I ran the Toulouse Marathon
On November 4th 2024, I finally crossed another physical challenge I had on my bucket list:
Run the full Marathon.
Let me tell you all about it….
I had been a very casual runner for a long time. I would pick up my shoes and go for a 5k run once in a while. When Covid hit and I couldn’t train BJJ, I started running more and kinda got into it.
And you know me, I never really do things halfway. So I registered for a few races, mostly half marathons. These felt long at the time and I never thought I would be able to actually run the full one.
BJJ training resumed and I trained to compete once again. I won French Nats at Brown Belt and got promoted to Black Belt. That was in June 2013. Crossing that off my ✅ bucket list was an incredibly proud moment and an important milestone.
With that achieved, I would of course keep training, but I had an opportunity to shift my focus a bit. When they announced the Marathon would be back in Toulouse after a 5
-year hiatus, I immediately signed up. Make decisions, think about it later.
With 11 months to figure out how to go about my prep, I studied the science behind running. It’s quite amazing how much there is to know before you can become competitive: heart rates, zones, energy consumption, nutrition, rest, types of runs…
My brother (who used to be a running coach) made me a full running schedule. 17 weeks, 782 kilometers. No tempo, no intervals. Just volume. The point was to make sure I would finish and to reduce the risks of injury.
I religiously followed the plan, only missing 28kms (due to sickness). I was to spend the last 3 weeks of training in Johannesburg, South Africa (1600m high), which would grant me a red cell boost for the race!
I was ready, well-fed, rested, and most importantly, not injured. I would take on the challenge I put the most work on in my life (in such a short period of time.)
I planned to run it between 4h15 and 4h30. I did my whole prep at that pace (6’10-6´20/km) and there was absolutely no reason to go faster. The point of that first marathon was to set a benchmark for future Raph to beat.
Ready. Set. Go! I followed the plan as much as I could. I had a hard time settling at 6’20 and did the first 29kms between 6’00 and 6’07. Fatigue and pain hit there. The last 13 were frickin’ hell.
But I knew I would get comfort at km 40 as I would run right past my house
I crossed the finish line with a time of 4h28m14s, which is pretty much what I was hoping for. But maaaan was that difficult.
The walk to get my medal, get some food, get home… Everything was hurting. But the feeling was overwhelming. I almost broke into tears when I crossed the finish line…
The hours of preparation, the commitment, the pain of the race. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again, hell no! F that! I don’t want to suffer like that again…
…When’s the next race?
