So You Finished A Marathon, Now What?

After finishing our first full marathon last February, we would often get asked this question: "So, what's next  in store for you?"

taken from Pinterest

Honestly, I didn't make plans after that marathon. I thought work is probably going to eat up most of my 2013 as I am expecting a lot of changes happening for me in that department. But guess what, the minute that question was popped I was just so quick to answer - Make THE STANDARD CHARTERED MARATHON in SINGAPORE my second FULL Marathon!

2013 ULTIMATE GOAL

And I gave that answer to who else but my husband's adrenaline junkie friends. So now, I've given my word. And that's where we're headed at the end of this year. Hopefully. 

I say hopefully because I know the minute the registration for that race is opened, they sell out faster than a speeding bullet train (hahaha, here i go again with my weird made-up metaphors). But we'll be watching out for that really tight. I hope we do manage to get a slot. For now, we all focus on our individual training goals.

So now this leaves us with plotting out a game plan. And despite my resignation to lie low on running this year, my body is retorting violently so I just couldn't give that up like that. And those weekend long runs are really hard to pass up. Right now, I'm really missing them so bad. (and the belly is filling up with dreaded fats again, I just couldn't let that happen).

So what's our training plan then? Well for the hubs and me, we plan to do the Milo Marathon again in July. We hope to finish strong this time. No cramps and with a good time (like a sub 2 and a half, especially for me). Then maybe come October we'll do a 32km race. Hopefully too (because that race has a rather steep registration fee in our books so I will have to save up for it). 

I also plan to take strength training more seriously this time. Any suggestions on how I can start with that? 

I guess there's really no turning back for us now. Unless something major like hmmm getting pregnant happens along the way, it's probably safe for me to make it a goal to run at least one marathon every year. Who knows, before I turn 40 maybe I can qualify to run in one of the world marathon majors (told ya I am a big dreamer!).

TAKEN FROM PINTEREST

Missed Runs And Breaking The Slack

I'm back to slacking again. A week has passed and nary a mile was logged.

A week after our marathon, I suffered a mild asthma attack and incidentally red read an article in Active Run that went like - when down with a cold do you risk it? or rest it? -- Believing I do deserve the rest, I opted to just do 2 milers twice that week. I felt temporary relief but in the afternoon, I was having back pains so I decided to just take the rest of the week off from running. I nailed the "I DESERVE TO REST after all that hard work" excuse in my head to somehow drive the guilt away.

What I hate though is when I slack off with my runs, I also tended to turn to unhealthier food choices. I've been feasting on junk food for the past few days and now I'm feeling sluggish all day. The lethargy drives me to take in more cups of coffee than my self-imposed quota. And of course, coffee goes very well with cookies or a slice of cake so before I can stop myself I grab the closest pack of cookies that I can get my hands on and devour it like crazy. It's a vicious cycle that started off with me skipping my runs. 

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. I kept chanting that till I got home and last night I was finally able to break the laziness off despite the kid begging me to just do some indoor exercises and the husband demanding we eat dinner already. I waved that off and just headed out. I told myself I just needed 20 minutes and ran 2 miles. I didn't realize how I missed the smell of the cold night breeze and the feel of sweat dripping like crazy on my chin as I stop to take a deep breath amid the threat of a side stitch. I ran at 5.30/km on the first few minutes and it felt soooo good.

And since that felt really good, I'm doing it again tonight. I won't let anything stop me. Because yes, come to think of it, what is 20 minutes these days anyways? I spend even more time browsing through Facebook updates. And that one, I can just let go.

Sharing some inspirations and words of motivation that I came across on Pinterest today. Hope you're all having a great week!

My Dream Within My Reach

I was just a few meters away from the finish line when our friends took this photo. I love how they captured my emotions here. I was on the verge of letting out a happy cry here. You see, 3 kilometers from the finish line I was already feeling so low. Although I didn't pressure myself much on this race, I still made a mental goal of finishing it at 6 hours. And I thought that was more than feasible. At kilometer 35 though, I started feeling extremely weak (at this point, I ran for more than 5 hours already) so I chose to do a 2min run/1min walk which at some point would end up a 2min run/3min walk (I was actually walking more than running already) I knew I wasn't in any way going to make it at 6 hours. The thought of the finish line didn't excite me anymore. 

But on my way down I started hearing the drums beating and race marshals cheering the finishers, my mood made a 360-turn. I suddenly felt alive. So I made a dash to the finish line. I realized how BIG an experience this was. And how blessed I was to be healthy enough to finish a marathon. Add to that the sight of friends cheering on me just a few meters to the finish line, I just let out a shout -- "I MADE IT! NATAPOS KO! NATAPOS KOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And really, to experience crossing that line after running for more than 6 hours is extraordinary. This is just the start of it. I hope to cross more marathon finish lines in the future. But hopefully, in less than 6 hours next time :)

Marathon Diaries: Aiming For The Stars Now

I started my marathon training today. Last week, I plotted my training days on this Marathon Finisher Plan that I downloaded from Nike Running. As I was looking at the first 8 weeks, I was pretty sure I can handle them easily. I started doubting myself though the minute my eyes fell on 16 miles. Then a question suddenly popped in my head (think thought balloon) - WHAT THE HELL AM I GETTING MYSELF INTO?

Deja vu. Of exactly one year past.

Unlike most serious marathon trainers, I do not have a real (what do i mean by this?) training plan in mind. Nor a training coach. Except for my competitive husband (who doesn't like training with me) and that downloaded training plan, I have nothing else. Well maybe the motivation of finally crossing out this item on my bucket list that says - RUN AND FINISH A MARATHON BEFORE MY 35TH BIRTHDAY. I have less than a year to do that. Although (yes, you got me there) that bucket list is honestly non-existent I still have several things (at the back of my mind) that I would really wish to achieve or experience before well to say it bluntly, I die. And a marathon finish is one of them. Alongside maybe, several dream places to travel, concerts (or rather bands) to see and items to own (yes, i do crave for material things too). After serious contemplation, my husband and I decided that we will try our luck at making our first marathon finish at Condura Skyway Marathon again. If you would remember, it's the same race where I ran my first half-marathon. Condura is  less than 4 months away (roughly). So really, I have about 3 months to train. And I mean seriously, T.R.A.I.N.

I think I can handle the mileage requirement. The scheduled days of the runs are just the right fit to my rather unpredictable life as a working mom to an audacious preschooler. But what concerns me the most are those days on the training plan that were marked - CROSS TRAIN. It suggests of weight training which I have no single clue of. I've also read somewhere that the best cross training exercises for marathons are biking and swimming. Biking and swimming (two things that I never learned and most likely will never learn to do) - if I take that suggestion seriously I might interpret it as a sign that I should not push through with this crazy idea anymore. But I am going to throw that out the window and carry on with this as boldly as I possibly can.

Maybe I can make use of some of the suggested exercises in this guide from Runner's World or this guide from Active.com. I'm sure the internet is a treasure trove in itself. I could try You Tube as well. I know that I have very weak endurance and I have to especially work on that since I've never been spared of cramps before. But there are still several half-marathons lined up this year that I can join just to prove that I can finish without a cramp attack. I also have very strong lungs. And a huge fighting spirit (check back with me again in December, will you? hahaha). SO...I CAN DO THIS. I WILL DO THIS.

Unto The Next Running Challenge - 36th Milo Marathon Elims

I know I promised to train harder for my next race. But as always, my original plans took a detour. After my race last February, our household got busy with schooling issues then yaya issues. Then work got the best of me (and still has as I still am drowning on it till now). Life just seems to really get more and more complicated as you progress with adulthood. Sigh. Right now my ONLY goal is surviving all these with my sanity still in tact and THE ONLY game plan I have is just to simply RIDE it out. And praying hard that somehow, someway, I'd get some form of respite along the way.

Running is one thing that help keep me sane. Well, it is in fact the only exercise that I can really commit myself to do regularly so technically it's also the only form of destress that I have at the moment. So despite having time management issues, I tried my hardest to squeeze at least 30-min runs every other day. And somehow that helped keep meltdowns at bay. I had a crazy schedule but I was at my most stable state! All this time! (That's a big yay, for the hubby and the little lady!)

So I have been steady and stable. With my running, as with my life. But since I've always been inclined to challenge my sanity I try to up the ante on my exercise regimen by signing up in a race once in a while just to inject a little excitement into my routine. So as if the complications in my life aren't enough right now, I recently signed up for my second half-marathon. Tibs and I have officially registered for the 36th Milo National Marathon Eliminations. AND I ONLY HAVE 1 MONTH TO TRAIN HARD FOR IT.

Suffice to say, we have been working doubly hard this past few weeks just to catch up with the training but of course we know that even that cannot ever compensate for the benefits that we would have gained had we been guided with say a 3-month training plan. I can only hope that the mini-cardio work outs that I've been doing in between our 5k runs for the past 6 months would work their miracle and churn out extra endurance powers for me to meet the 2.5 hour cut off for 21k runners. I might never forgive myself if I don't finish this race as this will probably be the first and last time that I will get the chance to join in. I am not exaggerating. With the rising cost of races these days, I don't think I'll ever consider signing up to the same race again (not unless somebody signs me in for free maybe).


This is probably one of the biggest challenge on my time management skills but I am going to stick my guns to this. And I will do this. And I will cross that FINISH line (injury-free!). As the race jersey goes - KAYA MO YAN! I say -- OO KAKAYANIN KO TO!

For more information about this race please visit: www.milo.com.ph or https://www.facebook.com/milo.ph