My Marathon Dream Came True

I'm still on 7th heaven. I finished a marathon yesterday and yes, I feel like I just won a bigtime lottery. I'm still overwhelmed with the thought and my emotions are still very high (as you can sense in this post probably. and if you are a Facebook contact, i know i'm nakakaumay already). BUT. I just can't help it!

They said it was life-changing. Finishing a marathon that is. And it indeed is. How life-changing? Well, in my case, I proved to myself that if I pushed harder nothing is impossible. So cliched. But that's just the best way I can summarize it.

Finishing a marathon is life-changing. YES. And also very addicting. I have yet to recover from all sorts of pain in my body but I'm starting to map out my training plan for my next marathon already. Define atat. Yes, that's me.

But going back to yesterday's experience. A few weeks back, I read an essay about a runner's thoughts at the 25th kilometer. All of the things he said there was true. Being a first-time marathoner, I experienced all that and more. My agony actually started just a few meters after the 21st kilometer. My husband and I trained till the 30th kilometer so despite my legs turning to lead, I knew I can still survive that far. But even if  the 30th kilometer was still almost 9 kilometers away, anxiety was creeping in fast. The mental battle/struggle ensued after that. And I was slowly giving in. I started thinking about plantar fascilitis and how my foot is starting to hurt everytime it touches the ground. About leg cramps and how my calves are starting to stiffen up each time I made an effort to land. About fatigue and how I can barely move my legs or raise my arms even if I've already gobbled up a banana and Gu.

I paused and asked myself, How bad do you want this? And the answer was clear and with conviction - THAT BAD. So I plodded on, firmly holding on to my resolve that even if it takes me 7 hours to finish. I will finish it. (But please Lord, with no injuries if possible).

Every second, a runner would get past me. I was on the first wave so I really expected a lot of runners to overtake me. But once in a while, I would get that competitive nudge and urge to speed up and overtake a runner or two. So when that happens, I pause and remind myself what my goal really is. FINISH WITH NO INJURIES. And I go back to running my pace.

Running slow enabled me to connect with fellow first time marathoners. And it was a very humbling experience. Madami pang mababait sa mundo. There wasn't a time that I would stop and be ignored by a runnner. There was always somebody who would ask how I was doing, offer a liniment, a power gel, water, a banana. The safety buddy did work! (and I honestly think, everyone just cared) We all took care of each and that made this experience even more worth it.

Congratulations Condura Skyway Marathon organizers! I made a goal to finish a full-marathon before I turned 35 and I DID IT. You helped me make that happen!

Till next year!

If you want to read more about my progress with running, please CLICK HERE.