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Respond to the Conditions On The Ground
When I ran the Philadelphia Marathon this year, I had a goal. I wanted to run a personal best. I wanted to run faster than I ever had before. I needed to position myself and maintain my effort throughout the race, so I could hit my goal.
I didn’t do as well as I wanted. It was a fine race for the conditions, but that’s one thing I did not take into account: the conditions.
The day started at 31 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was even colder with 20-mile-per-hour wind gusts. It may have been 31 degrees, but it felt like it was in the low to mid-20s.
“That’s great; I thrive running in the cold,” I told myself.
But while I thrive running in the cold, I don’t know a single runner who can tell you they thrive running in the wind. I continued to try to hit my goal and personal record paces, all while running in incredibly windy conditions that made it almost impossible to run fast. I didn’t run a personal best, but I think I did the best I could for the day.
I beat myself up, thinking I could have gone out a bit slower. Maybe I could have run it a bit more tactically sound. Maybe I could have trained differently, not done as many workouts, and had a more consistent running…
