Post MCM Musings: Always have a Plan B

Everything in training can go right. You can run a PR in the half-marathon a few months before the full you are training for. You can hit your goal times in your workouts. You know you are as fit as  you can be on race day but the unexpected happens and your plan starts to crumble. How you deal with the unexpected becomes the real challenge. Having a marathon where everything went wrong and your plan didn't work can cause you to lose your mojo. I have learned that having a back up plan is how you take back your race, it is how you save your mojo. I lost mine a few years ago and it took me awhile to get it back.

I have been chasing a not so secret marathon goal for a few years now, 3:15. It is a time I know that I am fully capable of hitting. I lost hope in ever achieving this goal for a few years because I lost focus. I lost the belief that I could do it. I stopped training smart. I ran but I didn't run quality. It wasn't until after my last Boston Marathon, when I didn't run a BQ (Boston Qualifier), that I started to fight to get my mojo back. 

I had two let down marathons back to back. I ended up in a medical tent after Savannah 2015 after chasing 3:15, humidity be damned. My training for Boston 2016 followed and I found it hard to focus. I always ran a BQ. That was just what I expected. I took my past times for granted and did not train smart. The ending result was a bum knee and not having the option to return to Boston in 2017.

After Boston 2016, I took my first real break from running since I started running when I was 16. I joined my boyfriend and his brother on a road trip out West. We hiked 50 plus miles a week and I ran on our off days only if I felt like it. That was my first time in years where I ran only 5 times in a one month period. It was good for the soul and as hard as it was for me to admit at the time it is exactly what I needed to get my mojo back. 

We moved to Lynchburg, VA in July and I jumped into training for Chicago. I started lifting twice a week and I strictly followed the Chicago marathon training plan. I set my goal low for Chicago. I just wanted to run a BQ and I gave myself a back up plan to protect myself from heartbreak. My back up plan was just to finish. I surprised myself and I ran a PR by 6 minutes of 3:19. 

My dream of running a 3:15 returned. It was back in my reach. My next major marathon where I chased 3:15 was this past Sunday, the 42nd Marine Corps Marathon. 

This marathon is special to me. I have accompanied my now fiance the past two years to help with race support for his parents. It has become an annual trip, so when I got the opportunity to run this year's MCM, I didn't give it a second thought. 

I have found a great group of runners to train with in Lynchburg, VA. We have even named ourselves the Hill City Harriers. I have been searching for a training group like this since college. If they don't already know, they have helped make me a better runner in just a short time period. I am incredibly thankful for their support. 

So coming into the race on Sunday, I had every bit of confidence in the world that I could run 3:15. I still made a plan B, because marathons are long and some things are out of your control. Plan B was to run a BQ and to enjoy it.

Plan A didn't happen but Plan B saved me. 3:15 didn't happen but my second best marathon time and another BQ did. 

Official MCM recap to follow...  

Ingredients to happiness: Swag, Bacon, Medal, Post-race endorphins, Beer