I feel much better today, mostly in part to the kind comments and emails from all of you! I have to share with you a comment that Cindi made, which really sums up why marathoning can be so rewarding and frustrating at the same time.
We – distance runners of multiple marathons – are too hard on ourselves. We work ourselves like crazy for month after month until we KNOW we are ready to nail a certain time. But then the conditions aren’t right. Or we have an off day. Or something. There’s always something that seems to get in the way. The most frustrating part, with marathons, is that it is such a long process and takes so much out of us that we can’t just try again next week. Which is frustrating and disappointing.
Well said, Cindi!
The NJ Marathon “sorta” posted official race results this morning. I say “sorta” because I have a gun time but no chip time. Although I think my gun time – 3:52:59 – is really my chip time. I remember crossing the finish line and looking at the clock and it read 3:53:16 (I was about 15-20 seconds behind the gun time).
What made me happy? My overall gender results and age group results…
Gender place: 134/721
Age group place: 25/121
Race recap will be up tomorrow!
Wow, you did great in your gender and age group! I’m glad you’re feeling better about it today!
Glad you are feeling better today. You and Cindi are so right about the pressure put on a marathon. So much time devoted and then all the stars must align on race day. I heard someone once describe the marathon as a “fickle b^+ch”. I couldn’t agree more. Hope you are celebrating that PR because we are all so proud of ya!
I like that one! So very, very true!
Yeah – I’m glad you are in a bit better frame of mind about it today. Your gender and age placement are AWESOME!
And re: Grandma’s, it’s not hilly. At all. It’s the flatest race I’ve done. People talk about “Lemon Drop Hill”, but it really is nothing. You could totally do it, NO PROBLEM, without any hill training!
I forgot to add that the MC announced that 35% of the marathoners yesterday were first timers. Clearly that improved my odds in gender and age placement!
Hmmmm, people made Grandma’s out to be this hilly course on marathonguide.com. It’s crazy what people’s perspectives are on hills. I’m not sure if I’ll be mentally ready to tackle a 3:45 in June. I feel like I need to actually train for a 3:45 before I go after it again. I have my eye on a marathon in early September that will allow me to go to Ireland (and enjoy it) and start with another 15 weeks of training at the end of May.
Awesome work on the PR! And, I loved the comment you posted. I’m not a distance runne,r but I think it applies to many things. We’re always our own biggest critic, and set goals for ourselves that sometimes cannot happen. That doesn’t mean we can’t push ourselves, dream big, and work hard, we just have to celebrate small successes along the way.
Congrats on the NJ marathon! I’m glad you got nice weather this year! Last year, (I didn’t run it, but some friends did) it was a heat wave! People were passing out everywhere and only completing the half!