What I’ve Learned Training for My First Marathon
Originally published in the Fleet Feet Albany & Malta Newsletter, September 2023.
I just finished my eleventh week of training for my first marathon, which doesn’t seem real when I read the words back to myself. The race still seems so far away, but it’s less than two months from now. It also feels like I’ve been training forever; spending endless hours on my feet, going to sleep earlier and earlier to wake for early morning runs to beat the heat and humidity or to sneak them in before I begin working, and having an insatiable appetite to fuel all of those runs and strength sessions. In those eleven weeks, I’ve simultaneously learned so much about who I am as a runner and who I am outside of running.
Things I’ve Learned About Running
I have no doubt there is still so much for me to learn about running. I can read and inform myself to my heart’s content about the practical stuff: running slow to run fast (the classic 80/20 rule—run 80% of your runs EASY, 20% hard), how many grams of carbohydrates and milligrams of electrolytes to consume per hour of running, what kinds of carbs to eat before and after a run, dynamic warmups, proper cool-downs and stretching, running-specific strength exercises—I could truly go on forever. But it’s one thing to read about it or hear it on a podcast, and a totally different thing to put it into practice for your own body.
One of the earliest lessons I learned was the importance of slowing down on my easy runs. Like many other runners training for fall marathons, I am running through intense heat and humidity; some days it doesn’t seem to matter how early I get out the door, summer discomfort still greets me. During the first half of my training, my runs weren’t enjoyable. I was stubborn, trying to run the paces I was hitting in February—when the temps were cooler, the air was drier, and I was the fastest I’d ever been. It was also before an IT-band injury had knocked me out for weeks, preventing me from running the race I was training for (and evidently, over-trained for).
I can’t deny I still let my ego get the best of me. I still try to run as fast as I used to during speed workouts and maintain what my easy pace used to be. But I’ve been learning, the hard way, that is simply not where my body is right now. And the most important part of running is listening to your body.
Once I started slowing down more, I rediscovered my joy for running: that sense of accomplishment that I hit my mileage with the knowledge that my legs still had more in them; taking deep breaths of fresh morning air and watching the unique light that hits the trees when the sun has just risen; a feeling of freedom.
I still struggle, as I’m sure many other marathon runners do. But the more I learn, the easier training becomes.
Prioritizing my nutrition has been a key component of making sure my training goes well and I don’t burn out as I did in March. Hydration is particularly crucial in the summer heat. I’m not only drinking more electrolytes during my runs, but I’m also drinking when I’m not running. I notice that it makes me recover better and feel better even after a long, tough run. While drinking plain water is important, too much water without electrolytes can dilute the electrolytes in your system and dehydrate you further, a condition known as hyponatremia that can be dangerous for runners. I make sure my gels have sodium in them, as well as bringing liquid electrolytes or salt chews with me on my long runs. The last thing I want is to harm my body just because I didn’t take those extra steps.
When it comes to fueling, I think about what I’m eating before, during, and after my runs. For runners, that means carbs. Carbs are everyone’s main source of fuel, but they are especially crucial for us.
I’ve learned the hard way the importance of a low-fiber, carb-rich meal the night before a long run, followed by low-fiber carbs right before my runs. Prior to a short run, I’ll just have an applesauce pouch or some graham crackers—but I always eat before a run, no matter how long or short, because I know I’m setting my body up for failure if I don’t.
Before my long runs, adequate fueling can look like pasta the night before and sourdough toast with banana and peanut butter an hour before my run in the morning. Unfortunately, thanks to the summer heat, that means eating my pre-run breakfast at 5:30 a.m. to get a head start before it gets too hot. I’ve had to train my stomach to be able to eat that early, because it is the last thing I want to do at that hour. But that’s what training is for: we are training our muscles, as well as our stomachs.
During my runs I calculate how many gels to bring using the rule of thumb of 30-60g of carbs per hour, and then adjust based on how good (or not good) I felt on the run with the amount I had.
After every run, I try to eat a carb- and protein-packed meal within an hour of when I finish the run—ideally, I’ll eat within 30 minutes of getting back so I can properly begin the muscle recovery process and replenish my glycogen stores. Also, I’m just hungry. After my 14-mile long run last Sunday, we made the most delicious waffles with lots of toppings (which I was thinking about for the entirety of that run).
Listening to your body is always trial-and-error. When it comes to a race as long and daunting as a marathon, it’s important to use your training as a place to practice what works and what doesn’t, what feels good and what makes us feel worse. For me, that means not eating a big bowl of lentils the night before I run 15 miles if I don’t want to suffer the next morning. It also means not being shy about sodium and getting my electrolytes in. It means embracing all the carbs and the bottomless pit that my stomach has become.
Throughout training, I’ve grown to appreciate my body so much more. I’ve seen what it is capable of: distances I never imagined I could cover, hours on my feet I didn’t believe I could endure (out of exhaustion and boredom), and appreciation for solitude on peaceful morning runs. Beyond that, I’ve seen how crucial it is to treat my body kindly. I need to let it rest more than usual, I need to sleep more than I ever have, and I need to de-stress at any opportunity I can. While running is stress relief, it puts stress on the body, physically and mentally. It’s hard to let go of stress when tight deadlines pop up and new life crises emerge, but I’ve become even more aware of how that stress impacts me and my training. My body tells me it needs rest. I’m trying harder to listen.
Things I’ve Learned About Myself
It’s naive to think who we are when we run is completely outside of who we are in our jobs, who we are with our significant others, and with our family and friends. It’s naive to believe that the stressors that come with life don’t bleed into our training. It’s also naive to think that our training doesn’t bleed into our personalities, thoughts, and emotions in the majority of our lives we spend not running.
I’m a very sociable person. I value quality time with my partner, my friends, and my family. As a journalist, I generally enjoy talking to and meeting new people. I love hearing their stories and sharing them with the world when they want them to be told. I love all those things about myself, but I have to be honest: I struggle to be alone. I fear solitude, loneliness, and being alone with my thoughts. I live with immense anxiety and have battled depression in the past, so solitude can be a terrifying thought. But after hiking Mount Kilimanjaro where I had nothing but time alone with my thoughts in the absence of cell service and contact with most of my loved ones, I found peace in being with myself. I’ve found the same thing with marathon training.
On Sundays I run alone for two, two-and-a-half hours, sometimes more. I’ve come to value this time. It’s all my own, away from emails and phone calls and any responsibilities except to move one foot in front of the other. It’s my time to explore and to find new details I’ve missed on routes I’ve run many times before. I see dogs sticking their heads out of windows and craning their necks back at me as they pass by. I see older couples sitting on their porch at sunrise, who wave to me as I run past. I see myself during those runs. A young woman who loves to learn as she listens to new podcasts about politics, climate change, health and wellness, or the sport of running, just to name a few. She is someone who grows stronger every day she chooses to run, even on days when that’s the last thing she wants to do.
I still have so much to learn, especially as a first-time marathoner. My fueling and hydration plan is probably not perfect. I am still learning how to embrace slower running. I have not yet covered the 26.2-mile distance, where so much could happen over the hours I’m on the course, circumstances for which I can’t fully prepare and I can’t learn from until I’ve experienced them. Take my words not as advice, not as directives for what you should do in your own training, but with the understanding that marathon training teaches us so much about our bodies, our lives, and our minds. Every run is a new opportunity to learn, and I hope my reflections inspire others to think about what they’ve learned through their lifetime as a runner.
