Never Trust The Marathon
The marathon, contrary to popular opinion, is a sneaky adversary which should never be fully trusted. So often it lulls runners into thinking they have the distance licked, only to then unexpectedly upend them. Without warning. It’s a hard thing to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced the humiliation of going from running with confidence and fluidity to the swift decent into physiological meltdown. Without warning. It wouldn’t seem half as bad if there was an orderly deterioration process whereby adjustments could be made to maneuver around impending disaster, or at least offer some chance to recover dignity before self implosion. Without warning.
The marathon loves people who like to take risk or who neglect to plan ahead. Conversely the marathon hates those who are overly calculated and precise with their effort and race execution, runners like that are just no fun to play with. The first part of the marathon game is called ‘getting going’, this involves runners wasting an exorbitant amount of precious energy because they are trying to forget what lies ahead. 20 miles up the road. This self denial typically prevents drinking and taking on board fuel in the early stages of the race so that it could be banked for when needed most. 20 miles up the road. The runners brain justifies this behavior because they are feeling ‘alright at the moment’. There’s nothing the marathon loves more than seeing a runner begin the race eagerly and neglecting to invest in their future survival. 20 miles up the road.
There’s no denying that the flow of the herd dictates to some extent how some runners make decisions during a marathon, both from internal (racing herd) and external (spectator herd) influences. Stick to your plan. Successfully out playing the marathon requires the commitment to process, that is having a plan and then being faithful to the plan despite whatever distractions wander across your path. Over-ambition has been the ruin of many well prepared marathon runners who often get carried away in the initial herd opening rush and thereby dooming themselves before even reaching halfway. Stick to your plan. Alternatively the external herd’s maniacal encouragement can place a spell on the marathon runner by ‘forcing’ them to break faith with their strategy and recklessly burn their bridge with planned logic. Stick to your plan
The cruelest trick the marathon likes to play on runners is letting them believe they ‘feel good’, especially in the middle part of the race. Once past the half-way point the marathon plants the idea into the heads of many runners that they are ‘almost there’ and they can start thinking about finishing. Never trust the marathon. Between miles 18–24 is where the marathon really enjoys itself, this is what it lives for. The dual combination of physical breakdown and reduced mental function make runners easy prey to the marathon which greedily consumes those runners who didn’t believe other versions of this story. Never trust the marathon. It is here where those who have diligently stayed true to their meticulous race plan experience the epic carnage all around them as the marathon’s invisible lasso bring down the reckless and over-confident. Shocking though this must be to witness there is some satisfaction in knowing that all the marathon’s temptations were resisted and that they ‘beat’ the distance. Thinking this way though is foolish, as this delusional sense of victory is the marathon’s final carefully laid trap- it wants you to believe you bested it, as this is the way it encourages you towards the path of your future recklessness. Never trust the marathon.
