London Marathon Goal Reflection

London Marathon Goal Reflection

Stephanie Diaz
Marathon, Real Run Talk, Running

On Sunday, April 23rd I ran the London Marathon (read the recap here). This was my first marathon since 2021’s Chicago Marathon. I’ve shared previously how marathoning was something that I did quite often when I first started running and how I lost the joy of distance running along the way. I wrote about the goals I had for London in this blog post, but as a reminder these were my three goals (edited down for this post):

  1. Finish feeling like I can do another one: Not just do another but want to do another one. My big overarching goal with marathon running is to get my Six Stars and, after London, I’ll have Tokyo and Boston left. London is all about getting me closer to that goal and keeping me walking down the path of enjoying the process of running, regardless of the distance.

  2. Own every decision made on the course: This is my race and I want to give it my best on Sunday. To do that, I want to go into the race ready to mentally fight for the finish. I want to finish feeling proud of the effort and not like I need to justify or create excuses for why I didn’t have a better experience.

  3. Time Goal: If I have to establish a time goal for myself it would be 4:15-ish. This is a time that I feel is within reach mentally. Based on my training, I know this is what I am physically capable of, but I don’t know where I am mentally when it comes to racing and probably won’t know until race day.

So, how did it do? Keep on reading…

  1. Finish feeling like I can do another one: Nailed it! I was so aware of my experience on the course and so present for each mile that the race felt like it flew by. Any time I started to go down the path of overthinking pace, time, or distance, I brought myself back to the present moment and to the overall goal of finishing wanting to do another one. I crossed the finish line with tears in my eyes and a whole new appreciation for my ability to train for, run, and complete a marathon. I’ve even got that marathon itch again and have a two-year marathon plan carved out for myself. However, I’m going to challenge myself to keep coming back to the current run and the present moment. I accomplished this goal because I didn’t get ahead of myself and because I learned how to appreciate the strength it takes to believe I can run marathons.  

  2. Own every decision made on the course: I feel like I met this goal because I don’t look back at the race with any regrets. I do, however, look back at the race with lessons. My knees (particularly the left one) started to hurt around mile 20 and I made the choice at that moment to slow down. I don’t regret slowing down because I remembered that my overarching goal was to make decisions in London that would not only get me excited about future marathons, but also leave me feeling healthy enough to start a new training cycle in a couple of months. A marathon is made up of a million tiny decisions and I am proud of each one I made in London because they got me across the finish line feeling excited with possibility.

  3. Time Goal: I didn’t nail the 4:15 time goal and I’m not disappointed by that because I went into this race with my main A goal being finishing London with the desire to do another marathon. The star of the show was reclaiming my joy as a marathon runner and time was just background noise. If it got the time goal, great. If I didn’t get the time goal, great as well. Regardless of the time, I still did something amazing. Not everyone runs marathons, either because they can’t, don’t want to, or don’t think they can. So, finishing was, above all else, what really mattered to me. Don’t get me wrong, I joined the 4:15 pace group and held on for the first few miles. My mind just didn’t want to work hard for a time goal. The metaphor I’ve come up for my mind on race day is this: I was like a dog on a leisurely walk instead of a dog on the hunt. I have more reflection to do on this particular goal, especially after the race, because there is a difference (for me, at least) between mentally working hard to get a certain time goal and mentally working hard to finish feeling strong. I feel like my nutrition leading up to the race and on race day were near-perfect, so there’s room to explore mental fitness and what the levels of fitness mean to me, how they are reflected in my running, and how I can bring mental-fitness-for-pace in better alignment with mental-fitness-for-finishing.

I feel like I will be reflecting on this race for quite some time and that’s a good thing. Just like training is a process, so is being a runner. Thank you for following along on my #JourneyToLondon! Thanks for all the love and encouragement as I continue to explore who I am as a runner and what brings me joy on the run. Running for charity has helped elevate the meaning on my miles. You can support my #TeamSunshine fundraiser for the London Marathon by making a donation to my fundraiser here. Make sure to follow me on Instagram @thecookierunner for all things running and life.

Reflect/Reset April & May 2023

Reflect/Reset April & May 2023
2023 London Marathon Race Experience

2023 London Marathon Race Experience