A Full Marathon Virgin No More

Don’t get me wrong. This is no pillow talk. I am far from the desirous virgin so easily conjectured in the fertile grounds of imagination. But virgin am I just the same. Full marathon virgin or FMV in runners' lingo, that is. But not for long. Come Saturday, my full marathon innocence will be gone. In fact, chances are that, by the time you read this, I would be a certified FMV no more. I would have surrendered my marathon innocence willingly, completely, happily. Forever.

How fast time runs. Wasn't it only last Feb 9 when I got an email from The Bull Runner that I was getting a slot in her marathon- The Bull Runner Dream Marathon (TBRDM)? I did not really want to go the full distance yet at that time. After all, it seemed too early in my formal racing career, with only a couple of 21Ks safely tucked under my belt.  But I always like to challenge myself.  This time, about doing something grand, something difficult, something most people my age would rather avoid. More importantly, I had to send an unspoken yet all-important message to those who matter to me most. That to reach a goal in running as in life, amidst all hurdles and seeming impossibilities, train, retrain, and rest if one must, but never, never quit.

And what better way is there to both challenge myself and send a message at the same time than doing a full marathon?  For isn't running the full mary so difficult that roughly only 1 in 1000 do it at least once in there lifetimes?  For isn't running 26 miles and 385 yards or a full 42,195 meters, thereby pounding one's feet in concrete 26,000 times, so physically draining that all glycogen reserves will be gone by the 20th mile or 32nd kilometer and one's body must have earlier learnt to convert body fat deposits into fuel lest it hit the infamous 'marathon wall' and say goodbye to the finish line? For isn't running a marathon all about trying to send a message, as it was all about during the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, when the Greek soldier Pheidippides ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens in two days to announce the victory of the Greeks over the Persians with the word 'Nenikékamen' or 'We are victorious'', before collapsing and dying on the spot? Yes indeed, except in my case, I desire to live long and live strong well beyond my maiden marathon day!

And so began a 16-week crash course on running a full marathon, anchored on the training plan devised by Coach Jim Lafferty of the TBRDM Training Team, as supplemented by the various Bull Circle resource persons, but strengthened some more by the wisdom and pieces of advice culled from Art Liberman's easy-to-read The Everything Running Book (Second Edition) and Tom Holland's instructive The Marathon Method.  Online training resources, such as those from Runners' World and MarathonTraining.com, came in handy too during the entire training period.  Putting theory into practice were the actual runs and some cross training sessions done in gyms at the workplace and of hotels during times I was on the road.  The former consisted of participation in TBRDM Bull Sessions, as well as solo maintenance runs during weekdays and long, slow distance (LSD) runs and 21K races during weekends.

Sixty-three runs, 766 kilometers or 476 miles, countless hours, and heavy doses of commitment and resolve, thereafter, it is now less than a week before my virgin marathon day!  I am now into my final taper week and happy (and lucky!) to have reached this juncture still injury-free and, I believe, in great physical and psychological shape.  Of course, there are butterflies in my stomach, yes, lots of them.  This I am sure is driven equally by the excitement of being on the cutting edge and conquering new ground once more, as by the the fear of the unknown, of not knowing what's waiting on the other side of this new twilight zone. 

Photo courtesy of http://thebullrunner.com/

But I believe that, by now, I can safely tick-off four of the five basic steps suggested for preparing one's self to run a full marathon: (1) achieving the basic fitness level required for endurance running; (2) being committed to and focused on the marathon goal; (3) picking a suitable and realistic training plan; and (4) faithfully executing that training plan to as close as possible to perfection.

What is then left to do is the fifth basic step, perhaps the most important of all- having fun and enjoying the marathon experience. Wish me luck, then, as I dare to thoroughly enjoy becoming a full marathon virgin no more!