I signed up for the LA Marathon before my debut marathon took place last fall. By late December, it was obvious that I wasn't going to have a good time if I followed through with running the LA Marathon. The buildup was not going well: I was tired all the time during training runs. Even 20-minute jogs left me exhausted. This isn't unusual for me. The mood of Chicago winters have never suited me in the task of running long and fast, whether indoors or outdoors.
As the date of the LA Marathon drew closer, the goal time kept getting more and more relaxed. When I first signed up, running under 2:50 seemed like a solid goal. By late December, the goal slipped to sub-3. By 25 km, it was 3:10. By 32 km, it was 3:20. By 33 km, I just wanted to finish without stopping. By 39 km, it was over. I had to walk to the finish line.
To be fair, I had been doubting whether to run this marathon all the way back in December, but always in the context of running a slow time. I knew that the marathon, unlike the half marathon and shorter distances, requires the utmost preparation to perform well. I thought "If I run under 3 hours with preparation, maybe I'll run 3:20 without it". But the reality was: "If I run sub-3 with preparation, without preparation I might not even be able to finish."
I knew I would run slow, but failing at the marathon never occurred to me. From now on, spring marathons are out of the question unless they're relatively late; in April or May.