First time marathoner by Megs Doyle

A First Time Marathoner

by Rejoover, Megan Doyle

At the start of 2019 I decided that my goal was to run my first marathon and to do it in under 4hrs. But going from a casual infrequent jogger to training for a marathon seemed so daunting - that is where Rejoov came into play at the beginning of 2019. I started the sessions and entered my first event - Canberra half marathon. I remember finishing the Canberra half marathon in April and thinking I would never be able to double the distance, but here I am after completing my first marathon - Blackmores Sydney - in 3hrs 51.

Congrats Emily Bassett 3.58 and Megan Doyle 3.51 on their debut marathons

Here are a few things I learnt along the way:

- Be prepared to commit. Not only giving up a Sunday morning for a long run, but also the alcohol on a Saturday night before (unless you are a crazy person who can run 30k with a hangover)

- Trust the process - Greta/Chris wrote that plan for a reason and I’m sure we’ll all agree they know what they’re talking about

- Don’t feel guilty for resting - without the rest days I never would have got through the training

- Experiment with what fuel works for you - I ended up with Torq gels and found they did the job for me but everybody is different

- Strength work - I did not do enough of this and found it hard to balance this with increased mileage. Something I need to work on!

- During the taper period I felt like I wasn’t doing enough and felt panicky about the pending big day - again trust the process

- Find training buddies - I was lucky enough to have Liz, Laura and Emily who kept me motivated during our long runs. The long runs would have been very lonely without them

- Your friends who don’t run think you are crazy

- Don’t go out too fast - although I really tried not to do this I faded during the last 8km’s, not only physically but mentally too. My mental state went from feeling fine and on track for 3:45, to being happy with under 4hrs, to just completing it and not caring about time. I guess knowing what to expect mentally the first time is difficult.

- Once the big day’s over you feel a bit lost - especially on weekends. After finishing the marathon my words were “Never f****ing again”. But I already know the competitive side of me will want to improve my time so I guess there will be another?

Debut marathons Laura 3.37 and Megs 3.51 awesome!!

For those of you who are considering doing your first marathon, do it! The feeling once you have completed it is the best; you will soon forget about all the pain from the last 42k’s...