Unmet Goal

This spring, I find myself in uncharted territory. For the first time in my running career, I didn't achieve a goal that I had set for myself. Actually, let's go back a few steps. It's not the first time I didn't meet a set goal; in my second marathon (the 2006 Vermont City Marathon), I failed to meet my goal of beating my time from my first VCM. The uncharted part is that this is the first time I CARED!

Why did I care? I don't really know, except that since that ill-fated 2006 marathon (for which the temperatures were in the 80s -- too hot to run 26.2 miles, that's for sure!), I have run personal bests in five consecutive marathons. So I guess you could say I wasn't accustomed to coming up short -- regardless of the effort I put in.

Was I surprised by the result at this spring's Vermont City? I can't say I was. I definitely didn't put in the time -- or the quality of -- training as I did for my last marathon. But I secretly hoped I wouldn't need to. This year's marathon wasn't as hot as the 2006 VCM, but it was deceptively warm. Still, I can't blame the weather when my training was so lackluster. So how do I respond?

I look no further than my spouse as a role model. Running the LaCrosse Marathon in Wisconsin, she missed the goal she set for herself by a minute. Then she was disappointed when the Mooseman Olympic-distance Triathlon (see photo) cancelled its swim portion due to weather. Alison wallowed in disappointment after both of these races for about a grand total of six minutes. After that, she was already on the lookout for other races to run -- in which she could meet her goals.

The lesson those of us goal-missers can take away? Regroup, refocus, and keep trying.

Alrighty, then. I'll look into running a fall marathon.