 Dear YouTube subscribers, it's been a while. I've run my first marathon. I did it. I finally did it. After postponing it for like three years, I finally got around to running my first marathon. It did not go as planned. I learned a lot. I struggled. I fought and today I want to talk about the race, take you through it, my preparations, my expectations and of course my experience during the race and my thoughts after and going forward. So it's kind of a big update. I just want to take you with me on everything and talk a little bit basically because it's been a while since I made a video last and it's about time we catch up. So first of all I'm here in my new house, a tiny house actually and I will be giving you a tour at some point but right now it's kind of chaotic just moving in but here I am in my new office and it's freaking awesome. Anyway let's talk about running. So you know some of you, if you've been to this channel for a while, you'll know that I actually signed up and started the marathon in Nis, Kan marathon. I started it back in 2019. I wanted to run my first marathon, I signed up, I was training well and then I suddenly, a month before the marathon or a couple months before I started getting this weird dizziness symptoms and I just wasn't you know feeling up to running a marathon. I wasn't sure what was going on, might be related to some overtraining, stepping up you know my volume too quickly or perhaps a vaccine that I took back in 2016. Anyway I've talked about that in different videos. I decided not to run the marathon back then but I wanted to start because my dad was running the marathon so I ran the first couple of kilometers with him then I jumped off and jumped on the train with my mom and we followed my dad along the route for his race back in 2019. So it was kind of disappointing but you know that's that's how life is sometimes. Now three years later I've come full circle and now I did run the marathon and my dad and my mom followed me along my marathon route. So it's really cool because the you know the race goes from Nis to Kan, the Nis Kan marathon and the train runs along the same route sometimes right next to the runners so you can follow the race and jump on and off the train at different points along the route and actually catch up with whoever you're following several times which is really really awesome and the route is really magnificent and beautiful going along the water the whole time almost very very nice and of course if you want to see a little bit from my race and maybe even catch up with me more on a daily basis you should definitely follow me on Instagram. There's a link in the description. My Instagram I post almost daily stories from my training my life. Anyway that's the backstory so it's been a journey for me. I wanted to run a marathon for a long while and now I finally got around to doing it. So my preparations in towards this marathon was mediocre I would say not optimal but you know who has an optimal build up ever you know it's there's always something but I had an injury in my groin ab region this summer I couldn't I had some time off and I couldn't build the base that I wanted for the marathon. Obviously I wanted to go sub three just because that's like a big awesome goal and I'm you know certain that I will one day uh well I guess I gave away now that I didn't go sub three we'll get to that I didn't but I wanted to go sub three at that point and I thought you know maybe building a very solid base of approximately pushing towards 90 or 100 k per week for me I think that's what it takes for me to run that sort of time and to be ready for a marathon so that's what I wanted to do but I couldn't do that this summer so ended up running lower volume and not getting the perfect build up and then when I started the actual marathon specific training of course then I would say it went pretty well I did a lot of long runs I had to prioritize the long runs I didn't get to do two quality sessions a week like I wanted mainly because I wanted to continue building my volume and I couldn't just suddenly build my volume and uh you know do lots of quality training so I focused on that one long run a week with some marathon pace in it etc I built it up progressively I feel like the last eight weeks of my training was really great uh leading into the marathon and also during the build up I was probably the busiest that I've ever been in my life because in addition to training and I had a lot of work working as a running coach which of course I love doing that during this period in addition to that I had to spend a lot of time and a lot of physical and mental energy and a lot of stress preparing for my tiny house there was a lot of preparations to do a lot of stuff to fix and get done so it was a constant non-stop hamster wheel for like two months before the race which sort of drained me for for for mental and emotional and physical energy and I didn't have the recovery I needed so the whole build up was compromised to a large extent and I'm not blaming that for my performance but it probably does have some of the blame to be honest right so just that's just something to keep in the back of your mind when you're sort of hearing my story now and something that I consider well you know I'm learning always always learning and I knew that this was not going to be optimal for me in this build up but again I've sort of now learned again that hey recovery is super important and you cannot you know burn the candle in both ends isn't that what they say I think that's what I did now but I didn't have a choice and I was happy doing it so that's just how it was this time around and as we were approaching the marathon date I was of course very much thinking about what pace I should run and I was testing out different paces and I found consistently during those last few weeks that 415 per kilometer which is sub three didn't feel you know it it's it's not easy of course but it should have felt pretty sustainable if I was going to run that as a marathon pace it didn't feel that sustainable to be honest it's you know last year I ran a 128 half marathon that's like 411 per kilometer so I wasn't doubting whether I would be able to hold 415 for 21 kilometer maybe even 30k but to do it for the full marathon I was I was unsure and it was you know unchartered territory for me the marathon so I was sort of leaning more towards probably going for a pace around 420 425 per kilometer which is around 303 to 306 and when the day approached I saw that well actually there's not only the fact that I feel most comfortable with 420 to 425 per k but it's also the fact that it was warm the forecast said it would be up to like 22 23 degrees celsius which is fairly warm for a runner and that made me sort of think well I should probably err on the side of caution and be more conservative so I I went for a 306 that was my goal a 306 which is like 425 per k I had a week to just acclimatize a little bit get a little bit used to the heat you know it wasn't like hot but it was warm for a runner and then then the the date approached and and and it was time to go I felt good waking up on race day felt great actually you know got my gear ready got on my running clothes have not had my breakfast you know oatmeal banana sugar some tea and then then I got out and got ready to run the forecast was showing 25 degrees I think for the day which is there was a heat wave essentially it was even in the news here in Norway the whole area down in France and southern the Mediterranean had a heat wave when I was running a marathon and just I'm not great at tolerating heat I'm really not I've struggled with it in the past I see my heart rate skyrocket when I'm training in the heat and I'm okay with it in the summer just for like easier runs I kind of like it but for quality sessions and for performance it's definitely not good for me to training in the heat or racing in the heat and I've had experiences with that in past back in 2018 I ran a 146 half marathon my debut half marathon and then like six weeks later I ran a 133 on a hilly course in Oslo on a cool day so pretty huge difference there probably mostly due to the heat honestly and by the way if you're still listening to this long debrief on my marathon then thank you please keep listening if you want to I'd love to have you with me here I appreciate you if you haven't subscribed of course you should subscribe and anyway let's keep going so I started my race felt good passed my parents at one k wave to them said you know I'm going I'm it's beginning and and then I just found and settled in and found my pace around 425 per k felt great was fun it was good the day was still fairly cool maybe 16 degrees celsius 17 maybe and I was just cruising along found my groove and enjoyed myself and looking back at my pace I ran really really steady pace paces for those first kilometers for the first 15 to 20 k even I was just clocking more or less 425 maybe a little bit faster 423 424 every single kilometer just running very steady economical felt good I peaked at my heart rate though 190 I have a max of 205 that 425 pace during training was more like 175 heart rate now was having a 190 heart rate so I was like well the heat starting to heat up already 18 19 degrees celsius the sun was coming up starting to heat up but you know I felt like it should be sustainable it is sustainable I thought I kept going at 425 came to pass my parents again at 15k weighed them and said I'm feeling great it's going great I'm and my leg isn't hurting I had a calf issue so that was that was fine I told them that and I passed here's a little video clip from that first passing then I you know there was a little bit of back and forth and around this building and then and then headed out on a flat stretch we're probably now at like 17 or 18 k and you're heading out on the long like three kilometer long stretch of road along a beach in the and the sun was just coming around the corner sort of hitting me from the front now and the temperature had soared within like 10 15 20 minutes I think the temperature just suddenly it felt extremely warm and the sun was there and I was starting already to struggle maintaining my 425 pace I saw it climbing up towards 430 which is more like 309 and I was like well that's okay I can I can go for a sub 310 which was my sort of my b-goal I go for a sub 310 but that struggle to maintain the pace just kept getting worse within just two or three kilometers and bear in mind we're just now at the half marathon mark I passed the half marathon 133 spot-on pacing for you know 306 happy to see that but I was I knew at that point that I couldn't sustain it and again and I've run a half marathon at 128 last year I'm pretty certain that I can run or that I could in this period of time run a half marathon in like 126 at least maybe 25 even maybe 24 I don't know but definitely 126 and I should theoretically be fine for that pace for a marathon but I was not and I'm blaming the heat I mean I don't know other there could be other factors right like I obviously have a lot of theoretical knowledge about the marathon probably more than most people I mean I'm I'm a complete and utter running geek I've read everything on on it almost and I can constantly coach people and help people running marathons and and stuff but I didn't have my personal experience with the race of course so I can't say whether well at that point I didn't know whether that pace would be would we work for my body right because everyone has a different body and the composition of fast which was a slow twitch fibers etc you know that's up for debate you know what kind of body do I have you don't really know until you're tested to its limits and I've always you know thought that maybe I'm more of a fast witch guy because I was always faster than all the other kids as a as a kid and a teenager faster than everyone sprinting without even trying no no sprint training I just I was just faster than everyone which sort of tells me well that sort of tells me I maybe have some fast witch genetics which wouldn't be great for running long distance running certainly not a marathon but my training was okay though I train well and so well who knows could be a factor there we know with fat burning and glycogen storage and all that stuff but I think honestly maybe mainly it's it's the heat I just I know I told right heat poorly the heart rate was just insane 190 195 at one point I think in this pace that normally would elicit a heart rate of like 175 180 for me and training just like two weeks earlier in cool conditions so anyway that's my excuse I guess but it is a valid excuse that's that's why I collapsed because that's what happened after 21k I was passing my parents again at like 23k and I told them I'm struggling bad um it's so hot here's a video clip when I'm passing them and I'm shouting in Norwegian I'm struggling it's hot all right so at this point I'm thinking three sub 310 I can't see that happening but I am not quitting that was just not an option the only thing that can make me quit a race I think it's gonna be you know injury like actual real injury or a dangerous medical situation right so suffering pain extreme fatigue no way that I'm gonna let that stop me and of course that's hard to bear when I'm out there because all I want to do is quit not really but you know my body tells me stop start walking stops it down and then to tell yourself no no I'm going to run another half marathon you know in this heat and so the heat was getting worse and worse in hindsight I think the temperature hit by 25 or even 26 degrees Celsius in the shade and then you're in the sun which you know probably makes it something like 30 degrees or something like that so pretty serious heat um on my marathon debut so unfortunately but you know that made me harder I guess like it made me tougher but I feel like that now like like it was it was it was a win I don't feel like it was a loss it was a win because I even though I ran slower than I planned I I persevered and I I suffered my way through it so you know then towards 25k or something I was forced to walk a little bit like forced I like I don't I don't want to walk in a marathon I don't think I've ever almost walked in any race but it was just impossible not to walk I needed to walk there were some hills pretty serious hills I walked the hills and and then started running and walk run walk run downhill couldn't really accelerate in downhill even legs were tired but they were okay it was more this overwhelming fatigue like I could not generate energy I couldn't I could move I was completely done and so I just kept fighting I kept taking my nutrition my sugar my I drank lots of water at the aid stations every two and a half k actually I was doing everything right and but my body just was not having it I was not going to be able to run so I just gave up on sort of the time goals and I just you know thought about well I'm just going to finish I'm going to finish and so I struggled my way through the kilometers one by one I tried not keep thinking about what's coming or what's left I just thought about where I am now and just keep running just keep running walking a little bit running a little bit walking a little bit so I ended up doing like a walk run kind of thing eventually just walking some running some walking some running some when I passed my parents at about 32k I was broken I was really fighting here's a clip of me passing my parents and passing my dad over there in the corner and he waits me on and tells me go go get to the finish line then my mom ran alongside me and I told her oh my god I'm struggling it's so horrible and she said no you can do it you can at some point towards the end the 330 Pacers passed me and I was like 330 oh my god that's like 20 25 minutes behind my time goal but a good you know a good limit to get under so I was like I'm going to do it I'm going to get under 330 so I jumped on that group actually it's just a few people in that group jumped on and I fought to stay with them I couldn't I mean I was three kilometers from the finish at this point you'd think that I would just it would just be a thing of you know like mental toughness just just do it just do it I don't feel like that that that's what it was I wasn't able to stay with them I just I was forced to walk again and like that it went on and then eventually at like 2k left or one and a half k left or something I was like oh my god I'm so close to 330 I have to I and I forced myself to get with one other guy I was behind him we just we fought and I know he was fighting too because I could hear his grunting and and you know his steps were heavy and we were able to maintain like sub five minute k pace for the last couple kilometers which interestingly is like my easy pace or actually you know five minutes per k is like my the high end I guess of my easy pace like actual really easy pace but at this point I was like working hard to maintain that pace really hard harder than I've ever worked almost and I got in at 330 14 14 seconds too late for sub 330 which is kind of annoying but you know no big deal irrelevant I finished I did it I got to the finish line it was a magnificent moment to be able to stop running and you know just tell myself it's okay now I can walk for the first two three minutes though as I was walking down the aisle there I was like in pain I was like moaning and just it was just oh it was just horrible felt horrible eventually I met my parents there they were on the side of the aisle and they did a little post race interview with me asking me how it went and I gave them my answers in Norwegian I'll put it here even though it's in Norwegian I'll make some simple subtitles maybe just to show you what I'm talking about but it's you can sort of understand it's just from looking at me I think so here's the clip come on I thought this must be one of the warmest niskan marathons I But congratulations, you are in goal, and you came in at 3,5 hours, my God, with that and the leg. It was a fight. It was a fight, but the leg hit you again. No, it was a little bit. Okay. But it was a warm experience, you can take it. As I have... So the leg is at 3,5 degrees. It feels like... It feels like... It feels like it, yes. Yes, it feels like... We'll see you later, down there. Finally got to sit down, have a few bananas, get some more water, and then, you know, limp my way almost to the train station and head back to Nis via train, being a complete train wreck myself. So that's the marathon, that's what went down. It was, you know, my overarching feeling was a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, just finishing that brutal distance. In a time that's, you know, objectively speaking, respectable of course, 3,30, it's still very fast compared to, you know, most runners, and certainly finishing in the top 30%, 20% of the race. I wonder if... I think it was even the top 12%, to be honest, which of course I should be happy with, but, you know, running isn't about objective times. You shouldn't really measure yourself against others, right? So, for me, at my level, it is a kind of a disappointment to run that sort of time, right? Because I know that I'm good for much faster, and I will do that next time, hopefully. We'll see, we'll see, maybe the marathon isn't for me. I don't know, we'll see, we'll see, but I think so. And anyway, so yeah, so there was disappointment there too, I was certainly feeling that disappointment of running 3,30 when I wanted to run 3,06, and honestly, sort of feeling like I need to run 2,59 to be a good runner, which of course is nonsense, but there's some truth to it as well though. I mean, I put in a lot of effort, I'm very focused, and I do feel kind of like, you know, I should be running maybe faster, but then again, you know, a marathon, and then in the heat, and it's a new distance for me. So yeah, I'm happy with it, although there is some disappointment involved too, but maybe that's just how most races are for most people, most of the time. Sometimes you have a really great race, like my half marathon last year. You can check out my video from that race here. But yeah, so anyway, you know, I was very fortunate and grateful to have my parents there with me, that they supported me and they followed me along the course. It was a great atmosphere, lots of cool people, happy runners, other people struggling just like me of course, the marathon is hard for everyone, and it was just overall a really, really good experience, and I was happy just to be able to run the race. So that's that, well, that's a long video, almost like a podcast episode or something like that, so yeah, I'm looking at my awesome tiny house now and I'm feeling accomplished, honestly. I have my house on an awesome farm, the family farm here. You'll get a tour soon, and I'm a marathoner. What more can you ask for? So I'm very satisfied in that regard. I'm excited to, well, to get my house in order here and to start diving into more work, coaching work. I love it. I have lots of plans. I have an ebook that's, you know, still not having been able to launch that ebook. It's actually finished 100%. I just need to launch it and get my website ready and stuff. So that's hopefully just around the corner. I've been saying that for like a year though, but you know, I think so, I hope so. So I'm excited about all those things, but also training. I'm just excited to get back into training. I have my eyes set on a 10k next spring. We'll definitely tackle a marathon again. I don't know if I'll do a marathon next year. Maybe, but I probably should. But I'm also kind of keen on doing a 5k and a 10k and a half marathon. Maybe I'll do all of them a marathon as well. Could be an interesting, interesting year, I guess. Yeah, so that's it. That's my update. Thanks for watching. I will get back into regular videos as well. That's another thing that I want to do, but it's just, you know, life. You can't do everything all the time. So that's that. But my intention is to get really serious about the videos again. And so I hope to have you with me for that. Leave a comment. Let me know about your marathon. If you watched the whole video, let me know in the comments. Because I don't think that many people do watch the whole video. It's a bit long. But please leave a comment if you do and tell me about your marathon. If you've run one, how that went. Any thoughts on my marathon, please go ahead and share them. Of course, check out my social media, my Instagram, my Strava. There's links in the description. And stay tuned for more videos coming soon. All right. Thank you so much. See you around. Bye.