So how it is to run 42 km?

It is almost a week now that I finished my first marathon. I was well prepared, had hardly any problems during the training and was mentally really ready to go. The last few short runs my legs felt tired and heavy, but I assumed it was due to all the training and it should be fine by Sunday morning. I was very confident on Friday morning when we sat on the train to Berlin and was much looking forward to the weekend.

It is absolutely great idea (not) to combine your marathon weekend with a sightseeing tour in a new city. It is exactly the kind of rest your legs are not looking for and after full day walking around Berlin as well as visiting the event expo, my legs were ready to crash on Saturday night. It was too late to regret or change anything, so I just decided to have a nice pasta meal, do some stretching and go to bed. After all, the alarm was set 5:40 next morning, on time to have a breakfast at the hotel and head to the start. I arrived to the entrance area around 7:30, to put my stuff to the storage and to get ready to start. One would think 1,5 hours before start is a lot of time, well it isn't if you end up queuing 30 min to the toilets. Clearly I did the beginners mistake of not reading the instruction leaflet properly, as if I had done that, I would have known there are also toilets at the start area and most likely to be less crowded. Around 8:30 I headed to the start area, just on time to see a warm up aerobics going on in my starting block. Well I skipped that part, for two reasons: I really do not like aerobics and I did my short warm up on the way to the start and decided to do some quick stretches while waiting to get started.

The atmosphere was awesome: the sky was clear blue, air was fresh, 40 000 people were ready to start running, chatting around with fellow runners and listening the welcoming ceremony on 60 languages. As I had no previous marathon time, I was placed on the very last starting block. I could see the starting line was somewhere ahead, but could get close to it only 30 minutes after the first group was gone. The start was done in three parts to split the people a bit on the route. This really made the running of the first 30km more convenient, as the route stayed relatively free to go ahead.

So finally around 9:30 my group could start. We were joking the winner would probably finish soon and if we should congratulate him before we start. By the time it was ready to start due to all that waiting and excitement, I was hoping to find a toilet so I decided to have a short break after first water supply point (which I did)... I managed to get on quite front row of my starting block and easily found a free route to run and could settle to my own speed. The first 10k were a bit faster, then I decided to slow down a bit as I realised I might be going too fast. I had a small bottle of water with me which was enough until 20k, I cannot drink too much while running and I decided to have my own bottle to control I won't drink too much and to ease passing the first drinking points. The next 20k I was focusing on running steady and slowing down the speed a bit, after hearing all kind of horror stories how the last 10k of marathon can be, I was over careful. The whole marathon was like a huge party. The streets were full of people supporting the runners, there was music, dancing, singing the whole way through. You almost forget you have a marathon to run :) 

After 30k I decided to go a bit faster. Or I wanted to. But it was not as easy done as said... Now it was time to realise what it means to start in the last block. And see what "the marathon starts after 30k" statement means in practise. Literally when I passed the 30k line, the biggest challenge was to pass all the runners who crashed. And they were not a few. So the last 10k I wanted to increase the speed but ended up speeding, then stopping and going around people, then speed up again until the next person was in front of me. And it is not easy to pass those people who are suffering and only thinking how to make it to the finishing line, forgetting they are not alone on the route. I'm sure I lost 5-10 sec / km by trying to pass people. I am glad I felt still really strong and focused and had no pain, as it is really hard to do that sideways dancing when you actually want to run! 

Once I got to the 40k landmark, the party just got more intense. One couldn't run anymore, you had to fly to the finish line. The atmosphere was so intense, the crowd supporting was really high, so were the runners. The feeling when you go under the Brandenburger Tor and see the finish line in a few hundred meters ahead, I cannot describe it. My legs were tired, but good tired. I finished the marathon in 3 hours 56 minutes and 47 seconds. Crossing the finish line was amazing experience and I felt so great afterwards. All the work I did for the preparation, all the kilometers I spent on the road wondering why I was doing this, was all worth it. 

So will I run the marathon again? I don't know. Before the race I was sure I won't, all the training is too much time consuming and I couldn't justify the hours I spent on the road for long runs (which I also found really boring). Now I know why people keep running marathons, the feeling afterwards is addicting. So never say never but too little time has gone to say for sure yes. I am really glad I have this experience and I am really glad I hve been able to share it with you.

I know many of you have been reading this blog. I was glad to see so many of you involved with my running, all the support and encouragement I got from you on the way. I really appreciate it and it made this marathon project worth it for me.

It was a memorable day in Berlin :)

Count down time

I have run some 675+ km since first of June, have spent some serious number of hours on the road, have explored many new beautiful sceneries and have gone beyond my comfort zone again and again. And during the last week I have slept. I did not know it is even possible for me to sleep so much, I did not think it can feel normal to sleep on average more than nine hours a night plus a nap of 1-2 hours both Sat and Sun. I truly hope it is my body's plan to prepare for the marathon rather than the sign to prepare for the winter sleep.

There is another six days to go and I never thought I would feel so confident to run a marathon. Even though I took the challenge serious from the beginning, somewhere in the back of my mind I was asking myself if I will succeed. But now I am not anymore, I know I can run it. I know I will enjoy it even though I know it will also hurt. The question is how much and if I should go for more intense pain or longer pain... What do you think? Either way, it is part of the game and it cannot be anything compared to tonsillectomy nor delivering a baby.

So dear people, Sunday morning at 9 am (CET time) it is time to start running. Seriously. And some four hours later, it is time to party. Whatever the reason, party will be good. So please keep your fingers crossed and vote for number F11126 :)

27. September is getting closer

The date for the marathon is getting closer; I have another two weeks to go before the start.

The last couple of weeks have been high in kilometres and relatively high in intensity. I feel my legs being tired, as is my whole body. I am glad the coming days is focusing on tapering and the intensity and time spend on the road is much easier. 

Despite being really tired, I feel good. The training has gone well and it feels easy to run, even the long distances. Thanks to the core and flexibility training I have trained free of major injuries and I have learned to appreciate the balance and stability via the core. When I was rowing, it took it for granted that the core has to be strong, part of it comes automatically when on the boat or rowing machine, but it is not the same when running. You really need to take care of that and systematically add it into the training program, only then you will feel the difference.

So I have another two weeks to go before the marathon. When I started this project, I feared for two things. Firstly, I was not sure my head could handle the long runs. Well, it has not been easy but I made them all. I had my last 25k today and the rest of the runs are easy compared to that. Secondly I was not sure my legs could handle it. Not from the physical exercise point of view but regarding injuries. I have a history of shin splints and all that comes with it and I was not sure how my legs would react for serious increase in training kilometres. Even I had some challenges on the way luckily nothing so serious that it had caused any break in training. So all in all at the moment I feel pretty confident that I can do the marathon, surely I am aware that it is a long distance and anything can happen, but overall I believe I will be fine!

I found my new love

I have been writing about my training from different perspectives, complained about the boredom with the long runs, joyed the success of strength and flexibility training etc. However one thing I paid very little attention are my tempo runs. I first introduced them to my training plan when I started following the training program for the half marathon in Hannover. And it was not a big success, I was really suffering every time I had one in front of me and I was far of the speed I was expected to do them.

The program I am following recommends to do those runs relatively high speed, in my case the speed completely out of my comfort zone. And it is one thing to go for an interval which takes 6-8 minutes than to run 13k on a speed which really does not feel comfortable. But with the time, I also saw the benefit of them, every time the tempo run got easier and easier and finally I was able to keep the recommended speed, even go comfortably under it. Today it is my favourite run of the week and I am actually looking forward to Thursday mornings, when I can after few minutes warm up build some speed and just go.

So what did I learn? One very basic thing every athlete knows and which I also knew but just ignored. Training is all about getting out of your comfort zone. If you want to increase speed, you need to run faster. Sounds kind of obvious, but when you are there in practice and it just does not feel good, it is easy to excuse and tell yourself you are "going too fast". But it is not just running faster, it is more about increasing the speed in such a way you even after 10k feel like you can keep going for another while. That you can still build another couple of kilometres and you still feel ok. And that is such a great feeling, when you feel you run fast but you can still keep going. All those kilometres you conquer in such a short time, or a clearly shorter than you used to. And I am sure those trainings are not only fun and satisfying but will certainly pay back during the marathon.

This weeks trainings scenery was in Gothenburg and it felt like home to run along the lake in the sunrise.

Strength and flexibility

Another week training behind and one week less to go to the marathon. Last week I was not on the top of my mind, every part of me was tired and aching and I had a sort of half way training boredom. Few days with just get over with it and keep training -attitude has helped and I am motivated and inspired to keep training. Surely it helps my foot is not hurting and thanks to the physio, I have no problems with walking anymore.

When I started training for the marathon and knew my weekly running kilometers increase significantly, I promised myself to do regular strength training as well as stretch properly. I know I am prone to running injuries, whenever I previously have run more, I tend to get injured (especially on chinsplins). And I know how important strength training and stretching is to avoid that, though neither of those is my strength and something I like to do.

I am still not a big fan of strength training; I keep doing it as I know it is good for me and helps me to stay healthy with running. I have always been stiff as an iron bar, but during the last ten weeks I am surprised by my flexibility. I am still far away to qualify the Olympics in gymnastics but I have reached a mobility in my body I did not know to be possible. Thanks to Tony Horton and P90X Yoga and Dynamics I discovered completely different side of me with more core strength and flexibility and most importantly, I realised I actually enjoy doing the trainings. And most importantly, I feel my running is more focused and stabile, my body feels lighter and happier :)

 Family training session for stronger core.

Pain and all that comes with it

I passed the half point of my marathon training, this week was the ninth week out of my 16 week training plan. So far I have run 382 km and I have spent about 35 hours on the road since I started this project. I still enjoy the most of my intervals and tempo runs, but surely there are mornings when I would prefer to just stay in bed and sleep another hour before going to the office. The biggest challenge I have with the long runs, knowing myself it was anticipated that those will be the hardest part of the project and I am still not complaining about it. I know I just have to get my head over it and I will get there.

But what I was not prepared of was the pain I have for whole Sunday after spending three hours on the road. Or the pain I have in my feet after the long runs for couple of days (until the next long run is scheduled) or the pain of walking the stairs down in the mornings. Or the pain of falling toe nails and the fact that wearing sandals does not feel like a natural choice when the temperature outside is over 30 °C. Still so far I consider myself lucky as I have no issues with blisters or any kind of chafe, falling toe nails came from my own thoughtlessness and will slowly heal, and I found a physiotherapist who seems to be good (I only met him once so far). The cause for the pain in my feet (especially the right one) seems to come from a nerve which is pressed by a tight muscle and with his miraculous hands it seems to get much better. I am so glad that probably for the first time in my life I realised to look for help before it was too late and it seems I can continue training as planned as I have no pain during the running and as I have at least one rest day between runs, I normally have no issues with the recovery. 

So once the cure for the pain after the runs is there, I only have Sunday afternoons to suffer and hopefully those get also a bit easier when the heat is less.I have another 7 weeks to go with the training and if I keep myself together for the next five long runs (as I trust I do), I am going to be very fine for the marathon :)

My thoughts about Long Runs

It has been a while I have updated my training blog and shared how it is going with my marathon training. I continued the training as planned; I have done my three runs per week, cross-trained, played some tennis in between and not forgotten to stretch. But somehow the coming home from holidays and return to the office, reworking the daily routine again has taken more effort than I expected and I have felt really tired the last couple of weeks. So tired that I just did not have the energy to update my blog.

I have lengthened my long runs now up to 27 km and when I really was suffering after 17k in my first long runs, I can now comfortably do the whole training as planned. I am surprised how easy it feels physically and by now I am convinced that anything after 30k at the marathon is mental. I am convinced on that as I realise it on my own training, when I leave the house mentally strong (compared to the days when I felt lazy/tired/not motivated), I finish the training also as planned if not faster or easier. I realise it during the runs when I remind myself to stay strong instead of feeling sorry for myself, I do stay strong and feel comfortable to continue. 

Still I have not concluded if I in general like the long runs. I don't hate them, which is good. I don't love them either which is not surprising. I surely tolerate them to the level I feel comfortable leaving the house with the running belt full of liquids and energy gels. There are moments when I really enjoy the tiredness in the muscles after 20k and I am proud my legs are still carrying me on, but on the other side I am sometimes so bored to go for another 15k or just can't find one good reason why I should spend whole Sunday morning on the road. So meanwhile I figure out what to think of those long runs, I am really glad and proud of the charity funding which keeps me going on those moments of doubt and that I have so many dear people around me supporting my project!

Training plans and the reality of life

The last couple of weeks have been quite hectic first with last days of work before holidays and then roadtripping through Scandinavia for holidays. After all the enthusiasm and excitement how well the training is going, it has been really hard to stick to my training plan and feel great about it. I have done most of my runs, some of them between work, packing and after work party or others before full day of fooling around in Legoland -but most important to me is that I have done them.

Then the quilt became as I missed the one training I had optimistically planned for the weekend when my lovely little nephew's babtises was. Even though it was clear to me where the priority was that weekend I was surprised to see how I felt almost a panic to miss one training as I did not know how to balance it back. First I thought just to continue from it as soon as possible and catch up track in the coming weeks however eventually I decided to completely skip it, have an additional 40 min run this week the day after the tempo run and most importantly, to be in ease with it.

It does not seem like a big deal at the moment, but for me it was the lesson to remind myself how important it is not to be too focused on the plan and to be able to look beyond it. I am sure this will not ruin my marathon project and I will have plenty of time and kilometres ahead to be ready for the run. 

I don't have time to run and all other excuses

Last two weeks I have followed my training plan for the marathon, did my three runs, strength training and stretches all as planned. Before starting the project, I was wondering if I have time to train enough and whether I have any time left to spend with the family. I did not want running to take over my whole life, that after work I had to put my running gear on and head to the road, that I would meet my son on weekends (and then only on Saturdays as Sunday is of course the long run day), that my husband would forget he has a wife... 

So when I started this project I decided to do my during the week trainings in mornings, as much as possible at least. However I feared that once the interval trainings are in the program, I might face some challenge to tell my body to do it at 6am. And that after all, getting myself out of the bed time after time at 5:30 is really not fun.

But so far so good if not better. It turned out the morning runs are the ones I really really enjoy, whether interval or tempo training, they just feel good. And not only after the training but the training as such is even more fun at that time of the day. Maybe because the brain is still in sleep and it does not recognise the pain or because I am just mad, whatever the reason I am positively surprised by the discovery. And what comes to the time, I feel my daily time available for other things have really not changed that much. I am at the office around 8am, I come home when the work and brain is ready for the day and spend the evenings as usual either with the family or with other activities. Even the other night when building Lego castle with my son, I felt a bit guilty that I should be training for my marathon -until I realised I already did my run the same morning. Surely I admit the season is on my side, I am fully aware it might not be the same feeling if mornings were dark, grey and cold. But the season is on my side and I plan to take full advantage of it!  

 This is one of my favourite views when returning from a run.