If you told me two months ago that I’d run twelve miles in two hours, I wouldn’t have believed you. Nor would anybody who knew me. But that’s exactly what I did this week.
I’ve gone from never running more than ten minutes at a wheeze-filled pace to smashing a decent time for what’s almost a half marathon.
I’ve been limping for days.
My legs ache. Bones on fire. Tendons feeling close to snapping. Arches in my feet in agony.
I’ve done leg workouts from hell before (John Doe’s Let The Blood Spill workout has you squatting for hundreds of reps), but I’ve never felt DOMS like this. This is the DOMS of myth and legend.
I’m sore. As hell. But proud. And those who doubted me two months ago were forced to concede – I have a shot at doing this.
It was half way through that twelve-miler that two thoughts hit me with full force:
- I CAN do this.
- WHY am I doing this?
It was painful. But I ran through the pain. And I managed to run without stopping for an entire five miles – a personal record.
That taught me an important lesson that will continue to serve me throughout the marathon training – don’t stop! Or, at least, try to delay stopping and walking for as long as possible.
The sooner you stop and walk, the sooner you set a precedent for stopping frequently whenever it feels rough. If you tough it out, you hit flow state.
Marathon training is almost entirely a mental game.
It’s about getting your psychology right. Yes, it’s painful. Yes, you want to quit. But you damn well keep going.
This twelve-miler was hot on the heels of a failure.
I was supposed to run that twelve miles the week previous. It was during a mighty storm. I was shivering, could barely see, and cursing the world and myself at every step. I hated every minute of it. No runner’s high for me then.
And halfway through, the caffeine and beta-alanine laced glucose gels gave me the mother of all stabbing abdominal pains.
I quit. I limped through the rain and collapsed in a nearby hotel. I felt like a failure and vowed never to let that happen again.
The following week I started setting personal bests and crushing my old lackluster running into the dust.
A 3-miler done in thirty minutes. Personal best.
A five-miler done in under an hour. Personal best.
I was running, lifting weights, stretching, and eating.
My god, the eating! I’ve never felt so hungry in my life until after that twelve-miler.
Nine miles in, hunger pains hit like a monster emerging from a cave. I spent the following days gorging on tubs of ice cream, steak, pasta, rice, chocolate, anything I could get my hands on.
And the craziest thing of all? I’m in the best shape of my life.
I feared I’d look like a marathon runner during my training. You know, stringy arms, no weight at all. But all that eating, lifting, and running is doing some crazy good things to me.
The thing I’ve noticed about running, at least for me, is that it’s one of the most potent ways to get to the heart of your psyche.
You hit a stride and suddenly your demons tumble forth.
I think about loved ones who died, ones who took their lives or had life taken from them (vivid images in my mind with every footfall). I think about the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I think about where I’m heading. I concoct plans in my mind.
Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like choking up. I might get angry. Or nervous. Or scared. Elated. Motivated. The full gamut of human emotions run through my veins as the wind tussles my hair. I don’t like it. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.
A few things I did this month that made a huge difference in my marathon training:
1 – Getting proper running shoes.
I went to Nike, picked out a few different running shoes, got properly fitted, did a run test, asked for advice, and ended up buying a pair of Pegasus 36s (it was either them or the Turbos).
The 36s personally gave me more support, despite the fact that everyone seems to say the Turbos are the better shoe. The Turbos felt like they were more suited for an advanced runner who has their running gait nailed.
I might splash out at another time if I feel the need, but right now I’m super happy.
I bought my new shoes and immediately ran twelve miles in under two hours – how’s THAT for a Nike advert?
2 – Getting proper running clothes.
This made a huge difference too. I have running shorts that have a legging type thing underneath. I also have running shirts. Both are super breathable and make it easier for me to keep running without feeling weighed down or overheated.
Another good shout is the running belt, which stops my phone from jiggling around. None of these things are overly expensive, but they are investments that pay dividends for marathon training. Trust me, kit is important!
I run with music, although I would like to learn how to not need music and use running as a meditate practice. But something I found makes a huge difference is…
3 – Having a playlist for my running.
That way I’m not fiddling around with my phone searching for another song, and being tempted to stop, every three minutes.
As always, right from the beginning, I’ve been running regularly with my girlfriend. We always do the long runs together. I find this incredibly motivational.
4 – Running with her keeps me accountable and makes me want to up my game.
She runs at a pace of 7.5mph, which is 1.5mph over my comfortable pace (my pace has gone up from a dismal 4.5mph at the start to anywhere from 6-6.5mph). So trying to keep pace with her results in me pushing myself even harder.
It’s also a really nice date-type thing too, as we’ll gorge on food and coffee afterwards and then collapse for the rest of the day (so I find myself looking forward to these long runs).
Now the main thing I have to concentrate on going into my third month of marathon training is injury rehabilitation because, yes…
I got myself an injury (95% sure it’s peroneal tendonitis)
Running those twelve miles shortly followed by a leg workout that emphasised foot flexion has resulted in an injury to the outside of my left foot.
I’m not sure exactly what it is, though it seems like tendonitis, all I know is I can’t walk (let alone run) and need to hobble. I’m hoping that a few days without running will reveal it to be a muscular strain. Fingers crossed it’s not a tendon issue or plantar fasciitis. If it’s still not better after a few more days, my girlfriend’s going to do some shock wave therapy on it at the physio clinic.
For now, I currently have my foot submerged in a bucket of ice. I’m hoping that plus ibuprofen and using some biomagnetic therapy later will reduce what feels like intense inflammation.
So that’s how my second month of marathon training shaped up.
I hated every minute of the training between weeks 4-6, then I needed a mindset rehaul, changed my attitude, felt a surge in running ability (adaptation takes time), and now I’m loving it. I’m sure, as with life and everything, this could be a cyclical thing.
Bring on month three.
The marathon is less than three months away.
Fingers crossed corona doesn’t bring it to a halt.