I Never Wanted to Run a Marathon

I spent years telling my patients I had no interest in running a marathon. I had spent all of my public school years running cross-country, including some 10km races, and I’d like to think I was fairly decent at it. But once I started university and into my career, distance running stopped. I tried to get back into running a few times, but it never felt comfortable. After I moved to Ireland, I decided running was something I wanted to do again, but this time with a different approach. I didn’t set out to run a marathon; I just wanted running to feel good again.

I Used to be a Runner

As a kid, I ran a lot. Cross-country season at school would have me running almost every day, but you would have found me out running in my neighbourhood even before the season started to get ready. I remember pushing myself, but never having any aches, pains, or injuries. Once I started university and then my career, I didn’t have the time for running, and my interest in resistance training grew. Weekly softball became the extent of my running.

Running Never Felt the Same

I tried a few times to get back into running, but it just never felt the same as when I was in school, and I would stop. One time I tried running just 2km, but I did it on one of the hottest summer days of the year, and ended up developing shin splints. I always had it in my mind that with my focus on working out and sprinting for softball, I just wasn’t built for distance running anymore. Looking back on it now, I just hadn’t maintained the specific tolerance for running that I once had.

I Started Treating Running Like Rehab

After moving to Ireland, I made the conscious decision to get back into running. After over 10 years of school and work, I had neglected my aerobic fitness, and I wanted to get it back. But this time, I made a conscious effort to do it differently. I was going to follow the very same advice I give patients when they’re dealing with an injury: find your entry point, gradually and progressively overload, and stay consistent.

Every time I previously tried to get back into running, I would start off with too much too soon. After years of not running, I had deconditioned and lowered my tolerance for distance running. Every time I would try to start again, I was running beyond what I could tolerate. This time, the starting point had to match my tolerance— I started with a five-minute run, five-minute walk, five-minute run, every other day. Then 10 minutes straight. Then I added 2.5 minutes every few sessions. Then tracking my distance, adding volume, and incorporating different kinds of runs. This wasn’t a magical or specialized program; just the SAID principle and progressive overload in action.

Setbacks Didn’t Mean Starting Over

Before, when things didn’t feel great, I would just stop running and never give myself the opportunity to get better. This time, I was basically going to make running feel comfortable again by staying consistent with it and letting my body adapt. But even by following my own advice, it wasn’t a linear process. Aches, pains and things like tendinopathy and ITB friction popped up. But instead of giving up, I adjusted my running down to the point where I could tolerate it, loaded specific areas with exercises, and progressed back to where I was.

Going the Distance

Somewhere along the way, running started to feel comfortable again. Running then became seeing if I could go just a little bit further. The thought of a marathon being not just possible, but something I would want to do, started to creep in.

I still haven’t run a marathon yet, but running a half-marathon a couple of weeks ago has me feeling like a marathon is entirely possible. For years, I thought running was no longer for me because it no longer felt good. But that was just because I stopped doing it regularly. Once I started viewing and programming running as something I could increase my tolerance for, my body adapted and my mindset changed. I didn’t need a perfect plan. Just the appropriate starting point, gradual progression, and enough consistency to adapt.

I didn’t set out to run a marathon. I just kept running until it became a reasonable goal.