Words of Encouragement

Time is moving on and the race day is creeping closer. Two weeks today and I will be on my way to Honolulu to run my first full marathon.

8 months have passed since the decsion to do this, and within all the excitement, now some of the nerves are starting to show. With the struggle I've been having with the long runs lately, I'm really absorbing now how far 42km actually is and how big of a challenge I am about to face. Some days I feel great, convincing myself that this is all about the experience and I'm doing this for myself. Other days, I ask myself "what the hell am I doing?!?".

I love challenges. I love sport. I love being pushed to my limits just to see how much further I can go past them. And I have to keep reminding myself of this because some days I'm just not sure I'm ready for this. My biggest fear of course is that 42km is longer than I could have imagined and it's just too far for me to do. Have I trained enough? Did I push hard enough? Will I have it in me? What if I can't do it? What if it's too far?

I got some great advice today that has lifted my spirits and instilled some much needed encouragement.

• One mile at a time. You can't race the next one until you get to it so focus on where you are as opposed to where you've got to go.
• Conserve your energy. The Ironman or the Marathon is all about what you have left, not on what you've done.
• It will be hot later on so take advantage of early water stops and drink at every station.
• Take the first half slower than you think you should be going. It's a long way and the energy you save will come in very handy. If you spend it then you will lose more time struggling at the end.
• Run your race, this will be about you and how you feel and how you felt. All the others on the course are dong their race so don't get caught up at all in what's going on around you.
• Let the crowd, if there is one, encourage you.
• Run with a smile, it will make you feel better.
• Keep your shoulders loose and low, don't have them creeping upward...this is a natural tendency but it tends to take more energy when you are tense.
• It may be cool in the early stages as it starts in the dark. Don't over-dress, just take a throw-away tee shirt if you have to as the heat will increase and you won't want an expensive top tied around your waist.

I'm told that the nerves will go the second the gun goes off, so I'm not expecting to get over them anytime before then. Until then, I will do one more long run this weekend, then just short runs after that to keep loose and keep fit.

I can't wait to see what happens.

Thanks Greg.

S.

Holy Crap

The Honolulu Marathon race site has been updated with the race route. Click to enlarge.



I've been trying to prepare myself mentally... but holy crap. Does that not look like a helluva lot longer than 42km to anyone else?

I've heard that training is half the battle... I just never thought it to be true

So here I am less than 5 weeks away from Hawaii. 32 days until race day actually. Whew.. that's not so far away, yet it seems like a lifetime!

I understand now that the actual running portion of "running a marathon" is really just a very small piece of a much larger puzzle. I knew getting into this that 42km was a really long way to run. But when this whole thing started, I was thinking, hell- I've got 9 months to train, meh, this will be fun. Well, fun it was.. for the first 7 months. Now, I'm tired, cranky, sore and all I ever do is run. Run run run. All the time. Always running. My training schedule allows for two days off a week, Mondays and Fridays. Since I am taking a course at school, that conveniently falls on a Monday night, I now have only one night a week to call my own. What do I do with this one night you may ask? Well considering that I've been RUNNNING ALL WEEK and tomorrow morning I have to get up early to go for a run... nothing, I come home, fall on my couch and sleep.

I'm also understanding that almost, if not just as important as the running itself, is the mental capacity that long distance running demands. I've faced a number of difficult physical challenges in my life (mostly self induced of course) but I have surcome to the mantra of "It's amazing what your body will do if your mind will let it". Using these words as inspiration and motivation to just keep going when 'it's' getting tough, has allowed me to push my boundaries to new limits. I used to have a running threshold of something like 5km, that was faarrrr enough. Now... well, let's just say the days of 5k runs are long gone, and oh what would I do to have them back... sigh... I got sample taste of what the mental game is going to be like in Hawaii back in September when I ran my half marathon. I remember kilometer 18, and 19, and 19.5 and 19.75 and how hard it was to stay focused when time seemed to be moving so slowly even though I was working so hard.

I guess if a full marathon at 42km, if related to my training, I'm at about kilometer 30. I'm tired, things ache and I'm just thinking to myself "who's idea was this anyway?" and like a kid on his way to the cottage "aren't we there yet???" I realize that this is part of the challenge. I've got to face a variety of obstacles to reach my goal, and this is just one of them.

I picture myself standing at the bottom of a steep hill, and I'm out of breath already, and my legs are weak and tired. But.. you've got to get to the top, the finish is up there and there was no point in starting this if your not going to finish... so... SHIT.. I better get going. And there's nothing else to do but put your head down, keep your arms in close and swing them hard, bend your knees, feel the power through your legs and drive yourself up that hill.

When this is all done, and the marathon is over, I will have looked back on this entire experience and remembered these hard days with pride. The sacrifices I'm making today will be well worth the reward of tomorrow.

I'd like to think that I know what I'm talking about and that I'm going to be prepared for what I will face in Honolulu, but hell, I've never run marathon before, I'm just making it up as I go along.

Happy training everybody.. or not training, or whatever it is that is challenging you today that will keep you happy tomorrow.

S.