Preparation: what not to do
My path to the marathon began with buying new sneakers. They were shiny and looked like they could run themselves. However, when I tried to train in them, it turned out that "themselves" did not apply to my feet. The first run ended after three minutes, when I fell on a bench and ate the entire banana from my "sports" backpack.
The next day, I found a training program for beginners on the Internet. It included a lot of running terms that I did not understand right away. For example, "fartlek". At first I thought it was something from Swedish cuisine, but it turned out to be just alternating running and walking. Hooray, I can walk!
Marathon day: I'm ready! Well, almost...
In the morning I woke up in the mood of a champion and a little fear, which appeared after I remembered that I hadn't run even half the distance in training. But my mood didn't spoil, because I found my lucky sneakers.
At the start, I was surrounded by serious athletes in tight suits, and I stood in a T-shirt with the inscription "Burn, Nadya!" and spreading smiles. Someone asked me how long I planned to run. "Until the end," I answered honestly, meaning - until the end of my strength.
The process itself: laughter and kilometers
I ran briskly for the first five kilometers, sometimes even overtaking someone. Especially those who stopped to fix their laces. At the tenth mark, it began to seem to me that I was a real athlete. But then I realized that my sweat-soaked T-shirt looked like I'd been swimming in it, not running.
At the 15th kilometer, I met a support group with posters saying "Come on, you can do it!" One of them was encouragingly holding a hot dog for some reason, and this became my main motivation to run further.
Finish: I'm a hero!
When I reached the finish line, fanfares were playing in my head. However, it turned out that it was the phone number of one of the volunteers. They hung a medal around my neck, and I felt like a real winner, although my time was far from record-breaking.
My marathon is over, but I did the main thing - I proved to myself that I can do it! Yes, it was fun, funny and a little painful (thanks to the blisters), but I will remember this day with a smile.
Have you ever run a marathon? Or do you dream of trying? With a smile, Nadya.