the road,
The last ten kilometres, and the day after
Dear runner,
The last ten kilometres of a marathon are not the same race as the first thirty. Your legs are heavy, your head gets loud and every kilometre marker seems to be further away than the last. When I ran my first, I reached thirty-two kilometres feeling fine and thought I had solved the whole thing. Then the road tipped up, and the thinking started.
What helped me is to stop running ten kilometres and start running ten pieces. I gave each kilometre a single job: relax my shoulders, drink at the next table, count my breaths, thank a volunteer. Each job was small enough to finish. By the time I ran out of jobs I could see the finish, and I did not need any more.
The day after is the part nobody tells you about. You will walk down the stairs sideways, and you will be hungry at strange hours. Walk for twenty minutes, eat something plain and drink more than you want to. Do not run for a week. A week off feels like a waste, but your legs will thank you in the next block of training.
If you are heading for your first marathon, write ten jobs on a card, one for each of the last ten kilometres, and read them in the car on the way to the start. Next week I will write about recovery, because the best way to enjoy your first marathon is to want a second one.
From the road,
Njoki
P.S. The Race Day Checklist has the night-before and morning-of lists I use, on two pages.
