Completing a marathon is one of the most challenging and rewarding accomplishments you may achieve in your life. To complete this endurance event, not only do you have to get your body in shape, you have to get your mind trained to be tough enough to work through any temporary fatigue you may encounter on race day.
Most people you talk to about running a marathon will at some stage refer to hitting "the wall" - a figurative wall that you may encounter around the 32km mark.
In general, hitting the wall refers to depleting your stored glycogen and the feelings of fatigue and negativity that typically accompany it.
Glycogen is carbohydrate that is stored in our muscles and liver for energy. It is the easiest and most readily available fuel source to burn when exercising, so the body prefers it.
When you run low on glycogen, even your brain wants to shut down activity as a preservation method, which leads to the negative thinking that comes along with hitting the wall.
I clearly remember "the wall" in my first marathon.
It was the 35th km where the course took a dog leg into Weston Park. Every step, for 3 whole kilometers, required all my will power.
It was the hardest physical battle I had ever endured. Every muscle in my body was begging me to stop.
The furthest I had run in training was 32 kms, so I was in uncharted waters, and not sure just how far this Mojo could go. Yet a little voice inside my mind was telling me to keep going, there was still hope.
I could see the 38km marker in the distance, and I told myself that I just had to reach that, and then it would be smooth sailing for the last 4kms. And just like that, it was.
The "wall" in my second marathon was slightly different due to my rookie error of changing energy gels on race day!
The disagreement between the new energy gel and my stomach left me with no supplements, bringing on the wall prematurely, however I quickly got over it thanks to the provision of bananas at one of the drink stations.
I didn't hit "the wall" in my third marathon. Something that I put down to experience.
How foolish was I.
You see "the wall" does not just simply go away because you have run a couple of marathons. I was about to learn this the hard way on my fourth marathon. The Orange Marathon.
The Orange Colour City Running Festival was first held in 2007, and has grown to be one of the premier Festivals on the running calendar each year. The Festival caters from walkers through to the elite runners over 5 challenging distances. There is a 2km, 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon.
Each distance includes a range of surfaces to make the race both challenging and memorable for all participants.
Challenging and memorable... well they got that right.
The Orange Marathon provided a perfect opportunity to spend some time with my family as it is where my sister lives, and not too far from my parent’s farm. This also meant that I would have a support crew and that I could take Matilda with me too!
I traveled up to my parent’s farm on the Saturday a week out from race day.
It is a 9-hour trip when you stop for breaks, but I don't mind the drive and Matilda is very well behaved in the car.
On the Sunday we had a party for my Mum's birthday which was nice.
I was lucky enough to coincide the trip with four work seminars in the region so I set off on Monday to the first one in Orange. It was nice to step back into my old role as Education Manager for the week, even though I was a bit rusty on the first presentation. It quickly came back to me and by the fourth night in Bathurst I was well and truly back into the swing of things.
On Saturday afternoon Mum, Dad and I left the farm (base camp) and drove into my sister’s house in Orange (race camp). Once we got there we decided to head out and drive the course. My sister Sal had printed out the course map and we marked out all the spots that they would spectate from, and feed me bananas!
When we got back to race camp everyone laughed at me when I said I would have a whole loaf of garlic bread with my spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. I don’t know whether they were all trying to make me feel better or the excitement had caught on, but between the four of us we ended up eating four loaves!
It was an early night for everyone as we had to be up at 5.20am. Having my support crew made a big difference to my sleep and I actually slept pretty well knowing that if I somehow slept through my 2 alarms that someone else would wake me.
The weather gods were out in full force on Sunday morning. Makes perfect sense now that I know the actual history of the marathon – thanks Mum.
The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "we have won!", before collapsing and dying.
In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Browning's poem became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. It was this poem which inspired Baron Pierre de Coubertin and other founders of the modern Olympic Games to invent a running race of 42 km called the marathon.
Although Pheidippides was not strictly a weather god, he was a messenger. I had sent a little message of my own to the universe asking for it to be a perfect day for running and it was answered.
15 degrees for the start of the race and it did not get over 20 for the whole race. Incredible considering that Orange had been having a heat wave.
There was 100 people taking place in the marathon, so it was a small pack as we gathered at the start line. I got my good luck hugs from my support crew and then I was off into the crisp country morning.
My race plan was to try and sit on a 5:10 pace for the first half and then drop to 5:20 for the second.
Although it wasn’t until the 11km that I hit my planned pace. In hindsight this may have contributed to “the wall” but one of the best things about doing so many marathons in the year is that it allows me to live and learn. I can come away from this marathon and work out what did work and what didn’t and then apply it in the next.
The second part of my race plan was that my support crew would be waiting at the 12km with some bananas. As I got closer to our agreed meeting spot my heart began to sink.
I couldn’t see them.
Now Mum had kitted everyone out in bright pink Mojo shirts, so I should have been able to see them from a mile away.
There was a fire truck blocking the road where they should have been, and part of me thought they might be hiding behind it, and then jump out to surprise me.
We like to do this sort of thing in our family.
One time I drove up to Mum and Dads and didn’t tell them I was coming, and was just sitting in the kitchen when Mum got home to surprise her. So I thought it might have been like that.
But it wasn't.
I looked at my watch and I was 1 minute ahead of the ETA, so I wondered if I should wait for them just in case.
But thankfully I had packed a Gu in my pocket, so decided to push on and just hope that they would be at the 21km turn around.
Half way through the Gu I thought “what if they are not there” so I decided not to eat it all and put in back in case that was it until the end.
Perfect timing, just as I zipped up my pocket the smell of something dead on the side of the road infiltrated my nose. It’s bad enough when you are in your car driving, so you can just imagine how it would be running. The joys of the country side!
At 15km the course turned onto gravel road. I hadn’t done much training on this surface, but boy was it was hard work.
All your concentration has to go on the ground in front of you to ensure that you don’t role your ankle on a rock or run into a pot hole. Which goes against everything I have been taught about running. My coach said never look down, keep your head up, run strong and look into the distance -that is where you are going.
Not only was it hard going on the mind, it also took its toll on my body. My legs started to hurt, and the hard surface was jarring on my knees.
It was only 3km until we were back on the surfaced road for the run into Spring Hill, but the thought that I had to do it again on the way back wasn’t great.
Just before the turn into Spring Hill the leading man ran past on his return leg and said “great work.” This quickly got the negative thoughts out of my mind and inspired me to keep up the “great work.” I didn’t realise at the time, but I was actually running at a PB pace which I managed to hold for 30kms.
As I ran into Spring Hill I could see a pink shirt glimmering in the distance. It was sister of Mojo (Sal), jumping up and down cheering with a banana in hand. Boy was I happy to see her.
Sister of Mojo gave me some banana and ran along with me. We quickly established that the road to the 12km and 30km mark was blocked, so this would be it until the finish line.
I kept running to the drink station where Mum and Dad of Mojo were cheering (Mum and Dad, respectively).
My pace picked up and it just goes to show how having a support crew really can make the difference to your run. I made my way up the slight hill to the turnaround point, and then quickly back down the hill to my Mojo crew to pick up another packet of Gu, and a bit more banana for the return leg.
See you at the finish line we all chorused.
Then I was off again.
Things were going well until I hit the gravel road, and “the Wall”. It was only the 26km! I still had 16.2km to go – are you kidding me!!!
Everything hurt, I felt like I was crawling, and the only thing stopping me from walking was the knowledge, that if I did, it would take me about 3 hours to finish and I would miss my sisters 5km run.
My biggest take away from this marathon is that your attitude and your mental strength can get you through the most difficult of challenges. My attitude allowed me to break the remaining kilometres down into smaller parts and push though.
I was cursing up a storm in true country style, every time I hit a rock I called it a flaming galah, but the underlying message I was telling myself was, Mojo – you’ve got this. I wanted to get to that finish line, and I know my body well enough that I could power through this. Your mind is amazing you just have to put trust in yourself and find an attitude that is going to let you succeed instead of making excuses why you cant.
Another saving grace was a man by the name of Dale.
Dale was running just ahead of me until we got to the second leg of the gravel road, where he also began to slow and I over took him. He was just behind me when I did stop and one stage, and it was him saying “just keep going” that kept me moving. From here on we were neck and neck, occasionally passing one another, but not moving too far apart.
As we entered the final 1km Dale overtook and apologised. Something that I certainly didn’t think was necessary, but admired immensely. So much so that I speed myself up so that I could run alongside him, and said “how about we finish this together?” And we did! Even better was that Dale’s wife was with my family and they all cheered for us as we came across the finish line. (You can check out the video on my Instagram.)
It was the best, and made all the pain from the run just disappear.
You see no matter how hard “the wall” may hit you the feeling you get when you finish a marathon makes up for it 100 times over. It is an overwhelming sense of achievement, happiness and pride.
To be able to share that with others just makes it even more special and that is really what running a marathon is all about.
I learned a lot of things about myself this marathon. I hope that these reflections might inspire others to go out and challenge themselves.
I will leave you with my top 3 leanings on marathon running so far;
1.The mind is a very powerful thing. If you can train your mind to keep going even when your body wants to quit, you can achieve some incredible things.
2.The most gratifying experiences usually come as a result of enduring the most painful trials, and
3.Your friends and family are your biggest supporters.
Happy running x
The mind is a very powerful thing. If you can train your mind to keep going even when your body wants to quit, you can achieve some incredible things.
Most people you talk to about running a marathon will at some stage refer to hitting "the wall" - a figurative wall that you may encounter around the 32km mark.
In general, hitting the wall refers to depleting your stored glycogen and the feelings of fatigue and negativity that typically accompany it.
Glycogen is carbohydrate that is stored in our muscles and liver for energy. It is the easiest and most readily available fuel source to burn when exercising, so the body prefers it.
When you run low on glycogen, even your brain wants to shut down activity as a preservation method, which leads to the negative thinking that comes along with hitting the wall.
I clearly remember "the wall" in my first marathon.
It was the 35th km where the course took a dog leg into Weston Park. Every step, for 3 whole kilometers, required all my will power.
It was the hardest physical battle I had ever endured. Every muscle in my body was begging me to stop.
The furthest I had run in training was 32 kms, so I was in uncharted waters, and not sure just how far this Mojo could go. Yet a little voice inside my mind was telling me to keep going, there was still hope.
I could see the 38km marker in the distance, and I told myself that I just had to reach that, and then it would be smooth sailing for the last 4kms. And just like that, it was.
The "wall" in my second marathon was slightly different due to my rookie error of changing energy gels on race day!
The disagreement between the new energy gel and my stomach left me with no supplements, bringing on the wall prematurely, however I quickly got over it thanks to the provision of bananas at one of the drink stations.
I didn't hit "the wall" in my third marathon. Something that I put down to experience.
How foolish was I.
You see "the wall" does not just simply go away because you have run a couple of marathons. I was about to learn this the hard way on my fourth marathon. The Orange Marathon.
The Orange Colour City Running Festival was first held in 2007, and has grown to be one of the premier Festivals on the running calendar each year. The Festival caters from walkers through to the elite runners over 5 challenging distances. There is a 2km, 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon.
Each distance includes a range of surfaces to make the race both challenging and memorable for all participants.
Challenging and memorable... well they got that right.
This one would be, hands down, the most challenging marathon I have run thus far.
The Orange Marathon provided a perfect opportunity to spend some time with my family as it is where my sister lives, and not too far from my parent’s farm. This also meant that I would have a support crew and that I could take Matilda with me too!
I traveled up to my parent’s farm on the Saturday a week out from race day.
It is a 9-hour trip when you stop for breaks, but I don't mind the drive and Matilda is very well behaved in the car.
On the Sunday we had a party for my Mum's birthday which was nice.
I was lucky enough to coincide the trip with four work seminars in the region so I set off on Monday to the first one in Orange. It was nice to step back into my old role as Education Manager for the week, even though I was a bit rusty on the first presentation. It quickly came back to me and by the fourth night in Bathurst I was well and truly back into the swing of things.
On Saturday afternoon Mum, Dad and I left the farm (base camp) and drove into my sister’s house in Orange (race camp). Once we got there we decided to head out and drive the course. My sister Sal had printed out the course map and we marked out all the spots that they would spectate from, and feed me bananas!
When we got back to race camp everyone laughed at me when I said I would have a whole loaf of garlic bread with my spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. I don’t know whether they were all trying to make me feel better or the excitement had caught on, but between the four of us we ended up eating four loaves!
It was an early night for everyone as we had to be up at 5.20am. Having my support crew made a big difference to my sleep and I actually slept pretty well knowing that if I somehow slept through my 2 alarms that someone else would wake me.
The weather gods were out in full force on Sunday morning. Makes perfect sense now that I know the actual history of the marathon – thanks Mum.
The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "we have won!", before collapsing and dying.
In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Browning's poem became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. It was this poem which inspired Baron Pierre de Coubertin and other founders of the modern Olympic Games to invent a running race of 42 km called the marathon.
Although Pheidippides was not strictly a weather god, he was a messenger. I had sent a little message of my own to the universe asking for it to be a perfect day for running and it was answered.
15 degrees for the start of the race and it did not get over 20 for the whole race. Incredible considering that Orange had been having a heat wave.
There was 100 people taking place in the marathon, so it was a small pack as we gathered at the start line. I got my good luck hugs from my support crew and then I was off into the crisp country morning.
My race plan was to try and sit on a 5:10 pace for the first half and then drop to 5:20 for the second.
Although it wasn’t until the 11km that I hit my planned pace. In hindsight this may have contributed to “the wall” but one of the best things about doing so many marathons in the year is that it allows me to live and learn. I can come away from this marathon and work out what did work and what didn’t and then apply it in the next.
The second part of my race plan was that my support crew would be waiting at the 12km with some bananas. As I got closer to our agreed meeting spot my heart began to sink.
I couldn’t see them.
Now Mum had kitted everyone out in bright pink Mojo shirts, so I should have been able to see them from a mile away.
We like to do this sort of thing in our family.
One time I drove up to Mum and Dads and didn’t tell them I was coming, and was just sitting in the kitchen when Mum got home to surprise her. So I thought it might have been like that.
But it wasn't.
I looked at my watch and I was 1 minute ahead of the ETA, so I wondered if I should wait for them just in case.
But thankfully I had packed a Gu in my pocket, so decided to push on and just hope that they would be at the 21km turn around.
Half way through the Gu I thought “what if they are not there” so I decided not to eat it all and put in back in case that was it until the end.
Perfect timing, just as I zipped up my pocket the smell of something dead on the side of the road infiltrated my nose. It’s bad enough when you are in your car driving, so you can just imagine how it would be running. The joys of the country side!
At 15km the course turned onto gravel road. I hadn’t done much training on this surface, but boy was it was hard work.
All your concentration has to go on the ground in front of you to ensure that you don’t role your ankle on a rock or run into a pot hole. Which goes against everything I have been taught about running. My coach said never look down, keep your head up, run strong and look into the distance -that is where you are going.
Not only was it hard going on the mind, it also took its toll on my body. My legs started to hurt, and the hard surface was jarring on my knees.
It was only 3km until we were back on the surfaced road for the run into Spring Hill, but the thought that I had to do it again on the way back wasn’t great.
Just before the turn into Spring Hill the leading man ran past on his return leg and said “great work.” This quickly got the negative thoughts out of my mind and inspired me to keep up the “great work.” I didn’t realise at the time, but I was actually running at a PB pace which I managed to hold for 30kms.
As I ran into Spring Hill I could see a pink shirt glimmering in the distance. It was sister of Mojo (Sal), jumping up and down cheering with a banana in hand. Boy was I happy to see her.
Sister of Mojo gave me some banana and ran along with me. We quickly established that the road to the 12km and 30km mark was blocked, so this would be it until the finish line.
I kept running to the drink station where Mum and Dad of Mojo were cheering (Mum and Dad, respectively).
Your friends and family are your biggest supporters.
My pace picked up and it just goes to show how having a support crew really can make the difference to your run. I made my way up the slight hill to the turnaround point, and then quickly back down the hill to my Mojo crew to pick up another packet of Gu, and a bit more banana for the return leg.
See you at the finish line we all chorused.
Then I was off again.
Things were going well until I hit the gravel road, and “the Wall”. It was only the 26km! I still had 16.2km to go – are you kidding me!!!
Everything hurt, I felt like I was crawling, and the only thing stopping me from walking was the knowledge, that if I did, it would take me about 3 hours to finish and I would miss my sisters 5km run.
My biggest take away from this marathon is that your attitude and your mental strength can get you through the most difficult of challenges. My attitude allowed me to break the remaining kilometres down into smaller parts and push though.
I was cursing up a storm in true country style, every time I hit a rock I called it a flaming galah, but the underlying message I was telling myself was, Mojo – you’ve got this. I wanted to get to that finish line, and I know my body well enough that I could power through this. Your mind is amazing you just have to put trust in yourself and find an attitude that is going to let you succeed instead of making excuses why you cant.
Another saving grace was a man by the name of Dale.
Dale was running just ahead of me until we got to the second leg of the gravel road, where he also began to slow and I over took him. He was just behind me when I did stop and one stage, and it was him saying “just keep going” that kept me moving. From here on we were neck and neck, occasionally passing one another, but not moving too far apart.
As we entered the final 1km Dale overtook and apologised. Something that I certainly didn’t think was necessary, but admired immensely. So much so that I speed myself up so that I could run alongside him, and said “how about we finish this together?” And we did! Even better was that Dale’s wife was with my family and they all cheered for us as we came across the finish line. (You can check out the video on my Instagram.)
It was the best, and made all the pain from the run just disappear.
The most gratifying experiences usually come as a result of enduring the most painful trials.
To be able to share that with others just makes it even more special and that is really what running a marathon is all about.
I learned a lot of things about myself this marathon. I hope that these reflections might inspire others to go out and challenge themselves.
I will leave you with my top 3 leanings on marathon running so far;
1.The mind is a very powerful thing. If you can train your mind to keep going even when your body wants to quit, you can achieve some incredible things.
2.The most gratifying experiences usually come as a result of enduring the most painful trials, and
3.Your friends and family are your biggest supporters.
Happy running x
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