Own it

I have always viewed my marathons as both a physical and spiritual event. In 2004, I wrote an amazing race plan and described the marathon as “It’s a joint effort of spirit and body.” To this day, I still believe that to be true.

So much can happen between the time one decides to run a marathon and toeing the line. Even as late as race day, life can throw curve balls such as loved ones having major heart surgery, race day weather worthy of a black flag warning, injury, or race officials canceling the race before you’ve crossed the finish line.

We all know that the hard work we do in our training phase helps to set the stage for a successful race. Still, there are never any guarantees that the stars will align in the most perfect way. Even wishing upon a falling star is a long shot. The act of belief, however, is critical to race day success. It is the reason why we log those twenty-something mile runs in the weeks leading up to race day. We need to believe that we can so that we will. In essence, we need to own it.

In this past week, I’ve been slapped across the face with issues of not owning my race experience fully. The fall that had me worried I’d fractured my elbow, and the meeting that has now stole away part of race day weekend are perfect examples of how easy it might be to allow external forces to interfere with my goal. I cannot let that happen; I’ve worked too hard.

I have agreed to travel to Laguna Beach for the big meeting. I will be there Thursday, Friday, and half of Saturday to meet the surgeons, nurses, our company’s chief medical officer, the monitoring staff, the safety team, and my new colleagues. My goal is to get as much out of the meeting as possible, and allow the focus on work to keep me relaxed about my race. Come Saturday afternoon (say 1-2 pm), it will be time to shift gears.

I will leave the meeting without issue, and travel to Santa Barbara to meet up with Mark, Lisa, Coach (?), and anyone else whose presence will add pleasure and not add stress to my pre-race routine. My race packet will have been picked up for me and I will have everything that I need to prepare my spread for race morning. We will have delicious, nutritious food (pasta, etc) & hydration, and loads of laughs before heading off to get some sleep. This of course, will be at a reasonable hour.

After some relaxation and meditation, I will have set the stage for a good night of sleep and a great race day.

On race morning, I will awake physically and mentally ready to tackle the coarse. My food will go down with ease, and all bodily functions will occur before it’s time to leave for the start. Jeff and the gang will pick us up and we will travel easily and happily to the start (without issues of motion sickness).

I will have everything that I need along the race coarse: sport shield intact, GU with me, Ms. Garminia energized, and Coach at my side. My body will feel strong & prepared and my mind will be focused & positive. I will hit my miles at goal pace and celebrate my success with each passing mile. I will appreciate the journey, laugh at Jeff’s jokes and at myself, and push through the pain (mental and physical). I will cross the finish line within 4 hours, therefore qualifying to run in the Boston Marathon in April 2011.

And I will enjoy the remainder of the weekend in the company of the great friends (who are like family to me), relaxing in the sunshine, basking in success, and sharing my joy with everyone (including YaYa, BoBo, and DD via phone) who has supported me in getting to this wonderful place.