I didn’t think my knees would hold up. I didn’t even fully make it through the Nike run training program. I was kind of pissed at my body and then let my mind accept the training failure. Usually, I try to push through and finish what I set out to do but I somehow made it okay in my mind to regress rapidly in the training program and ditch the training almost altogether for the few weeks prior to the race. I had been so good about keeping up with the distance training for about 12 straight weeks. Getting up to the 16 mile run I only had two longer runs before I would taper down. Then my knee started acting up and I let it get the best of me. On some steps it felt like a knife was going through the outside of my right knee. I am pretty sure this was due to my Iliotibial Band (IT Band) rubbing up against my joint and getting inflamed. I probably should have been actively doing some form of exercise every day to strengthen the area but I never really put a ton of research and effort into strengthening exercises.
On the positive, I did manage to foam roll and stretch almost every day, but I only ran twice (and only short 5k runs at that) over the three weeks leading up to the race. On the last run my OTHER knee started doing funky things. The front of my left knee got really sore during the final run to the point where I couldn’t get back up from a squat at the end of my run. In talking with my Physical Therapy friend, Sarah, she informed me that the tendons that attach the kneecap to adjacent muscles are called the patellar tendon and the patella – not that those mean anything to me. All I knew is that it hurt and I felt like I was breaking at the least favorable time.
Commence marathon week. It was Sunday, September 16th, 2018 and the marathon was merely one week away on September 23rd. I felt guilty at my own fall-off from the training program and was nervous for my knees. I got fed up with the negative thoughts that were crossing my mind and decided that I had to change my mindset and set myself up to succeed. To start off, I ordered two compression sleeves off of Amazon for my knees during the race. Secondly, I needed to get myself in the right frame of mind. I sat down and began to visualize myself crossing the finish line. As corny as this may sound, I sat on my bed for about ten minutes and saw myself crossing the finish line. I didn’t just stop there. I also visualized myself enduring pain and persevering through it. I imagined my muscles cramping up. I envisioned the front of my left knee becoming sore and throbbing from swelling. I thought about the blisters that may develop. Then I visualized myself pushing through these pains and brought my sights back on crossing the finish line. Nothing was going to stop me. I had my mind back and felt as ready as I could be to run 26.2 miles. Each day that week I told myself how excited I was to have the opportunity to test my limits rather than telling myself the old story of how nervous I was. I changed my story and infiltrated positivity into my thoughts on running 10 miles farther than I had ever ran before. I fully adopted the marathon mindset.
Running a marathon is mind over matter. I would have crawled over the finish line if I had to. Thanks to the change in mindset, visualization, knee compression sleeves and some Advil, I felt SO excited to start the marathon and to get moving. I met my friends Brandon and Sarah near the start and we all couldn’t really believe that it was happening. Mentally, I broke up the marathon into smaller 5k chunks. All I had to do was make it to 3.1 miles from the start. And then another 3.1 miles. And then another. I broke down my vision of finishing into shorter, focused and attainable goals. One 5k down, two 5k’s down, three… Brandon, Sarah and I enjoyed the crisp 50 degree morning and the cheery attitude of the runners and the encouragement from the spectators. We were cruising through territory that we were used to – the first half of the marathon. As a team, the three of us ran really well the first half. I felt pretty good approaching the half-way point and asked them if it was okay if I pushed to try and get back up to the 4:30:00 pace keeper and they said they were okay with that. So at 13.1 miles I picked up my pace. I actually caught and passed the 4:30:00 pace keeper and hung out somewhere between a 4:20:00 and 4:30:00 pace for majority of the remainder of the race.
Sarah (left), Brandon (Center), Me (right)
Over the past couple of years I have noticed that I love being around and being on teams and with people but have also noticed that I am actually super okay with being by myself as well. I think it’s healthy to be able to be alright by yourself. The way the marathon shaped out was no different. I loved running and pushing myself with Brandon and Sarah and I also loved pushing myself alone. I wasn’t ever really alone though as the Rochester marathon is typically lined with awesome and enthusiastic spectators. Through Irondequoit there were bands playing in front yards, music blaring over personal speakers, people dancing, and no shortage of snacks and fluids being offered. The people of Irondequoit are amazing! One of the highlights was a tent that was blasting Twist & Shout by the Beatles. I approached the tent preparing for the chorus – grooving and dancing, making sure to twist and shout with the people rocking out at the tent. So. much. fun. The gist of this is that you’re never truly alone and I certainly never felt that way through the race thanks to these wonderful people. Now, this is not to say I didn’t have my mental battles though. I was still, in fact, running a marathon.
Around mile 19 things started to drag on – especially at this really long and flat part that seemed to stretch on for forever. I couldn’t really see the end of it and needed to hone in on my pre-developed marathon mentality. Break it down into smaller chunks and visualize the finish. I thought about getting to mile 23. It was at this point that I came across a table in Irondequoit with sweets. I am a sucker for sweets and have a sweet tooth. I certainly couldn’t turn down a cookie, so I indulged in one. As I left the table, a man held out a Dixie cup and informed the that it was a shot of beer and not water. What the heck! I’m not going to turn that down…even if I was around mile 20 of a marathon. I took it and was rejuvenated. Now I just had to get to mile 23. Only two more 5k’s left and I’d have accomplished the feat I set out to do!
Miles 20-26 were the toughest mentally. I just had to keep pushing. Everything started to get on the verge of cramping. At one point I went to stretch out my quad muscle and my hamstring almost shriveled up in contraction! I nearly fell over! Not long after that I was approaching the last 3/4 of a mile. I don’t really remember much about miles 20-25. Is there such thing as runner’s blackout? I’m not sure. But either way I was less than a mile away from the finish as I turned the corner and moseyed my way across the high falls bridge. I could literally see the finish line and my Achilles Tendon contracted and pulled my left foot with it. I couldn’t wipe out this close to the finish line! I hobbled over to the curb, stretched it out real quick, and plugged on for the final stretch.
Running up to and through the finish line was a surreal experience. People were cheering as I made my way towards the finish. Step by step. It was so cool to hear my name called and to have my Dad, who had run the same race the year prior, excited and cheering as I crossed the finish line. I couldn’t believe I had done it. THAT IS SO FREAKING FAR! The second I crossed the finish line and stopped moving everything seized up and my legs barely worked anymore. I couldn’t have felt more alive at that moment. I attribute crossing the finish line to the marathon mentality and visualization. I visualized and I executed with the tactical exercise of breaking the run down into smaller chunks. This is how I have been attacking my goals over the past year to year or so and have found that I am able to reach farther and conquer my goals at a quicker pace than I had in the past. Visualize and truly see yourself reaching the end result and then set up tactical exercises that break the goal up into smaller, more attainable sub-goals. In doing this, I have (and you will be able to) set larger goals than would normally be imaginable. If it’s not crazy when you say it out loud, it’s not big enough. When I said 26.2 miles out loud at the beginning of training, that sounded absurd. But here I am. I adopted the marathon mentality and just finished my first full marathon! Cheers to that!
Me (left), Sarah (middle) and Brandon (right)
-Ryan
