What happens when you do everything right to prepare and things are going according to plan, and then conditions on race day are not favorable?  Joe had been progressing for a couple of years. Despite having neck surgery in December and a lot of “life” happening including helping care for a sick sibling and a lot of travel for work, he had a really solid training cycle for the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon in April.  He racked up the planned weekly mileage, hit the prescribed paces for his interval workouts, and held on to his goal marathon pace through his tempo runs. As the race approached, the forecasted temperatures crept upwards showing highs in the 90s for race day. Additionally, he arrived in Las Vegas late the evening before the race due to another commitment at home.  Despite this, he remained cautiously optimistic about the outcome. With the higher temperatures, he adjusted his paces to preserve energy for the end of the race. Once he crossed the starting line, he followed the modified plan, which went perfectly for most of the race. He was on pace to be well ahead of his goal of qualifying for the 2020 Boston Marathon and having enough of a time buffer to gain entry to the race.  By mile 22, however, the temperatures had risen, and a couple of aid stations weren’t where he anticipated them to be and lacked some of the nutrition he was expecting to be there. Joe’s body began to show signs of distress. He slowed down enough to make sure his body could keep going. Joe looked at his watch and crunched the numbers in his head to figure out what he needed to do over the last few miles to still achieve his goal.  And then he did exactly that.

What Joe didn’t do was add drama to the situation.  He couldn’t change the conditions around him, but he could control his response.  It would have been reasonable for him to adopt a woe-is-me attitude about the shiny new PR that he was prepared for and on pace for, but which was now slipping away.  Instead, he just put his head down, focused on the job to be done, and did it. He took control of what was in his power to control. Joe crossed the finish line five minutes below his Boston qualifying time with his head held high, knowing he left his best effort on the course.

In the moment when things aren’t going to plan, we all have a choice.  We can add drama to an already difficult situation, which won’t improve the outcome for us.  Or we can make adjustments, focus on being in the moment and take care of the things that do lie within our power.