shouldn’t care about numbers and should focus on effort.  But I do.  It is a quantitative measurement that I can see.  I can’t see an effort.  I need to work on that.

T-minus 4 days until I go head to head with the clock.  I will be relieved if it says anything below 3:40 and I will be ready to pull out a new workout plan if it doesn’t.  So if anyone out there is reading this, I hope my experience will help in your own journey.  Be patient with the process.

Chasing Dreams Conquering Demons