Seven years back, when we started the running journey by walking in trademil, participating (or finishing) in a full marathon was nowhere in the wildest dream. With regular practice, collaboration with running mates, and pushing ourselves with the Goldilocks zone goal, we are now finishers of the ASML Eindhoven Full Marathon 2024. Here, we tried to connect some dots of this half-to-full marathon journey for future reference. This may resemble other Runners journeys too.
Everything you wanted to know about yourself you can learn in 26.2 miles. -Lori Culnane
Compounding Effect
In Our life, between (B)irth and (D)eath, we have many (C)hoices which are mostly categorized as easy and hard choices. Long term activities belong to hard choices. These are not easy because human behaviour & circumstances change over time, which is inevitable. If these are followed up with patience and persistence, then the results have a compounding effect. This is true for many different fields like relationships, finance, and health.
Hard choices lead to an easy life in the future and vice versa.
Long distance running demands commitment, discipline, and perseverance. It starts with baby steps like short distance run over a period, then increase incremently. For sure, it has no sunk cost if done properly. It is hard to find a devotee of these activities in the crowd. Like others, we tried just to follow them when we started running, then when we did our first 10 km, then 21 km and now a full marathon.
We have been following some running mates for motivation in Strava running app. But here are some GOATs like Amar Raavi, Ronnie van Westeinde, Jasmit, Devender and Prabhu, who ran more than 5K kilometers over the years regularly. Also, Bhaskar, who did 10+ full marathons and Amber, who ran 40+ half-marathons, motivate many running mates.
Don’t Break the Chain
Events and legends can motivate us, but to go out in windy, cloudy weather, we need a partner or a close user run group for long distance runs. After joining a group with two mates, both speed and distance were improved over the period and became consistent irrespective of weather conditions, other priorities, etc. Also, we didn’t want to break that chain of good habits during holidays. So we did a couple of short distance runs around in close by routes like parks, near beaches, etc.
Optimistic + Pessimistic
We practiced for 30-35 km per week during this year. As we selected full marathon, we tried to increase the count of long distance runs, i.e., 20+ km, incrementally. Sometimes, we used to do 10 km first by ourselves and then join the group for the next 20 km run. Also, we were advised to do at least one or two 35+ km before the full marathon event but never ran more than 30+ km, which was worrying.
Legend’s Talk
We attended the talk given by ASML colleague, Harm Sengers, who has been running since the last 20 years. His journey, learning and running experience are breathtaking. He practices around 150+ km/week. He started doing a full marathon in 2005 with timing just below 3:00:00, and now, after almost 20 years, he completed a full marathon in just 2:19:48, which is elite level timing. He ran 4000+ km YTD and 59000+ km all the time, which is unbelievable commitment.
Small Things, Big Impact
A full marathon is all together a different level event, as we should not hurt ourselves, our legs, keep hydrated and keep energized till the finishing line. After initial level, i.e. 20 km (for us and may vary for others), we used the below items to cross the next hurdles. Moreover, these items reduce friction and make the process smoother.
- Shoe with Support sole
- Water Backpack
- Energy Gel
- Fitbelt
- Wrist Band
Survival brings longevity.
We got a new pair of shoes as the previous one was almost finished. Initially, it took some time to adjust. Then it was good as it has more support sole for my flat feet. We bought one running water backpack for long distance practice to keep hydrated, unlike events where water stations are available with cups of water and sponges. Started using energy gel for running after consulting with fellow runners. We used a fitbelt to carry energy gel, keys and a wristband for sweat during the running event. Ofcourse, no headband with cooling effects which is used by olympic marathon runners Eliud Kipchoge & Sifan Hassan in Paris 2024.
Leg/Shoe Test
Better safe than sorry. We took an appointment and got tested for my feet, shoes, and running posture by a professional around mid-June 2024. They did some treadmill walking and running tests and it came out fine, like 1) No problem in running poster, 2) Left leg lands with bit more angle than right one, which is ok and supported by new shoe, 3) No pain in feet, etc.
Do you want to know, how to select running shoes then check out this Know About Your Running Shoes.
Action Packed Event Day
We were selling ourselves short before event day as we never crossed 30+ km during practice and approached mentor Amar Raavi with other mates. Followed their advice and started slower than our usual pace. Crossed the first half comfortably as the route was similar to the practice route irrespective of headwind. Then completed 32 km which was in the HTC neighbourhood, with the first energy gel and a short break with a positive feeling. Also, applied a mental model that we had to cover only 10 km more (small goal) so that brain (i.e. Amygdala) should not trigger fight-or-flight situation. We tried to follow the runner who was just ahead of me without any further break in the last 5 km. We finished the 40th edition of the ASML Eindhoven Marathon with 4:28:52 time in the M40 category with 740 BIB. Ofcourse, there is a lot of room for improvement but not that bad start.
Smaller Goal –>Less Fear –> No Fight-or-Flight Situation –> Leads to Success.
We found some observations that are worth mentioning before and during activity.
- Didn’t have proper sleep in the day before event day.
- Overflow of human emotion before and after the event.
- Innovative arrangements for keeping accessories like energy gel and rain cover that is made from garbage bin plastic.
- Don’t give up attitude in cold, drizzling weather with headwind.
- Pair running with a differently abled, passionate runner.
- Uplifting each other during the event runs, especially towards the end of the route.
- Use non-expensive items, which we will not mind if lost during the event. Use Vaseline and trunk underwear for scratch-free runs.
- Milestone effect: Many runners tried to finish sub 2 hours for half and sub 4 hours for the full marathon.
- Try out different running groups to speed up your timing.
- Invest in the preparedness of the journey.
End Note
Great things are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.
One week later, we travelled together with other mates, participated in the TCS Amsterdam Half Marathon 2024 and completed with 1:58:00 time. We had pain in right knee after full marathon but didn’t want to miss TCS Amsterdam event. It felt easy as we had already completed a harder one. A full marathon is the long journey with a lot of small distance run, small learning and sense of achievement in the end. Now, we are finisher of the wildest dream.
Thanks to Bhaskar, Arvind, Amber, Gopi, Anish & Mangai, mentors Amar, Prabhu, Devender & Jasmit, all running mates in Strava and Running Groups. Thanks to my family members, especially to my daughter Ayantika and their constant support on this journey.
Let’s connect in Strava, share your running experience and inspire each other.
Do you know the origin of distractions in our digital life? Then check out this Digital Distractions & It’s Origin
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