Recently, I finished my first Full Marathon Race 42km in Đồng Tháp, you can refer Đồng Tháp Đất Sen Hồng (DSH) Marathon
My mantra is “Everything happens for a reason”. And once again, it happened again via my personal experience and thoughts
What have I prepared
My fragile soul
DSH was my mere alternative. I initially registered for another race in Vũng Tàu in September; however, the race was postponed and rescheduled to … November.
I told myself "Everything happens for a reason"
But why did I decide to embark on this insane journey? Since a few weeks ago, many fatal accidents occurred in other races. Rumors said that it was due to heart fatigue and failures. I was really panicking since I’m not ready to die although sometimes I get dark.
I still remember, that one of my utmost reasons for moving on a long distance is … to escape a horde of zombies in an unsure future. I know it sounds crazy but everyone has their own trauma 🥲
My grandfather was a veteran, so I am supposed to inherit his discipline and strength (somehow). I don't want the elders to look at me and think my generation is weak (though I am, too, indeed, weak).
One more thing, I am going to have Techcombank 42km, so I want to have a demo run in advance 🤡.
Physically
This is never my jam. But I ought to play along because I have bet my dignity in the journey. I asked for advice for training exercises from some of my senior colleagues specializing in the long run, durability, and flexibility. I then created a YouTube playlist including legs, back, and core training.
How do I know if I have trained correctly? the post-race body status did answer.
The Reality - Man plans god laughs
Obstruction laid ahead before I could get my BiB. It is common sense for normal participants to make a reservation 1 or 2 months (or more than) before race day. I was aware but there were many things on my plate those days, and as a result, I just had 3 weeks left to book a room.
The scavenger hunt began. I was foraging every hotel within Cao Lãnh. As an introvert I was too hesitant to make a direct phone call but sent an inquiry message to hotels' facebook fan page. And they were all booked. I started to myself to quit. I was even texting my mother whether I should quit or not.
Domino of rejection, much more than my confession 🫠
One of the hotels I dialed told me to wait for his confirmation, although he told me that his rooms were either full.
Then luckily, or not, he still had one room (full of surprise)
Welcome onboard
Dungeon 1: closed
No motorbike on stock was on another level. I dialed every number within Cao Lãnh province. With a little effort, I decided to stop the rental intention.
I think we can jump to the main part: race day ~
I planned to sleep at 9 p.m. and wake up at 2 a.m. the next day, but when I was able to breathe normally, the TV in the adjoining room had just turned on at a loud volume. After delivering a few complaints to the receptionist, I could sleep peacefully.
Oh, I should be much more direct to the race.
The race started at 4:am, I had no feeling since it was very typical of me to be dead inside.
No worries
No panic
No anxiety
A random passer-by uttered that there were 500 runners of 42km distance. At that time, I seldom acknowledged that myself would be at the bottom (as usual, no pun intended).
I started quite smoothly at the first 21km. Afterward, my muscles turned fatigued resulted in walking and running at the same time.
Here God can laugh when my nightmare began. The sun turned scorching. Its rays shone toward my whole body. I felt like I was going to be fed up and remained ashes.
There was also a moment that I thought I would collapse if I closed my eyes for more than 3 seconds. 42km was really tense and crazy for slow runners like me.
I have a stretching habit. After km 30th, I walked heavily with infrequent cramps. I stopped to stretch my legs for a few seconds and continued to move on. However, on the opposite road, I saw a nurse sitting behind a volunteer, they were chasing me. 🤡
I did not notice much, but then she reached me and asked “Were you tired? I saw you bend your body".
“No I was not, I just stretched my legs" - I replied
The long road kept extending as I kept asking where the finish line was. I witnessed a myriad of runners gave up and got transported by the organizers. The scene shook my will quite hard. I too, also questioned myself the same thing. Because I also promised myself in advance to quit for health and life. I risked my life again and did not know what would happen next.
Then appeared the finish line (I may skip many dramas along the way), it was 6 hours and 15 minutes and I decided to walk. I could not lift my leg up high to run (for a glorious snap). The facilitator yelled so hard, that the cheers on the 2 sides were vocal the same. I, with all the remaining power left, rolled my cadence for a last time. My hands both got numb, my throat felt nauseous toward the last 3 minutes, and I was 300 meters away from the medal.
And I made it.
phew, no mood for a victory pose
This is for whom?
For athletic-type people of course, here I mean the ones that have been training their strength for a long time.
For the rest but comprehend their body well. The water and suppliance kiosks will no doubt favor the fast runners. if you are at wave E (like me), you have to prepare and get every on-road nutrition ready, because the organizer could not provide sufficiently. And you are the one who practices strength training and stretching.
Lessons learnt:
I could break my 21km personal record: From the track log, I could run within 2 hours and a half due to...
Pre-race nutrition: I ate a snack bar, wow. That made me run under 2h30.
Bring more nutrition-rich food along so that you will have more spare energy.
Start low and steady, don’t overestimate yourself.
This is the bar from Green food the sponsor. It was good. I want it, I buy it.
Train yourself at a distance 30 - 32km, if you slow runner like you and I can finish them within 4 hours, please go ahead. This is also what I was adviced. And I did not follow 🥲
To me, accepting DNF is brave. Your effort for a rich experience is what matters.
Now I have to wait for the medal delivery. I hope I still have enough luck to finish the race in September.
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