Going All In on Race Day

               The Philadelphia Marathon is tomorrow.  This was the first marathon I did way back in 2005.  I didn’t really know much about running a marathon then.  I just knew that I wanted to experience the feeling of crossing the marathon finish line.  You really learn a lot about yourself during the months of training leading up to the event, and even more while you’re on the course.  I learned that I could run further then I originally thought possible and that my body could sustain a load of pain. 

I couldn't find a picture of me in the 2005 Philly Marathon, but here is a picture of me sprinting to the finish line of the Wine Glass Marathon. I had finally qualified for the Boston Marathon.

                   The morning of my first Philadelphia Marathon (I’ve run it twice), I over slept which is rare, as most of you know race day brings on a lot of anxiety, which usually prevents things like sleeping in.  I remember my best friend banging on my apartment door yelling.  I woke startled!  I couldn’t believe I had overslept!  I quickly jumped out of bed, let Mort into the apartment, and apologized.  He just said don’t worry about, just get dressed and get your stuff.  During the process of getting myself together I ended up putting the wrong hair gel into my hair.  During my frantic rush to get ready, I grabbed a blue hair coloring gel that I had used prior for Halloween and had planned on using on Thanksgiving for our traditional Turkey Bowl.  Aside from my hair having a hint of blue, the rest of the morning went smoothly. 

                I will say I foolishly thought that I could qualify for the Boston Marathon on my first attempt.  That didn’t happen.  I didn’t even come close!  I came through mile 20 cursing at Glenn Cohen (who was working the water stop).  Glenn was being supportive and offering me words of encouragement, but I was hating the world at mile 20, and I shared those feelings with Glenn with some unflattering words.  This was all erased as I approached the finish line at mile 26.  The next point 2 miles were the most amazing length of distance I have ever run.  To this day I have not been able to match the feeling that I felt as I crossed the finish line of my first marathon. 

                  Tomorrow regardless if you are running in the half or the full you will experience some obstacles.  You need to rely on your training.  If you trained properly, these obstacles will be overcome with ease.  If you didn’t, the obstacles will be tougher to overcome, but you have to push through these obstacles to reach your goal.  I like to compare training to poker chips and race day as the “all in moment” of the game.  The more you’ve trained the more chips you have to push forward.  If you happen to be short stacked it doesn’t mean you can’t go all in, everyone can go all in.  What matters is how good your cards are.  When the race gets difficult tomorrow you can fold or you can go all in.

Good Luck Everyone!

 Till we run into each other again…

CT