There is No Such Thing as “Just” a Half Marathon
Marcus Aurelius said, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” This same sentiment has been said in many different ways since AD 100. Recently, 2 of my friends traveled to Quebec City to participate in the Marathon Des Deux Rives. Anytime you set a goal to run a marathon, a half marathon, a 10K, or even a mile, you have a training plan. But you’ve heard the expression, “The devil fools with the best laid plan.”
Sometimes our “plans” don’t always go the way we set them up - life has a way of sidetracking us. So, we adjust our goals. We do this both before the event and even during the event. If you’re training for a marathon and for whatever reason, you are unable to get in the proper training, you use your good judgment and you switch to the half marathon. If you are training and you feel the twinges of an injury, you adjust your plan to postpone the event or choose a shorter distance. And, this is ok.
Athletes are hard on themselves when they have to adjust their goals. They see it as a sign of weakness and often worry what others will think. First of all, it is usually a sign of good sense to be able to make adjustments. And second, it is unimportant what others may think - what’s important is what the athlete thinks of herself - remember: what we think about expands.
My friend Roz decided that she was not ready to run the full marathon in Quebec City, and she victoriously completed the half marathon - a huge accomplishment any way you look at it. In our world where we constantly talk about marathons and high mileage, sometimes we shortchange ourselves by saying, “Oh, I did JUST the half.” There is no “JUST” in running 13.1 miles. Running a half marathon is hard.
We all have different goals. No one goal is better than another - it’s just different. We don’t have to run a marathon because our friend is doing one. We each have to run our own race - and that includes distance and pace. And, we should never diminish our accomplishment because we adjust our goal along the way. Just making it to the starting line is an achievement in itself.
Congratulations Roz and Maggie for running FANTASTIC races last weekend! To both of you, revel in your accomplishments, add another medal to your wall of honor, and enjoy setting your next goal.