13.5 Miles. That’s the furthest I ever ran before today, my 28th Birthday. Originally, I really wanted to just run 28 kilometers, which is about 17.4 miles. That seemed quite doable, especially considering how I have been training for the Vermont City Marathon since December and had done small running challenges before.
Morning of my birthday, I was distraught to see the weather report. -10 degrees Celsius (13 F) with strong winds up to 30 km/h. To make things worse, it was snowing and I didn’t feel fully recovered from snowboarding the day before.
At 9 am, I get a message from my running buddy, Mark:
“Happy Brithday Irfan! It’s bliping cold out! You still want to run those 28km?”
Mark was asking because he offered to run with me for part of the 28 km.
The plan was set. I will run 7.4 miles east, loop back to my house where Mark will meet me and we will finish the last 10 miles together.
At 10 am, I was out the door.
The first 7.4 Miles were really easy. This is because I am quite used to running this distance for my marathon training and because I was running at a slower pace than usual. The snow was super fresh and there was barely any ice.
As I circled back to my house to check my phone (I don’t run with my phone), I saw Mark’s text that he was caught up with work and would not be able to make it. Bummer.
Now, THIS is when the crazy idea popped into my head. I was on my own and I sort of had the day off from work. Google Maps told me that the furthest point from me that I could go north was 9.8 miles away. Hmm, I thought to myself. 7.4+9.8+9.8 = 27 miles! If I can do that, the last mile should be easy. And I really would end up running 28 miles, a feat unimaginable to me before today. A feat so big that I get nervous every time I think about running the Vermont City Marathon that I have already signed up for! Can I really pull this off? Can I really run 15 miles further than I had ever run?
Maybe it was because it was my 28th Birthday on 28th March. Or because I wanted to prove to myself that there actually were some health benefits of going vegan, which I did a year ago. Or maybe I wanted to do something crazy that I can always look back at and smile, thinking, I did that! These legs, muscles, heart, and mind. We did that!
I gulped down an energy gel with water. Had one banana, and I was on my way. With me, I had a small bottle of water and another energy gel. In retrospect that was my biggest mistake; not carrying enough food!
Mile 7.4 to 12 were business as usual. If I was indeed running 28 kilometers instead of 28 miles, this was the point where I should have turned back. I kept going.
As I surpassed Mile 13.5, beating my personal best, I could really feel the tiredness creeping up. My pace was dropping and so was the temperature.
At Mile 14, I felt like giving up for the first time. As miraculous as it may sound, right then I saw a red Stop sign where someone had the words “Don’t” on top and “Believing” on the bottom. Talk about a random spurt of motivation. I kept going.
At Mile 15, I entered the Colchester causeway, my biggest challenge on the run, also known as the pain zone. The causeway is essentially a small strip of bike path with completely open waters on either side. The issue was, it was extremely windy, and it didn’t help that I was running into the wind. Multiple times during the 5-mile stretch on the causeway, I stopped to take a break, with my back against the soul-wrenching wind chill. It took everything to finish that portion of the run.
As I emerged back into civilization from my escapade on the causeway at Mile 20, I started feeling hungry. Like really, really hungry. I realized I should have packed a lot more gels and a couple of bananas. In an actual city-organized marathon, food and water are plenty. But here, I was completely on my own. The last time I saw another person was nearly an hour ago!
I remember seeing a gas station on my way to the causeway. It was far, but still closer than my house. So there was my next goal: make it to the gas station and everything will be alright. As I kept going with tired legs and an empty stomach, I kept thinking to myself, did I really run this far? Where is that freaking gas station!
At Mile 24, I finally saw the big Coca-Cola sign that marked the entrance to the gas station. I went in, thanked myself for carrying my credit card, and indulged in a delicious peanut butter and chocolate bar with a side of Gatorade.
With newfound energy, I started running at a relatively good pace to pass 26.2 miles, my first marathon ever. At Mile 27 I reached my house and literally did circles around the block for the last one mile.
At Mile 28, my running watch beeped one last time, indicating the end of the run. I did it. I freaking did it. I ran 28 freaking miles!!
Relief.
Happiness.
Pride.