Runner's Journal: The Marathon
May 3, 2015 by Ryan Willms 
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—01. Photograph by Jennilee Marigomen.
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Today is the day; for the first time I'll embark on a nonstop 42.2km (26.3 mile) run and hopefully finish in less than three hours. While my Runner's Journal posts haven't been especially regular, luckily my training has. Over the past few months, work has been all-consuming, nearly every day of the week. My only real respite has been running, allowing me the chance to clear my mind and achieve some temporary peace.
I've worked hard to keep up with training, either through the Running Room group or on my own. I've also tried to keep my diet on track and, with the help of Sarah from Eat2Run, I've completed a fairly specific two-week program of fat loading, combined with carb loading for the past three days. I've been fortunate to stay healthy and injury-free over the past few months, but travel, a heavy workload and long hours have provided their own challenges. That being said, I don't feel that my training could have gone too much better overall.
I've run 36km, completed hill training and speed work on the track for the first time, and set a personal best of 37:21 for 10km in a race in February – all signs point to success today. The biggest worry now is the mental unknown: how my body will handle the distance and the pace, and how strong my mind is at coping with the inevitable pain. I dread finishing the race in over three hours and feeling that I could have run faster. I know my body is physically ready, but without past experience, only time will tell whether I have the mental strength to achieve my goal.
Reader Comments (5)
Go Blue!!!!!!!!!!