22. What It Means to Give Your All in a Race
Every runner knows that moment after crossing the finish line. You replay the race in your head - every mile, every decision, every time you thought you had more to give. No matter how it went, there’s always that quiet question: did I really give it my all?
The problem is that most of us don’t actually know what “giving it our all” looks like. We think we’ll recognize it when we see it in others, but when it comes to our own performance, we’re left guessing. That uncertainty can leave even a strong race feeling unfinished.
In this episode, I’m exploring what it really means to give your all in a race. We’ll look beyond finish times and placements, focusing on the inner measures that tell you whether you’ve truly raced to your potential. Once you understand how to define your all for yourself, you can stop second-guessing every mile and start building the confidence that comes from knowing you’ve given your best.
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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why the idea of “giving it your all” can keep runners second-guessing.
Why you need both inner and outer measures of effort.
Practical ways to define what giving your all looks like for you.
Why thinking of effort as a scale, not a yes/no, helps you improve faster.
How understanding your own standards can guide what to focus on next.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
When I ask runners about their goal in a race, I first get the usual answers. A target time, a certain place, or simply to finish. But after a moment of thought, one universal answer always follows. In this episode, I'll share what that universal goal is and how to know if you've achieved it.
Welcome to Unstoppable Ultra Runner, the podcast for ultra runners who refuse to let anything hold them back. I’m your host, Susan Donnelly, veteran of over 150 100-mile races, and a coach who helps runners like you break through mental roadblocks, push past doubt, and run with confidence. Let’s go.
Hi and welcome to episode 22. Today I'm talking about the one goal all of us share and why the way you think about it might be holding you back. What's that universal goal? It's this. We all want to know that we've given the race our all.
Sounds fantastic, right? And it is. But there's one catch with this one that trips us up. How do you know you've given it your all? I mean, how do you actually know? As much as we all want to give it our all, we don't actually know what that looks like. We think we know from watching others, like we know it when we'll see it, but when it comes to ourselves, we get stuck. You intuitively know it means giving your full effort, but how much really is your all?
When I ask, runners typically say, "Giving the race the full effort I'm capable of." I don't know. Again, how do you know if you've done that? As a client and I were discussing, does this mean you literally die when you cross the finish line? I mean, that would theoretically be your all, but that's definitely not what we're seeking here.
So, that still leaves the question, what is it? Is it running a perfect race, setting a PR, winning a race, conquering a new distance, not being able to take a single step after you finish, having trouble walking the next day, throwing up during a race, DNFing because of a medical condition that lands you in a hospital?
I mean, we tell ourselves, finish or not, I'll be happy with the race if I know I've given it my all. And again, that sounds great. But since we don't know what that actually looks like, we can't ever say we've given it our all.
And that leaves us vaguely dissatisfied, even after a strong race. So we never feel like we've truly given it our all. Instead, we end up second-guessing ourselves and our performance. We look back at all the things we could have done better. All those sections and aid stations where we could have made better time. How we could have run faster in the night when it was cooler, you know, that section where we slowed down and walked too much, could have done that faster. Or how we could have trained better.
And we end up always feeling like giving it our all is just out of reach. In our minds, we never actually do it, so we stay perpetually a little dissatisfied. What you need to do instead is just answer the question for yourself. How are you going to know that you've given it your all? What does giving it your all actually look like for you? And you need to answer it for yourself. Not based on what anyone else thinks, but what you think.
Here's how I coach this. First, don't approach it as a simple yes or no thing. It's not like you either gave it your all or you didn't. A better approach is to ask how close did you get in giving it your all. This helps you learn from race to race and improve faster.
Next, decide how you're going to measure giving it your all. One effective way is to consider inner measures versus outer measures.
For example, outer measures are usually outcomes, things like finishing a race or your finish time or your place. But these aren't always within your control. So, they really can't show if you're actually giving it your all. For instance, you can absolutely give your all in a race that you don't finish.
Here's an example. I DNF'd Zumbro 100 several years ago. Now, Zumbro is a 17-mile loop course, and that day, the race started overcast and then turned to rain, and then conditions deteriorated significantly into a blizzard with every lap getting worse.
I live in the south and have almost zero experience with blizzards. So, I was very focused on decisions and what I was doing. I was actually giving it my all to finish those 100 miles on what had become a very physically challenging course, deepening snow and blowing winds.
But I didn't get to complete that final 17-mile lap because the race director stopped the event for safety. So, I don't have the outer measure of a finish time to prove that I've given it my all or a place or anything like that, even though I definitely gave that race my all.
So that's outer measures. Inner measures, however, are completely within our control. I'm proud of the way I ran that race, even though I didn't finish. The forecast was very last minute, but I prepared for what I thought the conditions would be and stayed safe. I made smart decisions about gear, which matters tremendously in those conditions, and I balanced pace with endurance and safety.
Even as the snow got ridiculous, I distinctly remember standing at the start/finish and wrapping my mind around heading out for that final 17-mile lap and bracing myself to go. Because that's what I was going to do. I wasn't quitting. It's just a matter of how unpleasant it might be and to make sure that I had what I needed before heading out. There was zero doubt in my mind. I would have finished if I could have.
Notice that there are two inner categories that I used in that race to measure whether I'd given it my all. The first one is mindset, the attitude I brought to it. I didn't let the weather intimidate me. I pushed my effort and didn't slow down or take it easy. I wanted that last loop. Blizzard or no blizzard. I passed up the easy, obvious excuse of extreme weather to drop out because I was determined to keep going and finish it if the race director had let me.
The second inner category is satisfaction. How I feel about the race. First of all, let's just take satisfaction. I am deeply satisfied with that race. It's a genuinely good memory for me. Even though I didn't finish the race. Pride. I'm profoundly proud of the smart way I ran it in conditions I'm completely unfamiliar with. And trust. I confirmed in that scenario, once again, that I can trust myself to keep going when it would be easy to quit.
So, when I look at those two things, mindset, the attitude I brought to it, and satisfaction, how I feel about the race afterwards, I know for certain that's one race where I gave it my all.
So, define it for yourself. How will you know when you've given the race your all? Once you answer this question, there's no more second-guessing yourself or your performance. No more feeling that vague dissatisfaction even after a good race, and you have a clear target to aim for.
When you define what giving it your all looks like, you can definitively answer that question. Did I do it? And stop doubting yourself. And if you don't give it your all in a particular race, you can identify exactly what you want to change to get there next time because you know what it looks like. That's how you actually get there because now you know what there is.
All right, you all. That's this week's episode, and if you know someone who could use it, share this with them. It might be exactly what they need to hear. See you all next week. Bye.
Thanks for listening to Unstoppable Ultra Runner. If you want more ultra talk, mindset tools, and strategies for running with confidence, visit www.susanidonnelly.com. This podcast receives production support from the team at Digital Freedom Productions. That’s it for today’s episode. See you next week.
Welcome to Unstoppable Ultra Runner, the podcast for ultra runners who refuse to let anything hold them back. I’m your host, Susan Donnelly, veteran of over 150 100-mile races, and a coach who helps runners like you break through mental roadblocks, push past doubt, and run with confidence. Let’s go.
Hi and welcome to episode 22. Today I'm talking about the one goal all of us share and why the way you think about it might be holding you back. What's that universal goal? It's this. We all want to know that we've given the race our all.
Sounds fantastic, right? And it is. But there's one catch with this one that trips us up. How do you know you've given it your all? I mean, how do you actually know? As much as we all want to give it our all, we don't actually know what that looks like. We think we know from watching others, like we know it when we'll see it, but when it comes to ourselves, we get stuck. You intuitively know it means giving your full effort, but how much really is your all?
When I ask, runners typically say, "Giving the race the full effort I'm capable of." I don't know. Again, how do you know if you've done that? As a client and I were discussing, does this mean you literally die when you cross the finish line? I mean, that would theoretically be your all, but that's definitely not what we're seeking here.
So, that still leaves the question, what is it? Is it running a perfect race, setting a PR, winning a race, conquering a new distance, not being able to take a single step after you finish, having trouble walking the next day, throwing up during a race, DNFing because of a medical condition that lands you in a hospital?
I mean, we tell ourselves, finish or not, I'll be happy with the race if I know I've given it my all. And again, that sounds great. But since we don't know what that actually looks like, we can't ever say we've given it our all.
And that leaves us vaguely dissatisfied, even after a strong race. So we never feel like we've truly given it our all. Instead, we end up second-guessing ourselves and our performance. We look back at all the things we could have done better. All those sections and aid stations where we could have made better time. How we could have run faster in the night when it was cooler, you know, that section where we slowed down and walked too much, could have done that faster. Or how we could have trained better.
And we end up always feeling like giving it our all is just out of reach. In our minds, we never actually do it, so we stay perpetually a little dissatisfied. What you need to do instead is just answer the question for yourself. How are you going to know that you've given it your all? What does giving it your all actually look like for you? And you need to answer it for yourself. Not based on what anyone else thinks, but what you think.
Here's how I coach this. First, don't approach it as a simple yes or no thing. It's not like you either gave it your all or you didn't. A better approach is to ask how close did you get in giving it your all. This helps you learn from race to race and improve faster.
Next, decide how you're going to measure giving it your all. One effective way is to consider inner measures versus outer measures.
For example, outer measures are usually outcomes, things like finishing a race or your finish time or your place. But these aren't always within your control. So, they really can't show if you're actually giving it your all. For instance, you can absolutely give your all in a race that you don't finish.
Here's an example. I DNF'd Zumbro 100 several years ago. Now, Zumbro is a 17-mile loop course, and that day, the race started overcast and then turned to rain, and then conditions deteriorated significantly into a blizzard with every lap getting worse.
I live in the south and have almost zero experience with blizzards. So, I was very focused on decisions and what I was doing. I was actually giving it my all to finish those 100 miles on what had become a very physically challenging course, deepening snow and blowing winds.
But I didn't get to complete that final 17-mile lap because the race director stopped the event for safety. So, I don't have the outer measure of a finish time to prove that I've given it my all or a place or anything like that, even though I definitely gave that race my all.
So that's outer measures. Inner measures, however, are completely within our control. I'm proud of the way I ran that race, even though I didn't finish. The forecast was very last minute, but I prepared for what I thought the conditions would be and stayed safe. I made smart decisions about gear, which matters tremendously in those conditions, and I balanced pace with endurance and safety.
Even as the snow got ridiculous, I distinctly remember standing at the start/finish and wrapping my mind around heading out for that final 17-mile lap and bracing myself to go. Because that's what I was going to do. I wasn't quitting. It's just a matter of how unpleasant it might be and to make sure that I had what I needed before heading out. There was zero doubt in my mind. I would have finished if I could have.
Notice that there are two inner categories that I used in that race to measure whether I'd given it my all. The first one is mindset, the attitude I brought to it. I didn't let the weather intimidate me. I pushed my effort and didn't slow down or take it easy. I wanted that last loop. Blizzard or no blizzard. I passed up the easy, obvious excuse of extreme weather to drop out because I was determined to keep going and finish it if the race director had let me.
The second inner category is satisfaction. How I feel about the race. First of all, let's just take satisfaction. I am deeply satisfied with that race. It's a genuinely good memory for me. Even though I didn't finish the race. Pride. I'm profoundly proud of the smart way I ran it in conditions I'm completely unfamiliar with. And trust. I confirmed in that scenario, once again, that I can trust myself to keep going when it would be easy to quit.
So, when I look at those two things, mindset, the attitude I brought to it, and satisfaction, how I feel about the race afterwards, I know for certain that's one race where I gave it my all.
So, define it for yourself. How will you know when you've given the race your all? Once you answer this question, there's no more second-guessing yourself or your performance. No more feeling that vague dissatisfaction even after a good race, and you have a clear target to aim for.
When you define what giving it your all looks like, you can definitively answer that question. Did I do it? And stop doubting yourself. And if you don't give it your all in a particular race, you can identify exactly what you want to change to get there next time because you know what it looks like. That's how you actually get there because now you know what there is.
All right, you all. That's this week's episode, and if you know someone who could use it, share this with them. It might be exactly what they need to hear. See you all next week. Bye.
Thanks for listening to Unstoppable Ultra Runner. If you want more ultra talk, mindset tools, and strategies for running with confidence, visit www.susanidonnelly.com. This podcast receives production support from the team at Digital Freedom Productions. That’s it for today’s episode. See you next week.
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