Lessons Learned From The Oakland Marathon

More Than A Marathon Time

When you have spent 19 years in endurance sports, there isn’t much that is going to surprise you. That doesn’t mean you don’t learn. As a matter of fact, it means you should be seeking the lessons so that you can continue to participate in these sports.

On March 22nd, I raced the Oakland Marathon. My finish time was 4h29m which is the least entertaining part of the entire race as well as the weekend. The lessons I learned along those 26.2 miles were eye opening because they weren’t anything I had considered going into the race.

The beauty of these sports are the lessons they teach us. Yes, PRs are amazing yet without the lessons you don’t earn them. Going new distances is exciting except if you don’t learn from the previous distances you covered. You get the idea so here are the lessons I learned from the Oakland Marathon weekend.

Over the course of 19 years, I have run more events than I can remember. I have finish times that I could not imagine what they are outside of my finish times at my fastest marathon (mostly because of how much pain I was in), Western States and lastly the fastest 100 miler I’ve ever run (mostly because I missed my goal by 11 minutes.)

The Finish Time Isn’t The Story

So, the lesson from the Oakland Marathon wasn’t about the finish time. It wasn’t about how to beat it but rather it was about what I took from it.

When we launched the 2026 Run Club Tour, I asked Lori what the average finish time for a 52 year old male was. She said it was between 4h15m and 4h30m. I thought to myself that 4h00m sounded like a great goal. Unfortunately, my brain doesn’t stop there and I put 3h45m as the goal.

When the race started I knew that I wasn’t going to hit 3h45m. It didn’t bother me. I wasn’t worried at all about that number. The pace was right in line with just under 4 hours. I reached mile 21 in 3h33m. Had I maintained a 10:00/mi pace then I would have finished in 4h23. Turns out that marathons are hard in those last 5 miles. That led to a finish of 4h29m.

I was so proud of myself. That finish time was not in line with my overall goal but here are those lessons I learned:

Lesson #1 – Growth Over Ego

Growth. As an athlete, I have grown. Past me would have beaten myself up over the missed goal. Currently I am proud of the effort that I put in during my training as well as the effort I put in during the race.

I could get angry over it but that isn’t going to allow me to become a better athlete. Being proud, taking stock of training and improving from there is growth.

Lesson #2 – Racing To Your Fitness

Racing To My Fitness. For the first time in a long time, I realized that I ran to my fitness. My fitness said that I could run a 4h30m marathon. I ran a 4h29m marathon. 

Understanding that I ran to the fitness I had on race day was empowering. I have too often felt like I left things on the course or that I went too hard, blew up and either didn’t hit my goal or DNF’d the event.

Knowing what I had in the tank allowed me to continue to run at the effort I had developed during training. Now, for the remainder of the Run Club Tour, I will understand what level my fitness is and what I can actually accomplish.

Lesson #3 – Rediscovering Fun On Course

I tell people to have fun while racing. Well, during the Oakland Marathon that is exactly what happened. 

I found the camera crew on course, pointed at them and smiled. There was a spectator with sliced oranges on the course so I grabbed one and saw the huge smile on her face. The hit this sign for a power up was out there so guess what…..I hit those signs.

The miles were ticking by, the smile was growing…..the marathon was getting finished with fun and love.

Lesson #4 – Fueling, Hydration, And The “Inches”

There are all sorts of posts about how if there is no pain there is no gain. Yeah, that ain’t it.

I am sore but not to the point of debilitating. There is movement happening without the grimace.

How did this happen? Well, for one, my hydration with electrolytes was on point. I finished the race without having the tin in my ear that always accompanies any run when I am dehydrated.

Fueling well means that I consumed a total of 1,030 calories that I had carried with me. Only 1 get was left in my belt. In addition to that, I actually took a gel with only 1.5 miles to go. In the past, I would have thought: not much further so no reason to eat this gel.

When the nutrition and hydration is executed then the amount of soreness gets limited. It isn’t some super secret but it is something that often gets overlooked.

If you are super sore, maybe it is the amount of calories that you took in?

Applying The Lessons Forward

As Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday: There are inches all around us. 

For me, the inches that are around me are these lessons. Taking the lessons I learned from the Oakland Marathon is step one. Applying these lessons is the next step. I will put them into place as we get back to training, next week, for the Pittsburgh Marathon.