Tokyo marathon… what can I say? It’s one for the bucket list: the city, the people, a flat course, great food, an ideal time difference, and a perfect running temperature, after a summer of training in humidity. There is nothing not to love about this race and for me, this year it’s the race in which everything just came together. It is the race that allowed me to break the 3-hour barrier, to run a PB of 2:46:23.

 

Mindset

In the months leading up to a marathon I like to collect mental ammunition. It is a cache built off comments from friends and family, confidence from my coach, stories from podcasts, results from studies, lessons from books and the things RMA say, to each other, and to themselves. It’s not all positive. It can be the stranger at a bbq telling me I don’t look like a marathon runner, or even things from my past such as people telling me I would never be able to do something. I store all of these away as weaponry for when the going gets tough.

I was more nervous about Tokyo than I have been about any other race I have ever run. I was nervous because I had a goal that scared me and that I wasn’t convinced I could achieve. As a result, I had set out to build the biggest vault of ammunition I could ready for use when needed.

To keep me calm at the start line I remind myself that I have given my training everything I have got and that what is meant to be will be.

 

Equipment

Sometimes a special outfit or racing shoes can provide a confidence boost on race day. For me, this came in the form of special shoes. Not everybody is sold on Nike 4%, but before I had even run in them I had convinced myself that these shoes would make all the difference. Placebo or not (I think not) these bright bouncy shoes gave me a boost of confidence that took the edge off the nerves at the start line.

I also absolutely hate the cold. I was terrified of waiting at that start line and using up all my energy trying to stay warm. So I went about making preparations to avoid this potential eventuality. As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. Apart from being dressed in 3 layers of Kmart trackies, as much ski gear as I could muster, and disposable hand warmers anywhere I could put them… it is amazing how much body warmth you can get when you are crammed in with thousands of people!

So feeling warm in my special shoes, I stood in the pen for 40 minutes, no where near as cold as I had expected to be, and eerily more calm than I had been for weeks. My plan was to keep my focus on the task, check in with myself every 5kms and make sure I wasn’t pushing too hard but otherwise concentrate on what was around me, not how I felt on the inside.

 

Nutrition

As far as gels and hydration, the plan was to drink at 20 minutes, gel at 40 minutes then alternate every 20 mins from there. It worked perfectly. Unlike previous races, I did not get overly thirsty, I didn’t need more than a sip every 40 minutes and the gels went down without any trouble. I guess it was a good day.

 

Support

I was incredibly lucky to have both my hubby and friends from my running squad there supporting. They managed to be all over the course, it was incredible and gave me a huge boost every time I heard and saw them. I passed them at 28kms and knew I wouldn’t see them until the end. That’s when I started to falter. I knew it would come and I know the feeling well but this time I had my cache of weaponry and I was ready for it. A close friend of mine had told me before the race that I was “comfortable being uncomfortable” and for the next km that was my mantra while I started to pull out all the other little snippets of power and reason that I had stored away.

 

Pace Consistency

There was one notable difference in Tokyo marathon to any other marathon I have run- the Japanese are disciplined runners. Once the chaos of the first 2 km has settled they seem to content to select a certain pace and hold it, like metronomes. It was almost calming. There were many parts of the course where we were running into a headwind but I kept finding myself tucked into a little group of 6 or 7 runners that did not surge or drop, they were just steady. At each drink stop the group would break up and new little groups would form, I hadn’t felt exposed at all until the last 7km.

I am always shocked at how far those last 7km feel and on this day it felt like I still had an ultra to run. I also knew I had nothing to lose. I had managed to give myself a buffer and knew that unless I sat down on the curb, I was going to achieve the goal I had come here to achieve. So, I spent the last 7km using up every little bit of motivation, energy and ammunition I had left.

I am still in shock at my result. I’m a middle of the pack runner in my squad. At no point was this time a possibility. But somehow everything came together that day: training in humidity then racing in the cold; a solid training block; a flat course with a tail wind at the back end; and some wings on my feet. Tokyo went above and beyond expectations, as a city and as a race. I can’t tell you how overwhelmed I was by the support of RMA both before and after the race. It blows my mind the power that a group of woman lifting those around them can have. So, next stop…. Berlin 🙂