Welcome to my Rome Marathon Debrief – Get a brew and have a sit down… it’s a bit long…!

Well, I did it!! I completed Rome Marathon in a time of 4:51:51! I am so proud of myself and can’t quite believe I managed it! I honestly was not expecting that. I have spent some time pondering what enabled me to be able to do it, despite not having the appropriate recent training under my belt (my longest training run was 10.5km, done as run-walk intervals), and it has made me realise just how individual it is and the ability to finish a marathon is likely based on many different factors. Before I explain my ideas and thoughts on the matter, I thought I’d give a bit of story time on how the whole thing went.

Prep!

The day before the marathon we made sure we didn’t do too much walking to save our legs. We wandered down to the nearby square for some amazing pastries and coffee. We spent a couple of hours on our hotel’s rooftop terrace bar doing a bit of admin (where I did my last blog post!). Then we went to find a place nearby for lunch where we played a drinking game! No honestly, we did. It was perfect pre-marathon prep! We had to drink some water every time we saw someone walking with a Rome marathon backpack. There were loads, so we were very adequately hydrated! ;)

After lunch, we headed back to our hotel and got all our kit ready and packed so that it was something we could tick off our to do list and we could relax a bit. After this we took our books back up to the rooftop terrace and chilled out for a while with an alcohol-free beer and it was so peaceful. Then a carb heavy dinner (pasta obvs).

*Obviously had to do the usual lay flat photo*

We both wanted to get an early night as neither of us tend to sleep that well the night before an event (this is normal btw, and does not mean you’ll perform badly if this is you so no need to panic!). However… our hotel room had other ideas. Lights were off and I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a noise. I sat up and realised the ceiling was leaking quite badly in the corner of our room! Water was dripping all over the floor and down the wall! We ended up having to get management and maintenance out to try and fix it! Em went down to reception in her PJs to complain and I don’t know what the maintenance guy must have thought when he came in with a feather duster (God knows what he thought he was going to achieve with that!) and saw us sat in bed in our PJs! Although we were frustrated at being woken up and kept awake for a while, really not ideal marathon prep… we couldn’t help but see the funny side and we could not stop laughing throughout, likely making the maintenance guy even more awkward.

So it was a later night than planned but we did actually both get some sleep eventually. The morning of the marathon, we struggled to get through our planned breakfast of electrolytes, coffee, porridge and apple juice (to help with the toilet situation – it’s important to try and go before you start running!!). Em had accidently brought pre-made porridge which she wasn’t expecting, and there were no spoons in our room so Em used an empty milk pot as a spoon and I had to try and ask at reception for a plastic one as mine needed stirring. They only had forks which was interesting, and by the time I tried eating it, it was cold and gross. But I managed to get most of it down because I knew my body would need the fuel. I also managed half a banana and we both had a peanut butter oat ball (ella’s kitchen).

We had hoped to try and walk to the start line but our explorations two days prior revealed it was further than we originally thought, so we booked a taxi to get us there before the road closures and thankfully it all went to plan and we got there with plenty of time. We had also anticipated the fact that we would be waiting around a while before our start wave and when we realised we hadn’t brought a spare top or jumper we could leave at the start line, Em came up with a good idea of getting some foil blankets – so the day before we had found two in a chemist! So glad we had these because they really helped! Also, make sure you have some tissues for the portaloos beforehand… really not a pleasant experience and I am grateful Em remembered to bring these!

We started to get into our pen for our wave colour and we slowly walked (quite a long way) towards the start line (we were glad we chose to get a taxi to the bag drop because we would have ended up walking a long way before even starting the marathon otherwise!). It was starting to get exciting now! We turned the corner and the colosseum was right there in front of us! Just incredible! We walked around it and it actually made me feel a bit emotional with that to our left, the music, the amount of runners and thinking about what we were about to do! I was like, “I can’t cry before I’ve even started!!!”. Luckily I managed to hold it in.

Off we go!

It was our turn to start… I ran with Em for the first 2km, and we had hoped to see my Mum and Godmum about 1 mile in but unfortunately, we missed each other. So at 2km, I had a scheduled 100m walk, so me and Em said our goodbyes and good lucks and she ran off. I was excited for her because I knew her training had gone well.

So then I was on my own. My plan was to run 1 mile, walk 100m, run 1km, walk 100m for the whole thing. So off I went and I stuck to my plan. It felt a bit weird walking so soon into a marathon, there was a small part of my brain that was thinking “everyone must be looking at me thinking I’ve given up already” but I shushed that thought, and I reminded myself that it didn’t matter what other people were thinking, I had a plan, and it was with the goal of getting as far as I can (and secretly hoping it would allow me to finish, but I knew that was a long way off yet so tried not to think about the bigger picture). I stayed in my lane, and whenever I walked, I walked with purpose and kept a strong posture, and I utilised the opportunity whilst walking to get my nutrition in (more on that later).

First 5km

I actually felt my body was niggly in all different places. This can be common with brain overthinking “how do I feel” and also warming up. My hamstrings and calves in particular felt niggly.. I made sure I didn’t run too fast as it’s always easy to get carried away at first. So I purposely slowed myself down a couple of times, to make sure I stuck within a running pace of 6-6:15 (to allow for the slower pace when walking. This later dropped to near 6:30 pace in the 2nd half of the race). I was a bit nervous that my achilles or hamstring were going to be tricky this early on so I was over-cautious to make sure they were ok. However, once I got to 5km I updated my mum and thought to myself, 5km ticked off!

10km – blister

Just after 10km I could feel a blister forming on the arch of my right foot. It felt big. In all honesty, I thought oh well! Nothing I could do about it, I most certainly wasn’t going to take my shoe off to look because there’s no going back once you’ve done that. I just ignored it and carried on running. There was no way I would let a blister ruin an event for me, because it’s just superficial and a bit of a skin issue as opposed to an actual injury. A few km later my foot felt wet – so I knew it had popped… gross hahaha but better that way!

Just before this I had seen my Mum and Godmum and that was great! It always gives an instant energy boost seeing supporters.

15km – first food station

This had been a bit of a joke between me and Em that if I wanted to make the most of the food on the aid stations that I would need to at least run 15km! Which felt like a big ask! So I was dead chuffed to make it to the food station and utilised the bananas and crackers to help keep me going!

21km – HALF WAY hooray!

I was so happy to get half way – and I felt surprisingly ok. KMs 18-21 had been a bit tougher but nothing I couldn’t handle, and in all honesty I was just telling myself I was proud to have doubled my training distance, and that that was an achievement in itself so whatever happened now, that was something to be proud of. Still, I kept going with my run-walk plan. Plus, the amount of incredible sights we had run past – St Peter’s Basilica in particular was incredible! These moments definitely helped to keep me going.

28km – headphone failure

At around 27km I started to find things hard. My hips and knees were sore, and although my breathing, lungs and fitness actually felt surprisingly ok, my body was hurting. And at this point we were a bit outside of the main part of the city – so it was quieter and there were less supporters. (I had seen Mum and Godmum about 2km earlier which was helpful though). I thought, maybe I’ll put my headphones in now and use my running playlist to give me a bit of a boost. I spent time getting them out of my running belt, making sure not to drop one, put them in my ears, got my phone out, tried to connect to Bluetooth… “connection failed”. I tried again. “connection failed. You must forget this device and try again”. I tried to forget the device but it was no longer showing in the list of devices. All of this is a bit more difficult when trying to keep running and feeling a fair bit tired. I initially got a bit annoyed and thought “why when I need it??”. But then I reminded myself that I don’t NEED it… I have done many training runs without music, I can run, even when it’s hard, without music. So I calmly put them back away and carried on. Instead of music I used some positive self-talk and reminders of other hard things I have done and been through to help keep me going. Something else which helped was that there was a section of the course that looped up and back on itself. So there were runners further ahead in the marathon running back against us. I knew Em might be somewhere in that crowd of runners running towards me, and she was! We spotted each other and cheered for each other and had a high five as we ran past. It was great – gave me such a boost and was good to know she was ok!

30km – I think I am going to make it….!

When I got to 30km I realised 1) it was the 2nd furthest I have ever run and almost 3 times as far as I had run in training. And I made sure to congratulate myself on that fact! What an achievement that was, despite training having not gone to plan. 2) I also realised that with the amount of time left before the 6.5hour cut off, I knew that even if I had to walk the rest of the way, I would probably make the finish line. This really spurred me on! But I also knew not to push too much and aggravate my muscles or achilles and to try and remain calm and in control.

32km – “come on babe, 6 miles to go”

At about this point I overheard a girl say this to her boyfriend and I thought to myself “wow, I’ve run 20 MILES!!! THAT’S A LONG WAY!!” And then I thought, right, it’s only 6 miles left, and looking at my watch I knew it was a possibility to finish in under 5 hours. So I thought, let’s switch my run-walk plan to just do 1 mile run, 100m walk, and not bother with the 1km. This was 1) partly to try and get to the finish a bit quicker, 2) partly because at this point, beginning to run again after the walking was getting harder as my body was seizing up a bit, and 3) partly because I felt I was close enough to the finish line to risk putting a bit more pressure through my achilles. So I got my head down and kept ticking off the miles. Just before this I got to see Mum and Godmum again for the third time! I knew that would be the last time I’d see them until the finish line but I also knew I was going to be ok. I allowed myself to feel a little bit confident I would make it.

Somewhere around the 37km mark – Em PB’s!

I was thinking about how Em was getting on – I had her saved on the tracking app so I knew roughly where she was up to and at this point I thought, I am sure she must be about finishing. I got my phone out to look and literally as I opened my screen, the notification popped down to say she had finished in 4:25!! I knew that was a 13 minute PB and I actually cheered out loud!! I was so proud of her! And this gave me a real boost to keep going and cross that finish line.

38-39km ish. LAST BIT

When I got to this point, I took some fuel from one last aid station and just thought, right this is it now, head down, just keep running, no walking, let’s get to that finish line. It was hard. I was in pain. I felt emotional. But I knew the sub 5 hours was in my grasp. My watch GPS was a bit out (this is usually due to weaving in and out of runners adding extra metres on) and I knew from passing the checkpoints that my watch was about 600m ahead ish but I wasn’t 100%. So I was just willing that finish line to get closer and closer. My hands were in fists at this point, I just had to keep going. The streets became very narrow and crowded and it was requiring a lot of concentration to not bash into people as everyone was very much in their own world at this point and running all over the place (understandably so!).

I started to feel a bit more breathless at this point but I think it was largely down to emotion – I knew I was going to finish and I could not believe it. I rounded the corner and saw the Vittorio Emanuele building – one of my favourite buildings in Rome and it took my breath away even more! I could have burst into tears right then. I knew here I was so close to the end too.

300m to go… “WHO PUT THIS HILL HERE?!”

Honestly, I knew the finish line was just round the corner, turned around the corner and there was a hill. It was huge. (we saw it the next day and realised it wasn’t actually as big as it felt haha but in the moment it felt really mean!!). I got my head down, got up the hill, reached the crest and the finish line came into view! It was amazing. They had made it into a proper running track with 8 lanes, there was stadium seating to the right which was full of people cheering. I got into a lane and gritted my teeth and ran over that finish line.

Finish!

I DID IT. I ACTUALLY DID IT. I looked down at my watch and then I realised I had done it under 5 hours. I stopped, bent over and burst into tears. (I actually feel a bit emotional writing this!). I got my incredible medal which I LOVE, looked at my phone and Em had text to say where she was. I walked a few more metres and found her and managed to get over to her where I cried again whilst we had a celebratory hug. We had both smashed our targets and it was great to celebrate that together.

We shuffled a while further and found my Mum and Godmum and it honestly was all a bit of a blur at this point but just so great.

SO. Here is the tricky bit. I don’t recommend people to do a marathon on not much training. So why did I attempt it and how did I do it. I have done a lot of thinking about this and I really do think it comes down to a number of individual factors.

1) I ran-walked from the start. I think I would have had a very different outcome if I had just attempted to see how far I could run. I think that would have led to my body giving up a lot quicker and likely not finishing. This marathon is evidence that even if you’re run-walking, if done appropriately does not necessarily mean you will get a bad time. I took into consideration the intervals I had managed in training. The most I had ran in one go was 2km so by choosing to do 1 mile and 1km meant I wasn’t pushing to the top training distance meaning it was more manageable for many sets. I actually ran 40km in total, the walking only totalled up to about 2km. Which is insane when you think about it. The walks, despite being short still make a difference.

2) 4 hours 51 is a lot of exercise in one go so it’s surprising I was able to keep going for that long. However, when I look back at my swimming training, as a teenager I did 4-5 hours of exercise DAILY. This was done through very formative years of aerobic capacity development. When this is done at the ages of 11-16 it has a very strong and lasting outcome on fitness. This combined with the exercise and training I have done in the last 15 years of CrossFit, swimming again, and triathlon will have all helped contribute to being able to keep going.

3) Nutrition was on point. I knew it was going to be difficult for my body to get through a marathon so I HAD to make sure my nutrition was the best it could be. I took a salt tablet every half an hour. I ate cliff-blocks gel cubes as regularly as I could – I ended up having 2 and a half packets of these. At every aid station (there were 17 – Rome marathon is so well planned!) apart from the last 2 which were at 39 and 40km, I made sure to get electrolytes, water, some banana and maybe a cracker or a biscuit. So 13 aid stations had food where I got all this, the other 2 I got electrolytes and water. I also had a carb powder drink in one pocket and water in my other pocket which got me through the first 10-15km on top of the aid stations. I carb loaded without overloading and feeling sluggish prior to the event, I had electrolytes every day for the 5 days leading up to the event, and I made sure I was well hydrated in the days leading up to it too. Nutrition is a huge part of endurance events and can make or break it.

*Proud to have made it to the first food station 15km in!*

4) Chunking – I think the fact that I had my run walk plan meant I wasn’t becoming overwhelmed with running 42.2km, because I was just focused on my next target to get to before I had a walking interval. For example. I remember getting to half way and I could have easily thought “god, I’ve got to do it all over again!” but I didn’t. Instead I thought, my next target is 22.7km (1 mile later). I just kept hitting those targets and ticking them off. Even if you aren’t run walking, it is a good idea to chunk bits in your brain – maybe break it up into 3 or 5kms and just work towards those targets instead of the big overall target. So much easier to manage and process.

5) I have done a marathon before. Granted, it wasn’t a stand-alone marathon, but I did an Ironman in 2023 which involves running a marathon after a swim and a bike. Therefore, there was an element of knowing I’ve done it before in addition to having some muscle memory in my body. Things might have gone differently had I not done any endurance events before this.

6) Tweaks to my running style – early on when my hamstring was twinging I tried adjusting my pelvis a little to tuck my bum under and take the tension off my hamstrings. That helped. I also tried not to extend my foot too far in front when striding. I also tried not to push too hard through my foot to take the pressure off my achilles and calf. All of which I believe comes through my knowledge of anatomy through coaching.

7) Mental attitude. This can be evidenced in a number of ways. I didn’t approach the event thinking “I have to finish this”. I approached it in a realistic way. I knew it was going to be a big ask. I just wanted to see how I got on and how far I might be able to get. I didn’t put pressure on myself. I also didn’t let the fact that training hadn’t gone to plan make me negative. I wanted to enjoy the event. I basically wanted to “give it a go”. My mantra of “what will be will be” was helpful and I knew that if I didn’t finish, it wouldn’t change who I was as a person.

However, once I got closer to the finish line, and things were getting hard, my athlete mindset kicked in. I blocked out the pain, I ignored it. I knew it wasn’t serious or long-lasting damage type pain, it was just a very tired body with grumpy muscles and stiffening joints. I willed my body to keep going like I have willed it to many times before in my past training, events and swimming career. I have literally trained my brain over many years to deal with difficult physical exertion. Allowing my brain to think about stopping wasn’t an option. In fact it genuinely never crossed my mind. I never wanted to give up because I wanted to cross that finish line and get that medal so much. I like pushing myself and seeing what my body is capable of. It’s part of who I am and it helps me to build confidence in myself and my capabilities. But I do also still have a sensible head on me. If my body had seriously said no, I would have walked the rest of the way. Or even stopped had I really needed to. No finish line or medal is worth seriously harming yourself to get there. Thankfully I didn’t need to do that and it all worked out well!

8) Recovery. Getting over the finish line is one thing – but what you do over the next few days is also important too. Sleep, re-fuel and re-hydration is important. Although beers and celebrations are also important too ;).

Not rushing back to training is SOOOOOO important. It can be tempting to do this as you might feel ok. But your body has been through something very difficult and your central nervous system needs time (longer than you think) to heal. 2-3 weeks is the general recommendation for recovery time. Obviously first-time marathoners need longer than experienced pros but everyone still needs at least 2 weeks of recovery and a gradual ease back into training. This is often where people injure themselves – when they get back into training too soon and don’t give their body chance to heal. So I made sure I did just this. I had a full week off training apart from 2 x 20 min easy bikes on the concept II bike erg. In week 2 I started to add in a bit of strength work but nothing intense. I have yet to start week 3 but I am hoping to go for a run soon (once my blister has fully healed).

So like I said – I don’t recommend doing a marathon on little or no training. However, if you really want or need to do it, please make sure you have a coach and / or physio giving you advice on how to tackle it and what to expect. I am lucky that I am a coach and Em is a physio. Between us we have a lot of knowledge that will have helped me get through this! Along with my sporting background too.

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve made it to the end of my marathon journey (for now)… Thanks for reading my blogs and dropping me messages about them. I hope they’ve helped in some way. Thanks for all the support given along the way and to those who messaged before and after the marathon! Thanks to Em for being the best endurance event partner and making it such a fun weekend in Rome. Thanks to my Mum and Godmum for travelling out there and being the best supporters and thanks to my family for supporting from afar too. Looking forward to trying a marathon again when hopefully I have trained better for it and seeing what I can do… but for now… time to chill a bit haha! Rome Marathon - thank you. You were AMAZING.

Rome Marathon!