Active Inspiration: How to Marathon Like You Mean it
(written in June 2013)
One month ago I ran my first marathon -- that's 26.2 miles. The most I'd ever run in one day up to that point. I ran in the Capital City Marathon in Olympia, WA on May 19th, 2013 completing one of my life goals. I finished along with my Aunt Monica who was also running her first marathon.
The race itself was difficult and exhilarating. I got a tremendous rush seeing so many people in love with running and the people who love them cheering like mad. I'm so proud to have finished. The training, however, was difficult and took a long time. I started training for my full marathon in late January with the sinking feeling May would never come and I'd never be able to finish all 26.2 miles.
Lo and behold, it happened and I met my goal: I finished! As a marathon finisher, as a woman who has been running for just over ten years, I finally feel like "A Runner". As funny as I think that is to admit to, it's the truth. It feels official. Though, in my heart I believe anyone out there can call themselves a "Runner" as long as they try, they take it to the streets and push through those miles and the monotony of turning step over step.
Now that questions like "what will race day be like?" and "have I trained enough to finish?" have been answered for me, I've assembled a few pearls about what it takes to make it through race day for your first long race:
Anyone can finish a Marathon. That is a far-reaching statement and not 100% accurate, but given enough time and patience just about anyone can. Did you know you can walk a marathon? (though make sure you check each event's rules) Did you know many marathoners don't run continuously during the race and take many walk breaks? Did you know most runners run to simply finish a race not make a certain time or "win"? Did you know 46% of marathoners are 40 years and over and the median age for female marathoners in 2012 was 36.5 years old? The diversity of age and gender in the American marathon is pretty awesome and was great to see on race day. The fastest woman running the marathon that day was 36 years old . I think that shows marathons take a certain level of endurance... and that takes maturity.
Keep hydrated but also fed. Drink plenty of water the week preceding the race -- don't forget your electrolytes either. As for food on race day, it's important to eat a little something an hour or more before the start of the race or before the butterflies really get going. The meal/snack will preferably be pretty carbohydrate heavy with a bit of protein. Think: Banana with a little peanut butter. I was much too nervous to eat before start time and I didn't set aside enough time to relax and have a snack before leaving for the start line. I'm glad I didn't force myself to eat, but I was hungry by mile 5 and my stomach was really growling by mile 10. I ate bars, bananas and energy gels all along the way, but I was using the fuel so quickly none of the snacks were doing me much good. Next time I will be sure to eat more before the race and have friends/family on the side lines who are cheering me on, hand me snacks at specific intervals.
You'll want anti-chafe reinforcements. Chafing is an unpleasant side effect of doing the same motions over and over for hours and hours over miles and miles. Chafing is just a part of life on any long race, especially over 20 miles. Some chafe under the arms, some between the legs, between the toes, some chafe on the nipples. Wherever you could possibly chafe I suggest using an anti-chafe product. Thanks to the expo before the race I got to try out an anti-chafe product but after contacting the company for ingredients I found it contains parabens-- known hormone disruptors. I won't be using that one again! Choose an anti-chafe that is paraben-free when possible.
Bathroom breaks are perfectly fine. By mile 4 I already needed to use the Port-O-Potty. I was worried at first it would take too much time but I was in and out in under 2 minutes and I caught up to Monica quickly. Take your time to take care of your body while you're running. Remember you have hours to kill with your footsteps. The road will wait for you. Try to relax and watch it all unfold... Happy running!
