Here at Love Training More, our favorite guest blog posts are by far the proud race recaps written by our athletes. We are pleased to bring you this epic story of Amy D’Eon’s marathon debut at the Prince Edward Island Marathon on October 14, 2018.
My first marathon by Amy D’Eon
For some running, a marathon may be something they have been doing for a numbers of years. For me, my first marathon was shortly after turning 37. It had always been a dream but something I felt was possibly unattainable. I soon learnt on my marathon journey that the only thing holding me back from this dream was the limitation I had created in my head.
I found Love Training More in the Spring 2017 and never looked back. I was left not so inspired after my 2018 Fredericton Half marathon and realized I needed to add strength training in my routine. After my downtime, I started weight training religiously and kept it up for the 19 weeks of marathon training.
My training partner, Crystal Pelly, had ran two marathons and agreed to train with me. For this, I was very grateful to have her by my side through all the hot Summer long runs. I thank you Crystal for getting me through that. I enjoyed every moment we had together.
The training was made perfectly: enough to be a challenge but not enough to give up. Thank you, Coach Erin.
Fast forward to the taper, I was terrified. It was coming. I had done the big leagues of the marathon training, in fact, 71 kilometers of training in a week for me was the biggest week. I was afraid but felt great, energetic and physically ready for the marathon challenge. I did worry I would have a bad case of the taper tantrums but I didn’t, at work. At home was a different story. My loving, supportive fiancé found I was short on my patience around the house. Oops.
October 13th 2018
We are heading to Charlottetown: Jason, nine-year-old Cate and myself. A fully packed car including my foam roller and a toaster. Yes, I brought my toaster. I wanted to keep race morning as close to my regular long runs, in order for that to happen the toaster, bread and fix ins came with me. I was nervous a little during the drive up but having Cate with us kept it light. We admired the beautiful fall scenery along the way and did mad libs with her to pass the time. This was helpful to keep things light: chat, laugh, look around and be present in the moment: it was part of the marathon journey.
Marathon morning: I get up early to have my toast, coffee and be ready to take the shuttle. I am feeling relatively good despite the fact I had not slept well: dreamt that I missed the shuttle to the start line. Classic Amy. I pack my things and test out my ipod and the charge had not worked, no worries, I would use my iPhone for music if I felt I needed it.
6:50 am– I go down to the lobby and hop on the bus. Not a single face I recognize. Great. I feel like a teenager going to a new school. I had to the back of the bus to find a kind looking stranger to sit with. I find a friendly woman from Manitoba and we chat all the way to the beach. In front of me on the bus was Stacy Chestnut from Sole Sisters. I was so happy to see her even though she did not know me. She was cracking jokes and being herself, which was very reassuring to have a good laugh before the race.
7:25- We arrive at the beach and it’s cold, like really cold. We have to get off the bus and stand outside. I dart to the washrooms to stay warm for a while. There I find Janet Hawkins, a friend of a friend. I am relieved to see her, as she is super calm and sweet. She shared with me this was her 14th marathon and had done this one before. She also said she learns something about herself I wish her much luck as I knew I would not see her again until the finish. I thought, I wonder what I will learn about myself. I guess I would soon find out. I wondered if I would even learn something.
Here I go walking to the start line. I’m alone, I know I will run alone and this ok. This is my journey. Gun goes off, no turning back. I’m on my way to run my first marathons. I’m keeping reins on my pace at the start. Following my coaches orders, or suggestions was the only way I knew how to run this marathon. The first few kilometers, I really held back but I knew it would be helpful for the end. I’m running by the beach and I can see waves and beautiful landscapes. I take this all in and feel grateful, as it is part of my journey: to see beautiful things. I keep going to the 10k mark and pretty much on the pace coach asked. I’m running completely alone, people sort of around me but no one at my pace exactly. I’m ok with this.
I come up to kilometer 16-19 and feel some slight twinge in my Achilles, thighs, hip, etc and I said to myself nope, not today! This is not the day for pain to set in because you are running a marathon! I had practiced many lines of what I would do if I felt any pain. There was a lot of self-talk on the course that sounded a lot like: “You can do this”! “Prove to yourself what you can do”. This is your journey. Trust your training and trust your coach, this is why you have a coach. If there was ever a time to have FAITH in yourself it’s NOW!
Those positive thoughts kept me occupied for some time. At this point, I’m on the trail and enjoying the beauty, not so much the wind on my face but I keep trucking away. I’m walking through the water stops and I’m able to keep running from there. By the end of the trail, I was ready to hit the pavement. The moment I saw the 32km marker, I felt a fire light inside me. I was going on unchartered territory: I had never ran more then 32km and here I am feeling good at 33km. It was like light switch, I was on. I felt alive and stronger then ever. It reminded me of my war canoe days when coach would scream in a race: « Ready, READY, NOW! » and you go all out to the end. That feeling inside me was lit and I knew I was on the home stretch the end of my first marathon. I was so excited and focused to end this race my way: strong and proud.
Km 35: The hills, oh the hills. I still felt strong but the last 4km of hills were brutal but I kept shuffling my legs up hill and leg them go on the way down. The more I shuffled up the quicker I would get to that finish line. I knew Doreen would be coming to find me around km 40. I think « where the Hell is Doreen?! » I finally see her white LTM shirt coming towards me. Relief. The water works began, this is when I realized what I had accomplished. I was almost there: at the end of the marathon journey. I was grateful to have her there with me as I felt I really needed the comfort and her taking me to the finish. I got my strong head back in the game.
Then I saw it: the finish line.
I was there!!
I made it, now time to get there, as I wanted: strong and proud.
I take on everything left in the tank and I cross the finish with my hands in the air. I give a big hug the man who gave me my marathon finisher medal.
I find my supporters: Jason and Cate who are excited to see me finish and we share hugs, a few tears and high fives. Having my support crew at the finish once made me nervous as I did not want them to wait too long for me but in the end, they were part of my drive to the finish.
Looking back at what I learned about myself is that my journey is not over. I crossed the finish line at 4:17:xx. It was slower then planned but the journey was so much more then the time on the clock.
It awoke something inside me I did not even know was there. I cannot explain what it is because I think this may be part of my marathon journey. I now realize my journey is not over, it has just begun.
I’m hooked and cannot wait to train for the next one. I will not be on a podium post race or make it to Boston and that is all right. I just want to run and enjoy it and see where this journey takes me. Janet was right; there is a lot to learn on the marathon journey.
I’m so happy I decided to bite the bullet and do it. I’m so happy that I was able to keep my head strong and finish proud.
