When the running objective becomes complicated... Do we give up?
In sport, things don't always go the way you want them to. No wonder they say that life is what happens while you are planning other things.
When I returned from the New York Marathon in November, I rested for a couple of weeks and, once again with Imanol Loizaga, I began to prepare the next challenge: the Sahara Marathon 2018. Remembering the 2017 edition, those 42 kilometers of desert going up and down dunes, finding myself alone for several kilometers surrounded only and exclusively by sand and enjoying every stride and the competition, gave me enough encouragement to start preparing it again. And remembering the podium, of course. I had never dreamed of getting on the box in the absolute category of a marathon but things went better than expected and it happened, I climbed to third place on that podium .
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When you don't train enough
Winter is being harsh in general and especially hard in Euskadi. Bad weather, rain, wind and cold have accompanied us in 87% of the days since 2018 began. So far in February, we have only been spared two days of water. Imagine what this means for someone who trains on the street, who goes out to do his changes of pace, his series or his continuous running no matter what happens outside. There have been days when we have even had to alter the routes because the usual ones were closed for pedestrians due to danger of landslides or so that we do not get caught by a wave and make us disappear into the sea. It sounds a bit apocalyptic but that's how it is. Those who train in the Basque Country will be able to corroborate it and know what I am talking about.
The fact is that this situation makes us get colder than we should, that some days we do not go out warm enough, that when we finish training and we start stretching we do it without having changed clothes, etc, etc, etc, etc. What happens then? Colds, colds and flus multiply. I got the flu complicated with pneumonia, five weeks before the date of the marathon. Five weeks! Imagine what goes through your head when you are tired, weak and feverish and you get the diagnosis and they tell you that it can only be cured with heat, rest and a good dose of antibiotics. Who has never prepared for a race, whatever the distance, can say that we are exaggerating when the first thing we think of with pneumonia on top is the race. Goodbye marathon. Five weeks away we are in a key period of preparation. These are the weeks of the long runs, of accumulating kilometers, of the 24, 26, 30 kilometers. And you can't do them because you literally can't move. It's hard to get out of bed to even think about putting on a pair of running shoes. Total standstill. The days go by on the calendar and you see how the date of the trip to Tindouf is approaching while you medicate yourself and swell up with broths and infusions.
Sick? When do I start running again?
Fifteen days after the diagnosis I was discharged and went back to work. The first question to the doctor was, of course, if I could go back to training. She said yes, gently and without forcing myself, but that I would feel very tired. So I did.Three weeks before the Sahara Marathon I started training again, but almost as if I was starting all over again.
Five days before the race I think I made the right decision. In my radio program, MendiRun on Onda Vasca, in my book "You can also be a runner" and in all the forums in which I participate I say that the marathon is like a great lady that you have to face prepared to the maximum. It is not worth going halfway, or think that you can complete it even if it is walking. You have to look the marathon in the eye and tell it at the starting line that you can handle it. If you have no guarantee of reaching the finish line without leaving your health in the attempt, better leave it for another time.
Decisions you make with your head and not your heart.
That's what I'm going to do, postpone it. A sports medicine expert used to say that "our mind writes checks that our body can't cash". That's exactly where I am. My head is asking for a marathon but my body says no. I'm going to listen to it. I'm going to listen to it. To my body and to Imanol Loizaga who told me so since he knew about my illness.
That's right. The route of the Sahara Marathon will see me because I have not suspended the trip and I will run. Fortunately the 42 is not the only distance. There are races of 21, 10 and 5 kilometers. I have decided to face the 10 because I think I can do it not only with guarantees but I can dispute it and do a good role. On my return I will tell you about it.
The solidarity project of bringing medicines to the Ministry of Health of the camps is intact. I will be there with the medicines collected by the Association of Basque Railwaymen Without Borders.
My head is already in 10k mode. Let's go for it
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