Forums >General Running>How does one make arrangements with the race day fairy?
Best Present Ever
Because I find myself in the same position as before my last marathon -- I want to run a time that I can't quite actually achieve based on, you know, data. Yet I find myself in the magic thinking world of "who knows what can happen on race day?" Like maybe that damn fairy will show up and sprinkle me with magic racing dust? I'm hoping to run 3:50 in Philly, and think that I could probably actually run 3:57, which all by itself would be a good chunk off my PR and would qualify me for Boston 2011, but not 2010. I really want to qualify for 2010 because all my friends are doing it. (I not only sound like a 14 year old, by the way, I feel like one. Pouty, sulky, and angry at the wrong people because of the unfair distribution of running genes).
I am running with two friends -- one who is training her rear off with me with the same goal, but no reason to think that it might actually happen (though she has youth on her side) and one who is a 3:30 marathon who is running just to help pull me through. The latter is part of the race-day-magic theory. Maybe having a solid pacer will make a big difference?
Surely this happens sometimes -- magically, despite all evidence, the starts align and some has run far faster than they should have been able to? Should I try to get mono and stop all training for a few weeks? Any other way to work magic with only 5 weeks left?
fanreffic
Well the race calculators like Mcmillan are all overly optimistic unless you're running 70+ miles/week. So, if they don't say sub 3:50 is possible it aint happening. To prepare for your best race just make sure you're training easy enough now. That means not pushing the pace on your last 20 mile lsd's, or choosing your paces based on a goal rather than your current fitness. I don't know your race times or training mileage, but if sub 4:00 is highly probable don't risk it on a time that is much more likely to end as a death march than a BQ.
Most people I see who don't get race day magic trained too fast and pushed too hard even in the taper. Train slow, race fast.
One day at a time
Runners run
its wierd how she works.
one time i was super prepared and ready to go, but on race day i felt out of it.
another time i was out of training shape and jumped into a race and did really well.
she is a rough mistress, this fairy. i hear she respondes well to prerace coffee.
#artbydmcbride
{{Race day magic fairy dust*~*~> mamaofthree <~*~*Race day magic fairy dust}}
Theresa, I read your post about your friend. She's awesome (and was discussed by me and my friends during a long run). Sadly, I know my pace, and 3:30 would require something more than a race day fairy visit! I do drink a lot of coffee prerace, though, so if she likes that, she's welcome to have it. Ilene, I appreciate the extra fairy dust. And Mike, I was like, you know, JOKING about the mono.
So, different question. I've been planning on going to Philly. There is suddenly a local marathon available, two weeks later. It's been certified, is flattish, will be very small (capped at 100), and will be 4 loops of the same bit of road, plus a few more miles to make up the distance. I was going to Philly with my family, staying with friends, etc. I'm clear though that I won't be able to run well under those conditions.
So, should I scrap Philly (which means losing that registration money, but saving all the other associated travel money) and run the local race, or go to Philly without my family? The biggest downside to scrapping Philly is that a friend of mine thought I'd be running it. We didn't sign up together, but happened to figure out we'd both be running and shooting for the same time, so have been training together. What would Phidippides do?
What would Phidippides do?
Die.
DWARP Marathon Madness Mob
Nah -- quit obsessing and just run Philly. Have a good time.
I've spent my last 4 marathons crashing and burning in the last 5 - 8 miles of marathons, always knowing a sub-4 marathon is just out of my reach, yet kinda hoping and trying anyhow. The Race-Day Fairy never visited... feh!
About the 44-y-o mother of 4 who pulls off a 3:30 in her first marathon; omigosh, don't tell me who she is or I just might send her hate mail. (kidding) (yet still envious)
Anyhow, it's the journey that has enriched my life, blah blah blah but true. And I'm going to change my approach and start making offerings to the Race Day Magic Fairy.
Econo, your post made me smile. We're in about the same place. I mean, I'm really happy for the the mom of four wtih the 3:30 time, really. Except for my inner 14 year old who wants to whine "It's not fair!"
What do you think appropriate offerings to the damn RDF are? coffee? gu packets? Nuun tablets? Beer? There's always the run more, run harder, lose even more weight, there's-always-next-time route to running faster, but I'm thinking some kind of divine intervention is needed at this point.
MTA: Not that anyone is following my decision making process with bated breath, but I spoke to my friend this morning, and she begged me not to leave her alone in Philly. So I will go up sans family and run my race. Or, despite mike's reasonable concerns, run my faster friend's pace, since running my own race will likely get me there too slowly. And in that case, I may in fact do what Phidippides did and just die at the end.
the race day fairy is welcome to some of my coffee if she'll bring me under 20 for my 5k....
almost 2 min of my pb.....
Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022
Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)
Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022
A Saucy Wench
Well the race calculators like Mcmillan are all overly optimistic unless you're running 70+ miles/week.
Dead on for me at about 40 mpw. If I can ever get to 70 and stay healthy I wonder what this means.
You might surprise yourself, you never know. I think I have said it before, it depends on the goal, if you really really want it, then risk the crash and burn and go for it. I'd love to see you in Boston next year.
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
Dead on for me at about 40 mpw. If I can ever get to 70 and stay healthy I wonder what this means. You might surprise yourself, you never know. I think I have said it before, it depends on the goal, if you really really want it, then risk the crash and burn and go for it. I'd love to see you in Boston next year.
I've found them pretty accurate for me as well. You're my heroine -- you ran Portland last year in the time I'd love to have and I think sometimes when I'm training "Anne did it ..." I'm willing to risk the crash and burn, actually, since I don't have much to lose.
not bad for mile 25
Speaking as someone new to running...I ran a 15K two days ago. Ran like hell, completely forgot about pacing, and it wasn't a lot of fun. Made decent time, but I was struggling, and am pretty sore yesterday and today. Tonight I wasn't sure I was ready to run again, but I talked myself into running four miles just to stay loose. It was heavenly. A beautiful autumn evening, and I felt like I could run indefinitely. Makes me wonder about my reasons for running. I've run all my other races hardly thinking about the clock at all, and enjoyed them a lot more. I think that my time in long races probably won't suffer from running with that attitude. Maybe I'll make a BQ, maybe not. Don't even know if I'll run a marathon. Am I totally lacking competitive spirit, or is the RDF blessing me for leaving the clock behind?
Any other way to work magic with only 5 weeks left?
What worked for me:
Just decide to run only for the pure enjoyment of it, nice and easy, no schedules etc or anything like that for the last 5 - 6 weeks. Take the race very casually - no expectations other than having fun. Register for 2 marathons that weekend, and don't decide which one to run until the last minute. Oversleep the night before the race, wake up, throw on your running gear, drive madly to the race location, park 1 - 1.5 miles from the start, run to the start to get there on time, and make it there just 45 seconds before the gun.
.
Then when you discover at about 2 - 3 miles that you're feeling great and are shocked to find you're running at your 15K PR pace and you need to slow down - that's when you know the stars have lined up for you.
Happened to me just once. Ran a lifetime goal PR and was so pumped that on 3 hours sleep I drove 180 miles the next morning and ran the other marathon.
So - just run for pure enjoyment, easy, no stress, stay healthy, relax, don't worry about race time or pace.