Philly minus four weeks, but who's counting? (answer: me)
People have started asking me what my time goal is for this race. The answer I have been giving is "Well, I don't have a time goal." Depending on who I am talking to, that answer is received in a number of different ways.
The non-runners, at least the ones who know me and are familiar with my running habits, usually ask something like "Well, don't you usually have to have some kind of goal pace for these things?" And then I explain that yes, that's how I've run these in the past. But somewhere about a year ago, I got the idea that I wanted to try training for and running a Marathon by effort instead of time. I want to run based on how I feel and run the best race I can, and not focus so much on a specific number at the end - or the specific numbers in the middle, for that matter.
Nearly all of those non-runners go "Ok... that makes sense. Cool! Good luck!"
The runners though, their follow-on question is usually a bit more variable. It ranges from "Oh, so you're just doing it as a long run, then?" to "Uhh.. what?" Then I go through the same follow-up spiel about effort vs time. At the other end of that, a few of them take the non-runner response path above.
A surprising number however, say something like "Ah... So I guess that's easier then, if you don't have a goal." or "So you're going to take it easy?" or my favorite "Ah.. so then if you have to bail out at the end, it isn't so bad."
That's when one of the more dramatic voices in the back of my head throws his arms to the sky, drops to his knees and screams "WHY?!?!?! OH WHY??? NOBODY UNDERSTANDS MEEEEE!!!" And he breaks down into one of those hitching, full-body, slow-motion sobbing fits, tearing at his shirt and his hair (yeah.. some of the voices in the back of my head have hair long enough to "tear at", go figure).
Meanwhile, on the outside I am patiently explaining that yes, I do have a goal, no it won't be easy, and bailing out is not part of the plan. My goal is to go out and run a fantastic race. I used the word race there - I am running a race. I am not going to be racing against a clock this time. I am going to be racing against some 12,000 other people. I intend to beat as many of them to the finish line as I can (even the ones I know and love, sorry!) There will be no taking it easy.. no sandbagging. I am just going to approach the strategic portion of it from a different angle than I have in the past. I believe I can run a better Marathon this way.
By this point, my internal drama queen is curled up on the ground in the fetal position, tears and snot running freely, mumbling something about a jelly doughnut and the pentagon. But I've managed a couple tentative ok's from that other runner, perhaps a few nods. They might not completely buy it, but at least the idea is no longer dismissed.
This is not a new or novel concept. Lots of people do it. It's just new to me. It is kind of an experiment I've been running on myself since mid-spring. It seems a little foreign when there's usually weeks or months of focus on the big, hairy, acronym-worthy "Marathon Goal Pace". Instead, I have been focused on how to read my body and gauge my effort. It's different, which is interesting and exciting. It might completely backfire on me, but I won't know until I try.