So I did! My first and probably last 42 KM full marathon!
I can’t believe I actually did this considering that I really started training for this like 3 months ago, I followed a strict running schedule of running 4 times a week and many long distance practice runs but even then I had never done 42km before. Just the day before I was still wondering whether I could actually finish it.
Here’s now it all felt though:
1-10KM
Alright here we go. Take it slow as they say so lets not run so fast here. Okay… so I’m running a little faster than I expected but I can’t help it I’m just so full of energy. Must be all that carb loading.
11-15KM
Uh oh.. the sun looks like it’s rising. Time to pick up a little bit of speed here.
16-17KM
WTF?!?! How did the sun just come up all of a sudden? Isn’t it suppose to rise gradually?
18-21KM
Alright almost at half marathon distance. Keep going keep going! Push push push.
22-25KM
Okay I’m beginning to feel a little tired now. Maybe I’ll take a bit of a walk. Just a little.
26KM-30KM
Hey where is everybody? Did we all like disperse? Hmm my toes are beginning to hurt. Never had this feeling before.
31KM-35KM
Ahh my knees hurt and so do my toes… and my neck.. and… fuck I hurt everywhere! It’s okay I’m almost there. Lets do the run for 5 minutes walk for 5 minutes routine. Okay lets go lets go! Stay strong finish strong!
36KM
OMG WHY DID I DECIDE TO DO THIS !?!?
37KM
WHAT?!?!? JUST 1 KM? AFTER ALL THAT WALKING?!?!
38KM
WTF?!?! MY FITBIT SAYS I HAVE NO HEART BEAT. DID I DIE ALREADY?
39KM
COME ON 3 FUCKING KM MORE!!! PUSH PUSH PUSH. Weird… why is everyone around me walking?
39.5KM
WHAT THE HELL HOW IS THAT ONLY 500 METRES?!?!?
40KM
Damn people going past me in cars. They’re so lucky!
41KM
Wow I’m reaching the end. I must be. People I’m walking past are giving me the thumbs up. It’s like I’m almost there.
41.5KM
I can hear the loud speaker! Okay okay they say finish strong so lets start running again. I don’t want to have my picture taken to look like I just walked across the finish line. Come on!
41.95KM
Wait… where is the crowd? Why is there no cheerleading group to cheer us on at the end of this run? What’s going on?
42KM
I DID IT! I DID IT!!!!! Ok I need to sit the fuck down now.
—–
Overall I gotta say that the most memorable part of this marathon wasn’t really running it but the journey in training for it. I ran about 500KM since March just for this… and in those 500KMs I’ve had great conversations with my friends that I run with or learned many things from the audio books that I listened to.
Crossing the finish line was actually quite anti-climatic from what I expected though. That being said I don’t think I’m going to ever again do a full marathon. Half-marathon alright but full… ah man that’s just tough.
I ask myself why I do things like that. Like this full marathon and the 160KM century ride when I was cycling. I guess I like how it forces me to be discipline during the training. And how it tests your mental strength during the actual race. To be able to have the mind override the exhaustion and pain that your body is feeling to assure myself that as long as I put my mind to it, I can do it.
Either ways it’s another achievement that I’m glad to have done once in my life.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space