Week 10: Reflecting & recalibrating | Feed Your Runner

Some thoughts on living with and learning from a disappointing race result. Plus this week's tasty eats, grocery lists, and discussion of fat's role during training.

Mar 07, 2025

∙ Paid

Hi friends!

How do you cope when something doesn’t turn out the way you hoped? Or when you’re supporting someone you love and they’re disappointed?

We went into the U.S. Half Marathon Champs last weekend with expectations of Clayton placing in the top three, and we left with the reality of thirteenth place.

Not what we’d hoped for.

But I’ve been impressed with Clayton and the way that he has processed it all.

I will say that we’re not devastated, just disappointed. The real focus has always been Boston, and he’s still in a good spot mentally and physically for that. This is just a reflection on the gap between expectation and reality.

Moving forward after a disappointing race.

We came home and had some frank conversations about what these coming weeks (6 more Mondays!) need to look like as we prepare for Boston.

Takeaways:

Reduce the mental load.
Prioritize sleep.
Trust the process.

We resonate with Malcolm Gladwell’s idea of tipping points, and that a lack of success doesn’t always signal that the process isn’t working. It’s a matter of holding on to hope, maintaining habits, and holding out until we reach a critical mass that tips.

But what if you’re not the one running the race?

I think that, as the support person, disappointment about a race and missed expectations is a tricky emotional place to sit in.

The feelings aren’t aimed *at* Clayton, and it’s hard to know if I’m feeling them *for* him or *about* him. Hopefully those nuances come across in writing.

As the support person, I don’t have a lot of sway on the actual outcome, but I’m all-in on the emotional investment—both because of the lifestyle and the love I have for Clayton.

So while Clayton recalibrates and recovers and recommits, I’m trying to reevaluate my expectations and emotions to make sure that there is no resentment building and that my support of him comes from a place of love and gratitude and hope. I never want to make him feel like he has to accomplish “x” in order to have my support.

Here are my key takeaways for myself: I’m going to focus on filling my own sleep needs and balancing my screen time (my go-to coping method for emotional numbness) with in-person and in-nature connection, as well as some journaling.

I hope I’m not the only one who has re-ground myself in reality and remind myself that it’s ok to feel it all. :)

And now, on to the recipes.

This is another week of good eats! I’ve had my eye on the coconut curry meatballs for a while now, and I’m excited to try them.

Thanks for being here! Take care!

Ashley

p.s. Episode 3 of Clayton’s Boston Marathon Build docuseries drops tomorrow on YouTube, so stay tuned.

Breakfast

Clayton runs twice a day, and his morning run is usually 10-12 miles. So breakfast is a big event! We aim for protein and lots of carbs, particularly carbs now that his training is intensifying. In addition to this week’s options, we’ll serve things like toast, hash browns, and granola each morning.

I’m happy to bring this one back because these German pancakes were a big hit with the girls. :)

I’ll serve this over bread toast (in addition to the hashbrowns) for extra carbs.

Lunch

Clayton usually eats big breakfasts (post morning run) and big dinners (post afternoon run), so we keep lunch time pretty simple. His typical go-to is turkey sandwiches with pretzels or chips. We’ll include a serving of tuna this week for omega-3s as well.

Snack

Clayton has had chips and salsa almost every day this week—maybe he’s craving extra salty things as his training is ramping up? So I thought it would be fun to mix it up. This mango corn salsa looks so vibrant and delicious! I’ll use frozen mango from Costco.