In 2016 I crossed the finish line of the Utah Valley Marathon with a time of three hours and thirty five minutes. I was elated, I had qualified for the Boston Marathon with five minutes to spare. I felt like running didn’t get any better than this– chasing goals, training hard and achieving my dream of qualifying to run the Boston Marathon. Three years and four marathons later I crossed the finish line of the 2018 Huntsville marathon with a time of three hours and thirty four minutes. I was devastated; I had trained for a much faster race. I was twenty minutes slower than I had hoped and trained for. I was ready to give up on marathoning, maybe give up on running all together. I had still qualified for Boston but that didn’t seem like enough. Two marathons within one minute of each other and I was devastated after the faster one. What’s the difference? It was all in how I had thought about it. I had different expectations for the outcome. Those thoughts are a choice, of course. I did some work on my thoughts and came around to feeling grateful for Huntsville 2018. The day had thrown some obstacles my way; high temperatures, smoke in the air from wildfires, a stomach that didn’t want to absorb my nutrition. Despite those obstacles I had crossed the finish line healthy, with friends along the course who had cheered me on. Those were all things to be celebrated and cherished. 

Often we wait to decide how we feel about a race after it happens. What if we chose to decide beforehand how we would feel after it? Sounds a little crazy, right?! However, it’s possible to do just that. It allows you to decide how you want to feel versus waiting for the outcome to decide for you. You can feel grateful that you have a healthy body that allows you to even show up to the start line. You can be amazed at the opportunities you have in your life. You can enjoy the party that is your race. I believe that after a hard training cycle the race is absolutely just the party that we have to celebrate all of the hard work.

You can decide ahead of time to look for the things that go right during the race. Even if you didn’t meet your time goal, maybe you executed your nutrition plan perfectly or got through that uphill climb at mile 14 without walking. Deciding beforehand to look for these accomplishments not only enables you to have the desired thoughts and feelings after the race, but it also helps keep your mind focused on the positive during the race.

Deciding before will always guarantee that you can walk away with joy and gladness. This does not mean that you may not learn things from your race and see ways you can improve or do better. The overall feeling can still be a positive one.

The following questions will help you as you decide, ahead of time, how you want to feel. 

What are some feelings you would like to have once you cross the finish line of your race?

What are the thoughts you must have to feel these feelings? How can you have these thoughts to ensure those feelings?

What actions will you take NOW to help you realize those thoughts and feelings as you cross the finish line and as you reflect on your race?