As a Manulife employee, I have the opportunity to enter an internal lottery for a limited number of Boston Marathon race bibs. Manulife operates as John Hancock in the U.S. and has been the marathon’s principal sponsor for the last 31 years. As I shared in a previous post, I made it off the wait list in late January and decided to run the marathon without previously having run anything more than 5k.
By: Mayoli Weidelich
Up until a week ago training had been going great. I didn’t really mind running in subzero temperatures or the fact that my muscles were hating me because . I’m running the Boston Marathon and it’s worth it! That was the case, at least, until I ran my first half marathon. I came back from the run feeling proud, exhilarated and exhausted. And then, while I was stretching and recovering, reality hit: this is just half.
I couldn’t imagine mustering enough energy and strength to run the same distance I had just ran, back-to-back! For the first time since I started training I felt like maybe I had taken on too much. Like maybe, running a full marathon with less than 3 months to train was the worst idea I had ever had.
The feeling hasn’t completely gone away and it has made training a little bit harder. It takes twice as much effort to get out and run because that initial excitement and euphoria I had when the opportunity first presented itself has dwindled down and insecurity is trying to take its place.
I have 48 days to train and those final 21 kilometers seem unattainable and impossible, however, at an event hosted by Manulife, Greg Meyer told us that when we get anxious on race day we should look back on our training and know that we can do this. It’s not race day (yet!) but I put his advice into action and it has definitely helped squash some of my insecurities. I mean, a month ago I hadn’t run more than 5 k and this past Sunday I went just over 25!
People always say “mind over matter” but in this case I think it’s more matter over mind. My mantra has become – “look how far you’ve gotten. You got this!” Friends, colleagues and family have also been amazing and have kept me pushing forward.
I am sure as the event gets closer the excitement will hit again and I will be on cloud nine but until then, I would love to know if you have felt bumps like this in your training and how if so, how have you gotten over them?
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Hey Mayoli,
I think you’re really brave for training to run a full marathon without having run long distances before! When I was training for my first Half marathon, I had only run a few 10K races and could not imagine myself running More than Double that distance! That thought hung over my head on my last training runs and I can agree that it doesn’t feel good to think in those terms.
But you’re very right about reminding yourself to look back at how far you’ve come! Mayoli, your longest run has literally been over 5x what you were capable of before (5K). You have done 5 times what you were capable of, that’s huge! So to put it in perspective: Even though the full marathon in Boston may be doubling your recent race, but in a way, you’re only doubling what you’re already capable of! You’re literally halfway there!
I’d love to connect with you to talk more re:your training for Boston as a novice runner. Perhaps over a run sometime? Feel free to email me! 🙂 Hope we can get in touch!
This is great news Majoli! Best of luck. I cant wait to follow your progress via your blog.
Remember this: you are not running a marathon…today. When you hear yourself saying “I don’t know how I can run x miles more”, finish the sentence with “..but I don’t need to do that today so it doesn’t matter”. Enjoy every step, no matter how many you take. That’s how you will get across the finish line when the day comes.
[…] – but the opportunity presented itself and I just couldn’t turn it down. The training hasn’t been easy but it has been an incredible […]