Today I went home devastated. What next?

I had a similar experience in Berlin today except I shuffled the second half and finished. I zoned out and did not notice the miles tick by as I shuffled along. Somewhere in the second half I passed a 3:00 pacer that quit his pacing duties and was walking, guessing he dropped out.

Part of me wants to prep for another marathon in late November or early December like you said for vengeance; but long term for me I think it is better to devote the rest of 2021 to a 5k/10k speed block and go back to the marathon distance in the spring.

I think about how much better I will be in Spring versus my predicted fitness now and in November if I did another marathon block in succession. It depends on your goals.

Terrible races happen to every one. Just pick up your head and move on. Bekele has dropped out of many many marathons and even though he’s well passed his prime, he keeps chugging along. Just gotta do that.

I’m Kenenisa Bekele and totally sympathize.

Get back on the horse and find another race. You'll be ready to roll in 4 weeks. Don't waste the training and sulk all winter. I've been fried a few times in hot marathons like Chicago 2007 and always found a backup, ran a better time and felt good about it.

sbeefyk2 wrote:

Terrible races happen to every one. Just pick up your head and move on. Bekele has dropped out of many many marathons and even though he’s well passed his prime, he keeps chugging along. Just gotta do that.

Not sure if a sub 2:07 is "chugging along".

Live and LEARN! Failure is a great teacher. We have all had races that were complete disasters. In adverse conditions listen to your body rather than your watch. Back 1983 I ran a race that was the definition of "Time doesn't matter". 98 degrees, humid, 4-5 quarter to half mile hills. It was brutal. On a cool, flat course I would have run 5:30's. That day I ran something like 6:08's. It's one of the races I'm most proud of. Sometimes you just need to forget about time.

My advice is to forget the marathon. It's a dumb event. You train hard and basically play the lotto that everything works out that day. Then you don't get another reasonable shot for a while unless you want to destroy your body and that's only if you're left feeling mentally willing to jump right back in. Drop down to 5k-15k range. It's much better suited for humans to run this distance and just as rewarding. And more importantly if things aren't great you can more easily jump into another race a week or two later.

Thanks for the advice all.

I’m going to have a couple of days off and then get back at it. Hopefully I’ll be able snag a spot at Valencia or failing that San Sebastián. No more moping!

Every race is a learning experience. Embrace it.

noname123 wrote:

My advice is to forget the marathon. It's a dumb event. You train hard and basically play the lotto that everything works out that day. Then you don't get another reasonable shot for a while unless you want to destroy your body and that's only if you're left feeling mentally willing to jump right back in. Drop down to 5k-15k range. It's much better suited for humans to run this distance and just as rewarding. And more importantly if things aren't great you can more easily jump into another race a week or two later.

You're doing it wrong. Do it right and you won't have these problems.

StraightTalker101 wrote:

Now we’ve established I’m a complete idiot, what should I do next?

You already know the answer.

oldburgrunner wrote:

Live and LEARN!

At least we live.