Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

Marathon madness
November 19, 2003
By John Dench
Photo by Yao Fan

Across Xiamen, people are starting to prepare for next year's marathon race

As I dragged myself over the finishing line I swore that I would never run a marathon again - NEVER. I was walking like a 120-year-old man as my muscles screamed with even the slightest movement.

That was the London Marathon in April 2003 and just a week later I was recovered and plotting another assault on the 26 mile distance. Why the sudden change of heart?

London was my first ever marathon and although I trained diligently for six months I now know that it was the wrong sort of training. During that six months I learnt an awful lot about what my body can and can’t do. I also realise now what types of training are valuable and what types are irrelevant.

Another spur to trying again was an act of god. Just a few days before the London Marathon I caught a very heavy cold which knocked the stuffing out of me. The marathon organisers suggest that in such situations you should withdraw from the event. But who in their right mind would throw away six months of hard work. I determined to carry on regardless and paid a heavy price. I finished in the positively pedestrian time of 5hrs 10mins and contracted a fever that night.

Any marathon runner will tell you that their grandmother could shuffle a faster time than mine. So it became clear to me that I had to have another go if only to satisfy my own pride!

I am not the only person to become unconsciously addicted to marathon running. The very idea of running continuously for four hours or so over a distance of 42 km sounds absurd and yet the very physical challenge draws you in and consumes you. It asks so many questions of you and takes you to places mental and physical that you have never imagined before. If you have even the slightest weaknesses in body or mind the marathon will find them and cruelly expose them as if to suggest that you are not worthy of this massive undertaking. In simple terms it sorts the men out from the boys.

So if anyone out there is thinking of joining this voyage of self discovery then here are a few tips:

  1. Invest in a pair of running shoes (not sports fashion shoes). For this you need to find a real sports shop with assistants who know what they are talking about.
  2. Start following a water schedule. You need to drink 2-3 litres of water every day.
  3. Warm up — stretch — train — warm down — stretch.
  4. Start very gently and increase your distances/times very gradually.
  5. You must do a longer run once a week which will gradually increase over time. This run is set in stone and can NEVER be missed.
  6. If you get injured or sick you should take a break from training until you feel better.
  7. Running four times a week from now should be sufficient preparation to get you over the finishing line.

Good Luck!

John Dench from England teaches English in Xiamen