In the midst for training for my marathon, with ambitious (and possibly unrealistic) time goals, I am looking ahead for formulating my official Race Plan.  As a wise man once said, running a marathon under a certain time is just a goal; what you do between the start and 26.2 miles is the Plan.

And of course, while you may hope all goes well, there’s bound to be at least one or more issues that arise during the race.  I’m talking about problems that can hurt your overall finish time or possibly even prevent you from finishing the race for which you’ve spent months training.  These are the types of issues that can derail your goals and dreams.  Fortunately, most every problem has a solution, so long as you plan ahead for all eventualities.

So, here are some of the potential obstacles, in order of what I worry about most, as well as potential solutions for the problems I’ve gleaned through research and consultation with marathon veterans:

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