My humbling first marathon experience
I ran my first marathon two days ago, after training for about 4–5 months. I’ve always been training something, but in recent years I haven’t really been running at all, just doing other forms of high‑intensity exercise. At first I didn’t think about any time goals, but when the long runs started to feel relatively easy and even a 30 km run went surprisingly smoothly in 2:50 (avg heart rate only 139 bpm?!), I got into my head that finishing in 4 hours is possible for me.
Well, marathon week arrived and that’s when the panic started. I only began increasing my carbs during marathon week and my stomach was absolutely not used to that. I felt horribly bloated and nauseous from all the honey and porridge I was eating haha. Luckily I managed to get the stomach issues under control, and on marathon morning my stomach was in perfect condition.
A couple of days before the marathon, I visited a friend in another city, and I didn’t realize the day would involve a lot of walking up stairs and going to the sauna. The next day, one day before the marathon, my calves were on fire from all the stair climbing. I also panicked about the sauna the night before, wondering if it had made all the fluids I’d drank evaporate.
On marathon morning I felt good overall despite the discomfort in my calves, and in the end I didn’t feel them at all while running. I tried to start at a pace of 5:50–5:55/km, but the first 5 km were difficult because of the crowds and bottlenecks. My pace fluctuated a lot, and I also ran way too fast at times, sometimes even 5:20/km. I had blisters on my toes that had only just healed a few weeks earlier, and I put blister plasters on them before the marathon. At 17 km I felt one of the blisters burst. The pain was horrible! But I kept running. At 18 km I saw my partner, and on a sudden impulse I decided to jump into the air because I got so excited :'D Immediately afterward I realized the jump had taken a lot of energy, and for a moment the running felt really heavy. I managed to get back into rhythm, but at some point another blister burst. Again, a very sharp pain, now in both feet.
Already at 24 km I realized the run felt much heavier than my 30 km training run. Finally, at 28 km I completely hit the wall. I started feeling nauseous and dizzy, so I had to stop and walk. I had never felt nauseous during running or stopped to walk, so I felt confused and like I had failed. At that point the thought crossed my mind: what if I just quit the race. But I kept going, alternating between walking and running. At some point, maybe a bit after 30 km, a third blister burst, and that’s when I noticed that one of my shoes was bloody from the burst blisters. My toes hurt so damn much!! Somehow I made it to the finish in 4:12.
I honestly think that all the shitty and painful things I’ve experienced over the past year helped me keep going. During the last 10 km I thought about the physical pain I have experienced over the year. My comforting motto for this year has been “pain is just another feeling,” and I said that to myself during the run. It was a funny coincidence that shortly after that thought, there was a sign along the route that said “pain is just a feeling.” I didn’t have any energy left but that gave me something extra
After the marathon I thought, of course, that I would never run a marathon again. But the following morning I decided to sign up for my next marathon in 4 months :D The human mind is strange. I have to say though that this was a very welcome blow to my ego because I’ve always been a bit too perfectionistic and goal‑oriented. I also learned that walking during a marathon does not mean failure! But anyhow I’m still confused what made me lose all the energy so early. Maybe the fluctuation of the pace was the main reason.
So for my next marathon, I’m thinking of trying an even pace the whole way and sticking behind the 4 hour pacer. Any tips for training to hold a steady 5:40/km pace?