Foreword by Coach Erin:
I’m thrilled to bring our readers this story of Love Training More athlete Morgan Book’s marathon debut. I’ve been coaching Morgan for 18 months now and it’s seriously satisfying to see her come so far as a runner and to see her really loving the sport. I knew that I was sending a very fit, prepared and confident athlete to the start line. I told my running friends on race weekend that if the race conditions were ideal and Morgan felt good- something magical would happen. So pleased that it did!
Take it away, Morgan:
Most of my life I hated running, I sprinted for competitive fun and to show the boys that girls can be just as fast – but I never thought I’d see that day that I’d be a competitive runner. Ever.
After completing my first Half Marathon in May 2016 (Blue Nose), I became addicted. I loved the rigorous training cycle, the comradery, the challenge, the accountability, the pain, and the triumphs. I signed up for a few more races, lived off the high and come January, started full marathon training; the road to the Freddy Full.
Without going into day-to-day detail of training (though I could because I’m known to be a chatty Cathy and love telling stories…), overall it went very well. The biggest challenge? Hitting the weekly kilometer totals; very time-consuming. Balancing work, friends and family, physical R&R, and hobbies was a huge test but my competitiveness kept me in-check. I stuck to my detailed weekly plan as per Coach Erin’s orders, knocked off workouts with my main teammate and best friend Jules, and fit workouts in whenever possible. I trusted Coach and her expertise, I knew she’d get me to Freddy strong and confident but I had no idea what her plans were for my time; she just wanted me to focus on building physically and mentally and the rest she’ll take care of.
A week out, 2 weeks of taper down and ready for the pre-marathon-crazies to kick in, BUT… they never did. I read articles about the emotional rollercoaster many experience leading up to this huge day so I was prepared to go crazy. I emailed Coach numerous times with questions and concerns but never truly felt loopy and scattered. Carbo-loading was a joy, placed attention to good sleeps and brainstormed my positive thoughts for race day.
Fast forward to the ‘Big Weekend’, roadtripped to Fredericton with my #1 cheerleader, Mama Book, my second mom Paula and my good friend Sophie. Sophie was running the Half so her and I munched and hydrated for 4+ hours, continuously. Got our race kits (after a 50 minute line up…) and did my 15 minute shake out run. I was feeling oddly calm, content and excited. My biggest worry was whether I was going to have the essential pre-race poop (sorry, I had to) or not.
A wonderful friend of mine, Aggie, and Coach Erin taught me to always lay out three goals for a race. You are supposed to be happy with accomplishing any of these three goals (key word, supposed to be…):
Good Goal – Finish the Marathon, be a marathoner
Very Good Goal – Get a sub-4 hours
Excellent Goal – Get a 3:45:00 (pace 5:20mins/km)
I was secretly aiming and hoping for my excellent goal and was worried that I’d be disappointed if I didn’t hit it.
5:30am – wake up, breakfast, get dressed and Vaseline-up. 7: 15am at the start line with Sophie; jitters are kicking in, did some stretching, had our GU and water, and took some pictures. Clear blue skies, little to no wind, temperature going up. 7:55am, in place at the start line and met some people around us with similar goals, one final hug and giggle and the gun goes off at 8:00am… here we go!
The start is always exciting; butterflies in the belly, all smiles. Unfortunately I quickly felt a terrible, awful pain in my right calf and it was getting exponentially worse. 4km downtown loop and things weren’t getting better. Went across the walking bridge, took in the sights, the stillness of the river and tried to shift my thinking away from my leg. At 8km, Soph and I decided to quickly stop at the water stop for her to drink and me to loosen my laces and massage my leg. Thankfully, I noticed that things were improving. At 10km, I was good. I was free.
Started to separate away from Sophie and find my pace and groove. But as per Coach’s orders, I was reminded – “don’t be dumb” and go too fast too soon – stay on your 5:20 pace. I started to open my eyes and take it all in. One thing that stuck with me in my race plan was that you only experience your first full marathon once, take it all in. I wanted to remember sounds around me, the smells in the air, the sights and the way my body felt.
At around 16km there was a moment where I was with three other runners all well-spaced out, silent and our feet were all in sync as they hit the gravel, the river beside us was trickling and the sun was warm on my skin – I felt so content, just simply happy.
I met Bernard from Rimouski, Quebec who was running his 42nd marathon (WOW!) and he invited me to his hometown marathon in the fall and gave me advice: “Do you feel pain? Yes – Listen and slow down. No – react and go!”. So ‘go’ I went!
At 20km my oldest friend Sarah was there to cheer me on – this gave me energy to my core as I crossed the bridge back to downtown.
It was an odd but thrilling feeling to ‘veer right’ of the finish line as the Half marathoners finished their feat. This was the moment it felt real, I was running 42.2km. I got energy from the crowds and the happy smiles from the runners, I hoped Sophie got her goal and finished strong.
I still felt great and strong and happy. I found another lady who I met at the start line, Kristal, so we ran together for ~6km, learning about each other’s lives while enjoying the nature around us. I decided to pick things up a bit, so I moved ahead. Hitting the 32km mark was a big one as I was never in foreign territory, I had never ran farther than 32km so here goes nothing! I also prepared to ‘hit the marathon wall’ at 35 – 37km. I was ready to engage the thoughts of positivity, the highs of training and the ‘whys’ of why I do this craziness. But, the wall never came… Did my legs hurt? A bit ya. Did I have foggy brain? Yup. Was a ready to cross the finish line? Definitely… but the major wall never made an appearance. I still harnessed my positive thoughts and memories, and basked in the rigorous training that had got me where I was while taking in the gorgeous surroundings.
At last, the walking bridge appeared – 2km to go. This. Was. It. Push, leave it all out on the trail. Dig dipper, push harder, it’s there is you want it. So I let my legs go to work. I was crossing the bridge, looked up at the run and there was a halo around it – a meteorological phenomenon that happens only with the perfect mixture of conditions – I took this as a sign that I was right where I was supposed to be.
The crowds appeared again, gave me momentum. I kept repeating the four themes Coach had broken my race into – “focus, fit, fierce, fearless”. I was sore, short of breath, hot, exhausted but elated. Turned the corner, 500 meters to go. There was no other runner around; just me, the pavement and that red finish line.
I put pedal to the metal, always finish strong. My smile was from ear to ear – I felt unstoppable. Then… the waterworks started (inevitable really), and I crossed the finish line. I did it – I completed my first full marathon.
I stumbled over to the metals, sobbing, smiling, sweating – got my metal, my water and headed toward to cheering squad. More tears, lots of hugs, some photos and all the smiles – it was a wonderful moment.
Overall, I felt great. Sore but not terrible, tired but not dead, hot but not boiling. I was happy.
I checked my phone and had a text from Coach – “omg omg omg!!!!! 3:38 !!!!!!! Sweet baby Jesus, you crushed it!!! Congratulations and official welcome, you are a fearless marathoner!!!!” – NO frigging way was that my time. Nope, couldn’t believe it. I had to see it for my own eyes. I waited for them to post results.
Sure enough – 3:38:02 – What the F***. I was overjoyed, ecstatic, shocked! Wow. That was a target I didn’t even think was in the realm of possibilities. I loved this experience, (almost) every minute of it.
Made some calls, celebrated and refueled at lunch, chatted and snacked the entire way home, R&R in the evening. Needless to say, this day was perfect in every sense of the word. This was the best day.
Without the love and support (and patience) from many friends and family and the ongoing guidance and confidence from Coach Erin, the glory of this day wouldn’t have happened. My race day success is very much a reflection on the incredible people I have in my life – a thousand times, thank you.
I’m part of the club, I’m that 1%. I guess that day I never dreamed of came sooner than expected because now, I’m a marathoner! #powerpose
