I
received a text from NikerunningZA somewhere in July, alerting me that the
upcoming Soweto marathon registration is opening on the 31st July.
That text excited me so much as I previously participated in two Nike marathons
and I immediately decided that I’m running 21km. A whole half marathon… Eeeekk!
My
mind tricked my body into agreeing, as it was still excited about the text.I
registered on the 1st week of August and got my confirmation about a week
later.
Now training began…
I
began my training with the Nikeplus app on the 2nd September. The
app has a COACH, where you update your race date and distance and it coaches
you until the day of the race; informing you how many kilometers to run, when
to rest and when to do your cross-training. I highly recommend the app,
as it’s very helpful especially if you’re
keen on participating in marathons.
For
the first week of my training, I jogged with my boyfriend, running between 3
and 4 kilometers - I tried my best to follow COACH. It’s
very good to run with someone because they motivate you to run more and not
stop so often, but more importantly, to keep you accountable for training
sessions. However, I was finding it hard to keep up with his pace and I felt
bad for stopping when he wasn’t tired. So I decided to start alone. The second
week I dropped him and ran on my own as I wanted to run at my own pace and be
able to be in tune with my body. After all, it was my own race and he was going
to do the 10km.
Week
2 of training was better, I followed the run/walk strategy maintaining a pace
of 7’ for runs and 9’ for walks. I even increased my runs to 5km. The fact that
I enjoy running helped because I looked forward to the next day’s run, to see
how I will do and which improvements I will make.
Week
3 became tougher as COACH increased distance and I came home late from work, so
it was difficult to follow training and I started getting a bit discouraged.
Thinking of how long the distance of 21km is, and how I’m very unfit and can’t run
further than 5 km, I decided to downgrade and register for the 10km race.
I
started running after high school, in 2008 and I was on and off until 2012. I
could run 7km without stopping and it was easy because I was young and slim. It’s
2014 and I had gained weight this winter so it was very hard to run and not pause.
I imagined myself on the race day, running to 5km and my feet not being able to
carry me further. I can’t walk 16km within the 3 hours and 30 minutes cut-off
time. So it was clear that I would manage 10km. At least I know that I will
finish, as I have completed 10km races three times before (two with Nike We Run
Jozi and one with Total Sports Women’s race).
I
changed my COACH plan to 10km and on the 20th September, I ran my
longest run thus far (with the app) and it was 10km with a pace of 8’10 and a
time 01:27:12. On the same run, I beat
my personal best (PB) of 5km with a time of 39:50. Yay me!!!
I
was so happy with myself because I have surpassed 5km and
that’s when I realised that my body is able to do
anything, it’s my mind that I needed to train.
That’s
the biggest lesson I’ve learnt through training for this marathon… That the
half marathon is more of a mental challenge than it is a physical one. You are
alone on the road, attempting to run a long distance and all you have is a
willing body and a stubborn mind. You constantly have to affirm yourself that
you can do it, you can go an extra km and you can definitely increase the pace.
That 10km run gave me so much confidence that I decided to go back to training
for the 21km and actually run it.
October
began with that end in mind, to run and finish a half marathon. I tried to run
at least three times a week, some days being impossible as the weather was off.
I would stay home and do some exercises to strengthen my legs. I also checked
out running blogs for tips and ways to run better and those were very helpful.
I
soon ran 12km in just two hours and I was very impressed with myself, but every
time I thought about the race, my heart would beat faster and my stomach
knotted. It was a good idea three months ago and now with only a few weeks left
before the race, I was again considering to drop the 21km and run the 10km (I
had two registrations anyway).
But you see the way I’m wired…
I’m
not a quitter; I will never live with myself if I started something and not
finish it. Rather I don’t start it at all than to give up. I was prepping my
mind to participate with my body and if these two fail me, I would run with my
heart. That was the strategy… if all these failed, I would crawl to the finish
line, I had decided that I will get that 21km medal, even if it’s the last
thing I do.
The
week before race week is taper week, this is where you reduce exercise until
the race day. The Saturday before taper week I ran 12km and my knee started
acting-up a little, but luckily stopped later that day. On Sunday, I walked 5km
with my aunts for some cancer fun walk, and my body was fine the following day.
The biggest mistake I did was to not run for three days of taper week and I only
ran on the Thursday, were my body was so stiff and both my knees were so
painful, I’ve never felt that pain ever since I started training. I only ran 7km
then I went home to stretch. After stretching, my left knee was good but the
other one was still sore. I woke up on Friday with the same pain and I started
crying. Two days before my biggest marathon and I get a knee injury?? Oh no! I got to work sad and frustrated.
When
I have defeated the biggest challenge, my mind - now I struggle with a knee?
Wow! I concluded that I would make the decision on Saturday morning, whether to
run or not, if my knee were not better. I woke up a little better and I iced
the entire day. What’s strange is that I had fought so hard with my mind about
running the half marathon, and when I decided that I’m doing it,
my body gives in. That was the most discouraging thing ever. I thought about
the effort I have put in this training and how much I was now looking forward
to it. I then decided that I would go ahead with the race whether my knee was
willing or not.
Race
day came and when my boyfriend and I got there at 6:10 we found professional
runners stretching and warming up and that was so intimidating that I even
forgot how to stretch. He helped me prepare and put on my race number, as I was
about to start at 6:30. I moved closer to the start line and that was it… I
started running. I used my app as I’ve been doing for my training and it felt
so good to hear a familiar voice informing me of my time.
And
I did… I ran and finished the race three hours with a slight pain in the knee
but with a determined mind and a full heart. I accepted the toughest challenge
thus far and I did very well given the fact that I only trained no further than
12.47km. If I could do it again, I would, without the knee injury though. I’m
extremely proud of myself and what I have achieved. Like I said: Your body can
do just about anything, but the biggest challenge is your mind. Win your mind
and you will conquer anything. I screamed so hard when I got to the finish line
as it had now registered that I have just finished a half-marathon. I did it!!
