What if the race day were easy? A calmer way to approach your first marathon

Something odd happens just before the first marathon.

Training is done. Long runs are ticked off. The body is ready.
And suddenly the mind decides this is a much bigger deal than it was a week ago.

I’ve seen almost everytime, almost always with runners who have prepared well. It has happened to me as well.

The fear isn’t about fitness. It’s about the idea of 42.195 km!

That’s where a simple question helps — one I often borrow from Tim Ferriss:

What might this look like if it were easy?

Not easy as in comfortable or complacent.
But easy as in… not overcomplicated.

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Easy is boring — and that’s a good thing

If race day were easy, it would look like any other long run – nothing special:

You’d wake up like you did on any long-run Saturdays. Eat what you’ve eaten before. Wear clothes and shoes that already know you.

Just repetition.

We underestimate how calming familiarity is. The body likes it. The mind won’t fight it too.

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A panic call I remember clearly

A day before his first marathon, a trainee called me.

First marathon.
Brilliant training block.
Every run done as planned.
Target pace rehearsed.

And yet, the call had anxiety and panic.

“What if I start too fast?”
“What if I can’t hold pace after 30?”

“I have never run more than 36K in a training. What if I hit the wall?”

Nothing had changed since the week before. Except the race was now real.

I didn’t give him a pep talk. I didn’t remind him of his mileage or workouts.

I just asked him one thing: What if tomorrow were easy? What would change? After a long pause:

“Then I’d start slower.”
“I’d just stick to what we planned.”
“I’d run the current kilometer.”

That was it.

The next morning, he ran exactly like that. Calm. Controlled. Focused.
He finished his first marathon stronger than expected — comfortably ahead of the time I’d set for him.

Same legs. Same fitness. Different headspace.

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‘Easy’ runners don’t chase moments

First marathons often go wrong not because runners aren’t fit — but because they try to feel something too early.

If it were easy:

• You wouldn’t try to bank time
• You wouldn’t respond to every surge around you
• You wouldn’t panic when you feel small niggle or a little cramp or two

You’d let the marathon reveal itself. The distance has a way of sorting things out on its own.

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‘Easy’ is staying in the present kilometre

Most race-day anxiety lives in the future. 30K. The wall. Fatigue. Cramps. Blisters….

But you’re never running 42.195 km at once.
You’re only ever running the kilometer you’re in.

Drink when it’s time. Eat when planned. Adjust when needed. Solve the problems only if and when they arrive.

That’s it.

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Race day is not a test

This is the part I remind first-time marathoners all the time. 

Race day isn’t where you find out if you can run a marathon.
You already did that in training.

Race day is just where everything comes together.

If it were easy, you’d stop trying to prove anything. You’d simply execute.

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One question to carry with you

When nerves show up — and they will — come back to this:

What would this look like if it were easy?

Not dramatic. Not heroic. Just steady. Just like any other long run of your training plan.

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The marathon doesn’t need to be fought.
It needs to be respected — and then allowed to unfold.

You’ve done the hard work.

Now let the easy part happen.

You’ve got this!

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