Some of you know that I have wanted to run a marathon for the past years ... 7 years ago to be exact.
I first ran a half-marathon in 2001 in Vitoria and since then I have done a few more half-marathons over the years. My husband Antonio even agreed to run his first half marathon with me in Madrid in 2007, as my Christmas present. I like the 21 Km (13 miles) distance - feasible, even enjoyable.
Yet, I was always in awe of the big one ... the dreaded MARATHON ... which requires 4 months of intense and consistent training. A MARATHON - this was a big word. I had a lot of respect for it.
One one hand, I thought that if Oprah (famous American TV personality) could do it, I could do it. On the other hand, it seemed like a big endeavor and commitment to train for 4 months, 4 times a week, including weekend runs of 15-30 km. Time passed and I did not seem to find the time and commitment.
Yet it was still one of my most cherished dreams. Last year, doing my coaching course, I wrote that if I could run a marathon, I knew I could do anything I set myself.
As many of you know, I believed that losing my last job was a blessing in disguise. It is giving me the amazing opportunity to be with my brother and sister-in-law Michelle who is fighting against leukemia and who recently got a baby blood cord transplant. If I still had my job, I would have never had the chance to be with them, which means a lot to me.
Since I had this "sabbatical" time, I set myself a few more goals. For one, to learn about nutrition (Michelle´s condition inspired me to research and read about the best foods against cancer. Yes, I know that you are laughing .... all of you know me as the worst eater ... a vending machine junkie ...
Well, believe it or not, I am eating healthy ... thanks to my mom, I learned how to juice and every morning I drink fresh vegetable juices and fruit smoothies. I am learning to cook some healthy dishes (don´t expect too much. Antonio is still going to be the cook in the family) ... I am even going organic (my friends Blanca and Rafa would be proud of me :-) The more informed I become, the more excited I am that food can be our body´s best medicine against disease.
In addition, I decided to train for a marathon. There was never going to be a better time ... and it might be my last try before I got pregnant.
So 2009 was going to be my year. My friend Pablo and I registered for the Barcelona March 1, 2009 marathon, which would give me 4 months to train. With some trepidation, my lovely husband Antonio offered to do it with us - as my Christmas 08 present!!! (The things Antonio does for love :-)
This past month, I have been running consistently. Being a research freak that I am, I went online and read about marathon training. I learned about Chi running - "effortless" running through good body posture and using the core muscle as momentum.
On one of my long runs, practicing chi running, I ran 32 Km (20 miles) - the longest I ever ran before was a half marathon. Wow, If I could run 32 Km, I could do 42 Km. Suddenly, the marathon became a real, feasible goal - not something far stretched anymore. That was a mental breakthrough for me.
Two weeks later, this last Friday, I told my brother that maybe I should try the Seattle Marathon this weekend.
Warning: it was against everything that experts tell you to do - I only trained 1 month instead of 4 months. I had not planned for it, so I had not had the recommended 2 weeks of rest in order to have fresh legs before the marathon (called tapering). I actually ran 21 km just 2 days ago. Moreover, I had never ran on hills and Seattle marathon was known as a tough marathon due to its hills, especially the killer ones in the last 10 km (6 miles).
My brother helped me walk through the decision and encouraged me to run. He told me that I nothing to loose. I did feel good and I had ran 32 Km (20 miles) twice in the past few weeks. I mentally told myself that it would be a practice run for my "real" marathon in Barcelona three months later and if I didn´t finish, no big deal. I made a pact with myself that if at any time I didn´t feel good, I would stop before getting injured. I was going to listen to my body and be conservative.
So here I was, signing up for the marathon 1 day before the event. When I went to the Event Expo event to sign up, I felt some trepidation and gave my registration with as much confidence I could muster before I could back out. Of the 10,000 people who registered to run - 7,000 were going to run the half-marathon and only 3,000 would run the marathon. And I bet, very few people choose Seattle as his/her first marathon!
I didn´t even tell Antonio, in fear that he would think that his wife is really crazy (I mean, more than I am already). It was one of the craziest things I had ever done (that and jumping out of a plane during B-school ... I also signed up for it 1 day before on a whim).
Saturday afternoon, I started to read about what to do on pre-race day. For carbo-loading, it gave me the excuse to chow down tons of pasta for dinner. However, I stopped reading anything else about race preparation because it was making me more nervous. So I decided to go to bed early and stop thinking how crazy this idea was and think positively. I repeated to myself that I could do it and that I would enjoy it. I started visualizing finishing the marathon and what an amazing feat it would be.
Sunday morning, I woke up at 6 am, did my juice and drank my smoothie. My brother was kind enough to drive me there so I didn´t have to walk the 10 blocks. That meant a lot to me – I felt that I wasn´t completely alone in this adventure and it made me less nervous.
I had read that you should set three objectives before you run (1) an easily obtainable goal, (2) a realistic yet moderately challenging goal, and (3) an ultimate goal. My number one goal was to run injury-free and practice chi running. My challenging goal was to finish the marathon. My ultimate goal (if any) would be to finish at 4:30.
At the start line, while waiting for the half-marathoners and the marathon walkers to go before us, the marathon runners were pretty relaxed (not like in Madrid – where people seem intense and focused before any race). I saw people like “me”, which reassured me. (heck, I admit that seeing some chubby Americans gave me this false sense of comfort that if they could do it, I could too).
Unfortunately my tummy started to hurt and cramp before the bell rang. I also drank so much that at the 1 mile mark, I searched for the portable bathroom (there was a line … guess I wasn´t the only one who had a bad drinking strategy :-).
Not a great way to start but after a while I went into a rhythm. The good thing was that I wasn´t trying to make a time goal. This helped me run a conservative pace. I felt OK the first 10 Km (6 miles). I focused on my chi running, relaxing body, conserving energy. It was hard to focus on my chi “belly” energy point – because my tummy was bloated, so I focused on relaxing the rest of my body. I had told Michelle´s sister Mel, that if I finished this marathon, it was a proof that chi running really works!
It was great to see all the people run. Many people were relaxed, especially in the beginning. There were many teams and friends running together, cheering each other and sharing the experience. People old and young. I saw five people with their coach from “Teams in Training” against Leukemia and I thought about Michelle and her courage. I wanted to dedicate my marathon to Michelle. The day before at the expo, I had bought a running head band with a “M”. For me, “M” meant Michelle. The spectators who were cheering were great, especially the kids who gave high five´s.
Miles 6 to 15 seemed really long and monotonous. Again, thank god, I was practicing chi running and was focusing on my body, to pass the time. Every time my knees were hurting from the pounding of the pavement, I would seek to relax them.
There was a drink station every 2 miles and I stopped to drink Gatorade. I didn´t attempt to run and drink at the same time because first I can´t seem to do it without choking ☺; second, it gave me the opportunity to rest my legs for a few seconds. Again my strategy was to be conservative and have fresh legs. This seemed to work for me, especially in the second half of the race because I was running faster and more effortlessly than most people around me, even though they would then pass me up again when I stopped to drink. And Gatorade was helping me to fuel my body. I normally do my long runs without drinking but I was scared to hit the famous “wall”, when your body runs out of glycogen (energy converted from carbohydrates) so I was hoping that the Gatorade would work for me. I had brought the energy gels that marathoners use but I was trying to avoid them if possible because the only time I took them in one of my races, my heart rate had shot up so fast and I had felt really sick.
Miles 15-20 went mentally faster. I knew that if I got to the 20 miles, I would finish the marathon no matter what, even if I had to walk those dreaded hills. I was actually feeling relatively well, and my tummy had settled. I even ran the steep hills, while some people starting to walk, tired after 20 miles on their feet. At mile 22, one of the time keepers said 3:30. Wow! Suddenly, I realized that I was doing a great time and I could even try to run under 4:00 hours, so I started to pick up the pace and raced. My legs felt great. I felt that I was in the “zone”. It was so strange and also rewarding to still have energy and pass people, who were pooped out. Volunteers and spectators were looking at who was this crazy woman (I did look like a ninja all dressed in black) racing the last 4 miles of a marathon. I ended up finishing at 4:06 sprinting to the finish line. It felt great to have finished feeling strong and energetic.
I couldn´t believe that I had accomplished one of my lifetime dreams! Finishing my first marathon, and one with hills, at 4:06 was an amazing plus. The best was having run feeling good and not having been destroyed afterwards (which I attribute to chi running). I wanted to finish a marathon injury-free, so that it would not be my last one …
I am definitely hooked ☺. So Antonio is not off the hook on his Christmas present ☺
Not my best picture for sure ... but I was the happiest sweaty woman!
