I have wanted to run a marathon for 13 years now and finally, it happened! I have trained twice for it before but needed to quit for different reasons. This year, I thought that 2022 is the right year to make it happen. I thought that having a steady job, not being pregnant or breastfeeding, and having run a half marathon in May, would be a good basis for it. So 2 weeks before the half marathon, I started with a schedule made by the coach of my local training group. I quickly realized that a full-time job that is both demanding and new, raising a 2-year-old and writing a book PLUS marathon training is a bit much. And when we departed for a month-long trip to Canada, I was unable to keep up with my schedule. I managed to do 2 long runs, 2 tempo runs, and 3-4 shorter bits there, although it should have been double. And when we got back, I was quarantined with Covid... After that, I needed to revise my schedule and adapted it myself based on a schedule from Runnersworlds. That left me with one long run per week (24 to 33 km at that point), one recovery run, one semi-long run, and one full-body workout per week. That was more manageable, but I still struggled to keep it up, especially when I started doing a Tuesday evening policlinic that left me needing to do a recovery run on Monday, after having done 30+ K on Sunday.
What did I learn from the trainings?
- Long runs left me feeling down the same day and the following one. I looked it up on the internet (not a credible source always, but still), and it could have been due to eating or drinking too little during the runs (I did take a gel every 8K and drank 100 ml sports drink every half an hour and a bottle after the run, but that might not have been enough).
- Your body can do a lot! I didn't struggle with any injuries throughout the journey, despite having done runs up to 4 h 10 min (33K).
- It takes so so so so much time. We all needed to give up a lot to do this, meaning less time for writing, reading, and spending time as a family for me. For my husband, it meant taking care of M on Sunday mornings (= a long run day) and sometimes on Friday mornings as well (my semi-long run up to 16K). M learned to say "emme jooksma" (mommy run) as soon as I showed up wearing running clothes.
- Training over holidays is not recommended, as it is very hard to keep your regular routine, even if you are in a country that is so amazing to run in like Canada. The hills were tough though for a runner who is accustomed to the Dutch landscape :)
How did the race go?
It was a very suboptimal week before, as M was sick, my husband was sick and I had a little bit of a cough. I was up a couple of times several nights. I had run 6,4K race with work a week before the marathon after a 24 h call, which left me exhausted. I did only my full body workout with about 4 km running in it on Wednesday and nothing else that week for official sports (biking to work and caring for a toddler not counting).
I put together a packing list on Wednesday:
- 2 sets of running clothes for different weathers, long and short sleeves and trousers
- running bra
- running underpants with fewer seams
- well-worn running shoes
- compression stockings
- vaseline
- throw-away warm clothes and a rain poncho to wear just before the race
- running belt with 2 bottles and pocket for the phone and gels and tissues
- pen for writing down my target times for every 5K on my hand
- nutrition: 5 gels, caffeine shot (didn't use it), sports drink mix, dextrose tablets (best decision), white buns, and bananas for breakfast before the race
- post-running gear: comfortable seamless clothes, shoes, soft but compressing socks, protein bar, sports drink, wet napkins, towel, plastic bag for the race clothes.
I went to Amsterdam the day before, visited the expo, got my badge and a shirt, and bought some stash (marathon hoodie). Then I went to Leiden where I stayed with friends for the night (lovely to be closer to have less travel time in the morning!).
I got everything set for the race day and went to bed. Of course, I was already nervous then. I had thought of never doing something like this again!
My alarm went off at 6 am, 3 hours pre-race. I got my gear on, had a coffee, and a waffle, and got on the train. The venue was packed when I got there, so it was hard to hand in your bag and find a bathroom. When I got to my starting place, it was already 8:50 am. You could watch the start on a big screen and see the best runners going 20 km/h! It took 30 minutes until my group (4,5 h to 6 h goal time) got to the starting line, so I got to use the bathroom right before again (best decision because then I lost no time doing that during the race.
I ended up running ahead of 4:40 pacers (although my goal time was 5:30!) for the first 4-5 km, then they passed me. 4:50 pacers passed a couple of km after that. I ran ahead of 5:00 pacers until 14 km, when they passed me, but I ran through the 15 km drinking point where I grabbed a water to go, and the pacers were behind me again. They passed a couple of km before 20 km point and were just ahead of me for the rest of the time. I knew by that time that I can do better than 5:30, but keeping up with the 5:00 group got my heart rate up too much. I was trying to keep it between 153 and 159 bpm for the first 20 km, then around 160 for the next 15 km, and then let it go above 165 bpm. My average for the race was 161 bpm, not bad!
At 34 km, the first half-marathon runners started to pass and they were fast! It was difficult because there were marathon runners who were walking on the right and fast runners on the left. I decided not to walk for a single step in fear I could not run again! I started to feel my legs from 20 km and then from 34 km, I felt I could go faster regarding my condition, but my legs became the limit!
The hardest part of the race was the bit in an industrial terrain with only a few spectators and just some odd bits. I felt I was running in the last leg of the race and that felt a little depressive. But when we got more to the center, there were tons of people cheering, and music, and you could really count down the kilometers.
I somehow had run the track longer by about 200 m in the beginning but after one tunnel, my watch's GPS was up to 800 m off, so when the post 38 km came, my watch was saying almost 39 km. That felt demotivating. It did later recorrect it to 400 meters, so I think it was receiving a wrong signal from somewhere.
I had all my gels at intervals of 8 km, drank my own sports drink that sits better with me than AA drink they offered there, and had one dextrose tablet every one or two kilometers of the last 10 km bit.
After the second time going through Vondelpark and getting closer to the Olympic Stadium, the finish, I just felt great. Getting in, seeing the meters counting down, and running the last little bit, I just got a huge smile on my face. I have done it! And all that in 5 h and 4 minutes, much better than I assumed!
Recovery
- I felt great, but very sore just post-run, I got water, a sports drink, and a banana, drank the water and ate the banana, and went aside to call people. I got my bag, changed clothes, and started limping towards the station and planned to grab something to eat. When I sat down to order, I started feeling light-headed, so I needed to sit with my head down for a while. I ate some of the dextrose tablets, but only started to feel better after I gulped down 2 bottles of sports drink. Must have still been too low in water and carbs? It only really got better after eating the bagel that I ordered when I was already on the train.
- My journey back home took 4 hours and required way too many switches on public transit. Next time, either sleep somewhere close or have someone drive you (wouldn't trust myself to drive, I think).
- I ate a full meal and drank another bottle of sports drink at home, had a shower, and got to bed. Of course, I was way too excited to sleep (should have had an option to nap earlier!).
- 1 day post-marathon it is very hard to walk the stairs and my gait looks like I have an injury (or so I have been told). I put on compression stockings in the morning and that feels good. I will have a warm bath later.
- Of course, I am making plans for the next marathon (see Google searches: when can I run another marathon after just finishing one?), but I am afraid other priorities need to come first now. Maybe in 2 years? Seems like a good plan to me (OK, no, a maximum of 6 months seems good, but I really need to focus on writing now!).
What would I have done differently?
- Have run it under 5 hours. I can do it and I know it!
- More rigorous training (but how, if you have all those other things going on?).
- More focus on nutrition (more good foods and less empty stuff that I love, like chocolate and coffee), including good tapering and carb loading. Didn't really get there this time.
- Sports physiotherapy for good posture and running technique.
- Maybe re-join the running group I was a member of before pregnancy? I do really love the closeness of home of the group where I am now, but regarding running, the other one was better (read: 2 interval trainings, a technique class and sometimes a long run on the weekend per week!).