The slow run

All roads lead to Rome. Or do they?

The Rome marathon was going to be my first competition outside Romania, one I had delayed for 2 years. I was due to run it in 2020, but that edition was canceled because of the pandemic. Then I skipped the 2021 race and finally decided I would run it in 2022. Or would I?

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” – Mike Tyson. Something similar happened to me; I got hit in the face by a pointy cement curb. Well, not really in the face but on the left side of my abdomen. I couldn’t breathe for a few good seconds because of the shock. I had slipped on an inclined part of a crossing, and my ribs went right into a sharp piece of the curb. It hurt. Gradually it got worse but bearable. The day before, I had done a 13 km training run. I was planning a longer one a few days later. Good luck with that said life.

Thankfully, my ribs weren’t fractured, but my intercostal muscles were telling me they wouldn’t cooperate with my plans to build up more and more kilometers as part of my training routine for the marathon.

I took a complete one-week break. Then I tried doing a short run, but it hurt, so I stopped after 4 km. The day after, the pain was worse, especially when walking. It seems like running didn’t help with healing. I listened to my body and took another week of rest. My next run after this break didn’t go too well either; it still hurts and affects my capacity to move. I’m on medication, and there are only 2 weeks left until the competition. My longest training so far was a 21 km run, and I hadn’t run more than that in over 2 years. What should I do? What’s the point of going to Rome?

I’m a bit depressed at this point. I was really looking forward to this race after the pandemic years and personal hardships.

How about I start the competition and see how it goes? I’m not fully incapacitated. I can even run for a while. And there’s still some time left; maybe it gets better. And it did. I booked the flight. I decide I’m going to run really slow and then walk, and if things get terrible, I will stop and be grateful for the time I had.

One week left, and I’m able to pull a 12 km run at a decent pace. I still feel the pain, but it’s more manageable. I decided to rest the last days before the competition and not try a more extended run since I wouldn’t recuperate in time, and the gains would be slim.

I arrived in Rome 2 days before the start, and somehow my rib muscles felt the change and let me off the hook. I was feeling almost normal.

The day of the competition. I’m feeling fantastic, with no pain at all. I run the first 10km, and it’s okay. I finished the 21km, and I feel like I could run the entire 42km without any problem. But then I hit the wall; I was over-optimistic based on my poor training. At the 25km mark, I’m walking more than I’m running. The incline starts building up, so that doesn’t help also. It’s not that steep, but my legs haven’t prepared for this, and they’re getting tired.

Somewhere between the 10th and 15th kilometer, I set a new goal: to finish in under 5 hours. Funny how my mind needed a new purpose, a more challenging one, as soon as it felt the initial one(finishing the marathon walking + slowly running) was already in the bag.

I stick to the 5:00 pacers, at some point even setting a few hundred meters lead. But after finishing the first half-marathon, they start overtaking me, and I’m struggling to stay in touch. Rome is one beautiful place to run; there is so much history, nature, and lovely buildings. I’m enjoying my run and grateful that I’m feeling well physically, but part of me wants to finish under 5 hours, pushing me hard to keep the pace up. I do that for a couple more kilometers, but the cat and mouse game I’m playing with the pacers isn’t working anymore. I’m like a dog with his tongue outside, desperately trying to cool off. For the first time, I see the usefulness of the water sponges available at refreshment points, the cool water on my legs, hands, and spine is Godsent.

Around the 32nd kilometer, I decided I should enjoy the run more, so I gave up. I renounced this newfound goal of finishing in under 5 hours. I’m just happy that I’m healthy and in good form to run and probably finish. A huge burden lifts, and I’m again enjoying the beautiful surroundings, the crowd, and the excellent weather.

I finished in a bit over 5 hours, but man.. it felt amazing! I was able to finish my 3rd marathon ever without proper training. It wasn’t ideal, but things in life rarely are. I believe my consistent running schedule since 2016 helped me during this race, even though I couldn’t train as planned before the competition. To sum it up, I (re)learned that every run can be enjoyed and should be at least started.