My First Full Marathon

Marathon Thoughts
It was the first week of August 2017. My last run was on January 2017 after which I had knee pain and was diagnosed with meniscus strain. So I was mostly on rest since then, in the sense I did no running and very less badminton.

It was towards the end of July when I saw a youtube video of David Goggins. He was a navy seal and he explains how he had to do a 24 hour 100 mile run with shin splits and stress fractures in the last 20 miles of the race. It was appalling to me the way he pushed himself that last 20 miles. I had always dreamt of running a full marathon after having done 5 half marathons. David Goggins was doing 100 miles while a full marathon is just 26.2 miles. Am I not strong enough to do a full marathon? I had thought myself to be a tough person and running the marathon would be a good enough test. So the motivational talk by David Goggins was a good reason, that implanted in me the idea of running the Wipro Chennai Marathon 2017.

Another reason for the marathon thought was my good friend Dragan. I was very lucky to have met him 2 years back in Austria. He is over 50 years old, but in great shape and very fit. I was badly struggling to keep up with him during a trek we did together over there. He runs a full marathon for like every 2 weeks and have even done an Ironman Triathlon. We are in constant touch and him letting me know of his runs and achievements, also inspired me in registering for the marathon.

Registering for Marathon
First things first. I wanted to see how my injured knee will hold up if I did running. So time for tests before registering for the Marathon. I headed out to the gym. I was wearing a knee brace on my left knee that had Meniscus strain. I did 1 km walk + 2-3 km running. It felt alright. Somehow I was optimistic that doing this 2-3 km alright in July end, would get me ready for the full Marathon on December 3rd. Even though i was skeptical i was optimistic as well and hence I went ahead and registered for the Marathon.

Training starts
Four months(Aug to Nov) is not really that long a period for preparing for a full marathon considering I haven't did any runs since January. I googled and found few training schedules for full marathon. I picked an 18 week training schedule and squeezed out a plan based on the weeks available for me before marathon. Only 16 weeks were available for me and hence I skipped the first 2 weeks of the training schedule and got started.

August-September (Going strong)
I was so scared of injuries since I have been away from the sport for a long time and also for the reason I badly wanted to do the marathon in December, without getting injured during training. So running slow was the key. I ran slow and easy with knee braces on. It started good and as per the training schedule. I had my diet changed to one that a runner usually follow. More protein and carbohydrate enriched diet. Milkshake after the long run on Saturday was a good feeling. In between I was doing bits of strength training as well. But definitely more emphasis on the running part.

This was how my training schedule looked like: Sunday:Cross Training, Monday: Rest, Tuesday: Short Run, Wednesday: Long run(but shorter than Saturday), Thursday: Short Run, Friday: Rest, Saturday: Long Run. So Saturday was the day I had to get up the earliest to do my Long run in the morning. Most mornings I had to get up early to do the run. On the short run days I included strength training as well. Once the Long run is complete it is a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment that drives the day forward.

I started reading a book on Marathon training by Hal Higdon(a great runner himself) and coincidentally the training schedule that I downloaded previously was one of the plans laid down by him. So all going was well. I was getting more motivated. I started gaining more running mileage as well.

The longest run that I did as part of my ongoing training was 16 km on 10/09/2017. But I always used to think on how I was going to do even more longer runs. The problem was carrying the hydration while running. You need them in surplus amount when doing longer runs. Thankfully that was the time when official training runs for the marathon were started by the organizers of the marathon. The official training runs had hydration points along the route. It meant I could just join the training run and run all out instead of me carrying the hydration while running. The only change I had to make was swapping the long distance on Saturdays with Cross Training on Sundays since the official training runs were on Sundays. On weekdays I ran on the Treadmill in my apartment gym since the runs were short, except for Wednesday.

From August to September, as part of the official training runs I effectively did 2 half marathon distances(21 km). One was on 17/09/2017 and the second on 24/09/2017. I got that feeling that half marathon distances are not that intimidating to me as it was before. There used to be pains in quadriceps muscles for the few days after the long run, but like many times before I felt happy feeling the pain. It was a nice way of my body reminding me about my achievement.

October (Trouble starts)
The first setback was on the official training run in the first week of October. After about 10-12 km, the outside of my left knee started to hurt. I did small stretching in between, but it was hurting while running. Walking didn't hurt. So that day, the remaining distance of the total 23 km I finished by walking. My usual time for running one km is around 7 minutes. That day I found that I could walk a km in 9 minutes. So I formulated the plan for race day including walk, in case I get injured on that day. (Full marathon needs to be done inside of 6 hours). This happened on 08/10/2017.

The next week was important since I had to get over the injury. Based on the symptoms, I diagnosed the injury was Iliotibial Band(IT Band) syndrome. So emphasis was on stretching the IT Band and strengthening/stretching the muscles that can cause the IT Band to become tight. If band becomes tight it will rub against the knee and cause pain. I bought a Foam Roller as well to help relieve the tension in IT Band. I modified my diet to include more anti-inflammatory foods like walnuts and other Omega-3 supplements.I did very few runs that week and felt the pain slowly easing. I did run on Sunday and it went very well. I recorded the longest run that I ever did in my life till then. I ran 28km in 3 hours 20 minutes. I was really happy. It was on 15/10/2017.

Next few days my legs were very sore. So I didn't do any run till Thursday. On Thursday I thought I will do a 10 km run, since it has been 3 days since I did any sort of run. After the first 2 km, I felt a slight niggle in my right knee. It wasn’t that bad and I ran through it. But towards the end it was hurting bad and I found it very difficult to run and even to walk. So again based on symptoms, my diagnosis was IT Band injury on the right knee. So followed the IT Band injury recovery protocol for the right leg as well. But this time it was different compared to my left leg. It was hurting much more and I decided to skip the Sunday long run that week.

Strengthening and rehabilitation continued the next week as well. I decided to do the long run the next Sunday. After the first 2 km, I felt pain around the right knee again. Something was not right. I decided to run anyways since i needed long runs under my belt to be confident for the race day. After 10-12 km I was unable to run and difficult to walk as well. Anyways I walked for another 14 km and did a total of 26 km. It was on 29/10/2017.

November (Uncertainty times)
Now I knew there was something really wrong with my knees. I was limping and getting tensed about my injury. I wanted the injury to heal as soon as possible. The very next day I visited a doctor nearby. I told my diagnosis about IT Band injury. He told that IT Band injury is possible and also there might be a chance it is the lateral meniscus strain. He gave me anti-inflammatories. I took it for 5 days. I did a test run, but still found pain was there. Hence I skipped the long run that Sunday(05/11/2017).

I was getting more anxious with the race day approaching and the injury not healing. I decided to visit another doctor who is a runner himself. He too had the same diagnosis as my previous doc about IT Band injury and the lateral meniscus strain. He too gave some anti-inflammatories, but I didn't take it considering it had the exact same content in tablet I took few days back. I waited for few more days did a test run and again the pain was there. To be on the safe side, again I skipped the long run that Sunday(12/11/2017).

Now there were 2 thoughts that were giving me worries:

1. Will the injury heal in time for marathon?
2. Because of the rest and rehabilitation, I’m I losing the fitness that i gained before? Would I be fit enough to run the marathon even if the injury heals.

I started my research using Google. Actually I found there were many people around, who had similar issues of getting injuries during marathon training and close to race day.

3 important facts I found were:

1. It is always better to be less fit and injury free at the race start, rather than being fit and carrying an injury.
2. Despite the injury, we can still maintain the fitness by doing activities that don't worsen the injury. Low impact exercises like swimming or elliptical.
3. Strength training - I was so ignorant about this important factor. I realized the amount of strength training that I used to do was way less than the required amount. Repeated pounding of the legs causes huge impact to the legs. So our legs should be strong enough to bear that impact and core to stabilize the legs. Strength training is absolutely essential for staying injury free as a runner.

Another thought that was lingering in my mind was, in case I run with injury will it cause any long term damage to my legs. How bad was the injury? To be certain of this I did a MRI scan and found it to be 'cartilage erosion under the patella'. I showed the report to doctor and he said it is not bad compared to a ligament or meniscus tear. But he was not sure of whether I could run the marathon or not. The scan was done on 17/11/2017.

So in the month of November, I did very less running.  At home I used to do strength training for my legs and core, using body weight exercises and resistance bands. Even though there was less than a month left for Marathon, I joined a gym nearby for leg strength training under guidance of a trainer. On Sundays instead of the long runs I would be doing Elliptical in the Gym or doing swimming in the apartment pool. Elliptical provides the benefits of running without the pounding on the knees. I also decided I won’t test my knee anymore by running till the last week before the race, giving my knee the most possible time to heal. Worry was definitely there that I was not doing any long runs as per the training schedule, but then I wanted to be as injury free as possible before the race.

The next few weeks were really difficult. I didn't know if i would be able to do my dream after having trained almost for 3 months. I even decided I won't run this time and probably do some other time in future. But again I was uncertain if a favorable situation like this will come up again. In case I quit now, I will have to start again from square 1 the next time.

In between I showed the MRI report to Bobby(my brother and a doctor). After seeing it he was telling it was nothing serious and very common. He conveyed the same to my mom. Mom also asked why don’t I do the marathon this time itself, since the doctors say the injury is not serious and I have been training for 3+ months. But the fact remained that I had pain the last time I tested out my knees and I was unsure.

These were the race outcomes(positive and negative) awaiting for me that I was well aware of:

1. Finish marathon inside 6 hours without injury
2. Finish marathon inside 6 hours with minor injury
3. Finish marathon inside 6 hours with long term injury
4. Do not finish marathon without injury
5. Do not finish marathon with injury
6. Finish marathon outside of 6 hours with injury

6 hours is the official cut-off time after which the runner won't be officially considered as a finisher. I was confident that if the injury don't show up during the race I will be able finish it inside 6 hours. Any outcome other than 1 or 2, was not something that I wanted for me. This was the risk I had to take. Fingers crossed.

November(Pre-Race week)

We had this marathon related expo the week before the marathon(25/11/2017-26/11/2017) where the T-Shirts and BIB(Timer attached chest number) were distributed to the runners. I went to the expo and got my stuff. I was all skeptical but at the same time hopeful as well.

On 27th(Monday) I did a run of around 5-6 km(mix of walk+run) without much issues. It was a good sign and much more hope. But I didn't want to push further for obvious reasons, that the race day was around the corner and i wanted to keep my legs fresh and the most injury free possible.

On 30th(Thursday) I had to attend a friend’s marriage at Trivandrum. It was a good opportunity to take my mind of the uncertainties around, and meet many of my good old friends after a long time. While returning from Trivandrum, I had a chat with Bobby. When I told him I was skeptical, he told me that I will be able to do it considering the effort I have put into it till now. At that moment I decided I was going to do it, whatever was the end result.

I had plans of taking pain killers in case I got pain while running on race day. I had already found the name of anti-inflammatory that I was planning to take. But I was not sure about the exact quantity. I got that information as well from my brother and he told me to have a can of anti-inflammatory spray as well with me on the race day.

December 2nd(Pre-Race Day)

Friday night I slept early and had a really good deep sleep. I knew I won't be able to sleep much on Saturday night as from my previous race day experiences. I was mostly relaxing on Saturday. I bought groceries in morning itself. I was having carbohydrate and salt rich foods. I had upma for breakfast, rice for lunch and pasta for dinner. In between I was munching on chocolates and bananas to enrich my glycogen storage in my body.

I cut my toe nails(to avoid black toe nail), cleaned up my shoes and socks so that tiny stones in them won’t cause any blisters while running. I had my checklist and song playlist ready. After the early dinner, I started laying down the items that I needed for the next day. Main items were the BIB(chest number), anti-inflammatory spray, energy gels, painkillers, smartphone to track distance and speed of run, knee braces, fitbit and headset. I also pinned the BIB to my T-shirt.

Effectively I have not done any long run in the month of November. The long runs for 3 months before November were the only runs i had under my belt. Still I was hopeful I could do well in Marathon if injury stays away. My first half marathon more than 3 years back, with my longest training run of only 6 km and with knee pain during the race day, was also a good reminder for me that I have been through similar situation before and did well.

I had planned my running strategy as well much before. Main aim was to finish inside 6 hours. To finish inside 6 hours I had to run a kilometer around 8.5 minutes. Considering that I may be getting knee pain later in the race and may have to walk(more time), I had to make up for that time in the beginning while my legs were good. So I was planning to run faster than my usual pace in the beginning. And in case pain sets in, I will probably pop a painkiller tablet.

So tomorrow is the day. The dream for which I have been putting effort for the last 4 months. So excited and nervous both. Before hitting sleep I saw parts of the David Goggins motivation video again. I slept off around 10.30-11 PM.

December 3rd(Race Day)

Today was the race day. Race was supposed to start at 4.00 AM and reporting time was 3.30 AM, which meant I had to start at 3.00 AM from my apartment and which meant I had to get up 2.00 AM to have enough time for breakfast and get ready. I woke up before 2.00 AM. I had few glasses of Gatorade(energy drink), a banana and an energy bar. I got ready and had my pockets stuffed with the items that i will need during the race.

I started from my apartment at 3.00 AM and reached the parking place around 3.30 AM. On the way, I could see the traffic restrictions made on the roads, for the runners to run later. Parking space was like 1.5-2.0 km away from the starting point. I reached the starting point at 3.45 AM. Music was playing out loud. The whole OMR stretch from Tidel Park to MadhyaKailash was fully blocked. I did my warm ups, stretches and all was set. Climate was all right. Temperature around 26 degrees and humidity very much bearable. At exactly 4.00 AM the race was flagged off.

I started out at a decent pace of around 7 minutes for the first kilometre. Slowly I picked pace as per my plan. Pace increased to as much as 6.11 min/km.  For the first 10km i was flying compared to my usual training run pace. I completed it in 1 hour and 3-4 minutes. All good so far. A quarter of the race done very well. My right knee which was the biggest problem for the November month was holding up nicely. Endorphin was kicking in really well and I was able to experience an early runner's high.

Somewhere around 10-12 km i started getting pain in my left knee. It was the IT band syndrome in left knee. However it was much better compared to the injury I had in my right knee, where it was even difficult to walk. With IT Band I could walk and considering I have already did one-third(14/42) of the marathon in very good time, time was on my side. Already I was doing stretches for IT Band and now I took the first pain killer tab and continued the race.

Pain was very much there now and was difficult to run. So I did a mix of walk + run. And still I was able to keep time of around 7 odd min/km. That was really good. I punched myself in my cheek telling good job. Slowly and steadily the pain killer started to do its job. I could feel less pain in my left knee now and I could run more. Now my legs were getting tired and heavy, which were not a problem at all compared to the knee pain. Anyways I didn't want to trip and fall and screw up the race. So was careful about it.

In between the run, I was taking water, electrolyte and other refreshments from the hydration points for like every 4 km. I had 2 energy gels with me. I had to time their intake, so that I stay energized all through the race and especially the dreaded 30-32 km distance where people usually “hit the wall”, which basically means all the glycogen in the body gets depleted and the runner crashes down. So half of the first energy gel I took around the 14th km. I took the remaining half of the gel around 21st km.

I finished the half marathon distance(21km) in 2h 23 minutes which was pretty good as I had 3.5 hours to complete the remaining half. So I was not bound by time pressure now. I continued my strategy of running fast + walk. Strategy proved to be really working for me as I was able to catch up many people in front of me.

I reached around 28 km, when I had all of my second energy gel with some water. Legs were getting really heavy now. It was like one step at a time. Time was around 7.45 AM now and sun was on the move. It started getting hot. Already I was sweating and heat made things more difficult. I have always heard the last 10 km of the marathon is more mental than physical and I was soon approaching that stage.

By the time I hit 30 km it was a great feeling. The first time I’m hitting 30 km. I can now start to think about the finish line. My pace definitely went down. It was 8+ min/km for every km after 30 km.

Pain had started to set in parts of my body which i never knew existed. But it was never a problem. Thanks to my excellent first half, time was on my side and hence I could move on relaxedly.

Around 35-40 km twice I felt my calf muscles about to cramp. I identified it quickly thanks to my previous experiences and did immediate stretching and was able to keep the cramp at bay. The distance to the finish line was coming down. It was getting more hotter as the time was approaching 9 AM. More traffic in the roads and more people in the roads. The finish route was really congested as it had the 21km and 10km finishers as well. With whatever energy that was left of me I kept moving.

Finally I could see the finish line from a distance. I wanted to finish it by running and not walking. One final burst of energy and I was moving. I ran around few 100 metres and crossed the finish line. What once was a dream for me is a reality now. I have did it. I’m a full marathoner now. Few volunteers came forward, congratulated me and put the medal on my neck. I was so happy and proud. I told myself: “Great job buddy, I’m so proud of you”. The time I took (5:14:42) to complete the marathon was really good considering the difficult last month I had. Emotions were pouring in. The feeling I had then is really difficult to put into words here. All the 4 months of training and the last 5+ hours of hard work paid off and the result is huge. I walked around in awe of myself. I just proved to myself the truth that the limits that we can push ourselves is only set in our minds.

First things first. I had to do the most important post run stretch for my dear body who was tortured for the last few hours. I made sure I did good enough stretches for the body especially my legs. I called up my family and let them knew the news that i have finished the marathon. They were really happy. I moved through the crowd to find the breakfast counter only to realize that they have run out of food and we had to wait for 30+ minutes to get food. I decided to move on. I didn’t feel like eating anything and happiness at that moment was more than sufficient to satisfy any hunger.

I had to take the picture in front of the finisher’s cut out. I found that place and with the help of another runner got the picture. Surprisingly I didn’t crash and had enough energy to move around at the finish place. Finally I got out and had to travel back to the starting point. Local trains were available but long queues to get the tickets. I took a cab and headed back to the starting point. I got down there, took my car and headed back to my apartment through the same road I ran few hours back.

On the way back home I bought few milk shakes and had them after reaching home. It was around 11 by the time I reached home. I had white salt stains all over my face because of the perspiration that dried out now. I had ice stocked in the fridge. I took few of them and iced my muscles. I took the remaining and prepared an ice bath for my sore body. Then I ordered a rich lunch from Sangeetha, had it and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Not surprisingly I had pain on my left leg for the rest of the day(and for few days after) and I was kind of limping. But who cares now about the pain. It will be gone in a few days, but the marathon victory will stay forever. I shared the news in watsapp with my friends and family and everyone was glad.


Pictures
During the run:

Near the finish line:

After the finish:

Race statistics:

With Dragan(my inspiration):

Running Long distance

I think i’m qualified enough now to comment on the experience of running long distances. I have did 5 half marathons and 1 full marathon officially.

People ask me what do I gain out of doing these long distances other than torturing the body. Here are some of the reasons I do them:

1. The feeling of ecstacy and contentment that we have after completing the long run is unmatched to anything else. There is no other way to get it other than by doing the run itself. Money or influence can't buy it for you.
2. Pushing the limits - It is amazing what you can make your body do by controlling the mind. We will be able to find things about ourselves that we would have never found out otherwise.
3. The experience - Running in a crowd as a community where everyone wants to finish and not competing against each other. The cheer of the volunteers along the way. The scenery if the route is scenic.
4. Fitness - obvious reason, but yes i agree we don’t have to do long distances for that
5. Discipline/Commitment - waking up early for most days in a week for 4 months of training is a big commitment and a kind of discipline
6. Mental strength - to go through adverse times while training and during the race

The Experience

Yes, for sure the juice was worth the squeeze. Last 4 months including training and the race day were a long journey for me. It was one of the best experiences I had in my life and one that I will never forget. Even if I run more marathons in future, the experience of the first marathon will always be special and hence this write up. I’m thankful to my parents for the support, to my brother for the motivation during the uncertain times, to my wife for bearing up with my early morning/late evening workouts, to Dragan for being an inspiration and motivation and giving tips during my marathon preparation, to the doctors I sought advice from(including my brother), to the organizers of the official training runs and marathon and to the volunteers who cheered and helped the runners with hydration.

I learned a lot in different areas related to running, human body, injuries, medicines, gadgets, workouts etc. I had to gain those knowledge to successfully complete my marathon. I'm sure this will come handy in future for me or anyone who needs the information from me.

I hope I can be an inspiration to the people reading this, to try out running if not long running. I will be happy to give any sort of motivation or tip that you might need to do go with running. Hoping to do more runs and write ups in future. Till then, it is goodbye from me.

Thanks for reading!

Boney Johns