How I Ran Αnd Finished A Marathon (42K) Barefoot And With No Training

Here is what I did before and during the race.

Crossing the finish line. Few meters behind me, the 70-year-old Greek champ.

42 kilometers of unstable, horrible weather — sunny and hot for a few minutes, then pouring rain, windy and chilly — made crossing the finish line and having that Finisher Medal around my neck worth every second of pain and discomfort I had experienced.

I will not pretend it was pleasant, nor easy.

It was tough!

It was challenging!

It was painful!

But, oh my! How fun and how rewarding it was.

I registered for the Larnaca marathon with good intentions of training properly. But it was so hot throughout the summer that I swam daily, and before I knew it, I found myself eight weeks before the race, with no running in months.

My realistic thinking was:

• I do not have enough time to do proper marathon distance training.
• I am registered and paid, and I do not want to miss the chance to run my first Larnaca marathon.
• I want to cross the finish line even just 30 seconds before the cut-off time.
• I want my Finisher Medal!

All I needed was to get to the start line!

My professional, athletic thinking was:

• If I keep my body energy high, I can push through and finish the 42K without hitting the wall.
• If I can beach run one hour of intervals, barefoot, without feeling pain in my feet, then I can run and finish the marathon too. Check out both my articles on Barefoot Training and Barefoot Running injury-free.
• If I keep my muscles strong, I can cross the finish line.

I have always said, any person who has got their legs into running, short distance or long distance, can run a marathon;

Run not win!!

4 things I did pre-race,

to follow that challenge and reach my crazy and exciting goal:

1- A clean, nutritious diet:

Following a clean diet helps me keep my body energized. My liver will not have to deal with too much processing, which boosts my metabolism.

• My diet for the four months before the race consisted mainly of summer fruits. Anything in season, you would find in my groceries, specifically watermelon, my daily and favorite refreshing fruit. It is not a summer fruit for nothing: rich in electrolytes, including potassium, watermelon is a perfect replenisher for the body during the hottest months of the year.
• Sprouts, green leafy veggies, sweet potatoes, rice, and buckwheat, were also part of my groceries.

2- Staying highly hydrated:

With at least three liters of liquids a day.

• I started my day with one liter of fresh lemon juice and water before eating anything. To learn more about the benefits of lemon juice and water first thing in the morning, check out my article: See How Easily You Can Cleanse Your Liver.
• I followed with one liter of herbal tea. That makes already two liters of liquids before my day has even started.
• One liter of fresh water had a special place in my backpack to rehydrate after a long swim or run. During the hottest months of the year, I would dilute ½ a teaspoon of crystal salt in that liter.

3- Interval beach runs:

• Eight weeks before the race, I started running again, on the beach, barefoot, doing intervals of 30 seconds slow, 30 seconds fast, to gain speed quickly.
• I hit it off with 15 minutes 4 times a week, increasing the time as I got stronger. Within four weeks, I was interval-running for one hour: 30 seconds jog, 30 seconds run, and my pace improved by one minute.

4- Strength training:

• I hit the gym six days a week.
• Sessions of 30 to 40 minutes maximum.
• My training program consisted of:
  Three days low repetitions 1–10, three days high repetitions 10–30.
• Each day four to six exercises, mixed upper and lower body.

I finished the Larnaca marathon, running barefoot, with barely any training. I crossed the finish line limping, came 4th from last, but my heart was fluttering with joy, the joy of success, striking through that challenge!!

4 things I did during the race:

1- Intervals:

I ran the 42k in intervals: 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow.

I started with running/jogging for the first 10 km and continued with jogging/walking until the finish. Pushing through horrible weather conditions, with knee and hip pain coming and going, I hung on to whatever my body was giving me to keep moving forward.

2- Fixed goal:

All I could see was my finisher medal around my neck.

Being a fighter by nature, quitting was not an option for me, even if I had to crawl across the finish line. I had one fixed goal: crossing that finish line, even just 30 seconds before the cut-off time. I wanted my medal!!!

3- Calculations:

Around the 35th kilometer, knowing the distance and time left and my pace of 10min/km, I made some calculations and knew that I could arrive 15 minutes before the cut-off time. That gave me another push to keep going.

4- Energy booster:

At the last marathon aid station, 35 km into the race, the volunteers got so excited at my running barefoot that my finishing became their goal. To make sure I was good for the rest of the race, they filled my pockets with 5 or 6 bananas and gave me one full bottle of energy drinks.

While physical strength can keep you healthy and fit, mental strength will get you through mountains!

Throughout my athletic life, I have received a collection of medals in Taekwon-Do, ping pong, tennis, squash, running, and more. But I tell you, running 42km in my Vibram FiveFingers, and without much training, has made this well-earned medal one of my proudest ones ever!!

Extra Note:

One of the beauties of being an athlete is exchanging smiles and a friendly attitude for no reason other than appreciating/enjoying/loving the same things: the mental strength to take on a challenge and the determination to reach one’s goal.

There was a 70-year-old man from Greece, running, limping, walking, pausing, sometimes in front of me, sometimes behind me, keeping me company till the end. He crossed the finish line 5 seconds after me; a champion in my dictionary.

I looked behind me, high-fived that amazing man who understood my excitement. We exchanged smiles. I said: “You are amazing! You kept me motivated to keep going.” He said: “You did the same for me. I saw that you were also limping.”

A final note:

After almost 6 hours of such an unforgettable and challenging experience, the last 500 meter stretch felt like miles. Three runners were still behind me, yet there was barely any movement to show that anybody was expecting us; people had already started to pack everything up.

I reached a finish line arch and noticed another one in the distance. I stopped and my face dropped.

“Is this the finish line?” I asked a lady with a notepad, who was registering the finishers.

“Yes,” she said with no reaction, no interest for anyone still on the course.

But her “yes” was like she had given me a million dollars.

I jumped, crossing that arch, shouting: “YESSS!! YESSSS!!” They all looked at me as if I was crazy, probably wondering why the excitement for arriving 4th to last!

Why? Because any runner arriving among the last few of the pack is not only a runner who is hanging in there but, most importantly, a runner who is pushing through to cross the finish line, just like all the other runners who preceded him/her.

Personally, I was on a high!! No one and nothing could have changed that. With my medal around my neck, a huge grin on my face, I got on my bike and cycled back home.

By Ritta Wakim, founder of The True Vegan Body, who helps people over 40 build a knockout body and get addicted to healthy plant-powered eating.