By Christine Murray
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a Start Here blog post about my experience running the Pittsburgh Back Half Marathon in May, and that post focused on how important it is to find and focus on our cheerleaders in races and life. In today’s post, I’ll share some other insights I learned through my experiences with that race, but today I’ll focus more on the training that led up to the race than the actual race itself. The overall lesson reinforced for me during this training process was how important it is to do what’s right for us at any given moment. Let me explain… Run Your Own Race… First, the fact that I did a half marathon in Pittsburgh is significant because I originally signed up to do the full Pittsburgh Marathon this year. Doing the full marathon was really, really important to me because I’ve tried to do the full marathon in Pittsburgh twice before. Both times, I ended up having to do it virtually from North Carolina. (In 2020, the whole race was moved to virtual because of the pandemic, and then in 2022, I got COVID a few days before the race so I had to personally do the race virtually for that reason.) So, doing the full marathon in my beloved hometown of Pittsburgh has eluded me for several years, and initially, I was intent that 2024 would be my year! I registered for the full marathon soon after registration opened, and I started my official training program in early January to prepare for the race in May. I was able to get the miles in my training program done through about mid-March, but I realized that I was not feeling great during and after my training sessions. I was tired and moving so slowly that I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the full marathon in the 7-hour time limit. Life was happening at a fast pace–between my big career change, parenting, and everything else–and it was making it hard for me to train to the extent I’d need to feel good about doing the full marathon. And so, in the middle of March, I made the difficult decision to drop down to the half marathon and stop training for the full. As much as I was disappointed to make this change, I also felt relieved and knew it was the right move to make. My race this year just wasn’t meant to be a full 26.2 miles! At Your Own Pace To add to my original plan to do the full marathon, I also originally planned to walk the full 26.2 miles. I used to be an avid runner, but as I’ve gotten older, my body hasn’t felt great with running, so I’ve taken more to walking almost exclusively in the past couple of years. So, I was training to walk the Pittsburgh Marathon, and part of my mental preparation was to be okay with knowing I’d be moving a lot slower than most of the other racers out on the course. As a former runner, I knew that I’d have moments of wishing I was running and going faster than walking would allow. Since I’ve changed from mostly running to mostly walking, I’ve had to be intentional about feeling okay with going at a slower pace than I used to move. This shift hasn’t been easy at times, but as I trained for walking the Pittsburgh Marathon, I continued to remind myself that I just needed to go the pace that felt right for me. Even when I shifted to doing the half marathon, I still planned to walk the race. I walked during almost all of my training sessions. And up to the morning of the race, I was prepared to walk the back half of that course and feel at peace when runners passed me by. But a funny thing happened once the horn blew to announce the start of the race. I decided I’d jog for just a little bit at the start of the course so I could get out of the initial crowd and take advantage of the flattish sections of the course. Much to my surprise, even though I hadn’t jogged at all during my training, my body felt great at the jogging pace. So, I decided at least at the beginning of the 13.1 miles, I’d alternate between a couple minutes of jogging and a couple of minutes of walking and see how it goes. As the miles went on, I found that I continued to feel good jogging, so eventually, I ended up jogging almost the whole way during the latter miles of the course. By the time I crossed the finish line, I was amazed that I was able to run (and not walk) most of the race. My legs would be quite sore for the next several days after the race, but overall, I felt great and was happily surprised that they let me go at a much faster pace than I’d anticipated. Finish Line Reflections To make a long story short, my original plan for the Pittsburgh Marathon was to do a longer race at a slower pace. But what really happened was that I did a shorter race at a faster pace! My experience both training for and competing in this race was a powerful reminder of the importance of running (or walking, or even crawling when needed) our own race at our own pace. All of this should be based on our current needs and experiences at any given moment. I was reminded that it’s not helpful to compare myself to others who might be able to go further or faster than me. Not only that, but I need to avoid comparing myself to, well, myself. My past or future self might have a very different experience with a similar race, but what was most important was for me to take care of myself and do what I needed to at that time. Any time we’re starting or continuing on our various paths in life, it’s important to honor our needs and experiences in the moment, as well as to be gentle and patient with ourselves along the way!
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AuthorThis blog is written by Christine E. Murray, Ph.D., Founder of Start Here Counseling & Consulting, PLLC. Archives
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