10 days to go….. maranoia… heard of it? Who likes waffles?

We wanted to share this post as written by one of our Arena members Katie Wright. It’s an amusing piece as she builds up to the Brighton Marathon 2019.
10 days to go….. maranoia… heard of it? Who likes waffles?
I didn’t stick to my training plan, I didn’t even try to stick to it. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself – I kind of did – try too, that is, not stick to it. “Are you missing my point? So am I!” “Confused? Me too”.
“A” goal. It’s SMART. I think.
It’s SPECIFIC – it’s a time, to the minute. I know the KM splits, I know the mile splits. I know how it feels to run at that pace.
It’s MEASURABLE – it’s a time, to the minute over the distance of a marathon course.
It’s AGREED – yep.
REALISTIC – (this is a good one for the maranoia gremlins) my training runs and races this year would have me believe it is realistic. On paper it’s realistic. It’s my type on paper. It’s a great fit for me. We’d look good together. It makes sense. We make sense. Together. (Take that gremlins).
TIME BASED – it’s happening, 14 April, at 9:45am and I will be finished by……
Racing thoughts. Racing thoughts about running. Racing thoughts about running races. Racing thoughts about running races, running through my mind. FAST. Don’t set off too fast. Stick to the pace plan.
“It’s a race? Who will win?” “I’ll let my good friend Haile tell you…..”
“When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against other runners and not against the time” (Haile Gebrselassie)
Are you sure Haile?” I’d ask him if I could.
New “A” goal – go the distance.
I did stick to the marathon plan last year – rigidly, uncompromisingly, stressfully and unsuccessfully- I still didn’t get that “A” goal. But that wasn’t because I stuck to the plan. So it certainly doesn’t mean by not sticking to it I’ll have any more success. Ummmmmmmm.
BUT if at first you don’t succeed then try Again – Right??? “Hello Again – Right, I’m Katie Wright, maybe we are related?”
“Again” doesn’t have to be the same as it was before. Lessons have been learnt. There wasn’t anything wrong with the plan last time, or this time, just with how it was implemented, or not implemented, by me. Too ridged. Too fluid. There is the problem.
Admittedly there were a few reason my marathon “A” goal wasn’t reached last year. The big one was a total lack of experience, a naive super confidence in my own ability that no amount of quiet chats with much more experienced marathoners was going to squash. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way – just saying.
The goal posts for that “A” goal were moved quite a few times. Who knows what I might have achieved if I’d left them in one place.
I’m fidgety, I’m restless, I don’t sit still. I’m quite often already on to the next thing before the thing in hand has been put down, my hands aren’t huge, but I don’t drop things, i’m a juggler. It’s marathon this month. Veterans Track League 100m next month. Because the two go hand in hand – right?
“Stay focused Katie” Again – Right tells me “one step at a time…. that’s how you run a marathon. It’s a complicated business that needs to be kept simple, by breaking it down in to manageable chunks”
“Or is it a simple business that once broken down in to manageable chunks becomes complicated?” I ask her (you didn’t think Again – Right was a man did you?)
“Don’t over complicate it.” She replies “It’s running. One foot in front of the other”
“Yes” I agree “One foot in front of the other, for a set distance, over a set course, at a set pace, with set places to drink, eat, toilet stops………”
“No toilet stops” she buts in “you need to sort all that out before you start”
I think I have sorted out the nutrition issues, that is so MARCH it’s APRIL now. I’ve moved on to what compression socks I need to buy for my phantom leg injury!
“And what about that wall? I ask her
“It doesn’t exist” she tells me “but what ever you do don’t run in to it, it will hurt”