Lessons Learned from My First Marathon

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally ran my first marathon on Sunday. It was the Royal Victoria Marathon this past weekend, and I couldn’t have asked for a better race to run my first marathon. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for a run. Nice cool temperature, bright sun in the sky to keep you warm, and a breeze off the sea to cool you off if you get to warm.

The race itself though, was kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: the first half went great, the second half was bad. Really, really bad. My feet and legs couldn’t handle the pounding, and my left knee wanted to lock up on me. But I got myself through it. Rarely have I ever DNF’d a race, and there was no way I was not going to finish my first 26.1 mile race.

So I learned a few things in my four and half hour journey on the course. Things I should’ve known better, things I can apply for next time, and things about myself.

Lesson # 1: You have to actually train

This is a no brainer, and one of the things I should’ve known better. I only started training back in July when I registered, and it was actually going quite well. Up until my little boy got sick, then I got sick, and recovery took awhile. When I was finally feeling 100%, the race was only a couple weeks away. Now I should’ve gotten some running in at that point, just so I could get my legs back into the fray. But instead I said “f@%k it!” I’ll just go and do it.

Stupidest thing to do, I know, and there’s no excuse for it. I figured at that point I will survive the race and do what I can, which I did.

The smart thing to do would’ve been to start training much earlier, and get the legs to adapt to all the pounding. I have strong legs, but not strong enough to run 42km. And at the time I wasn’t even planning to run a marathon. I’m not going to spend time training for a race that I might do when I had other matters to attend to.

Lesson # 2: You gotta have fun

I’m pretty competitive when it comes to racing. I don’t want to just complete a race, I want to be the best. Even when I’m in a field that could easily crush me, I want to go out there and show that I can hang with them. But for this one, my mentality had to shift. I had to go in and learn to have fun with it and not get caught up in other people’s races. I have my pace to follow, I have my priorities.

So I had fun. I brought my phone with me. I listened to my music. I updated wifey of my whereabouts on the course. I documented my race on Facebook and took pictures along the way. I even had some beer while I ran. I did this because I wanted to enjoy my race. And it helped.

Lesson # 3: Worry about yourself

Now even though I was having fun, there were still moments where my competitive spirit came out. There were points in the race where I would get past by someone, and automatically I’d want to keep up with them. But I had to keep myself in check to get through the whole thing.

After the halfway point, when things went sideways for me, I had to keep reminding myself that “this was still your race, no one else’s. And if you gotta walk, walk. If people pass you, let them pass you. No one isn’t going to think of you any less.”

When you do your thing and not worry about other people’s perceptions, it makes things getting things done a lot easier.

Lesson # 4: It’s good to have support

I texted my wife often letting her know where I was at. I also let her know how I was feeling. And her words of encouragement helped me continue moving forward, getting one foot in front of the other. I ain’t gonna lie, I had my moments of doubt. Even when I was having my fun, I still had thoughts of quitting. But reading her texts, then seeing the support online, it helped.

As solitary as running a marathon can be, it’s good knowing when you have loved ones and friends cheering you along the way.

Lesson # 5: Breaking things down into manageable pieces

After the halfway point, I had to use different strategies to get from one kilometre to the next. I tried using my timer to break the run into walk/runs. I used music as my guide, running one song then walking the next. Or if I walked for too long, I would force myself to run to the next kilometre mark or water station before I could walk again.

The point is, when I broke things down into smaller chunks, it made getting through the second half manageable. Instead of thinking “10k to go”, I just had to think one more km. Or get to the end of this song. Or whatever strategy I was employing.

Getting things done in smaller chunks helps to get the big picture done.

The next time I run a marathon, I have these lessons to learn from. And for those who plan on running a marathon, or taking up any kind of challenge, perhaps you can learn from experiences.