The Revenge of the Hateful
What I learned from running a marathon, and why you should do it too.
After one year, I’m coming back.
And since, for a while, I ran out of things to tell you, today I will tell you about how I ran.
TLDR; About my quarter-life crisis led me to run a marathon (42.125K) prepared in 27 days and how this taught me the difference between being a hero and a fool, and how pain and hate are very fluid feelings.
The Backstory
I live in Madrid, pursuing a Master’s degree. This year, I tried all kinds of (legal) stuff. Among many things, in November I signed up for a marathon in May.
I’ve always been moving and consider myself relatively fit, but I’m pretty sure that before that day I did not intentionally run more than 20 km aggregated in my whole life.
Little did I know that committing to a certain fit lifestyle while being 24 in Madrid is no easy task. The outcome: by the end of March I managed to collect a baffling 30 km cumulative distance across all the runs I made, along with a left hamstring injury.
To clarify: in 4 months, my cumulative mileage across all the runs I made were about 70% of what I was required to run in the race day. And I also got injured.
So I lost motivation.
But there’s a subtle power in saying things out loud.
As the race day was approaching, one friend asked how I felt about it. It’s hard to describe the feeling when the words out of my mouth were “I’m not running it.”
Fake. It’s not hard to describe: I feel like a fool. My words don’t reflect my actions. I’m a joke. The scariest part? How all these thoughts were easily translated into all other aspects of my life.
I won’t allow it.
I only used that answer once.
From now on, it’s only “I’m doing it.”
One month left. Less. 27 days. I start dieting (kudos to Dr. Rachel Rubin), Zero Alcohol and Smoke policy, and proper training and recovery. I had to minimize external negative influences if I wanted to do it. My only condition: Do-not-get-injured-before-the-race. I can’t run with a cast on my leg.
I start collecting Kms and feeling great. I fixed my running technique and managed to build km over km, up to a 30k run without injuries in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Two weeks to race day. 14 days.
Now it was just a matter of maintenance. I couldn’t increase the mileage more without risking an injury, so the plan was to keep on running short distances consistently while eating and recovering properly.
10 days to race day
My left knee is hurting, maybe injured. I can’t run. Not even 3k. I Got some help, and got checked. Nothing major. The marathon is possible. The PT tells me to expect some pain during race day, but nothing crazy. I rest for one week and I can run 10k without any pain.
We’re back!
Everything is as planned. Fueled up the days before, slept like a child. I had a pasta dinner with some friends the night before. Went to sleep.
The Race Day
The alarm rings at 6:30 am. Huge breakfast and go.
The expected finish time is 4 hours and 40 minutes, but anything above that is still an achievement. My plan: to survive.
The start is amazing, the energy can be felt in the air. I was expecting my leg to hurt after the 15k mark. And I was just one dot short: the pain started at 1.5k.
I have to limp for 40.5K and the idea is killing me.
I’m doing it.
My secret sauce was that every time I had to stop due to pain, I was taking my phone out and reading all the messages of F&F following me virtually. I was literally FaceTiming at some point. Pep talks were necessary. My marathon was split between “running” and walking/limping.
10k done.
Stop. Facetime. Run again.
15k done.
Stop. Read messages. Run again.
20k done.
Stop.
Put ice.
Read messages.
25k done.
Stop.
Lay down.
Strangers chanting your name.
30k done.
Stop.
33k done.
I’m doing it.
9k to go. A recurrent thought was driving me now: if I had to feel pain, it would have been a problem of tomorrow. I ran 9k so many times and this was no exception. At some point, my left leg was so stiff that I wasn’t even lifting it. Thanks to the pouring rain I managed to slide my feet forward instead of stepping on it. One slide after the other - the finish line is there.
I literally couldn’t stop smiling.
Last 100m.
Hear the crowd.
Last 50m.
Hear the speaker calling your name.
I crossed the finish line. I just ran a full marathon. Time 5 hours and 29 minutes.
I did it.
The Aftermath
I will disregard the obvious physical pain, the limping, and the inability to run as of today (2.5 weeks after race day).
This marathon taught me a lot of things.
First and foremost: while 42k is an insane distance, it’s probably the easiest part of the race. While I tried to make this story entertaining and picture myself as some sort of hero, I am simply a fool who took the easy road.
Preparing for a marathon in 27 days is not hard. Committing to a certain lifestyle for such a short period as well. I can see the finish line, might as well wait a bit more.
Preparing it for one year is. Investing and risking one year of training to reach a certain time is. But, how weird, there wouldn’t be a story to send in your inbox.
So, Lesson #1: Don’t get fooled by the loud talker. Turn around and listen to the silent majority, those are the heroes whom you learn from.
Secondly, I used to hate running, but I changed my mind. I wouldn’t say that I love it now, but I totally get why people do it. And this helped me notice that lately the same applied on many aspects of my life.
I used to hate swimming (ask my mother), but now I’m preparing consistently for a 3k open water swim.
I am scared of heights, and yet I have been doing rock climbing since a few months back.
I used to hate studying, and now I’m pursuing a Master’s and extended it until December.
I used to hate writing, and well…
What I’m trying to say here is to give things a chance and not lock doors. What you used to hate may become your next passion. What is hurting you for 5:30 hours may become your next best story.
Lesson #2: Don’t put eternal stamps on anything. Talk with people, try new and old things and please challenge your opinions. Nothing is true until proven otherwise.
Many of you will not even read this far because the story was too cheesy or cliche and I agree.
But I felt like sharing this story due to various reasons. A couple years ago I started this newsletter and the best part was that I enjoyed the process. Suddenly I stopped and once you do it is really hard to gain momentum back. Kind of similar to running.
So this post is like my easy run after a long break. It’s not the best I have, I feel clunky and rusty and for the most part I don’t even want to do it. But I want to come back. And it all starts with wearing your shoes and taking the first step, and another, and another and another….
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I was thrilled when I saw the photo of you crossing the finish line. I imagine what a crazy feeling it would be to hear your name upon arrival. Thanks for sharing!!
Loved it! I used to hate running but lately I've been trying to do it. Your story inspires me to run a marathon someday!