What I’ve learnt about most things in life, especially fitness, is that it’s easier if you follow the system that someone else has spent their time and energy into researching and creating than to start from scratch. Like any other system, you take the core and adjust it as needed to make it work for you; to take it or leave it. So last year, when I decided that I was going to run my first ever marathon in the fall, this is exactly what I did.
A few years ago, I had been using an app to train for whatever race at that time, and then all of a sudden, it was no longer available. I was devastated! This app was literally like having my own personal coach. This voice would yell at me through my headphones like a boot camp sergeant when I wasn’t on pace, “You’re going too fast! or You need to speed up!” or something like that. It’s been a while, LOL, but that’s what it felt like. I hesitated trying out new apps because I was convinced I wouldn’t find something as great. After a bit of research, not that much to be honest, I settled on the Runkeeper app.
What I mostly liked about it was that I could input my personal data, tell it for what distance race I wanted a training plan, how many days a week I wanted to train, and VOILA! my training plan was right at my finger tips. This app also lets me know if I’m running at my target pace. It’s a little different than the previous one, but just like life, you gotta be able to roll with the punches. I like to move my body and I LOVE to have goals, but I have exactly ZERO interest in developing my own training plans. BORING! I want to be told what to do in this area of my life. and this app takes the work out of planning, so for me so it’s a keeper. What is your favorite running app and why?
I punched in my current stats, height, weight, age, you know, all that fun stuff, then my current pace, and finally my goal. It spit out my plan for the next almost 8 months until race day. Now, if you know me, then you’ll know that I take my training plans VERY seriously. I do not like moving days around and especially skipping them, but I’ve learnt over the years where I can be flexible and still hit my target.
I kept my nutrition fairly strict, but that wasn’t hard for me to do. I already eat pretty clean with a minimal amount of sugar in my diet. I aim for whole foods, a balanced diet the majority of the time and LOTS of water to make sure I stayed hydrated. Does that mean I didn’t ever allow myself a treat? Absolutely not! After all, I’m still human! By the way, my weakness is chips. And peanuts. And peanut buster parfaits. And trail mix. And wine. And well you get it. We all have weaknesses. I choose to not have most of these things in the house because that removes the ease and temptation for grabbing something unhealthy when I’m hungry or bored. I also try to meal plan as much as I can. It helps with having healthy snacks available to eat throughout the day.
Now how was I mentally able to run for the lengths of time required when training for a marathon? Let’s not forget that I didn’t start out here. I’ve worked my way here over many years. Depending on my mental and emotional state at running time, I have a variety of things that I do. Sometimes I listen to music, especially when I need some help to push me through the hard runs, sometimes I listen to podcasts or an audiobook, and sometimes I listen to the sounds of nature or the city and use the time to dream and reflect. In fact, some of my best thinking is done while I’m running. I’d come back from a lunch run (pre work from home days) and say to the ladies on my team “I’m a genius!” LOL. Ok I said that basically everyday and they would always laugh and ask to hear about the insights and aha moments I discovered during this time.
Running the race was something quite different. I had never run that far at race pace. That’s not the intent of a training program. It’s to get your body ready to be able to do that hard thing. So I set off and made sure I stayed right around my target pace, even though I knew I could run faster. I knew that I was out here for a long time and that I needed to pace myself and save some energy for the end. I would often remind myself, during the race but also during training, of how far I had come over the years, back to when I started running again after baby #4 (this was more of a run/walk and try not to throw up). I also looked forward a lot and thought about my goal and what it would feel like to accomplish it and especially what it would mean to me. There is nothing quite as amazing as the feeling of accomplishment, knowing that you put in a TON of work, most of which is behind the scenes, and did that hard thing you set out to do. And with it, comes self confidence in knowing that you can challenge yourself, physically and mentally.
What I remember most about the marathon, besides the feeling of pride I had when I crossed the finish line, was the last kilometer. That was basically a form of torture, on my mind and on my body. And even though it was at the same pace that the other forty-one kilometers had been, it was the longest kilometer ever. There was a lot of self talk happening. It sounded like this: “You’re almost there. Keep going. Don’t stop.” And it was on repeat. There was nothing easy about that last kilometer. I even skipped the last water station because I knew by that point that if I slowed down even a little (you know, so that I could actually get some of the water in my mouth) I knew I wouldn’t speed up again. I remember hearing someone cheer me on and say something like “You’re almost there. Only 300 more meters.” and the only thing that came to mind was that I wanted to punch them in the face because at that point, 300 meters seemed so far away. The only thing I wanted to do after I crossed the finish line was throw up. Oh and stretch out my leg muscles before they seized up on me. I knew in that moment that I had pushed my body as far as I could and done what I had set out to do. I crossed this off my bucket list and moved on to the next goal. What’s are you working towards on your bucket list?
So to sum it all up…… Do I think I’m a pro? Haha, far from it. I know that running a full marathon is something that I have now accomplished and of which I am super proud. I also know what worked, and didn’t, for me to be able to do this because I have done a lot of experimenting throughout the years. What I needed was a running program, a nutrition plan and the right mindset, which included a whole lot of determination and self-motivation. And now I’m moving on to my next fitness goal. Stay tuned!
What are your fitness goals this year? What tools are you using to reach them?