It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Each year, I pick a few items from my bucket list to complete in the 12 months ahead. This year, my number one goal is to run a marathon. A marathon is 42.2 km, and I have no idea if I can do it. I've had people say to me “I couldn’t do that, I hate running”. Well, I am not a runner either. Unlike some people who run like a gazelle, I am in the group where every step seems harder than the last.

Why this challenge? I find a challenge most engaging when I think it’s possible, but I am not sure. I am not interested in doing things I know I can easily do. Where is the fun in that? A marathon is interesting to me because it is hard, and I am not sure if I can do it. So, it's a challenge both physically and mentally. I am excited to find out what tackling such an event will teach me about life and what I can learn about myself. Not just on the day of the run but throughout the entire training process. Even in this early phase of training I've learnt a lot.

Hasten slowly. The first interesting learning was that when you train for a marathon, a common mistake for beginners is to train at too high an intensity. You need to train at a much lower intensity to improve your anaerobic ability. Train at too high a heart rate, you are not improving your ability to run long distances; you are improving your aerobic system for power and speed. It defeats the purpose. I believe in giving it everything you can, so that's always been a struggle to balance the intensity of working at your highest level with the pace needed to sustainably work at that level. Learning how to pace myself in this training has been an interesting and counterintuitive process.                                                                    

Not pushing yourself. One of the hardest parts of this process is not pushing yourself. I have a plan, and I am determined to follow it. That means not only doing the work and being consistent but not doing more than I am meant to. When I ran my first 8 km run a week ago, I felt like I could get to 10 km for the first time. But resisted doing more. The longer run is planned for later. Not pushing myself and instead sticking to the plan is critical. There is a good reason for incrementally increasing the distance, so you condition your body progressively. Run too far, too fast, or too soon, and that's when injuries happen. I’ve done it in the past in other areas, and it sets you back even further.

Book it in. My entire mindset changed once I registered and paid my entrance fee for the event. Previously, I was thinking about it and was starting to train a bit. But once I had an event and a date (Perth Marathon on 12 October) it became real. Everything started to fall into place. The clock was now ticking, and I was committed. I mapped out a training program with the Runna app and tailored my routine to accommodate the new timeline. My training is 3 runs a week. Short runs on Tuesday and Thursday and a long run on Sunday.

Don’t underestimate this challenge. The best lesson I got was after 5 weeks of training. My Sunday long runs had progressively increased from 6km to 7km to 8km before reducing to 5km for the consolidation week. That 5km run was easily the hardest run I've had to do. I struggled the entire way, and I realised halfway through what I had done wrong. I didn’t come prepared mentally. I was easily completing 5km runs at this point and turned up to this one like it was a walk in the park. Not unlike the heavy favourites in any sport who underestimate a lowly ranked opponent and end up suffering a humiliating defeat. Now, I make sure I show up to every run I do ready to work hard. 

Achieving the goal. Be mindful of the difference between setting a goal and achieving it. When I went to the Nike store to buy a pair of shoes, the sales assistant asked what the running shoes were for. I explained that I am training for a marathon. Impressed, she said, “Wow, that's awesome” then went on to say she’d only ever done a 21km half marathon. I had to stop her and say I haven't run more than 5km yet. I haven't achieved anything. It's important to not get caught up in the noise of setting a big goal because until you achieve it, it is only talk. This person was clearly a much more accomplished runner than me, and yet their effusive praise for my good intentions would have you think it was the other way around. It's great to have a goal, but it's more important to work towards it and achieve it. 

Incremental Improvement. What has surprised me is just how quickly the body and mind adapt. When I first started training in early January, I was able to run for 5 minutes before I had to walk. My first ‘run’ took me 1 hour to do 30 minutes of actual running. It wasn't fast or pretty. Every time I run past the mirrored windows of the Sydney Opera House, I am reminded it's still not, but I am getting faster, and running is getting easier. Six weeks in, I can run 5km in just over 26 minutes, and my longest run so far is 8km. Each week, the program builds incrementally on the previous week, and then every fourth week is a consolidation week where you run less. I still don’t know if I will be able to run the 42.2 km on the day, but already, I can see that it will be possible to build up to it by keeping to the plan and incrementally improving to the next level each month. The most interesting part is that I have actually started to enjoy running and the entire process.

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