Week 11 – Marathon Musings: Imperfect IS Perfect
My retreat happens every September and training has to work around the retreat. It’s ok to willingly take a break during training to do something that will help you become a better athlete in the long run.
In my early days of running, I would wonder why the training cycle for a marathon was so long. Did it really take 16-24 weeks to train the body to complete 26.2 miles on race day? After almost a decade of marathon running, I can confidently say the answer to that question is “Yes.” However, I can also say that the “yes” is about more than getting the body (and mind) ready for race day; it’s about having enough time to adjust when things don’t go as planned or as expected. If there is one thing I can guarantee as a runner and a run coach, it’s that things will not go to plan at some point in a training cycle. Sometimes it’s because of things like a vacation that require training to be shifted. Sometimes it’s because adapting to higher levels of intensity and volume requires more recovery time between efforts. Sometimes, unfortunately, it’s because an injury means taking a break from running altogether. This is all part of the process of becoming the best athlete you can be. (Even an injury is part of the process as it highlights an area of weakness in the body.)
A longer training cycle allows you to prepare for the best and adjust for the worst. It’s a blessing to have so much time, trust me! The longer the training cycle, the more training you have in your legs and the better equipped you are to mentally get through tough times. A longer training cycle gives you time to learn how to trust yourself and allows you to push past limiting beliefs. A longer training cycle gives you the space to show up as the athlete you are on a given day without, hopefully, too much judgment about what you “should” be doing. The longer the training cycle, the more time you have to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. Plus, a long training cycle doesn’t feel so long when race week is hurtling toward you!
Training is not meant to be perfect because not only are you not perfect, but Life, with all its chaos, twists, and turns is also not perfect. Life doesn’t cater to the training cycle, it’s the training cycle that must cater to Life and everything else you have going on. Training for a marathon (or any distance) is something we choose to fit into our lives and, sometimes, training is what has to give in order for there to be greater ease in the flow of everyday life.
What is “perfect” about training is how imperfect it is. And that, my friends, is what I think makes training interesting. How do I keep training when there has been a change? How do I keep wanting to show up when there has been a setback?
The sooner we embrace an “Imperfect IS Perfect” mentality when it comes to training, the sooner we free ourselves from the all-or-nothing mentality that holds us back. We will be better able to cope when things get wonky and we can do our best to prepare for when the training plan starts to fall apart. Plus, in my case, the imperfections in my training have reminded me of why I run and why I want to keep running. Those imperfections jumpstart my gratitude and help me better appreciate the strength it takes to train for and run marathons.
Imperfect IS perfect and this week I am embracing all the imperfections in training as I take a break from running to focus on hosting my Great Smoky Mountains Experience retreat. I trust the training I have done and know that this break will rejuvenate me in a way that will allow me to kick ass in the final weeks of training for Chicago.
Marathon History:
2014 Chicago Marathon
2015 Miami Marathon
2015 Berlin Marathon
2015 Chicago Marathon
2016 Chicago Marathon
2016 NYC Marathon
2017 Chicago Marathon
2018 Chicago Marathon
2021 Chicago Marathon
2023 London Marathon
2023 Marine Corps Marathon
Marathon Musings series:
6 weeks until Chicago and 11 weeks of musings written. Here’s to celebrate the imperfect!
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