Notes to Future Self

This post is a reflection of what I have learnt over the last 6 months as I trained for the marathon. It's more of a personal guideline, something that I would  refer to before I start training for the next one.

1.  Commitment: Training for a marathon takes a LOT of commitment. Most training programs are atleast 18 weeks long.You'll have to make a lot of sacrifices during this time but the reward is sweet.
   
   
2. Changed Lifestyle: You suddenly become much more aware of what you should and should not be eating. It seriously limited my trips to Rice Time! It also made me appreciate power naps, especially after the long runs.
   
   
3. Respect for the Distance: Running a full marathon is NOT like running 2 half-marathons. Not even close. I can go and run a half-marathon any day of the week, but the mental and physical anguish of running a marathon is something that'll take me a few days to get over.
   
   Frank Shorter said it best: "You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
   
   
4. Reaching the Start Line is half the battle:  Chris was suffering from shin-splints, Yelena had issues with her shins and feet and Stacey was coming off a stress fracture. I had a few niggling issues with my knees and a possible bruise of my tibia. And majority of the people at the start had various band-aids, medical sleeves and support straps all over their legs.  Basically, don't expect to be 100% at the start.
   
   Also,reminds me of a sign I saw during the marathon: "WORST PARADE EVER!"
   
   
5.  26.2 miles is a lie: If someone says a marathon is running 26.2 miles, they are lying. Or their definition of a mile is really screwed up.  I ran for 440 miles so that I could run 26.2 on race day. That comes out to running 17 miles for every mile on race day. That's a really shitty scale. And highly misleading!
   
   
6. Lower Expectations: Your own and your friends/family. I got all warm and fuzzy inside when I saw the following on a message board the night before the race:
   "Enjoy the race...that's your victory lap. You've done the hard word just getting to the starting line"
   
   Yeah Right! THE MOST MISERABLE VICTORY LAP EVER!