Marathon Run Report

I did it! I completed my first ever marathon. Funnily enough, it hasn't been a lifelong goal or a real burning desire, but it still does feel good to be able to say I am a marathon runner! Now that it is the day after, it is hard to believe I actually got the job done actually.
Apart from being able to refer to myself as a marathon runner (which I plan to trot out as many times as I can in general conversation with people 😂), I am really glad I did the event, as I learnt a few valuable lessons to better prepare me for the ultramarathon in four weeks' time.

1. Blisters: I need to a) tape my feet before the next big run and b) continue my search for the perfect blister preventing sock. In the marathon I had to stop at 17kms to put some tape on a blister on the arch of my left foot. At the end of the run I had blisters on the tops of most of my toes and the side of big toe as well; this made putting shoes on today very difficult! 
2. Hydration: Even if I don't feel like drinking, I need to force myself to drink more during the race. In the marathon I only drank 500ml in the first 2 hours. I carried 2*500ml floppy bottles (affectionately referred to as 'booby sippers') of Torq electrolytes in the front of my hydration vest and 750ml of plain water in the bladder (to use after downing gels etc). At the end of the run I had salt on my face and legs and my body threatened to cramp up numerous times during the remainder of the day. I clearly needed more salt intake during the run and think keeping up my electrolytes properly next time should help.
3. Nutrition: I need to find a less sugary approach to fuelling during the run. I felt so sick and a bit nauseas for most of the afternoon after the run and I think it was due to all the sugar from the gels. I need to find a balance between sugary gels and non sugary, high carb foods to consume along the way. There is a possibility that it was the caffeine gels that made me feel so yuck as well (I'm not used to consuming so much caffeine), but the boost of energy they gave me in the run outweighed the sickly feeling after the run. 
4. Timing of fuelling: I need to make sure I have more fuel earlier in the race. Yesterday I started to struggle at about 18kms and I think it was because I strayed from my plan of fuelling every 6kms. I had my first gel at 7kms and then my second at about 14kms. This left me feeling a bit flat. I really didn't feel like consuming anything so early in the run (especially not a sugary gel) so I need to come up with an alternate solution for this. If I sort this out, it might help the 20km slump I experienced.
5. Having a crew rocks!: Because my amazing husband had a calf injury, he wasn't able to participate in the race (which was really sad because we wanted to do our first marathon together), this meant he spent the time crewing for me instead. How lucky I was! He drove ahead to each of the water stops and gave me words of encouragement and a change of electrolytes when I needed it. Knowing he would be at the next pit stop helped to keep me motivated and running. I really wanted to make him proud and this really helped in the second half of the race where I tried to make up more and more time between each water stop. If I could, I'd have a crew in every run I do from now on, it's amazing! 
6. Training actually works: Yes, I know- who would have thought!? As I learnt on this run and in the two days afterwards, if you put the hard yards in in the lead up to the event, both the event and the recovery will be much better than if you hadn't. Duh! Right? As a long time 'winger', I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to actually believe this!!

Basic overview of the run:

Before the run

YAY!!!! I woke up without a stomach ache and managed to poop before leaving the house (ahhhh the relief!) I tried to eat a bit of breaky before leaving but could only stomach 1 piece of toast with Vegemite and then I forced myself to eat half a banana about 20 minutes before the start.

0-17kms

I ran with my running partners for the first 17kms. I made sure to keep an eye on my watch to ensure we didn't get caught up in the hype and set out too fast. We tried to stay around the 6:30 pace mark during this section. It was great to laugh and have a chat along this section, although I found myself constantly thinking about just how much further we had to go.

At 17kms I had to stop to tend to a blister on the arch of my left foot. It was going to give me real grief if I didn't stop and cover it with some tape. At this point all the other people I was running with continued on while I did my roadside repair job. Once I was patched up it took me about another 1.5kms to catch up with one of my running partners.

20kms

Even though my legs and body felt fine, my brain was getting pretty loud by this point. I was desperate for permission to walk. My training partner voiced it aloud and next thing you know, we were walking. At first we convinced ourselves it would be one minute of walking to ten of running but it was evident after a couple of rounds of less and less running and more and more walking that we weren't going to make it to the finish line in 5 hours if we continued at this rate. At around the 25km mark I decided I need to pull myself together and go it alone. I wished my training partner well and chugged on ahead up the hill. I saw my husband at the 26km waterpoint and told him I was going to start running by myself. After that, I put my headphones on, and focused my mind on Scott Durek's "Eat and Run" audiobook and my sights on the runner 400m in front of me. 

25kms

At the 25kms mark I needed a 'pick me up' so I pulled out one of the two Torq caffeine gels I had packed. I swallowed it down with a good mouthful of water (they taste terrible) and hoped a surge of energy would follow. Fortunately the gel did the trick and I had a fresh bout of energy and enthusiasm to tackle the last 17kms.

34kms

The 'sight and chase down' strategy helped me get through the rest of the race and worked to keep my mind positive. Once I got through the 30km mark and had chased a few people down I started thinking that I would actually get the race done and there was a possibility I could do it in under 5 hours. It was at this stage that I felt chills and goosebumps all over my body and felt like I was floating along the course (I wondered if this was the runner's high lots of long distance runners talk about?) This happened again at 38kms and its something I would like to experience again! At the 34kms mark I realised I had one hour left to run 8kms- I had to stay focused and just keep runnning (oh, and have another caffeine gel!)

36kms

It was at this mark that I started thinking crazy thoughts about signing up for other events... If I had time to whip my phone out and sign up while running, I think I would have at this point.

39kms

I caught up to the last of the people I was running with for the first 17kms when I hit the 39km mark. I was really proud of myself for having such a good second half and I couldn't wait to cross the finish line in front of my parents and my wonderful husband, Laurie. Unbelievably, I ran my fastest split in the 41st kilometre! (it was a 6.06 split).

Finish

Yay! I made it in just under 5 hours! 

I purchased a couple of bags of ice on the way home and "enjoyed" an ice bath to help my recovery (that was sarcasm, I said numerous swear words when I first got in the water and did not enjoy this at all!) I also took my dogs for a walk to tried to engage in some 'active recovery' (plus my dogs didn't care that I'd just run 42kms, they wanted their weekend walk!)

And that was my first marathon, done and dusted!

Marathon debut eve

It's the night before my first ever marathon!
I spent all day trying not to think about how hard it will be to run so far tomorrow and, because I was so focused on NOT thinking about it, I ended up thinking about it more!
I tried tricking myself into doing mundane house jobs (like taking a load of green waste to the tip) and spent the whole time saying to myself 'should you be doing this the day before a marathon?' 'could you injure yourself doing this?'

Wow! What will I be like the week before the ultramarathon!?

Fortunately, my endo won't be a problem tomorrow thanks to my body clock changing it's calendar a couple of months ago of it's own accord (very lucky!). Unfortunately, I do have a bit of a bowel issue going on at the moment (endo and bowel issues often go hand in hand; many girls are diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome either after they learn they have endo or as a misdiagnosis for their endo symptoms in the early stages of diagnosis) and it is making me a bit nervous about the run. Stomach pain and bowel issues aren't in my race plan!! I have noted that there seem to be a number of toilets on the course so that's a bit more reassuring but it is anyone's guess what mood my bowel will be in tomorrow (or if the stomach pain I have in bed right now will be a distant memory before the start of the race...)

Apart from a few nerves, I am mostly excited about the race. I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line and being able to say I've run a marathon! I am trying not to do anything differently to my training, so I've decided to carry my hydration vest and have my usual pre run breakfast of a banana. I'm planning on running with the ladies in my running group for as long as possible, so we can chat away the kilometers and hopefully distract ourselves from being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

I have a very different feeling going in to tomorrow's marathon than I did the night before my first half Ironman. I spent that eve worried sick about not making the cut off time in the swim and regretting my terrible training in the lead up to the event. This time around, I know I have put the hard yards into the training and feel quite confident that I can make the distance (which is my only goal for the day).

Time wise, I would love to get as close to five hours as possible, but realise I am at the mercy of my body and how I'm feeling on the day... Oh, and I need to remember that this race is really just a training run for the big 50km event in four weeks' time.

Oh well, time to try and sleep off this stomach pain then get up and start running​ and just keep going!

5 weeks until Ultra- running with Endo

With the date of my first ever ultramarathon lingering only 5 weeks away, and my first marathon scheduled to take place in just 7 day's time, I knew I couldn't let anything stop me from completing my 20km training run today- not even the painful bloating, wind and heaviness I was suffering today thanks to what I call my stupid Endo (Endometriosis).
I took my beloved cavoodle Georgie out for me for the first 10km loop. It was a bit of a struggle getting going at the start and then again at about 8km, when the stomach pains kicked in properly. Now these aren't your normal 'quick I need to get to a toilet in the middle of my run' stomach pains either; the pain feels like a layer of sharp ache has been stitched just under the skin covering the entire abdomen area. This is a pain that feels worse when your stomach is extended after activities such as drinking, which just happens to be something that can't actually be avoided when running long distances in the heat!
So, after a quick swap over of dogs (I was accompanied by my energetic grandog Charlie cavoodle on the second 10km loop), I set out again, attempting to ignore the fact that  the degree of difficulty for the run was increasing significantly with every passing kilometer.
By the time we made it to the 13.5 kilometer mark I was really starting to question how I would be able to make it to the 20km mark. Unhelpful thoughts were starting to set in and they weren't helping with the battle to get to the end. Taking stock of the situation, I stopped running, ate a few handfuls of trail mix and allowed myself to walk until the next white road marker (sometimes you just have to understand that your body needs a break).
Just as I was lamenting the unfairness of having to deal with the unpredictability of endo and its related issues interfering with the already difficult task of training for a marathon, I heard a sound behind me that I wasn't expecting to hear. It was my wonderful husband! After finishing his morning bike ride, he had ridden around my running loop to check in on me. WOW!
He could see I was struggling and decided to stay with me for the rest of my run. I can't tell you how grateful I was just to have him there with me. He didn't even have to talk to me, he just rode next to me and made me feel like everything would be ok; I would make it to the end, I would achieve the training target and I would survive the temporary pain. It was serious like running with a warm hug around me and it helped me to keep running the whole way to the end of the 20km.
(I even told him he could keep riding home but he insisted on staying with me).

In my post run shower I reflected on just how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband. Just like today, when he was by my side as I was trying to persist through my misery causing pains, he's been by my side for my whole endo journey; through the specialists, surgeries and support meetings, through the good days and the bad.
I just feel so lucky and I hope he knows just how grateful I am. I only wish every other endo sufferer could be so fortunate.


5 week to go until our first Ultramarathon together and I am really looking forward to the adventure now!