20 miles made simple

The two weeks leading into this run were riddled with self-doubt and lots of self-talk. It was like uncontrollable chatter up in my head when I thought about it. All I could think was how hard it was going to be to finish all 20. I had resigned that I needed someone to run with me and if it were not for that weekend being Easter, I am sure I would have found more willing participants. The plan was to run the first 20 miles of the marathon course. I had been running the last 15 or so miles on the course in the prior weeks and wanted to become familiar with the rest of the course before Marathon day.

Well Saturday morning came and I was going to take this challenge on all by myself. You race by your self, so why not train by myself. I decided that the 1 hour drive out to Hopkinton was not necessary for my wife to make to drop me off and that I could make a route around our town that would be just as good. I woke up a little before 7 and started to visualize the entire run. The plan was to eat a little, get calmed down and try to get out the door around 8. Like a Swiss watch, I was out the door at 8am and on my way. I had my fuel belt filled with two bottles of heed and two bottles of perpetum along with 2 raspberry hammer gels for some extra calories. I had my Garmin fully charged and my ipod filled with workout tunes to keep me going.

The first mile for me is always a mental challenge, no matter how long the run is. Every step I take I tell myself to stop, every step is a struggle, but after a few minutes I settle in and am off to the challenge. Around mile 1.5 mile mark, I started to think about what words of advise I had taken from my coach, “follow your numbers” she had given me a plan based on all my training and results and the plan would take me through the entire run. I quickly settled into what was a slower than average pace, I even found it hard to pick up the pace at times. I got passed by people that clearly should not be running faster than me, but all I could think was, stick to the numbers and because I have an ego I also thought “yeah how far have you gone already, and are you doing 20 today?” I am big with self-talk and it never shuts off.

At 10 miles I passed the Boston Sports Club in Lexington, MA and I stopped in for three bottles of water and a quick stop. When I left, I felt all new and refreshed like I was just starting my run.

Each passing mile on the Garmin was inspiring as it was one closer to seeing 20 and that was the goal for the day, it was all about sticking to the fundamentals and doing what I knew. I was going into places that I had never been before and needed to stick to the plan and follow the steps, follow the plan and look at the metrics often to adjust when necessary. The real goal for the day was following the plan and enjoying the journey and while that goal seemed to be the easy part, it was that which carried me and helped to make 20 possible.

My head was not there at first , it was full of doubt when I looked at the whole picture. I kept it as simple as just run to my numbers and follow the plan, it became amazing what I was able to accomplish. Don’t let my head get in my way was the lesson today. Break down any goal to it’s lowest common denominator and master that basic skill, even if it is as simple as right foot left foot, repeat.

This whole training thing has done so much more for my personal life, my family life & my business life than I ever expected. It truly is amazing to see what is possible in all of those areas when you have a plan and stick to it.