Yesterday I ran in the Vancouver Marathon, the second stage of my goal to run 5 marathons in 5 continents.
After the race I was a little bit disappointed to say the least, I was hoping to break the 5 hour barrier, as in the previous 2 Marathons I had run 5:12 and 5:02, so was I getting closer.
Unfortunately I completed the Vancouver Marathon in 5:12, the same time as my first marathon, which wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, especially as I had trained well and had been increasing my average speed.
I felt I could have done better, although the conditions weren’t ideal, as it pretty much rained non-stop for most of the marathon, heavily at times, it was cold, windy and the course had quite few hills, unlike the previous two courses I had run which were pretty flat.
But still I was unhappy with my performance.
It wasn’t until I was talking with my sister later, who said to me, I surprised that you’re disappointed.
You have completed the second step of your big goal, you have run your third Marathon even though it was cold wet and windy in a time which is more than comparable, given the conditions.
The winner completed it in 2:21, which was 13 minutes slower than the previous marathons, and second and third finished in 2:26, which was nearly 18 minutes, slower.
So given your time was 12 minutes slower than you were aiming for is not bad at all.
Sometimes we need to see our achievements from different perspective to appreciate them, as we can be too close, with our expectations too high, or higher than is possible, in the given circumstance.
So, thats the second leg of the goal completed.
Next up Cape Town in September.
Gordon Tredgold
GET THE COMPLIMENTARY E-BOOK
