Excuses or reality? It’s easy for me to tell one of my athletes what the clear picture is, but it’s not so easy to tell myself the same thing. As I write this I still debate what the real truth was and I struggle a bit with how everything played out in my mind during the 26.75 miles I ran this past Sunday.
But here are some things I know to be true and give me more satisfaction than having a good race ever will.
#1. I wrote a Chicago Marathon training plan for Kerry S. last year. She used that training plan again this year and punched her ticket to Boston! Last year she ran a 3:44 and this year she took an additional seven minutes off her time and finished with a 3:36.
#2. Sarah D. dominated her first marathon! She did every single workout that I assigned to her without missing a beat. I can’t even begin to tell you how impressed I was by her dedication and hard work. It paid off and she excelled in Chicago.
#3. So this one I can’t even imagine doing myself! Whitney, another one of my inspiring athletes battled what may have been food poisoning during Sunday’s race and still managed to squeak out a PR! Can you even imagine continuing to run? This girl is the real deal.
Coaching is a lot of things, but mostly it’s caring more about your athlete’s race than your own.
This wasn’t the first time I was sick the week before a race, but it will be the last time I’ll wear blinders when I arrive at the start line after illness and think that maybe I still have a chance. I didn’t want to just show up, I wanted to give it a go no matter how things had played out in the days leading up to the race. And honestly just being able to show up and accept whatever comes my way is enough for me as long as I’m healthy, have two legs and the ability to run.
Sorry the day wasn’t what you had planned but I do love your attitude! And congrats to your clients–well coached!
<3 I am feeling similar to you now…running 26.2 while sick isn't the best idea…lol. So glad I saw you!
Celebrating other people’s races (as a coach or just a friend or bystander) is a true testament to how awesome of a person you are. Congrats to you as a coach for helping your athletes, and congrats to you as an athlete for your own race (regardless of it maybe not being what you wanted).
Congrats to all your runners and to you as a coach for being so awesome. You are a rock star. We never know what the day will give us. Sometimes it gives us a gift, sometimes it gives us the greatest challenge we can imagine. The fact that we keep persevering and keep coming back is a testament to our strength. Sad we didn’t get to see each other, but I liked knowing you were there. xoxo