Coach Joe English
Last weekend at the Boston Marathon, I had a miserable race. I had stomach problems and things just kept getting worse. I felt like I was in great shape and I should have run a great time, but I came in about 45 minutes slower than I planned because of all the stops. There is a race next weekend in my hometown. Do you think I should go for it and try again?
My answer, in a word, was “no”. I wrote back to this reader, telling them that they will undoubtedly not be happy with their follow-up performance. The impact of the marathon on them, especially being full of problems, will take some time for recovery and two weeks just isn’t enough. I pointed out that the pre-race anxiety ahead of Boston, the travel, the early morning, the long day, the let-down — all of which come on top of a marathon that took longer than it should have — will have placed a heavy load on them that they need to take some time from which to recover.
I wanted to share with you today some personal stories about how I’ve dealt with this situation in my own racing career and why I was so quick to dismiss this one, as well as some guidance for picking a next race.
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