Lessons from Canberra

Last Sunday I ran 42.2k's in Canberra. My time was 20 minutes slower than last year when I ran my first full marathon in the US. But I don't count it as a failure. Here's why:

Finishing is better than starting
Patience is better than pride
(Old Testament Proverb)

I started training for this race on January 5. I was hoping to runner a bit quicker than last year, aiming for around a 3:40-3:45 finish. During the first couple of months I stayed closed to my training schedule, despite several minor illnesses. Then, on March 19, I realised that I'd done something serious to my leg when I came home from a regular 16k run, sat down on the couch and couldn't get up again. I'd torn a muscle in my quad. Strange. I'd run on it for almost a week because although I felt a pull one day it really wasn't too painful. Finally, my leg screamed at me to stop. I stopped. I thought training for a marathon was difficult but I went a bit nuts as the days went by and I couldn't run at all! Ok- now this hard luck story gets worse: Two weeks before Canberra I had a minor motorbike accident. Two days before the race I got a cold : (

I spent more time in April limping than I did walking! My only exercise in the final month before marathon number two was cycling, swimming, stretching and light weights at the gym.

Anyway... the day of the marathon I lined up with over twelve hundred runners. I felt like a fake. I had the shoes, clothes, hat and a grin that if you knew me read: "how ridiculous is this!?!" The gun sounded and we started running. Perfect weather. Great course. Amazing views around the lake. Running past Parliament house. Stomping the streets of the Capital. Many hundreds of people ahead of me. A few hundred behind me. Whatever. I was happy! Coz by midday I'd learned that finishing is better than starting.

And patience is better than pride. Pride says quit if you can't be competitive. If you're not able to run at your best, don't bother. But I tried to find the voice of patience as I wrote my journal pre-race. I scribbled things like this:

"I need to believe that I can run 42.2K on Sunday morning. ...It's not about time. It's about finishing. It's not about style. Who cares what you look like? If you look like you're injured, that's because you are. ....It's not about pain. I can run with mild pain. I will rate the pain if necessary. I can run with moderate pain. ...I will ignore discomfort. Cold doesn't count. Heat doesn't count. Blisters don't count. Frustration doesn't count. Disappointment isn't necessary. I will feel a sense of achievement when I cross the line."

Patience. Pace don't chase. Enjoy it. Finish well. (Or just finish any way you can!)

Today I went for a 15 minute jog. Even a Cambodian non-runner could tell I wasn't really in form. He slapped his right thigh and asked, "sore leg?" Yep, buddy, you got it! It's been a week and I'm still not yet recovered. But I'm learning that we can achieve some amazing things when we put aside pride and persevere.

Finishing is better than starting.