By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

When set up to prepare for a race, we usually do so with a specific goal in mind. Maybe it is a PR. Maybe we want to go under a certain arbitrary round time like a Sub-4 marathon, a sub-1:45 half or a sub-50 10K. Maybe, given a certain personal issue, just finishing in one piece is the objective. They are all valid goals worth pursuing.

But life can and usually gets on the way of our perfect plans. Stars may not align on race day and then your car breaks down on the way to your race or there’s a traffic accident that makes you miss the start. Or it was too hot and humid, or you started too fast when you should have known better. It happens. So, what to do?

Sometimes, achieving goals B, C or D can still mean a successful race (Foto: Pexels)

It may sound obvious, but in the midst of the frustration, runners don’t know how to react and adjust.  So I will spell it out in a direct manner: Set up A, B, C and even D goals for your races. And if your race doesn’t go as planned, sometimes it is good to have a back-up race to fall on to.

I follow a sub-elite runner in Instagram, who ran the recent Boston Marathon. In his post-race recap he said how his objectives kept changing throughout the race. His main goal was giving it his all to go sub-2:30, but as the miles went by, he realized this was not going to happen, so he decided to settle for a PR. In the 28th Km (17th mile), he suffered cramps that forced him to slow down. He ran some math in his head and realized he could still go Sub 2:40. At the end, 2:40:31 was his time. His final assessment was that despite not accomplish any of his preset goals, he wasn’t upset because he gave it all he had for the day. And he also knows this is not his last race.

This is the epitome of setting up multiple goals and completing a solid race despite facing multiple obstacles throughout. It is about learning to face and overcome those issues on the fly. It is about conquering what we are unable to control and yet, conquering those obstacles.

Just as it happens with the performance in a single competition, there are times that even the best prepared runners, or Goals R, S and T can’t cover a disappointment. When that happens, embrace the failure, learn your lessons, and move on to, or set up, your back-up race.

Back Up Races

It is not only a bad race that needs redemption. Sometimes circumstances beyond your control get in the way and derail your plans in a catastrophic manner. A second chance to perform is what will save the time, effort, money, and emotion you have invested in your training.

A few weeks ago, one of my trainees was on the plane to the Berlin Marathon. Door closed. Seatbelt fastened. Pre-flight instructional video played. But then… just like that… they kicked everyone out of the plane. The flight was cancelled. The only alternative given by the airline would put him in Berlin on Saturday at 5PM, with barely any time to pick up his bib and rest to make it to the starting line.

Make sure you live to race anothe day, by being smart before you tackle the marathon agian, after a debacle. (Photo: Pexels)

This runner was lucky enough that had enter several Marathon Major lotteries and hit two of them. So, despite the frustration, at least he had Chicago, two weeks later. The plan had been to push in Berlin and coast for fun in Chicago. Now, the plan is to push in Chicago, even though the taper was extended to 4 weeks. Notwithstanding the disaster, he was able to put his training to effective use and ran 3:24. Below his expectations but solid enough for his abilities and given the circumstances.

Even though having two marathons lined up worked for this runner, this time, it was circumstantial. Having a marathon to fall onto is not necessarily the best strategy. A marathon requires a level of commitment and effort that for most runners it requites just all you’ve got. So, having another marathon in store just in case, in a few weeks, may mess you up subconsciously and may alter your subconsciously because you know you have another race coming up, so you can play it safe, or run too fast and crash.

My recommendation is that if you need to pick another marathon because you missed your goal race, there are plenty or marathons to fall back to. You won’t lack for options, so you don’t need to plan ahead. But, if you had a crappy marathon and need to redeem yourself, be smart, recover properly and reassess where you are and where you want to be eventually before doing something foolish and getting hurt.

You can run multiple 5Ks to make up for a bad one. You can run another half marathon or two, or three, to make up for a bad race. The marathon is a different animal.