I had this idea of getting my first marathon done and out of the way, so that I could start training for a triathlon, which was something I was looking forward to because, among other things, I was tired of constantly getting running injuries every time I twisted up a notch the training intensity.

So I did my first marathon two days ago. I was expecting finishing somewhere between 4:00 and 4:30, knowing in the back of my mind the upper limit was more realistic. So the actual 4:12 that I did felt really good. Like planned, I tried never to look at the time and just concentrate on my running. That worked perfectly all over, except on the last 4 miles or so, when the end felt so close that all my concentration and will broke down and I just put the chrono mode on and saw 4:00. So I thought to myself, I’m doing great, my legs are killing me, the goal is gonna be accomplished, so I can walk now. For the next time I won’t be even starting the chrono, and I’ll have someone to scramble the day time, so that I’m only left with the pace indicator to look at. Forget about recording stats and other useless shit.

The race started at 6 am sharp, with around 250 participants.  Good level overall, and a nice change from those typical over-crowded races. I committed my first mistake the day before with a lasagna overdose.  I had planned to run very easy on the first half hour, and feeling so bloated helped me to act conservatively and follow the plan. Half an hour later I was feeling great. I forgot about the bloat, pumped up the pace and started passing people.

The first 10 miles had a slight upward slope, I’d say like 1%. Then the course turned back the same way, and I profited the now downward slope to considerably augment the pace. That momentum lasted me for 5 miles. I felt tired but good. But that took its toll on my quads, and the pain that started building up was the hardest thing to support later on.

Almost all the course was shared with the “ciclovía”, which is the closing of some streets during Sundays to let cyclists, skaters, runners and walkers enjoy a sporty day. This is a common practice all over Colombia. As time passed the road started getting more and more crowded so we had to be very careful. And the crowd didn’t had the slightest idea about the marathon, so the already zero-cheering situation was not going to change.  About this time water ran out as well. Thankfully, there was this lady popping up all over the course ready with supplies and moral support for her guy, and she helped me out with some water.
I need to get a woman like this for myself!

Training is just a matter of discipline. I realize now that if you’ve done your homework, and the miles are in the bank, the game on race day becomes 100% mental. I did a good job of really concentrating on my form and pace until the final few miles.  Tried hard to filter out any other thoughts, specially those concerning mileage and time.  Around the last quarter the thoughts about stopping started arising. And I started questioning why I was  doing this. And thinking how easy it is to set goals and think you’re ready to overcome suffering. But suffering is something that just can’t be imagined. It can only be felt. I could carry on with this inner battle in my head until we started entering this village where the race was supposed to end. I couldn’t bear that overwhelming thought and lost all concentration.

Nevertheless, it was a honorable battle, and I am proud. Things that worked: good taper, good starting slow for the first 30 mins, good to pace up when I feel I can, good to take small but frequent sips of liquid.
I need to come up with a way to not loose it when I feel the end is close. I’ll experiment in training. I also need to pace up my Sunday long runs.

After this first marathon I’m having my doubts now about pursuing the triathlon training. Right now I just wanna run harder and farther. But I’ll definitely will continue cycling once or twice per week, because I enjoy it so much and it’s such a great cross-training alternative for running. I’ve already signed up for the Chicago Marathon in October, and will be running for charity using pulpTunes (see link in the sidebar) to raise money — more about this in a future post. In the meantime I gotta find another marathon in about three months. Any suggestions?

“Nenikékamen!”
(We have won!)  Pheidippides, Athens, 490 BC