The Rebuild, Entry 06: An Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Recap and Trying Again

Welcome back to my weekly blog series, The Rebuild, Entry 06! Let's talk about this past week. Also, if you want to check out the beginning, go here: Entry 01!

In this entry, we'll look at my race this past weekend at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and how I reflect on this training block and everything else in the Training Log.

The Number

This week's number is 37, as in I was 37 minutes off my all-time personal best at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon this weekend. But like everything in life and running, one number could not possibly tell the entire story. I was also 28 minutes faster than the last marathon I ran earlier this year. I was also 8 minutes slower than my goal time of 2:59 that I put out a few weeks ago. That said, as I will go into more below, this race and training block were exactly what I needed to challenge myself and chase my goals again going forward. I had to start somewhere, and I finally left Indy with a gauge of what my current fitness looks like when I leave it all out there. Giving myself a chance to try again, to see what I am capable of, and to not be embarrassed or worried about the clock is a huge first step and will be a big part of this next chapter of my journey.

The Week

This week I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, and it was an absolutely perfect day weather-wise on just the most perfect flat course. I highly recommend this race for anyone looking for a fast course without the added pressure that comes from a major big-city race. I also had the joy of having 7 of my athletes racing Indy, so it was great to do a shakeout run together, grab food together, and celebrate our races afterwards. For me, I had a goal to run 2:59 and also a goal to put myself out there and see what I had again. I missed my 2:59 goal, but I went for it like I always do. I just didn't have enough to hold on later in the race as my time slipped a little bit. I came in just over 3:07, which is 4 minutes faster than my first marathon in 2011 when I originally started this entire running journey. Seven years after my very first marathon, I ran a 2:30, so I am excited to see what I can do with some years of consistency under me this time around.

Photo Cred Sarah Stafford

The Thread

So I headed out to Indianapolis to run my first marathon that I trained a full block for since CIM in 2019. I specifically mention that because every marathon I have run since 2019 was with a friend or an athlete, except for the Philadelphia Marathon in 2023, where I signed up 6 weeks before and put together a short training block. That said, the main reason I did Philly that way was because I didn't want to commit to a full training block in case the race didn't go well, so I signed up really close to it. So when I talk about this rebuild, a lot of it comes from this scared feeling of trying again, because what if it was terrible? I truly needed to get over that.

The hardest thing for me to explain for the last 6 or so years, after I got hurt in 2019 and the world shut down in early 2020, was why it was so hard for me to get back out there again. It seems easy: you just train for a race, gain fitness, and then you get faster. You pick a race and try your best, and yes, it was that simple for me for most of my running career. But something changed when I lost my running group, stopped getting out for runs, and became a coach. I am by nature a very empathetic person, and I got lost a lot in others and their running. I was growing my coaching business, and it felt almost better to see my athletes' success than to worry about my own. Every time I thought about my own goals, I just realized how far away from my peak fitness I had gotten, and it felt harder and harder to want to try again. I kept kicking that can down the road.

Every time I started getting a little consistency going, it would quickly fade. I kept telling myself that I ran fast before and that was good enough for me. That my time had passed and that now I was just running for fun with no goals. But I just kept saying that because I was truly scared of how slow I had gotten. I started training with my friend Jaci to help her find her fitness again, racing with her and watching her continue to get faster and faster. I even ran the Boston Marathon with one of my athletes, and my goal was to pace him through a solid race. I ended up completely falling apart at mile 17 and having to ask him to slow down the pace. I felt terrible and got humbled so hard because my training for that race was absolutely not good enough, but I thought I could just do it anyway.

It all came to a head this year at the Jersey City Marathon when my friend Jaci absolutely crushed it and I did not feel nearly as good as I wanted to feel. My arrogance about my past fast times, my belief that my genetics could carry me, and my fear of trying again and failing all caught up with me.

I finally realized that I needed to actually try again, to say the words and to put in the work. That I needed to go out there and run a time that was going to be much slower than my best and work really hard just to do that if I was ever going to get back again. I realized that for years I was too scared to fail, so by not trying I could still run decent times and act nonchalant about how I did it on little training. It is your classic case of being too cool. So I ripped the Band-Aid off this summer. I finally admitted to myself that all this time I was hiding behind being scared to fail. I put out a race for me and a goal time, and I went to work.

Post Race with my athletes!

I didn't hit my goal time, and I didn't even perfectly nail the training block, but I did nail trying again. I went out there week after week and trained like I meant it. I navigated life and training, but I made sure to prioritize my training instead of saying it didn't matter. I ran Indy chasing a goal I wasn't sure I was fit enough for, but I wanted to go after it. I ran a time 37 minutes off my all-time PR, but I walked away proud and knowing that I can continue to take big chunks off of this time. I did the thing I needed to do years ago. I finally admitted what was holding me back, and with that monkey off my back, it became easier and easier.

Today I am a 3:07 marathoner, but Chapter 3 of my story is just getting started, and I can't wait to see where I end up as the ink dries on these pages.

Next Week

So that's the story of my marathon and the battle back in my training log. This coming week I will be resting all week. I can barely shuffle around my house right now. For next week's article, I will go back in my story in the rewind to talk about how Chapter 2 of my journey began after college and how that chapter changed the trajectory of my life when we moved to Maryland. So stay tuned for all of that, and I'll see ya next week!

Also, if you're looking for a 1:1 coach, I have openings this fall, so hit me up at this link and let's see if we're a good fit.

About the author: Nick Klastava is the CEO and head coach of Running Explained. He is a USATF and RRCA certified run coach and a masters runner with a 2:30 marathon PR and a Boston Marathon finish.