Hi, this is Debbie Boyles, coach at Mojo for Running with episode number 133, from Brutal to Boston,

a lesson in perspective and preparation.

Thank you. Welcome to the Mojo for Running podcast.

I'm the coach, Debbie Boyles, and this is the podcast for middle of the packers,

regular people not afraid to work up a sweat who embrace the outdoors and that wonderful feeling

of endorphins surging through their veins. My goal is to provide the information you need to

achieve your goals. Today I want to give you a little insight into a terrible run I had last

summer when I prepared for my August marathon and its impact on my

marathon a few weeks later. It's a lesson, not about the dreadful run per se, but a much more

important lesson, a story that will help when you have a bad run. My situation wasn't at all like the one

I mentioned in the last podcast because, well, it was a very

long run, but the problem still had nothing to do with nutrition. Anyway, I hope it'll be

instructive. As with every mistake I make and have made over the years, I hope it'll be a mistake

you don't have to make because I did and told you about it.

But more valuable is the lesson I took away about its impact. It's not about why runners sometimes

have bad runs, but rather how to put them into perspective and their impact. I guarantee it

to leave you feeling uplifted and encouraged, at least I sure hope so.

This story starts with a critical commitment, followed by serious preparation, and it ends with success.

But near the end of the preparation period, I had the worst run of my life, or at least the

worst one that I can recall. After 42 years of running, I've probably

forgot most of the bad ones. I'd like to say that I don't make mistakes, that I've been running

long enough and that I'm wise enough to know everything I should and shouldn't do, and I'd like to

...