The following is an email conversation between two of my running friends. Mark's goal is to break a four hour marathon, he had been running incredibly well and recently encountered some sort of virus that has cut short some of his recent training runs:
Could not run 2 miles this weekend. Virus or something still going on.
Seeing the Doc today. My window for the "under 4 hour marathon" training is closing. Pissed off. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
--- Mark
Calm down, soldier!!
You can't undo all the good training you've done over the past several
weeks by throwing in the towel now. You still have PLENTY of time to get
yourself ready for the challenge
Indulge me in an experience I had my senior year at West Chester. I had a
plan to get under 16:00 for 5K at the Penn Relays. I had the splits worked
out by the 800, 1000, 1600, 3K, etc. Then I felt something coming on the
week of the Relays and didn't waste time going to the doctor. He put me on
some drugs and told me to let my body rest for a couple of days. I did just
that and when the big race came around, I ran 16:02 and just missed winning
thing. I was expecting much worse because my head said my body wasn't at
100But I had done the training and I wasn't going to get some cold or
bug ruin my goals. My point is that you have plenty of time to get yourself
well. YOU HAVE A SUB 4:00-HOUR MARATHON IN YOU. You just gotta believe it.
--- Julie
Thank you, Drugs and a kick in the butt might just be what is needed.
Thanks
---Mark
Too often when you're engaged in marathon training it's easy to lose sight
of the overall goal. You'll kick this nagging virus and come back refreshed
from a little down time. But don't start thinking negatively just because
you've hit a little roadblock. Nobody has ever endured a marathon training
program without having some kind of physical breakdown at some point. It's
how you choose to overcome it. You can take this virus for what it's worth
and come back with a vengeance or let it get in your head and cause you to
doubt yourself. Whenever I've ever doubted myself over a race, I always
listen to the words my dad used to tell me to get me to snap out of it. He
said "Just run." That is the purest and best advice I can ever pass along
to someone.
You're my inspiration, bud.
---Julie
God damn Martha!
Mark, don't jump out the window yet. Julie is 100ight Just run!
Let me add the works of the philosopher and runner Ken Run your
race.
These hurdles hit us to see what we are made of and while we may falter in our faith, we know who we are... runners. Falling allows us perspective to see how far we have come and gives of the goal of moving forward.
Just run you race.
--- z
When I read the start of these emails, I realized that Mark is going through the same frustrations that I am. As much as I was giving him advice, I was also trying to remind myself of who I am.
Recently, I attempted a twenty mile training run. It was a beautiful spring day and while I was nervous about my knee I was excited to see where I was.
At five miles, I had settled into my pace. I felt great and had no signs of pain. My confidence started to grow but I reminded myself that I had a long way to go.
At ten miles, I still felt great and started pushing myself to run a little faster.
At thirteen miles, I felt it my left knee started to tighten. I knew the feeling and also knew it was not going away. I started to run towards home.
Arriving at home, Carol (my wife) saw my face and knew what had happened. As I wrapped my knees in ice, I made a comment about forgetting qualifying for Boston. It was like I had slapped Carol in the face. She looked me dead in the eye and reminded me how important goals are and how important this was to the whole family and me. Carols eyes had begun to well and I knew she was right. Goals are important and to let them go would be a tremendous waste.
When we fall and feel as though we do not have the strength to get up, our friends and family gather around us and show us how strong we are.
Oh yeah, I made a doctors appointment.
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