Having completed my first marathon a few weeks ago, let me share with you some of the lessons I’ve learned as I look back on the experience.

1. Having a strategy in place for my goal time was essential to my finish. I used this calculator from Runners Connect , and sticking to it was key. It was difficult to allow what seemed like hundreds of runners pass me in the beginning, but in the end I passed a lot of them!
2. I don’t need to use my headphones all the time! Towards the end of my training, I decided I wanted to be fully present for the marathon and experience the sights and sounds without distraction. I was worried that the last third or so was going to be very difficult without having something in my ears to keep my mind from going negative. That didn’t happen and I really enjoyed my experience. I like to listen to podcasts while I run, so I won’t always run headphone-free. While racing, though, I think I will probably keep up the no headphone thing.
3. I warmed up before the marathon with about a mile run and I was so happy I did. I’ve never warmed up before a race (3 half-marathons) because I thought I would sap some of my energy. But warming up actually helped me shake off some of the nerves and get my muscles ready to go. The first mile or so is always the toughest for me, and getting a mile in beforehand helped me settle into a nice rhythm much quicker. I kept it super slow and have the benefit of living less than a mile from the start of the race so just ran from home.
4. Spectators are awesome! It really did give me pep in my step when there were a lot of yelling spectators. As we ran through neighborhoods, many homeowners had their own water stations set up, sprinklers going to cool us off and even big bowls of cut up oranges for quick fuel! Music was playing and people were cheering. It was like a party. The volunteers who manned the water/sports drink stations were just as enthusiastic. I didn’t think it would be so motivating, but I spent a lot of time smiling!
5. Practicing my fueling strategy paid off, but I did make one mistake. I used a combination of gummi bears, Noka Superfood pouches, nuun electrolyte tablets and Clif Bloks as my fuel. During the taper phase, I was feeling quite bloated and uncomfortable taking in what was recommended as my daily carb intake so I stopped eating so much. I was worried while I was running the race that I didn’t have enough stored up and started to eat a Clif Blok and a half (instead of just one) every 15 minutes once I was 45 minutes into the run. Just that little deviation caused me stomach upset! I dialed back and went down to one (with gummi bears as quick fuel in between if I needed it and a Noka pouch at the halfway mark). Luckily I didn’t do any lasting damage and when I went back to what I had practiced everything was back in working order. It is so important that you know what you are going to do for fueling and stick with the plan. I’ve even written down exactly what I did during the marathon and will continue to practice that on my long runs and tweak if necessary.

Learning about Yourself is one of the Greatest Lessons

The marathon is a grueling race, but if it is one of your goals you can achieve it while learning a lot about running and yourself.

Taking lessons learned from training, fueling, running the race itself and recovering and applying them to future races (no matter what the distance) will improve everything from motivation to speed and endurance.

What are some lessons you have learned in your running, whether you’ve run a single race or not? Do you find taking note of what works and what doesn’t help you, or are you a seat of the pants type of athlete?