The longest I have ever run in my life
I ran 26 miles today.
I feel so great. One of my goals to run a marathon is going to be realized in another month or so.
Things that I have learnt so far from the training program:
1. Set small goals that are realistic.
2. Once the small goals are reached expand on to the next one.
3. There is power in working along with a group.
4. What happens between the training runs (including food, water, work-stress etc) matters to a great extent.
It is great to run along with a group. I have this theory there there is some energy that we tap into when doing things together in a team.
My theory of group energy
I have talked to many runners and they all agree that running in a group is much easier than running alone. I have also felt the same way in my training.
I have this theory that each person has an energy field around them and when people are together somehow this field interacts with one another to create a overlapped new energy field.
About the run
I was running along fine will about the 16 mile mark. With every long run, the “wall” has been pushed back. When I ran the 16 mile run, the wall was at 12 miles. At the 18 mile run, the wall was at mile 14. At the 20 mile run, the wall was at mile 17. The 23 mile run, I hit the wall at 17 miles.
I hit the wall at mile 18. I wasn’t able to run at all. I sat down by the street, removed my shoes and massaged my feet as they were hurting like crazy. After my little break, every step that I took was hurting.
I could feel the bolts of pain start at the ball of my feet and shoot up my leg … with every step I took.
After a few minutes, the pain started to reduce a bit and I started to jog. The last 7 miles, I ran by myself. It was really hard. One thing that I realized about myself was that I have lot of will power. I am amazed that I ran the last 7 miles all by myself.
I guess by that time, I had crossed my threshold of pain and wasn’t feeling much pain except when I slowed down.
The finish at the 26th mile was awesome. There were so many people cheering me and they had a medal for completing the run. I felt awesome for those 30 seconds just before completion. No pain.
Then after that, the pain started again.
I guess this time, the recovery is going to be quicker.