it’s the long run that counts

Today, I raced a local half marathon and I’d like to share some of my quick post-race thoughts. I’ve been running for a little over a year and a half, and raced my first half marathon a little over a year ago.

I mostly run just for fun, and am not super competitive but I did have a goal of getting a sub-2 hour time for this race (my first race, I finished with a time of 2:07). I figured, over a year later with semi-consistent (emphasis on the semi) training, it would be not a problem.

But race week approached, and the odds were not stacked in my favor. I happened to get a sore throat exactly 6 days before to race, with mild cold symptoms for the whole week. In an emergency effort to salvage any shot I had at making my time goal, I started taking vitamin C, paying more attention to my sleep and hydration, and eating better.

But then, the night before the race, my symptoms only got worse: I had watery eyes, a runny nose, and a headache… despite how hard I’d tried to recover quickly, it was not looking so good.

Long story short, I still got up at 5am and ran the 13.1 miles, finishing with a time of 2:08. Even though being just one minute off of last year’s race might haunt me, I gave it my best shot with what I had.

I was not in ideal health for this race, and I ran it much later in the season compared to last year, so it was HUMID. But I finished! I can confidently say that I am proud of my effort today.

Still, it got me thinking. It’s safe to say I was quite far off of my goal. It’s true, the conditions for this race were not as ideal as they could have been. But it was more than just that. The last-minute attempt to rescue my health said enough about the things that I wasn’t focusing on that I should have been.

It wasn’t the humidity, or even this week’s sickness holding me back… it was all of the day-to-day “little” choices that had stacked up over the last months, like not being super strict about regular sleep schedule, or not paying particular attention to my nutrition and making sure I was getting all of the right vitamins that would reduce my chances of getting sick in general. It was the days that I decided not to train because I didn’t really “feel like it.” The odds had started stacking against me every time I chose to sacrifice that extra hour of sleep, not just when I got sick the week before. Yes, I ran the 13.1, but I hadn’t actually been running the long run.

Thankfully, it’s really not that big of a deal. At the end of the day, I am very happy with my effort and I am also grateful that I was feeling well enough to race this morning (with my cousin, in the picture above!). Our family came to cheer us on, it was a beautiful day, and I made some awesome memories.

At the same time, I learned an important lesson about setting goals and reaching them. If you’re serious about achieving a goal, it’s the long run that counts. It’s all of the everyday decisions that will have the biggest effect on the outcome. Whatever your goal may be, no last-minute, big effort is going to be able to measure up to consistent, little efforts over a long period of time. Make habits, choices, and a lifestyle that supports your goals. The little things add up, so best to make sure they’re working in your favor!

Love,
Leah

P.S. I will be running a sub 2-hour half marathon at some point, and yes, I’m in it for the long run. 😉