Redefining Success on tough days.

Sometimes, okay, more than sometimes, races just don’t go as planned. And it’s so easy to sink into that disappointment and let it take over. You feel embarrassed, frustrated, even a little ashamed. You start questioning your training, your fitness, your worth as an athlete. I’ve been there many times, and I know so many of you have too.

That’s why it’s important to go into every race with perspective. One thing that’s really helped me is having A, B, C, and F goals.

A Goal: Your reach goal. If everything goes perfectly, this is your dream outcome.

B Goal: A realistic, strong performance you’d still be proud of.

C Goal: A solid, achievable result, even if the day isn’t ideal.

F Goal: “F” for finish, because sometimes crossing the line is the biggest win of all.

I’d heard of this goal-setting method before, but honestly, I hadn’t really used it until my most recent race, the Chicago Marathon.

As many of you know, Chicago did not go as expected for me. I went into it feeling optimistic, excited, and genuinely confident. My gut told me things were lining up for a great day. I had been training consistently, felt strong, and believed I was ready to execute. But from the early miles, something just felt off. Physically, I didn’t feel like myself.

Still, I tried to stay calm and ride the waves. Sometimes in the marathon, a few bad miles can turn into good ones, and I wanted to believe that would happen. But by mile 12, things started to unravel. My body felt heavy and unresponsive. I was lightheaded, dizzy, almost overheated. I told myself to stay patient, to back off a bit and see if I could rebound.

By mile 15, I knew something wasn’t right. I stopped briefly to get water and catch my breath. I just needed a second to regroup. But that moment quickly spiraled into chaos. Before I knew it, I was in the medical tent. It wasn’t part of the plan. None of it was.

You can hear the full story on Lindsey Hein’s podcast, but in short, that stretch between mile 15 and the finish was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had in a race. Nothing went how I imagined it would. But through all of it, one thing stayed in my head. I was going to finish. That was my F goal, and I went into the race knowing that no matter what happened, I would cross that line. Because sometimes finishing, especially on a really hard day, means more than any time ever could.

Was I sad? Embarrassed? Ashamed? Confused? Absolutely. All of it. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But looking back now, I can see that most of those feelings came from ego, that part of me that wanted the performance to reflect my fitness and all the work I’d done. The truth is, that race wasn’t representative of my fitness, or my ability, or who I am as a runner. But it was representative of the person I’m trying to become.

I want to be someone who finishes hard things, even when they don’t go perfectly. Someone who keeps showing up, even when the outcome doesn’t match the effort. That hasn’t always come naturally for me, but it’s something I’ve been working on, in running and in life.

If you’ve ever had a race that didn’t go your way, I hope you know that you’re not alone. We all have days that don’t match our expectations. But those days don’t define us. They refine us. They shape our patience, our resilience, our ability to adapt.

When you don’t win, or PR, or hit your goal, you learn. And honestly, learning is what keeps you improving. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have come from my lowest points. I’ve always grown more from the races that broke my heart than from the ones that went smoothly.

Success isn’t linear, and it rarely happens how we expect it to. But if you keep trusting the process, believing in yourself, and focusing on the pieces you can control, the results will come. And when they do, they’ll mean even more because of the lows that came before them.

Remember, you are not your times, your places, or your performances. You’re the person who keeps showing up, who chooses to keep trying when it would be easier to quit.

The highs will come again. And when they do, they’ll feel that much sweeter because you earned them the hard way.

Stick with it.