Lessons from my first half marathon

After completing the swimming leg of my first 70.3 IRONMAN triathlon (June 7th, Kraichgau), I wanted a more challenging adventure which I could do alongside my everyday work. In order to do a full triathlon someday, I would need to run, run a complete 21.5 kms! I signed up (June 18th, 2015) for the Den Haag Vrede Marathon (21.5 km) and decided to figure out the rest of the preparation on the way.

Earlier, I barely ran 5 km at a stretch, exactly two times a year, Independence day Run (Aug 15th) and the Republic Day run (26th Jan) at the IISc campus, Bangalore. This was my start point.

What I kept in mind

Workout: I started with jogging, finding myself at 8 min/km pace, I went ahead, in and around the TU Delft campus, followed by basic stretching exercises. Pretty basic! Diet: I tried to keep my bowel movement in order and avoided eating chips, which was/is my major weakness. I made sure my diet included proteins and carbohydrates in sufficient quantities among other needs. Drank a lot of milk!

The point of writing the article is to remind myself and let others know that absolutely anything is possible if you make up your mind for it. It’s a choice you make, to run or not to run, to eat or not to eat and to live the way you want.

I will enlist what I learnt from my previous adventures that helped me in my preparation (during mountaineering in the Himalayas, swimming, cycling & water sports in Karnataka, India)

Carry less. When I went for trekking in the mountains, the most practical lesson I learnt is to carry only the absolute essential. The heavier the load on my back, the harder the climb. Two pairs of clothes, a pair of shoes and a water bottle was all I was left with and the journey was so much more enjoyable. Whether or not you know it, jump right at it. You will learn if you didn’t know earlier. And if you did, you might just as well do better than the previous attempt.

With these handful of things in my mind and training with a supportive partner and thus making it more effective, I started running. Small segments at a time. I attempted a 3 km, 5 km, 7 km and a 12 km run on a different day, all in July. My training partner, Joseph, and I motivated each other to keep up with good training. It involved a lot of mental endurance and physical exhaustion. But I ate better (both quantity and quality) and had more sound sleep at night, which helped my body recover.

What I learnt from my half marathon

Human mind is the limit, not the human body. My mind didn’t know what my body is capable of till I did the Nandi Hills (15 km) run in August 2015 with an elevation gain of 664 m. I had sore legs for the next two days and couldn’t move much. It took me a while to recover fully. And you would never know until you try! The Half Marathon just confirmed it. One of the best ways to explore a city. Running the Den Haag marathon took me to parts of Hague through the woods, the bridges, the canals and the historical buildings which I wouldn’t otherwise care to venture into . Listen to your body more keenly. If your body wants to drink more water, do that. If there is small voice saying no to chips (since that would spoil the balance), listen to it. If it says its full, stop eating. Be more kind to your body. Let go of the baggage of the past. In order not to lose momentum and to save up till the last flank, it’s important to let go of unnecessary material baggage which could be physical , mental or emotional. Just like the two pairs of clothes, one pair of shoes and a water bottle story. Bare minimum. Rest can be thrown away. After a steep climb, every 500 grams of weight on the back begins to hurt. Therefore choose wisely. Team partner for training is great support. When all the energy and the motivation fails, one encouraging word can give that necessary push to the finish.
That the body has an upper limit too. What I did was with insufficient preparation and time. It took me three weeks for my knees to fully recover. It’s important to train well and train the right way. Most important lesson: The earnestness to do it!

About the run:

Den Haag Vrede Marathon photographs

At the start of the marathon

Links: Route on strava: Link

Results: Link

Event: Link

Twitter: Link