I was introduced to a quote that would reignite my passion to explore cities with my legs. The quote by Dean Karnazes stated, "Unless you're pushing yourself, you're not living to the fullest. You can't be afraid to fail, but unless you fail, you haven't pushed hard enough. If you look at successful people and happy people, they fail a lot, because they're constantly trying to go further and expand". The quote stuck with me, and I used it to explore the different areas of my life not knowing who this man was.
After doing some research about Dean Karnazes, I was surprised to find out that he was an ultra marathon runner. I discovered that these types of marathons were composed of distances longer than traditional marathons (26.2 miles). I only thought super heroes could teleport or fly miles of up to 50 to 100. With further research, I found a few books that he wrote.
One of my goals for this year was to read more, so I picked up one of his books. It was called Ultra Marathon Man. I finally found a book that I could not put down. I connected with every page of the book as I understood his feelings and his passion for running. His adventures in running were amazing and mind boggling as he discusses his 100 mile run. He pushes the limits of his mind and body.
I reflected on these types of runners and my running abilities. I completed my first marathon on March 17, 2013 at the International Hilo Marathon. The training was for four months. As of now, I've been running short distances between 3 to 5 miles. Running another marathon was not on my radar.
Since I signed up for my first triathlon, my workouts have been composed of daily runs with the dog, biking to work, and swimming for leisure. I'm in the best shape of my life. I feel more fit than when I trained for my first marathon. I wondered if it would be possible for me to run a marathon in about a week without the formal training. Reading Karnazes book ignited my passion and motivation to run. It was then that I decided to run 26.2 miles on Saturday, April 25, 2015. I had one week to prepare myself mentally to run that length.
Due to my past training, I knew what to do and not do. The biggest change to my week was increasing my carbohydrate intake since I would need all the energy I could get when it came time to run. I continued my daily routine of biking to work, swimming and lifting at the gym, and running with the dog after work. I told a few friends that I would be running from Irvine to Newport Beach, and I knew some of them thought I was crazy. How would it be possible for someone to run that length without formal training for months?
I took on this challenge to show that anything is possible as long as you put your heart and mind to it. It was a personal marathon where I would have to find my own route, provide the water, and have a back up emergency plan. I was nervous, but who said a challenge would be easy?
It was 7:50am, and I turned on my music with One Direction playing for the first two hours. Ever since Zayn left the group, my inner fan girl for the group has been playing their music on repeat. I am not ashamed. I usually run an 8 minute and 30 second mile pace in my short runs, but I needed to slow my pace down to around 11 to 13 minute miles. I was feeling great for the first 8 miles and kept a pace of 11 minutes. During mile 9, I felt my right knee tensing. It was bearable and would eventually disappear.
This marathon was much different than my first time. There was no energy from other runners that could help me or friends in the crowd to cheer me on. There was random bikers and runners that would nod their head or say a quick hello. At mile 11, a biker shouted at me as I passed him, "Keep it up buddy!" Having these random people support me pushed me through each mile.
I finally made it half way to mile 13 where I realized I did not bring enough energy gels to sustain my myself. Luckily, I brought my credit card, so I decided to buy a chocolate covered frozen banana at a vender in Newport beach. It amused me, and I knew it would get absorbed in my system right away for me to use. As I was eating the banana, the thought of calling my friend to come pick me up did cross my mind. My body could still run, so I needed to continue.
As I started to run, I noticed that my iPhone battery life was half gone. I needed to conserve the battery, so I decided to turn off the music. I was running the rest of the way with just my thoughts and hearing other peoples chatter. I reached mile 15 where I would have to take the short ferry cruise across Balboa island. I thought it added a nice change to the adventure. The sign of the ferry said it was priced at 1.25 to get across, and I only brought $1. I wanted to double check the price, so I asked the middle age couple in front of me about the cost. They said it was a $1, so I was relieved. It was just me and the couple that got on the ferry with a few cars. I pulled out the $1 bill to hand over to the money collector, but the couple stopped me and said it was on them as they handed the guy a $5 bill. I was shocked. We started talking, and I told them I was on a personal marathon run. They were very supportive and told me I could use the $1 for water or a snack. With their kind gesture, I was fueled with positivity for the second half of my run.
From mile 16 to 20, the path had many hills that I was not prepared for. My abdomen started hurting, and I wishfully imagined that it was the pain of my make believe abs emerging. I continued to tell myself that all I needed to do was put one feet in front of the other. Another thought that frequently visited was not wanting to get leg cramps. It was very painful the last time I got them on my first marathon during mile 22, and it almost stopped me from completing the run. I tried my best to keep hydrated and balancing my electrolytes with the energy gels that I would take every 45 minutes.
As mile 21 approached, I was getting minor twitches in my calves, and I knew that was a sign of the cramps to come. Every time I felt a twitch, I stopped for a few seconds to massage and stretch both calves. The muscles were as hard as a rock. I had to repeat this process between mile 22 to 23. I noticed that my bottled water was almost gone. With every water fountain I found, I imagined it as Mario's question mark blocks to help me level up.
Once mile 23 started, the twitches went away and I was able to run a regular pace without stopping. I was relieved. There was only 5K distance left to my goal. My legs were in pain, and I could feel my upper body was very tense. Throughout the run, I tried my best not to swing my arms too much to conserve energy. I reached mile 25 with only 3% of battery life left. I had to make a decision to turn off the app. At that time, I also ran out of energy gels, so my energy was depleted. I could not run my last 1.2 miles. It was disappointing, but I tried my best to speed walk it back. I felt light headed, so I knew walking was a good idea.
It was a relief when I got home. I immediately went to the kitchen to drink the gatorade and started making a smoothy. My body was craving food. I sat down and got my feet elevated; it was the best feeling. I was surprised I was able to get through the run, but Dean Karnaze's words were repeating in my head throughout the rough parts of the journey. I wondered if I could also become an ultra marathon runner. With only 1% of battery life, I took one last photo. I started the run with a smile, and I ended the run with an even bigger smile.
WARNING: If it is your first marathon, look for a beginners training schedule. Do not attempt to run a marathon with one week of training. Your body will thank you later.
You said something about super heroes in the first few opening paragraphs; if anything, you're the real super hero.
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