The marathon: Trust not control

My theory on marathons:
       Going into my second trail marathon I have decided the way to go is to trust not control. Out on the trail there is no control of your environment. With the blazes, ribbons, aid stations and gear you may think you have some control of the journey not to mention the outcome. But anything can happen out there. No matter what you do, what you carry with you, how much training you have there can still be that rock that trips you, that nice weather that suddenly changes for the worse or the steep hill you end up sliding down rather than walking/running. Depending on the time of year and the recent weather you can have water crossings that are daunting, muddy pits you must push through,overwhelming heat, ice, snow, bugs, poison ivy, big logs to climb over and a hundred other little things.
    I have trained for this. I have been working towards this pretty much since my first marathon was over in August. I feel confident I have the gear I need, good shoes, have hydrated enough, carb loaded enough, gotten enough rest this week. But even with all that I will have to trust the process because I do not know what will happen out on that trial tomorrow. I simply need to know in my heart that I will be enough to carry on to the finish, that I am tough enough to withstand any issues or problems, that I have the mental stamina to keep myself pushing on when all I want to do is just sit down.
   I look forward to it because I believe in myself. I have accomplished plenty of scary things in the last year or so and I believe I can face more without caving in. Especially when I have so many friends out there doing it with me and can look forward to friendly faces out on the course and at the finish line.

My Top 10 List for the Trail Marathon:

1. Don't think of how far you have to go but how far you have already traveled

2. Take the distance in little bites....."I will run to the next aid station", "I will go to the top of the next hill", "I only have a 10K left".

3. Remember to look a bit ahead as well as down so you are prepared for what is next

4. Walk up all the big, steep hills. It will save your legs for the long distance instead of wasting it all running up a hill you probably can walk up just as fast.

5. When tired try to think of the quiet of the woods, distract by listening to the birds sing, the wind in the trees, the sound of water trickling down a creek bed.

6. When you need to rest, rest. Do not stop but slow down, have a snack, get a few deep breaths and then continue on.

7. Do NOT focus on time. There is just no way to have a perfect pace on a trail so just focus on keeping going, passing the next obstacle, keeping up your energy, stamina and positive thoughts.

8. Do what you have to do to get through it and do not think or worry about the other racers.

9. Near the end I start thinking about all the food I am going to get to eat when I finish, how it is going to be so great to celebrate with my friends, how pretty the medal will be, how proud my family will be, how I can hold my head up higher through accomplishing this.

10. Finish as strong as you can. Even if you are dead tired, just push a tiny bit more at the finish line and be filled with pride you did this hard thing and carried it through.

 

GO FOR IT!