 What's up you guys? It's me. It's Jacob and we're back. We're back in Christchurch I'm sitting in the back of my van and it's time for me to reflect on The weekend that was today's today's date is Monday November the 23rd It's 1 33 in the PM and it's two days post marathon. I Think I'll take these off Two days post marathon. This is a video. I wanted to make yesterday, but I didn't If I did make it yesterday the first thing that would come to mind is fuck my calves are killing me Doesn't matter how long I stretch them out. They're still killing me today. I actually don't feel too bad and To be honest guys, believe it or not. I think tomorrow being three days post marathon. I think I'll feel pretty much As far as my legs go pretty much back to normal So I guess the age-old question goes can you run a marathon? Can you run 42.2 K's without training? Well, I did have a base level of fitness, but I didn't do much specific training whatsoever and it seems that you can So I want to try and cover everything in this video, but I don't want to make it go on too long So I'm just gonna talk about I'll talk about my expectations of the race and how things went So I originally started doing, you know 20 K runs in two hours. So I kind of doubled that and I thought well Okay, well if I really do push myself especially through the first 21 K's I may actually be able to get a four-hour marathon Well, I ran the first half of the race. This is including up and down. So the trail. It's trail running. It's not It's not on tarmac Well, there probably was about 10 or 12 K's of the 42 K's that was on the road the rest of it was on compact Track trail and you know, it was also hilly a little bit. There was inclines something. I hadn't dealt with before I had not dealt with inclines ever. In fact, I didn't do any specific running uphill because I honestly I Honestly, not only did I never really think that I'd be doing this marathon this year But I thought that the marathon was gonna be on this on the road and that any inclines were we're gonna be very subtle at best And they were subtle the inclines were subtle. It wasn't that bad. I powered through the first half. Okay, so guys after the first half I went through 21 K's 21.1 K's in two hours and three minutes and I thought this is going swimmingly This is going better than I could have expected. I thought you know what I may not get a four-hour marathon But I'm certainly gonna get a four-hour and 30 marathon So my as I as I went through the halfway point my goals changed from four hours to four hours 30 The scenery is just incredible, bro. I cannot describe how awesome it was. I I felt on top of the world I felt adrenaline and Emotion that I hadn't felt before, you know what I mean as I was coming across as I was coming up Some of these hills these inclines come and cross the top and catching a glimpse of of the scenery that was awaiting me And then I thought about the reasons that I was racing, you know what I mean my kids I Thought about the whole year that's got me to this point and I thought about how I Thought about loads of things man. You've got lots of times to you've got lots of time to think you do But the one thing that I I decided to do at the last minute I was glad I did was was I took my headphones. So I did have my favorite music pumping in my ears from The moment we started to basically the moment we finished and that was a huge help It was a huge help because there's certain songs that you do get your pace You know you get your sort of your run stride at that beat and it really suits your you know your level of Energy at that time and it just works. It works for me So the music was a big help That was something I could not decide whether I was going to take with me because I didn't know how I was going to hold My phone but in the end I decided to wear my my really tight Thermal long sleeve thermal and actually tucked my phone up, you know up my sleeve and By my bicep so it sat there throughout the whole entire race nicely And I know it sat there nicely because halfway through the race I kind of buzzed out I was like fuck this music's in my ear, but I can't actually feel my phone Where is my phone? And I started tapping my my shorts and I was like what the fuck what what's happened? And then I realized that honor. It's actually just sitting there my arm. So it was perfect I'm glad I took it and that was a last-minute decision that I made Moving forward for my next marathon I'm definitely gonna get an arm band for my phone and I'm gonna continue to race with music if it's allowed, but that's something you you won't know I mean certain marathons don't actually allow headphones, but I'm I'm of the opinion that even if they said no, you're not gonna wear headphones I'd still bring them I'd have them in my pocket and when I really needed them and bring them out And that's probably gonna be how I do it next time I'm probably gonna probably gonna try and use music as a tool to push me through the last half So I'd probably run, you know the first half of the race without music and then turn it on When I passed halfway and it gives you something to look forward to And it certainly helps it helps me anyway, but the the the overall atmosphere the buzz of the place You know the place we started that the the venue Milbrick Resort. Oh my god Oh my god, like talk about the scenery that surrounds you that the actual place the venue that we started from is amazing like Absolutely incredible great place to start, you know your buzzing before you even start and I was there at eight o'clock gave my gave my bag To the the people that take it to the the end line to the finish line So you can pick up your bag with your stuff in it So I put this camera in there. I put my phone in there. No, I didn't because they had it on me put my wallet in there Emma keys gave it to them and and took my place in the starters shoot. They call it So they had from three hours up to four hours you split yourself into You know, whatever time category you thought you were gonna be it was either three hours or under Three to three and a half hours three and a half to four or four and above So I went at the back of the four and a half. So I went right at the back of the four hour plus group and For the first for the first half of that race. I found myself just constantly passing people Constantly passing people. I did get a tip before I started that said even if you think you are gonna run a four hour marathon Don't start at the start of That group start at the back because even you know for your own morale throughout the race. It's much nicer passing people Then constantly having people pass you so I just took my opportunities if I did want to you know It's you are you like little cars on these trails, man You you sort of you pull out you make a pass You might pass two or three people and then you you bring yourself back in Because you know people behind you might be wanting to pass it's like a little like a little convoy, you know There was there was 1400 full marathon participants. It was a half marathon two There was a 10k run and there was a 5k kids run So it was a full day the marathon began at 8 30 a.m. And I came in To the finish at around about 130 so it was a big day It was a big day, but before I let you guys know the times and the splits. That's what I'll finish on I'll finish off on the stats Because I did manage to track the whole entire run on Strava and I'll run through the screenshots of that in a second But before I do I want to talk about the biggest challenge that came throughout the race And the biggest challenge that came throughout the race was The onset of major major lower body cramps These are cramps that I've never had before I've never had cramps. I've certainly never had cramps due to uh Running and running and running and running and running and not stopping, but that's pretty much what happened so at k 30 at kilometer 30 I received my first Inkling of cramp and it was in my calf and it shot up my leg And I thought what the fuck was that? Oh my god. Have I just pulled my calf, but no it was cramp So I continued to run about two minutes later. It happened again Kept going about 30 seconds later. It happened again, and I was like fuck me dead. What is going on? I can't run I can't run it. This is stopping me. It's debilitating this cramp and it was in my calves and so What happens with cramper at least this is what happens with me if you tense that muscle slightly in the wrong way It cramps up, right? so for me to continue running step after step and try and Stop my calves from cramping I had to run with my I'm just trying to remember whether that's planter or dorsiflexion, but my toes pointed upwards I had to run with my calves Us uh elongated. You know what I mean? And that was my calf so Okay, so that was it that was it 12 ks to go that was at 30 ks And I realized that well my my time of four hours definitely is gone My if I keep this up and I can only walk my time of four hours 30 is definitely gone And if I can only walk the rest of this race man My time of five hours is actually going to be gone and I'm going to get over five hours And I couldn't let that happen. I could not let that happen guys So I was dealing with cramps that I've never felt before the cramps went from my my calf To the other calf Then started affecting my quads Then started affecting my hamstrings, which was fucking terrible And I mean if you've got cramping hamstrings, you ain't running and then Finally last but not least it started affecting my adductors my internal Adductors on the inside of my thigh So it was almost like like for the last five ks guys. I pushed through last five ks. I was running like an old man Just praying to god that Well that one I finished which I knew I was going to because I could walk through the cramp But it's I couldn't really run through the cramp. I certainly couldn't run at any any any uh a good pace So my pace dropped back, but I did continue to jog and I just hoped That if there was a big group of people because you know the the further you get that the closer you get to the finish The more people there are they're all cheering you on All I kept on thinking was Oh god, okay, these guys are cheering me. I just hope that one of these massive big jolts That's going to go through my body due to these cramps does not happen right in the front of these people And if it does happen, I'm going to try and Fake it till I make it and just keep running. You know what I mean? I I could see a big one of those hamstring cramps literally collapsing me to the ground it could have But it didn't thank god So I got through I got through the race. We finished. I got four hours 55 minutes and 44 seconds I spent I ran for 30 ks walked for two and then jogged for 10 And that's 42 ks 42 ks of the queen's town trails done In one day in under five hours. So my first ever marathon my very first marathon got under five hours I think it was probably a pretty taxing marathon to start with which i'm proud of again. I got the medal And we did it man, we did it We did it literally made the decision like a week before the marathon Got my camera out began vlogging it with you guys And we made it to the end man, so I hope I do hope that that this video series I hope that me challenge myself like this and and pushing through and and accomplishing, you know something Big that a lot of people may see is impossible, but it's certainly not I hope that that motivates just one of you guys out there. You know what I mean sitting on the couch doing Whatever you're doing. I don't know what you're doing right now watching this video You might be at work You know, you might be laying in bed. You might have just got up. Who fucking knows But I know that there are things in your life that you know, you could do or you could start working on start trying to tick off certain little challenges goals tasks That are gonna bring you closer to that end goal whatever it may be. You know what I mean? I have an end goal I've got an end goal I've got an end goal and that is to be A well-rounded overall athlete Physically capable of doing anything You know You tell me to come surfing with you. Of course. I can you tell me to come snowboarding with you. Of course. I can you tell me to come Fucking Skateboarding with you. Well, I haven't done it since I was 10, but I'll give it a shot. You tell me to come and do a marathon I'll do it. You tell me to come and play a game of rugby. Fuck. Yeah You tell me you want to do a bodybuilding show in six months. I'll prep with you You know what I mean You know what I mean I guess that's somewhat what it's about for me personally. I want to feel very very capable Um before I lose the capabilities, you know what I mean? So I'm 29 I turned 30 and in four days and and this challenge was something I wanted to do before the age of 30 And we got it done. So guys, thank you so much for watching. This was my This was my uh, a little bit of a What do you call it? This was my Reflection on the weekend that was and my reflection on my very first marathon The Sotheby's Queenstown marathon, which has already been announced for next year So if I did want to I could literally go and join up now for for next year's marathon and While I was down there in Queenstown, like if I had been with a mate and he had a seed to me Yeah, let's do it next year. I would have been like, yeah for sure. Absolutely Um And in fact, I'll tell you right now if I'm in New Zealand and I'm anywhere close In fact, if I'm anywhere close to New Zealand November next year, I reckon this could be an annual occasion. That that was a sick race really sick I mean the scenery around Queenstown is is just incredible I'd completely forgotten what the drive was like from Christchurch to Queenstown But if you are ever in New Zealand, if you are ever in the South Island And you're going to go from Christchurch to Queenstown Don't go down the coast go through the middle of the fucking country. It is to die for it's Blown me away. It really has blown me away And I can only say check it out for yourself Thanks for watching guys if you've liked this video, please like it if you want to subscribe, please do All your support is appreciated. It's fuel for me. It's fuel for me to to continue making these videos your comments your likes your support It's fuel for a youtuber. It really is. I'm not a company. I'm not one of these flashy highly produced Shows or companies on YouTube, which seems to be what a lot of it is these days I'm one of those guys like the old school youtubers Picks up a camera brings you along behind the scenes. I talk about my thoughts feelings emotions quite openly and honestly Because this is me YouTube is about you. It's about you bringing your message your videos your life your content To to the internet and sharing it and that's that's that's what I fell in love with originally and that's the way that I I plan to continue it so Thank you so much for watching guys. It's time for me to go but I will say one thing if you're still here If you're still here Go on google right now Write in your country if your country's too big if you live in the states your country's probably going to be too big But for me living in new zealand five million people I was able to write into google new zealand marathons New zealand marathon calendar There is almost a marathon or some sort of long run on every second weekend Like if you really want to do it guys Type into google your area marathons right now right now Target the next one Tell everyone you're going to do it enter And fucking do it and let me know about it down in the comment section below And if you don't want to let people know about it on youtube hit me up on instagram because i'm always available on there Now i'm gonna go that's my challenge to you guys hit a marathon man. Fuck it. Why not? peace out