Tell me about your first marathon experience

kirstengeffen

My first marathon is coming up, and as much as I'm excited, I'm nervous. I've never been genetically inclined to run. 2 years ago I started by walking 2 min, running a min... and now in 10 weeks I'm facing my first marathon. It's a beautiful thing and I'm extremely proud of myself.

I'm curious to know how your first marathon went down? What did you feel? What do you wish someone told you? What happened in general?

glevinso

You can break the marathon down into two "halves". The first half is 20 miles long. The second half is 10k long.

I remember my first one well. I was just getting in to running and decided to tackle the big challenge. Used the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan and followed it faithfully. I only missed a handful of mid-week runs, and never missed a long run. I got to race day thinking I was totally prepared and had planned to run somewhere in the 4:10-4:20 range.


The first 20 miles went by pretty well. IE - the first half. I started actually feeling the hurt around mile 18 though. I remember thinking that at least for the first 20 miles it wasn't any different than the last long run I did. I crossed that 20 mile mark and thought to myself that this is now uncharted territory. I was definitely hurting at this point and things went downhill pretty quickly. By mile 21 I was questioning why I ever wanted to run a marathon in the first place. Mile 22 I was starting to think I might die. Mile 23 I was pretty sure I would die. At Mile 24 I was really just hoping for the sweet release of death to make the pain stop. At Mile 25 all that went away and I went somewhat mentally numb. At 26 I started trying to really run it in and pretend my last horrible 10k never happened. I finished in something like 4:35 and then I finally remembered why I wanted to do it in the first place. The feeling you get at the finish line cannot be matched by anything else, especially that first one.

Fast forward 6 years, 7 more open marathons and 4 full Ironmans, I ran a 3:04:14 to solidly qualify for Boston.

litsy3

When I entered my first one I wasn't just getting into running. I'd been running for a few years and had done three half marathons over the past 18 months, so I guess I had a reasonable idea of what I was getting into. I followed a Pfitzinger & Douglas 18-week schedule more or less to the letter, except that (a) I couldn't do all the speed sessions fast enough because I didn't have access to a track and it was very icy that winter! and (b) I adapted it to race another half six weeks out from the full. I'd planned to run at 3:15 pace but reassessed that based on my training and decided to aim for 3:10. On the day, because I'd done lots of training and practised running at race pace, I knew how I should be feeling at that pace and allowed myself to go a little faster. At mile 11, I thought 'only 15 miles to go' (I know: smug b***h) because I'd done so many midweek 15-milers that the distance was really familiar. I had a slight moment of doubt around halfway thinking of all the stuff people say about hitting a wall at 20 miles etc., so thought I'd better slow down a little and did for a few miles. But actually it was fine and I crossed the finish line in 3:06 feeling comfortable enough. And then my legs seized up and got really stiff as soon as I stopped running, of course! I couldn't eat anything for a while after, and had a horrific dehydration headache, but sorted everything out with a double espresso, two paracetemol, a cold bath and a warm shower, and then went and ate the biggest plate of roast beef I could find, washed down with champagne and red wine. And five scoops of ice cream.

glevinso

litsy3 wrote: »

And then my legs seized up and got really stiff as soon as I stopped running, of course!

Nothing... and I mean nothing... can prepare you for this. Even knowing it is going to happen (after every marathon/ironman for me), there is nothing you can do to prepare yourself for just how horrible this feeling is...

The_Enginerd

I had been pretty slow in moving up in distances as a runner, having already done road and trail half marathon distances for a year and a half, and with a regular 30 MPW base, before I moved into marathon training. I followed the Intermediate 2 Higdon plan, except most of those long runs were done as trail run with lots of elevation gain. Since I was already up to a 40 MPW base as I had been moving my mileage up in anticipation of doing a marathon, I jumped into the middle of that program.

I went at a conservative pace for my first marathon, targeting about 5-10 minutes slower than the calculators gave me from my half/10k/5k race results. Also, I live at sea level and do a lot of trail running which prepared me well for hills (both up and down), but my first marathon started at 10,000' of elevation and ended at around 5000'. Between the elevation and downhill, I had no idea what to target pace wise. I went by HR and effort and ended up at the same pace as flat terrain at sea level.

In my mind, I treated it as a 20 mile fast long run, follow by a 10k race. I crossed the 20 mile mark still feeling pretty good. By mile 22, I decided to start picking up the pace. I was making good time and feeling strong, but at mile 24, I got a sudden stitch in my diaphragm and I had to slow down because it hurt to breathe hard. The last 2ish miles were a fight to not walk because of the pain. I still felt like I had plenty of my legs, but I couldn't get in enough air to go faster. I was SO glad to see that finish line. I think I almost cried because I was so glad to have finished and because I was so happy I could finally stop.

My legs were sore at the end, but I was in much better shape than a lot of people by the looks of it. No waddling with blown out quads from the downhill course. I got a big, salty meal with ice cream afterwards and took a nap. Legs were sore and stiff the next couple of days, although I was still getting up and down stairs. Not bounding up and down them like usual though...

GiddyupTim

That advice not to change anything? To do everything just as you have been? I didn't get that advice. Never heard it. Instead, I heard someone say: 'Your feet really swell when you run that far, and then your shoes become tight and you can lose circulation.' So, when I tied my shoes, I left them a bit loose. Duh. I got terrible blisters and hobbled thru the last 8 or so miles.

kristinegift

I ran my first marathon after running 8 or 9 half marathons over the course of 5 years. I trained for about 6 months since I was starting with less fitness after taking ~5 months off running to let some chronic injuries heal. I ran about 35-40 miles per week in training, and my goal was just to finish. I had done one 20 miler and 1 or 2 18 milers during training, and those went OK. The race though... I hit a wall mentally around 14 miles in, and then got over the wall around mile 22 or 23, but by then my legs were totally shot so my miles didn't get any faster (or include any less walking...). It was really, really rough. I wanted to finish around 4:30 and came in just under 4:45. I finished and I was relieved just to be done. But I didn't drink enough or eat anything, so when I took a train back to the place I was staying I almost fainted (I also had to stand the whole 30-40 min train ride back bc no one would give me a seat on the crowded train; but had I sat, IDK if I would have been able to get up in time for my stop!).

Somehow, my first marathon didn't turn me off the distance entirely. I trained again for another race 6 months later, and took 39 minutes off my time; I ran ~35-45 miles per week, so basically the same distance, but there's a lot to be said for just being familiar with that longer distance that makes it easier for your legs and your brain. I have a friend training for her first marathon right now, and I told her her first one will probably be rough and a learning experience; it's the second one that's much more fun and that leads you to more and more races

kristinegift

kristinegift wrote: »

But I didn't drink enough or eat anything, so when I took a train back to the place I was staying I almost fainted

I should clarify: I ate/drank as planned during the race, but didn't drink enough water/Gatorade or eat any of the free food after the race bc I just wanted to get home and shower. Definitely should have at least eaten one of those half bagels or something!

jturnerx

My first marathon was Chicago 2010. I was shooting for 4 hours. Looking back that was a stretch for me to attempt but I gave it my best shot and came in at 4:10. Things I learned:

• For a destination race, if possible, have the day before the race be a non-travel day. My day before started with me missing my flight. I finally got to Chicago in time for dinner, well past packet pickup at the expo, but luckily my family was able to get my bib for me. Being stressed, the late arrival, and a two time zone difference was a lot to ask my body to recover from with just one night's sleep.
• I wasn't prepared for how the crowds and the very large field of runners would affect me. I felt crowded and the noise level was over stimulating. I remember running through an area where the crowds got much smaller and it was a relief. I'm much better equipped to deal with that now. For instance, I did New York and had a great time but I prefer smaller races.
• I discovered I was well trained. I mean, you hope you did the rights things but you don't know when it's your first attempt at the distance. I never hit the wall. My mental state stayed really focused on what I was doing. I remember around mile 23 getting emotional when I realized I was actually going to finish this thing. It went about as well as I could have hoped for a first time, except for the heat.
• My typical training temps are in the 60s Farenheit. Chicago on that day was in the upper 80s. Not what I was hoping for or expecting in an October race. It definitely impacted my performance but I learned to adjust. I'd never had to pour water over my head in a training run and here I was dousing like crazy every opportunity I could get.
• I don't recall feeling any pain or hurts during the race but omg the couple days after was an entirely different story. It was classic - could barely walk and going down stairs was comical. As someone said above, nothing prepared me for how I'd feel post-race.

STrooper

My first marathon came at age 60. I had "accidentally" gotten back into running after signing up for the Cooper River Bridge Run in April 2013 (my first 10K since 1985, when I ran a July 4th 10K). I really just wanted to get pictures up on the bridge, but I ended up running most of the course except when I was taking pictures. When I got to the end of the 10K, I felt remarkably good and thought I could run at least twice that far.

My marathoning friends handed me a training plan using Galloway's run/walk approach and I picked up training for an end of October/early November marathon. Didn't commit to one until the end of August once I determined that training was going well enough. Fortunately, where I was training (hills) pretty much matched the course (hills).

Things I learned:

• Don't throw in extra (junk) miles just to get more training in towards the end of the training cycle. It can hurt more than it can help. In my case, as I began my taper with one of my longish runs, I picked the gnarliest, hilly sections I could run even though I was running slowly and had been dealing with hills in my typical runs. Caused a lot of unexpected pain in my legs and took almost the entire taper to recover.
  
• Dress for the temperature, not the weather. If it is cool or cold, be prepared with a throwaway sweatshirt because even with a warmup cycle, you may be cool at the start. Once you get up to operating speed and temperature, your body is acting as if it is 15-20 °F warmer than the real temperature. Rain could be the exception, but the one marathon I ran where it rained almost the entire way (mile 2-23), it was 42°F and at the level of effort I was running, I was quite comfortable with a long sleeve tech shirt and a pair of running shorts.
  
• Run straight lines and attempt to run the shortest line on the course. That can be tough with crowding. My first marathon, I started out with the sweepers and allowed the running hoard to accelerate away from me at the start. By the time I got to the first narrow section, the crowd had begun to thin out a bit. Resist, resist, RESIST, the temptation to sprint away at the beginning just because the crowd is doing so. Whatever you burn up because you go too fast in the first couple of miles, you'll not get back later on in the race. I was glad I didn't go out too fast in that first marathon.
  
• I followed the advise not to wear, eat, or drink anything I had not trained with on the long runs. That worked well. I don't wear the t-shirt they give at the expo...first, because I haven't really earned it yet and, second, it hasn't been washed yet and I haven't trained in it.
  
• Don't set a too ambitious time goal for your first race. My longest training run was 26 miles and I knew that I could complete the course within the allotted time. I set an initial time goal of 5:00:00. I hit the HM point close to 2:30:00 and the 20 mile mark at 3:47. The last 6 miles had some pretty intense hills (see next bullet) and I finished at 5:10:51.
  
• Be mindful where you step. I stepped on a seed pod from a sweet gum tree while running downhill in my first marathon just beyond Mile 14. The rolling action of the pod under my heel and then the sudden, off-balance lurch when my foot made solid contact with the asphalt caused me a minor tear of the Achilles tendon. While I could still run on the flats and the downhill with little or no pain, running uphill was a real problem because my left Achilles was hurting with the amount of stretching associated with the tendon going uphill. This caused me to compensate and tire other muscles that hadn't given me a problem during training. I was fortunate that I didn't do too much damage and I was not a DNF.
• Whatever muscle or joint weakness you consistently experience during the training will magnify during the race. There is always some weakest link in the system that shows up during training.
• Whatever that weakness is, expect that you'll attempt to compensate for it and you'll stress some other system that hadn't given you a problem during training.
  
  
• Have a dry set of clothes waiting for you in the finish area (gear check or friends and family). Unless the temperature at the end of the race is in the 80's, you'll cool down remarkably fast in the wet running gear (more so, if you've run in the rain). At least have a dry shirt that you can swap into. I wished I had this when I finished my first two marathons (had to go back to the car to get it).
  
• Do get some carbs and protein into your system relatively quickly once you finish. I didn't do that after my first marathon. After that first one, I made sure to re-energize myself. I am fortunate that I don't have a major lactose intolerance problem, so a container of chocolate milk works for me. I'll go for muffins, cookies and bagels next. Usually a banana. Pizza is often available at the marathons I've run but it usually isn't all that appealing to me immediately after finishing.
  
  
• Smile for the cameras! Thank the volunteers!

Since then I've gotten a better handle on how to hydrate, carb load prior to the race, and carb sustain during the race. I've found my favorite combinations of gels and drinks that work for me. They don't necessarily taste great (we are running a marathon, not attending a wine and cheese tasting party), but training is about finding what works for you, not necessarily what works for someone else.

nicolejo143

I just ran my 1st marathon last weekend, it took me over 7hrs and it was way more painful then I thought. I peaked at 20 miles in my training and that wasn't so bad.. so I figured that I would have no problem with the first 20 miles. Well, I was sure wrong! There were hills I didn't train for which really hurt my hips. I wish I had listened to my dad's advice as a seasoned marathoner, "take some advil before you run and take some with you!". I was in so much pain half-way through. Another runner saw my pain and gave me some advil out of pity and idk how I would have made it without that. Lol. I think its best to not make expectations for your time, or at least don't feel bad if you take longer than expected. Its about finishing and you can only improve from there. Remember to have fun!

kjloiselle

My first marathon was a learning experience to say the least. I had a pretty solid running base before I decided to run a marathon and only missed a couple mid week short runs of my training program. Things I'm taking into consideration when/changing when I tackle the same marathon in May are:
* beware of the hills. I did hill repeats and ran hills in my training, but nothing prepared me for the really big up and down hill. Know your course
* bring more fuel them you think you need. I brought 2 extra gels with me just in case and that was not enough. See next point
* eat a good breakfast (what you're used too of coarse). Travelling for the race made it a little harder to get what I was used to especially at that time of the morning which played into me needing more fuel during the race
* start out slow, really slow no matter how good you feel. Of you still feel that good 3/4 of the way through you can make up that time.
* bring pain relievers for after the race. I am someone that never takes anything and the muscle stiffness/spazzing after the race was so unbareable that I was tempted to wander around town at 3am to find something if I had 1. Been able to walk 2. Made it down the four flights pfnstairs of my hotel to get outside lol.
* I ended up hitting a huge wall at the 1/2 way mark and pushed with everything I had to not get "swept" up at the 31km mark and then alternated walking and running 1km for almost the rest of the race.
**** have fun and talk to the people around you. Makes it so much better

MobyCarp

My first marathon was kind of accidental. Due to my injury history, I had planned in 2015 to build distance gradually, looking to a first marathon at Rochester, NY in September 2016. I did long runs with a training group that was mostly full of experienced marathon runners, and figured it was no big deal if I couldn't run the training distance for the marathon long runs; I had a year to build up.

In March 2015, I ran 20 miles with a buddy and had no problem. My pace group pushed me into registering for the 2015 Buffalo Marathon in May. I looked online, found one hotel with one room left a mile from the start/finish line, and took that as a sign. I booked the hotel room, then registered for the marathon.

I'd run for most of a year with marathoners, and picked up a lot from them. I avoided many classic newbie mistakes, and made my own mistakes instead. My long runs were fine. I trained on plenty of hills, and Buffalo was pretty flat compared to where I trained. But I wasn't really training for a marathon, I was only doing the long runs. I did no speed work other than a few races. I ran a 10K, hard, for a PR, a week before Buffalo. I didn't have a strong enough base. I peaked out at 41 miles per week, the week of my 22 mile long run. Yeah, I broke a lot of training rules.

Buffalo provided pacers. I had planned to go with the 3:30 pacer. Met him at the pasta dinner then evening before, and we chatted. When he heard my half marathon results, he told me I belonged with the 3:20 pacer. So I set out on 12 hours notice to run 10 minutes faster than planned.

Race day follies: At mile 8, I noticed I needed a rest room break, right after I passed a porta-pot. So I picked up the pace slightly, and ran ahead of the pacer. (Against advice from my future coach, "Don't pass the pacer.") Found a park restroom at mile 10, ran in, and only took a minute to take care of business. Of course, I was way behind the pacer then. Ran 2 miles faster to catch up, about 7:09 instead of the 7:35 pace the pacer was holding. (Against common wisdom, "Take the first half slow.") Got to the halfway point in fine shape, with the pacer who was rock solid stead on his pace.

The pacer only did a half, then handed us off to a fresh pacer. The second half pacer was all over the map. When he slowed to an 8:15 pace going up what passes for a hill (second time up for me), I couldn't stand it. I left him behind. Caught up with a guy wearing a GVH singlet, who recognized me from visiting practice the Tuesday before. We chatted from about mile 14 to mile 16. He reminded me that the coach would tell us to run good tangents in Delaware Park. Lots of curves there, and good tangents could cut a couple hundred meters off your running distance over the course of a marathon. I appreciated the reminder, and regretted needing to let Dave go ahead when his pace picked up to faster than I thought I should be running.

I hit a small wall at mile 18, but pulled through it with an extra gel and determination. I don't think it was severe enough to be "the wall" that everyone talks about, but it was there. Somewhere in there, the 2nd half pacer passed me. I hung with him, then his pace picked up to crazy fast for a 3:20 target finish. I let him go ahead, and somehow almost caught up to him about the 30K sign. Then he pulled ahead again; his pace was all over the map.

At mile 22, I started hurting and had to slow down. From mile 22 to 25, I had to keep telling myself that every step was a new PR for distance run. At mile 25, the last downhill started. For the previous 4 miles, it had looked like I was about to turn a corner and start down that hill; I wish I had been able to preview the course. About mile 26, I ran a good tangent at Niagara Square and passed 3 runners who didn't run a good tangent. With as little energy as I had left, it would have been a struggle to dodge around them. Thanks for the tangent reminder, Dave!

Somehow, I finished running all the way. Stopped to stretch, and my calves cramped up. I was hurting, bad. Ultimately got some water, oranges, and bananas into me. Took the free massage. It hurt in progress, but resulted in feeling less bad.

Lessons I think I learned: I ran Buffalo on water and GU. I had never used electrolyte drinks, and followed the standard advice of nothing new on race day. The calf cramps were a big flag that while I had got away with that through 4 half marathons, I couldn't go a full that way. In hindsight, I think it took me the month of June to fully recover. I think I didn't have a good enough base before Buffalo.

I finished Buffalo in 3:21:01 gun time, 3:20:53 net time. All that drama, and I finished behind my target time by about the amount of time I spent on a rest room break at mile 10. Maybe I would have felt better if I'd just given up that minute at mile 10 and run steady the rest of the race . . . assuming I would have been capable of doing that.

I was 59 years old at the time, but because I turned 60 between Buffalo and Boston, my BQ target was 3:55. I wanted to find a fall marathon to see whether I learned the right lessons from Buffalo, but none of them fit into my schedule around all the halfs I had scheduled. So my second marathon will be Boston 2016. It will be an experience finding out whether I learned the correct lessons from Buffalo. My originally planned first marathon, Rochester 2016, will be my third marathon.

There are a lot of traditional sayings about a marathon. The one that resonated after my first marathon was, "A marathon is a nice 20 mile jog followed by the toughest 10K of your life."

SteveTries

Here's what I wrote after my first (and thus far only) marathon just over a year ago:

I hit 40 this year and in a stereotypical manner I decided I wanted to set myself the challenge of running a marathon. I've been a recreational runner since 2011 and have run 3 half marathons before this and a couple of brutal 10 mile hilly trail races, plus a handful of 5k's.

As I started searching for an event I thought I could get prepared in time for, Leicester jumped out at me. It's not a big event, it's not a very attractive city and I hadn't read great reviews but it was the home of the specialist premature baby unit that cared for my youngest daughter some years back and so it resonated with me and trying to raise a little bit of money for them helped provide additional motivation.

The Event
About 4000 people line up at the start line in a large and attractive park, 90% of whom are doing the half mara. The first 10kms or so are through some tired-looking parts of this post war city (apologies to any locals). The half mara peels off just before the 10km mark at which point the marathon leaves the city and heads into attractive countryside and villages, doing a large loop before coming back to the same spot where the half-mara peeled away and then following their route home via a lake-strewn country park then a final run through the city to the finish line.
It's a meandering, undulating route with no major hills, gaining only 164m elevation (according to my Garmin).

Race Day
A chest cold added to my pre-race anxiety in the final week and to be honest, my head was all over the place. I knew my goal of 4 hours was unreachable in my condition (if it ever was) and I was really worried about not finishing and letting down all the people who had donated to the charity on my behalf. I really should not have Googled "running a marathon with a chest cold" the night before in vain hope of finding reassurance.

Fortunately the night before the race was when the clocks go back an hour in the UK so I was able to get some rest AND get up early. For a 9:15am gun time I was parked at 7:30am about a 7 or 8 minute walk away (remember that duration, it comes back into play later). I like to get there early, drink a cup of tea, do a reconnaissance of the staging area and destroy the nearest portaloo (TMI - sorry).

Coupled with a hacking cough, the wind at the start was nothing short of cruel. Although the ambient temperature was about 10 degrees C, it felt closer to zero and everyone was having a good old English moan about it whilst we waited. I'd lined up at the "longer than 4 hours" marker and it took over 5 full minutes to cross the start line.

There was a long gradual downhill for the first 3kms which was quite a confidence boost. If it wasn't for the chest cold, I would probably have gotten a bit carried away at that point. As it was I kept it easy and stayed within 10-15seconds per km below my target of 6 mins per. I chatted with a few people up to the half-mara split point where suddenly it got really lonely. From having hundreds and hundreds of people around me to just a dozen or so within my line of sight and all spread out was a big change.

By this time my chest was clearing up nicely and I was getting comfortable. I'd seen one person passed out at the side of the road (being attended to) but I stopped fearing that would be me and just stuck to my rhythm.

I took as SiS gel at every water station every 5kms/30mins.
I took a Nuun electrolyte tablet every 10kms/60mins.

This seemed to work pretty well, though with tangible peaks and troughs as they kicked in and wore off. I really, really struggled at one point to do the mental calculation as to what is two-thirds distance and if I has passed it yet. I eventually got it, then 1 minute later couldn't remember the answer and couldn't calculate it that time. Odd.

Those winds came back to punish us several times. It wasn't quite take your breath away, but it was close. That seemed very cruel at the time. I'm sure at some point it was behind us and giving a push, but I didn't notice that at the time.

I can see from my Garmin splits that I pretty much stuck to my 6:00 per km rigidly give or take for inclines and descents. By the 32 km mark (20 miles) my watch was showing an avg pace of 5:52 per km. At this point I seem to have started slowing down getting to a worst of 6:33 before picking up a bit for the final few kms.

I got a huge mental boost from overtaking people. From when the mara group split, I think I got passed once only and I must have overtaken 50-75 people. Since my pace didn't alter, I guess they all went out too fast and ended up slowing and walking. As a newbie, that was very encouraging and surprising. I distinctly remember 3 people wearing "100 marathon club" t-shirts and a few Iron Man t-shirts and I guess they were having a bad day, but it helped me stay with it.

I've read here a couple of time (Carson I think) that you shouldn't train beyond 20 miles at it takes a heck of a toll on the body. I followed that guidance and now I know why. It's a real battering. My legs were like lead and my head was a mess, but I knew I couldn't succumb to the temptation of a short walk. I wouldn't have got started again so other than walking through the water stations I ran (plodded!) the whole way.

The final 6 kms were all uphill. Gradual for the first 3 but worse for the final 3. In fact the Garmin says it was only a 16m climb during the worst of those kms but it felt like a mountain to me. I was really hurting bad, but I kept thinking about the fighting spirit my youngest showed when she was born so small and that in comparison these final few kms were a small thing.

Unexpectedly, about a km from the end I heard my name called and it was my wife and 10 year old son. He ran with me the final km, urging me on. I was a mess. Poor kid had to answer the question "where is the end?" 4 times. My Garmin must have been a bit out as it was telling me I'd done the distance about 300m before I had. Cruel, cruel, cruel.

4hrs 15mins was my chip time. The photo taken afterwards is the worst, most unflattering photo I've ever had taken, but I'm proud to display it. It will be my profile pic here for a while now.

Post Race
It took 25 minutes to get back to the car. You'll recall it was only a 7 or 8 minute walk away. I was absolutely spent.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who gave me tips, support and kept me accountable during the training. It helped me a lot!! Whilst many people achieve incredible feats in life that dwarf a marathon, this was the biggest physical challenge I've ever undertaken and I am feeling pretty good about overcoming it.

I've learnt quite a lot in the preparation and running of my first marathon and I think I will write a full blog post so others might be able to avoid some of my mistakes.

I thanked every single one of the marshals along the route; "thank you marshall for your time today" and "thank you marshall for giving up your Sunday" though the last few came out as "thank you time" and "thank today" which must have been quite confusing for them. They were an enthusiastic bunch which was just what you need when there are no crowds to urge you on.

WhatMeRunning

I can't believe it has been so long since I checked this group out!

My first full did not go as planned but I made it anyway. It was one of the hillier courses in my area but I trained on hills and ran two halfs during training that went over many of the same hills on the race course. So I was prepared for that.

What I was not prepared for apparently was avoiding the ever so common mistake of starting out to fast. At each announcement I knew I was a bit ahead of where I should be, but I felt strong and my HR was even on target. I became optimistic that I might have a very surprisingly strong day. My intention was to run the whole way at easy pace. Not to race.

It was just after mile 8 on one of the longest inclines that my glutes started feeling numb. Not sore or anything. Numb. I was not at all prepared for that. But I was able to keep going and it felt from my stride that I was still engaging them. They just had that mild, tingly feeling of numbness. That is when I first felt something unexpected and doubted I would finish so strong. My pace slowed to my original target pace, and my HR was still as expected, I just lost whatever miracle boost I had before.

At mile 12 my glutes were still feeling numb and I was slowly dropping below my normal easy pace, but I kept running at the perceived effort of easy pace so I could have the best shot at finishing.

At mile 16 I had to add some decent walk breaks. I had serious doubts that I had 10.2 miles left in me but I was determined to keep going. I took on a mantra in my head of "Medal, injury or body bag". I wasn't going home without one of those things.

By mile 20 things werw still exactly the same and I was able to walk a little less even. The mantra seemed to help.

As I got to the final couple of miles I felt that even though I was running ridiculously slow (16:30 miles at that point) I could keep going all the same, perhaps even do 50k if the course had that option (and I had brought extra fuel).

I finished by running the last 2 miles feeling...great. Tired, yes. Sore...sort of...everything was still in motion and felt more numbish than sore. But I could have kept going and wanted to. Until I crossed the finish line. At that moment I was thrilled to be able to stop with nothing left to do ahead of me. I finished in 6:30:09, a full 30 minutes slower than my original goal.

I shuffled my way to my car, even running a part of it. Drove home and then had to deal with the hardest part of the day. Getting out of the car and into the house. It was harder than after my first half and I considered just camping out in the car overnight and getting drive thru food to recover.

It was also the first day my running hat developed a white crown of salt on top. I like seeing that when it happens now. It makes me feel like I really did something.

Not the most exciting story, but there it is.

STrooper

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

....Drove home and then had to deal with the hardest part of the day. Getting out of the car and into the house.

I forgot about that part after my first. I nearly had to call my wife on the cell phone to come out to the driveway and help me out of the car.

lemurcat12

glevinso wrote: »

You can break the marathon down into two "halves". The first half is 20 miles long. The second half is 10k long.

I remember my first one well. I was just getting in to running and decided to tackle the big challenge. Used the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan and followed it faithfully. I only missed a handful of mid-week runs, and never missed a long run. I got to race day thinking I was totally prepared and had planned to run somewhere in the 4:10-4:20 range.


The first 20 miles went by pretty well. IE - the first half. I started actually feeling the hurt around mile 18 though. I remember thinking that at least for the first 20 miles it wasn't any different than the last long run I did. I crossed that 20 mile mark and thought to myself that this is now uncharted territory. I was definitely hurting at this point and things went downhill pretty quickly. By mile 21 I was questioning why I ever wanted to run a marathon in the first place. Mile 22 I was starting to think I might die. Mile 23 I was pretty sure I would die. At Mile 24 I was really just hoping for the sweet release of death to make the pain stop. At Mile 25 all that went away and I went somewhat mentally numb. At 26 I started trying to really run it in and pretend my last horrible 10k never happened. I finished in something like 4:35 and then I finally remembered why I wanted to do it in the first place. The feeling you get at the finish line cannot be matched by anything else, especially that first one.

Fast forward 6 years, 7 more open marathons and 4 full Ironmans, I ran a 3:04:14 to solidly qualify for Boston.

Congratulations. This sounds so much like my first marathon (Chicago, 2005, 4:36) that I'm angry with myself (yet again) that I did not keep up with my running afterwards. Oh, well, silly to cry over wasted time, I guess.

I had been a runner off and on earlier in my life, but just got back into it in a real way in 2004. I did a few halfs (and other length races, including some Olympic triathlons) and decided in spring '05 I would go for the marathon. Chicago was open then, so that was easy and the obvious pick, and I trained through the local CARA program which largely followed the Higdon schedule. I was in pretty good shape from triathlon, but really didn't like running more than 3 days per week and did not -- basically I made most of my long runs, but missed a few (I think I did 16 and 20, missed 18), and was quite spotty about the weekday runs.

When I started I knew I was undertrained, but still thought I could manage maybe under a 10 min mile (I'd been training with the (9:30 or 10 min/mile group, but usually ended up with those at the end). I made a bunch of errors, though -- starting with the fact I always have a nervous bladder and convinced myself that I was going to regret it if I didn't stop at the first restroom stop (not knowing where the next one would be -- another thing I could have done in advance). Unfortunately that stop was just before the path ended, so the result was I ended up behind a huge group going a lot slower than I wanted to be with no way to pass. Stupidly I wasted a bunch of energy trying to anyway and just being upset. Got over that, don't recall any major nutrition errors (I had no plan, and think I ate a couple gels mid race, so I might not have even realized) and then the hurt kicked in around 18 miles in (at the time I was sad the course isn't that distracting at that point, now I think it didn't matter) and I gutted it out and made 4:36 -- a time I was disappointed in, but I was more happy to have finished.

I thought then, however, never again, which I think was likely the result of inadequate training.

I had no desire to do a marathon again (despite doing a half ironman) until late last year when I just decided I did want to and that training would be a fun way to spend the winter. My training again was less than ideal, but better than '05, and I just finished my second one on Sunday (New Orleans).

I was surprisingly nervous about just finishing this one (don't recall being nervous about that before) and the heat in New Orleans (it wasn't hot, but I got sunburnt and simply wasn't used to any heat having trained in Chicago) affected me some, but I was on pace to hit my goal of 4:30 (which I never believed I would hit -- this is relevant, I think) until about the halfway point and then slowed down some, not too much, til I finally got passed by the 4:30 pace leader at about 20 miles in and tried to speed up again and realized it was more painful than I was up for that day. I had felt pretty dead on my feet and out of energy at about 18 miles into my 20 mile training run, and was having a similar experience, and essentially decided that gutting out the pain wasn't worth it to me so I'd slow down and just focus on finishing. I did finish, much closer to 5 hours than I expected (4:59 -- and I should feel lucky as I really had no clue I was in danger of falling back that much), and was initially delighted and then a little angry with myself because I know it was largely a mental lapse. But then, I also finished having had fun and wanting to do another one, which was not how I felt in 2005, so probably the right choice for me. Just knowing I can finish I think will make the next one easier.

One thing I learned is that age matters. Back in my early and mid 30s I had a bad habit of relying on myself as being strong and fit enough to manage some activity, even if not adequately trained, and that's not going to work for me in my mid 40s and older (and was dumb before, obviously).

KateRunsColorado

My first marathon went extremely well. I had a strong base before I even started training - 10-12 mile long runs every weekend. Then I did Hal Higdon's Intermediate 1 program where I did almost every workout. I think the biggest thing that made me enjoy the experience was not having a time goal. I wanted to run the whole thing, but I didn't want to push myself too hard. So I just went out at a comfortable pace. I ended up picking my pace up in the last 6 and finished with a faster second half than first (something I've never been able to do again!). Here's my report if interested: http://myalpineadventures.blogspot.com/2014/01/walt-disney-world-marathon.html