So I hinted yesterday of a surprise…I’d only told three people (hubby, James Dunne a running coach and Dean Byers my fitness coach)…a week ago I signed up to run Wroclaw marathon! They all thought I was mad but wished me well.
It was an insane idea, given I’d done no training – most training plans are 16weeks with previous running experience before that. However my logic followed that if I was considering doing the Istanbul Marathon in 9 weeks (because it was the only one enroute this year), and knew I could run a half marathon, then I’d be doing a long run on Sunday anyway, and at least this was a good way of seeing a new city with no pressure to finish. It sort of makes sense 😂
So here’s what I did…its definitely not the best approach and there are far more sensible ways…but it taught me a few lessons.
Day before
On the back of walking 30,000+ steps looking around Prague until 1am in the morning, I got up on the Saturday tried to run 2miles and my knees/hip were screaming at me. So I came home, did a short home workout and spoke to Dean about how I’d fallen off the fitness regime, was binge eating, and needed a reset. He suggested a complete rest day on Sunday…so I confessed I’d signed up to run a marathon. So Monday is my reset day…and while I likely won’t be able to move much, I can remind myself of my goals, truth doctrine and why I am making these lifestyle changes. I then walked another 20,000 steps around Prague, many of which were up steep hills…not nice or sensible 🙈
Night before…
After a 4 hour drive we rocked up at 9:45pm, I abandoned the van/Mark and ran to the admissions office which closed at 10pm. I got there just in time but my ticket wouldn’t display online (thankfully I’d screenshot it), and then they said my passport ID was wrong…in my haste I’d grabbed Marks 🙈 My jaw hit the floor, but they were so helpful, asked me a bunch of questions and let me get my race pack…do people really lie to get into marathons?!
That night, I was watching tip videos, nervously eating too much and did mobility stretches while worrying my knees and hip, given I’d struggled to do 2miles! The earliest I could get to sleep was 11:30pm, which isn’t ideal.
Race Day
Hubby was a godsend and woke at 5:20 to make me a big bowl of protein porridge, as I’d read you were meant to eat 3 hours before the race began. I ate then dozed until 7:30am, did my meditation, found my comfiest running clothes, rubbed deep heat on my hip and knee, took a paracetamol, taped up my toes that tend to bleed/rub and put a compeed on a bit of my foot I thought was sensitive.
I then packed a load of chocolate coffee squares into a freezer bag and shoved them down my bra top as I didn’t have a running belt. I was pleased with my edible third boob as its a naughty favourite and nutrition advice says not to try new gels/foods on race day. As it happens, I had only one square of my then melted sweaty boob chocolate (and don’t think it was a good idea), and ate two sugar cubes and three Dextro energy tablets as handed out on the route. I also sipped small amounts of water at each water station (not the isowater), as too much makes me feel sick but it was 25degrees so hydration was a must.
I was at the start line with 15mins to spare, did some warm ups, felt like crying, wondered whether my mix of arrogance and naievity had landed me in deep trouble…then breathed reminded myself there was no pressure, other than what I put on myself. Just enjoy, soak up the atmosphere and put one foot in front of the other for as long as you can.
Absolute key to my enjoyment and ultimate success was spotting a runner following the same strategy as me. I’d been advised by James Dunne from Kinetic Revolution to try the Jeff Galloway technique of running then walking. Originally I was going to do 9min run: 1 min walk, but 9mins into the marathon I stopped to walk and felt an encouraging hand on my back saying keep running. Not speaking polish I couldn’t explain it was a set technique, but then I spotted Bartlomiej doing stop/start and got chatting to him. Bless him, he was doing 7:1 and was happy for me to tag along, with the proviso that if I was too slow he would run on without me. As I was just hoping to go as far as possible, this was great. He had run 20+ marathons, set a great pace, and lived locally so pointed out the sights along the way. He introduced his running friends – one of whom was 77, had run the 5k parkrun the day before, had only taken up running at 65 and had since run 30 marathons! What an inspiration ❤️
Mark was hoping to spot me somewhere along the route but the marathon had buggered up the tram routes and he was surprised I’d past the half way Mark much sooner than he anticipated. He spotted me around the 31k with another bag of chocolate coffee squares in hand but I hadn’t eaten any of the first lot.
It was around this point Bartlomiej confessed he was having a bad race – the sun was sapping him and he felt I should go on alone as I had more power, felt fine and was slowing my pace for him. I really didn’t want to, as felt it was his pacing and discipline that had got me this far. However after the 20+ prod of him saying run on, I reluctantly did. I still followed his 7:1 pace right to the end and confess the last 6k was mentally hard. However at least with this technique you can barter with yourself…only 3 more minutes…only 1 more minute then walk time. I pushed on and ignored my knees as they started to hurt (hips and knees were generally ok considering this was their first time running beyond a half marathon).
Entering the boulevard of the Olympic park, I caught a glimpse of the medal – it was huge and the competitor saw me looking and cheered me on. By a miracle I did a sprint finish and was so in shock I almost cried. I finished at 4hours 40min and was elated! I have a tendancy to throw myself in at the deep end with mixed results but I have more grit and determination then I realise.
Mark gave me the biggest hug…as long as not injured he had thought I’d finish, as I’ve got that personality that doesn’t like to give up. He really does support me in all my crazy ideas and life. Thank you!
Having run so far, the typical reaction might be to slump in a grateful heap, but I knew I had to keep moving or else I’d seize up. I had no appetite for the free pasta, banana or chocolate…my body was likely still in shock. And so we walked around the grounds, rested a little then did post run stretch routine, walked the pups for an hour in the park, had an iced coffee at a cafe, dinner in the van…and I was still restless. While Mark was happy to chill, I was still wired and so we went out for another long walk to see a mural in the dark 😂 With 65,555 steps under my belt I’m praying all this walking will mean I can move a bit better tomorrow 🤞I can then decide if the recovery is worth it…and sign up for Istanbul Marathon, or another crazy challenge 😂
SofaWolves 