Marathon Day Advice

Tomorrow is the annual running of the Boston Marathon. Already there are advisories for heat. A friend of mine is running tomorrow, and she is very nervous about the heat. She typically doesn't run well in heat, or so she has said.

Here's the thing, you have to deal with whatever the day brings. In an ideal world(or at least my ideal world), every marathon would be in 45-50 degree weather, and it would be sunny. One of the interesting things about running road races is you have to deal with the weather. It is the one thing on race day you can't control.

You can train for the distance. You can train for the speed. You can train for a climate, but you can't train for whatever may happen on race day. A heat advisory today, could turn into severe thunderstorms tomorrow. You just don't know. So you have to just accept what the day brings.

This was the big lesson I learned with the Portland Marathon last year. A 40 degree drizzly day is something you can't control. What you can control is how you respond to it. So for the Boston folks tomorrow, my advice is understand it will be hot. If you aren't prepared to run in 87 degrees, pull back and take it easy. Just focus on what your body is telling you, and don't push. Save your energy, because you will need it over a long period.

Best of luck to everyone in Boston tomorrow.

Charlie