Back It Up

Salvaging a disastrous marathon

The Race-Day Weather Fiasco

If race morning dawns too hot, cold, wet or windy to afford a realistic chance at success, it’s wise not to walk away in disgust altogether, because in order to race effectively within two weeks, you need to compensate for the tapering you’ve done. As Heffner notes, "There is an inevitable decline in the physical conditioning when tapering mileage in preparing for a race."

Therefore, you should take advantage of the race situation—even in imperfect conditions—to get in a solid, controlled training run. One benefit is that you’ll have the company of other marathoners, splits, aid stations, etc. The challenge is to be firm on your decision not to race. You can shoot for the pace of a solid training run (within 25 to 30 seconds per mile of your goal

pace), picking it up over the second half of the run as much as conditions permit. Also, unless you’re used to weekly 25-milers, scale back to about 18 to 20, which will leave you fresher in the race to follow.