One Secret to Getting It Done

Since I’ve finished Javelina 100 13 times before, most people assume I know what to expect, my race goes flawlessly…

And that’s why I finish.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t work that way. 

This year’s Javelina 100 is a perfect example. I planned things out. My goal. How I was going to get it done. What to wear, carry and put in drop bags. The usual stuff.

The plan started going awry early in the week when I noticed I’d forgotten my running sunglasses - no small thing in the desert.

The day before the race, I forgot to pack the coffee I was relying on in case of sleepiness, in my drop bags.

Race morning, I couldn’t find my SPF lip balm I’d used all week. Also, I’d forgotten my sun hat. Simple stuff, but…desert.

I got to the race in plenty of time, parked and sat in the car for a few minutes, eyes closed. 

When I signed up, I had no idea I’d spend the week prior dealing with a family crisis. My emotional/mental battery was low and there wasn’t time to charge it.

This definitely wasn’t how I expected to go into the race.

The race started and I spent part of loop 1 of 5 talking with two friends I rarely get to see. So far, so good.

Loop 2 is the hot loop in the middle of the day. Not halfway into it, I caught a toe on a rock and went down with both feet and a leg in cactus.

I pulled out the spines I could see, Medical at the next aid station pulled out what they could see, but the rest of the race, spines randomly worked through my gaiters, shoes and socks to surprise me. 

After avoiding cacti for 13 years, this definitely wasn’t the plan.

Distracted, I let myself get borderline dehydrated and low energy from forgetting to eat. I spent Lap 3 getting passed, hopefully by 100kers.

Lap 4 slammed me. The moment the sun set around 6pm, I started yawning and spent the rest of the 20-mile loop struggling with sleepwalking. I’ve never had it that bad and definitely didn’t see it coming.

By Lap 5, things hurt more than I remembered they would, but it was still time to wrap this race up.

Things clearly didn’t go the strong, flawless way someone might expect. 

But I finished…faster than expected.

The secret? 

It’s all where you place your expectations.

You have two options.

Option 1 - Expect the plan to do it.

Here, you unintentionally place your expectations on whether the race goes the way you want it to.  

Say you’re facing a big race. You know there are all sorts of things, like hydration and pace, you should prepare and plan for. Smart runners do.

So you plan.

All’s well until you get attached to the plan and start believing that to have a good race, you need things to turn out the way you expect.

So you worry and watch for things to go wrong.

It’s like you have a balance sheet in your head, with “right” on one side and “wrong” on the other, and the side you’re paying attention to is the side of wrong.

Enough evidence in the wrong column - dehydration, cactus love, sleepwalking - means “it’s not your day” and you should drop.

Option 2 - Expect YOU to do it. 

Here, you plan the best you can but expect no matter what happens, you’re going to run those miles.

Tired, dirty, sleepy, slower than planned, cactus spine covered…the miles have to get done. 

Are you going to do them, or not?

At Javelina, I wore the street sunglasses I brought, put my coffee in the drop bag on race morning, used the lip balm I had on hand, lived without the hat, ran on the energy left from the week, put up with the remaining cactus spines, staggered my best through the night, and hammered out the last loop.

The plan didn’t get that race done - it was in the doing.

I expected I could…and would…put in all 100 miles, no matter how the race went.

I showed up as I always do - to get it done.

You can expect the same.

That’s how I got to 14 Javelina 100 finishes.

It works.

If you’re nervous about getting your race done - I can help.

Email me to schedule a free consult call with me to define your plan. 

You can learn to master the nerves for good.