Holy cow, what a race! Did you see it? If you didn't you should find a way to watch it. The consensus seems to be from all around it was the most miserable weather anyone can remember. Cold with wind and sometimes torrential rains had many people changing predictions before the race. But I don't think anyone would've predicted the outcome.
I am over the moon excited for Desiree Linden! The announcers said this is the first marathon she's won. Not the first major marathon, but first marathon. She's been racing marathons for years, coming in 2nd in Boston in 2011 by a few seconds. She obviously has the speed to win a marathon. But it seems whenever she decided to run a marathon she decided to run a major marathon, one where she'd have to really be the best of the best that day.
And the men's winner, Yuki Kawauchi, what a story. He's won a marathon or two, or twenty! He's the epitome of what a professional marathoner should NOT do. He races around 12 hard marathons a year, plus also racing half marathons, 50Ks and other ultras. He has no coach and works a full-time desk job.
What do these two have in common? They are very, very mentally tough.
There's a Runner's World article from 2015 that talks about Kawauchi's training when he was 7 years old. His mom would make him run penalty laps if he didn't set a personal best in training. Every day. If he was really slow he'd have to walk home by himself. His high school coach also had the philosophy of pushing yourself to the limits very regularly. He would often collapse in exhaustion at the end of practice. He runs marathons now in whatever weather there is. In one marathon around new years he ran and was the only person to finish it the weather was so bad. He knows how to push himself, he has pushed himself, and he finishes races, no matter the conditions.
Desiree has an incredible resume. In some ways she's always seemed like the perpetual bridesmaid. Constantly so close. Always up there, always qualifying for teams but never really considered a favorite. But she's always out there pushing and trying her best. It took a very long time in the broadcast for the announcers to even start talking about the fact that she was in the lead pack. And then when they did it was because she waited for Shalane after her potty break to help her catch up.
What does this mean? Boston this year was a race that took the eliteness out of the elite. It took out the racers who can race when conditions are perfect and stripped it down towards raw strength of will. It stripped it down to those who run with their heart. Those who don't have the ideal training, so that when the race wasn't ideal they could still run amazing.
And you know what else I learned? American women are tough!!!!! Did you see how many American women were in the top 10? Seven!!!!! That is unbelievable! Were they fast? No, but nobody was. What they were was tough. The second place woman, Sarah Sellers, when she crossed the finish line asked what place she got. The finish line officials told her second. She was like, cool, in what division? They told her overall and she was in disbelief. She ran close to her best time, stayed smart and cool and composed. What does she do in her real life? She's a nurse who works 10 hour shifts. She fits training in before and after work. She runs when she's tired and her feet hurt and she had a tough day. So when she raced and didn't feel good and it was a tough day it was just like training.
What can we learn from this? Mental toughness is important. It's not as important when things go well. When things go well it's just a day. It's when things are rough, when you're not having a good day, when the weather is awful, when you didn't get enough sleep or your eating is off, when you're having problems in your personal life and your mind just isn't in the game. That's when mental toughness comes in.
And this is where people may say, yes, they're tough, but I'm just not all that tough. That may be true, but that doesn't mean it has to stay true! We all have days where we look outside at the weather and think yuck, I don't want to go out in that. How often do you go out in it and how often do you stay in? Let me say that safety is always first! Dangerous conditions are never worth a workout. Your health and safety are never worth just one session. Living in upstate New York with ice and snow storms sometimes decisions have to be made based on safety factors, not just the yuck factor.
Think of mental toughness as a muscle that you can work. Basically it's getting yourself out of your comfort zone and making it comfortable. Getting used to changes, going with the flow, being adaptable, these are all things that can help you become more mentally tough. Many of you know my favorite book, and one I make all my athletes read is "With Winning In Mind" by Lanny Basham. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. He talks about mental toughness in his book, so I'll skip what he says and let you read it.
I will admit there are times I'm not as mentally tough as I could/should be. But in other ways I consider myself very, very mentally tough. Do I have room to improve, yep! But I also know when race conditions get tough that I am tougher. Are you mentally tough? Could you be tougher? Do you know what you could do to be tougher? If you don't know what to do to be mentally tougher then let's start a dialogue, let's see if we can help each other become as mentally tough as the American women who ran Boston!
If you didn't see my last blog post about the race I'm doing in France, please take a look! There's still time to sponsor and/or buy a shirt! I could really use your help and support.
Happy training everyone!
