November 28, 2024 • 24 mins
#122 - In this episode, I share my story of running an international marathon and what I learned along the way. I set the intention of running my first marathon back in 2023, but things didn’t go exactly as planned. I talk about why I chose an international marathon and why you should consider one.
Whether you're a first-time marathoner or a seasoned runner looking for your next big challenge, this episode offers practical advice and inspiration to make your next race unforgettable.
Topics Covered:
- Learn why I decided to run an international marathon
- Hear travel tips to make your experience as smooth as possible
- Discover new tools that you can use to learn about a race course
Resources:
- Inspire to Run on Instagram - @inspiretorunpodcast
- Plot A Route - Website
- Free Guide - Kickstart your Fitness in 5 Steps
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, are you looking to run your first
marathon, or maybe the next, andmaybe you're looking to spice
things up a little bit?
Well, I'm gonna share with youin this episode about my
experience running not only myfirst marathon, my first
international marathon, and I'mgonna share some tips to help
you along your journey.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Richard Conner.
Hey, my friend, welcome toInspire to Run Podcast.
I'm so excited to record thisepisode and share my latest
journey with you, which isrunning not only my first
marathon but my firstinternational marathon, and I
learned a lot along the processand I want to share with you why
(01:02):
I decided to run a marathonoverseas versus here in the US
and what are the things that Ilearned kind of along the way.
So I'm going to share with you10 tips you can call them do's
and don'ts as you're preparingfor either your first marathon
or your next marathon if it'soverseas.
So first I'll talk a little bitabout why I chose, you know, an
international marathon.
(01:23):
So first I'll talk a little bitabout why I chose an
international marathon.
So about this time last year Ihad set the intention to run my
first marathon and over the lastfew years I have been kind of
on this journey of doing thingsI've never done before related
to fitness, and that includeddoing obstacle course racing, as
well as different levels ofroad races four-miler,
(01:47):
five-miler quarter marathon, allthe way up to half marathon.
I felt like it was time for meto do my first marathon.
This is something I've beenthinking about for a long time.
I don't know if this issomething that I would
necessarily continue to do, butat the very least I wanted to
say at least I ran it once in mylife.
So I set the intention lastyear and then, you know, one of
(02:10):
the big goals that I had aroundrunning a marathon was I wanted
it to be memorable.
And you know I was thinkingabout what if I could run one of
the world majors, like thatwould be really cool and that
would be memorable.
And the one that's closest tome is New York City.
(02:31):
So wouldn't that be great if Icould run the New York City
Marathon.
And if you know, there's a fewdifferent ways you can get into
some of these marathons, likethe world majors Number one, you
can qualify by time, which Iwasn't really in a position to
do.
But you can also do the lotterywhich, depending on the
marathon, you may get in, youmay not, and you could do a
fundraiser or specific to NewYork City.
(02:53):
You could do what they call thenine plus one.
And the nine plus one is yourun nine races in New York City,
sponsored by the New YorkRoadrunners, and do you
volunteer for one race and Ilive relatively close to New
York City, but not close enoughto run nine races and volunteer
for one.
(03:13):
I mean, that would be prettymuch my entire race season for
the year, so that wasn't reallyan option for me.
So I was probably about latespring, early summer where I
just really found out that Iwasn't going to be able to get
into the New York City Marathon.
But I still had that goal torun it this year, to run a
marathon, and I wanted it to bememorable.
(03:34):
And I don't even know how itcame to me.
But I just thought about thismarathon called the Beaujolais
International Marathon in Francethat my friends have run in the
past and they've told me about.
And I spent a lot of time inFrance over the last almost 10
years.
I love being in France, I lovethe culture there, I love the
(03:56):
areas that I visited and I havea number of friends there.
And I just thought to myselfwouldn't that be so cool for me
to run my first marathon inFrance?
And that would definitely checkthe box for being a memorable
marathon.
And I'm sure I can get otherexperiences and other races
across the US.
(04:17):
But this one was not onlyspecial because it's in a place
that I knew and I really enjoyedbeing in.
But it also gave me theopportunity to run the race with
friends, and that was somethingthat was really cool, because
that's not something I get to dovery often, especially for road
races.
So immediately I contacted myfriends, I was like this is what
(04:40):
I want to do, and I signed upfor the race and what I like to
do is kind of share with you alittle bit of the story, as I
share with you kind of these 10tips to make sure that you have
a smooth and successfulexperience.
If you're planning to run yourfirst international marathon,
and let's just kind of get intoit, so I'll share with you,
(05:01):
starting with number one into it.
So I'll share with you.
Starting with number one is youwant to research the course and
the weather.
So this is one that I got halfright.
So the part that I got wrongwas I didn't research the course
, and it's something I don'tnormally do with races, even if
there are US races.
I just don't normally look atthe course, and I really should.
(05:21):
But you want to understand, youknow the course, the terrain,
the elevation, and I didn't doany of that and as I'm talking
about hey, I'm going to do thisBeaujolais international
marathon in France One of mycolleagues had shared with me a
website that I've never heard ofbefore, but it's totally
(05:42):
awesome and I'm going to shareit with you now and I'm going to
put a link in the show notes.
It's called Plot a RouteP-L-O-T-A-R-O-U-T-E and it
basically gives runners theopportunity to map out an entire
course for a race and you couldsee the elevation and other
aspects of the race.
And one thing that I learnedabout this race, pretty much a
(06:04):
week before, was that it wassuper hilly, and I know that I
didn't do as much hill work inmy training, so I wasn't
properly prepared for all thehills in this race that I didn't
learn, kind of until rightbefore the race.
So mentally I kind of knew whatI was getting into, but
physically, you know, I had notprepared in a way that I really
should have.
(06:24):
So this is something that youreally want to check it to, no
matter what race you're doing,but especially if you're
traveling to a region or countrythat you're just not familiar
with, I would say you know,check this out.
And this worked for a race inFrance.
I'm sure it's going to work ina lot of places in other
countries.
So that was one thing, but Iwould say that even though it
(06:45):
was hilly, the course wasabsolutely beautiful.
This was such a beautiful area.
I mean, you're basicallyrunning in wine country and,
just to give you a little bit ofbackground, on the Beaujolais
International Marathon, so thisis the time of year where it's
kind of all centered around theBeaujolais wine that they're
(07:06):
releasing for the season andit's super cool because they
have these festivals and theyhave the marathon and through
the course you're runningthrough vineyards and you're
running through castles and it'sjust such a beautiful area but
they're also serving wine inthese castles and it's such a
super cool experience.
So you know, I shared a fewpictures on social media of
(07:31):
pictures that I took and alsothe professional photos which
just came out so wonderful.
So it was beautiful, it washilly, it was a challenging
course, but definitely check thebox of being memorable.
So the second part of this thatI think I did do pretty well is
around the weather.
So I'm very familiar with theregion, I'm very familiar with
(07:52):
the weather and you know ittended to be a little bit warmer
than where I am in theNortheast, but you know, this
time of year it's still prettychilly.
So I just planned appropriatelyand I just planned for multiple
layers plus my hat and mygloves, so all of that worked
out really well.
I would say that I was a littledisappointed on race day.
That morning it was 29 degreeswhen we're getting on the
(08:14):
shuttle to go up to the startingline, so that was, you know, a
little disappointing that it wasso cold.
But fortunately I was dressedappropriately, so that was good.
And then, you know, I would saythat the temperature rose a
little bit during the day as thesun came out and it was quite
comfortable.
It wasn't really an issueduring the race as much as I
(08:36):
thought it was going to be, butthat's only because I was
somewhat familiar with theweather and I had prepared
appropriately.
So really important point thereto research the course ahead of
time as well as research theweather.
The second tip here is book yourflights and accommodation early
.
So Again, I kind of got thishalf right.
So in terms of booking theflights, when I made the
(08:59):
decision to run this marathon, Iknow in the past kind of
traveling to France or travelingto Europe.
It tended been in the past.
So you know, definitely bookingearly is going to get you, you
know, better price, betterprices on flights.
(09:21):
But you could do whateverprocess works for you.
You could watch the flights andthere's definitely different
apps that allow you to do that,which you know, whether you do
it through like Hopper orExpedia.
But you definitely want to getstarted on looking at the
flights early and then book itwhen you know it works for you.
Looking at the flights earlyand then book it when you know
it works for you.
And then the second part of this, which I didn't do well, as
(09:42):
booking your accommodationsearly.
So you know I wanted to bookthe accommodation.
So, basically, where this racewas was kind of in between where
Paris is and Leon, and Leon isabout, you know, an hour to two
hours South of Paris and Lyon isabout an hour to two hours
south of Paris and the race isjust north of Lyon.
And I wanted to get close towhere the race would be, where
(10:04):
the shuttle will take you to thestarting line, just so I didn't
have to get up even earlier inthe morning and then take a long
Uber ride to the shuttles andall of that, so just as close as
possible.
But I didn't book my hotel asearly as I really should have
because a lot of those hotelswere really kind of booked up by
(10:24):
the time I got around to it.
So in my case it worked outokay because I did book a hotel
in Lyon and I'm very familiarwith the city.
I can get around Lyon very well.
It's beautiful, it's got a lotof great places to eat, a lot of
beautiful place to run.
So it kind of worked out theway I did it anyway.
(10:45):
But again, I really should havebooked it a lot earlier, just
so I don't have that stress ofwhere am I going to stay and how
am I going to get to the race.
So that's tip number two is makesure you book your flights and
your accommodation early.
Tip number three is you want tounderstand the race logistics.
So what does the race packetpickup look like and the start
(11:07):
times and transportation and allof those types of things.
And that's an area where itreally helps to have kind of the
local friends or contacts inthe country that you're
traveling to, or if there's anorganization that manages your
travel, like those destinationtrips, where they'll arrange
(11:29):
your travel and they'll arrangekind of the race for you, which
I haven't done personally.
But now, having gone throughthis experience, I'm actually
very interested in doing that totravel to other places where I
don't have friends or contactsor know anything really about
the country.
I definitely would sign up withone of those organizations or
companies that would reallysupport me in traveling to one
(11:53):
of those places if I don't knowthe country or the language or
the culture, et cetera, etcetera.
So in this case I did havefriends that were able to help
me and it's kind of aninteresting story because I
arrived a couple of days beforethe race and I had dinner with
my friends and one of them hadoffered to go and pick up my
packet for me because it was abit of a drive to get out there
so I'd have to take an expensiveUber to get out there and pick
(12:15):
up my stuff and another Uber toget back.
So he offered to just pick itup for me and bring it to me on
race day, which worked outperfectly for me.
But as he was checking myinformation to make sure my
registration was good, henoticed that my registration
wasn't complete, which was oddto me because I filled out
(12:35):
everything, even after theyemailed me and said complete
your registration, which I did,and they asked me about, you
know, my shirt size and someinformation about me.
And I did all that stuff but Ididn't read everything carefully
and it was in French and I justdidn't take the time to read
everything carefully.
And there was one thing inthere just about, you know,
going through their health kindof checks.
(12:56):
So you had to watch thesehealth and safety videos and
then acknowledge that you're,you know, in good health and
good shape to run the marathon.
And I didn't do any of thatbecause I just missed it.
I didn't, you know, read itproperly.
So had my friend not pickedthat up, who knows what would
have happened.
I wouldn't have been able toget my packet, I wouldn't have
been able to run the race and Itraveled all that way to do this
(13:17):
and you know, I potentiallycould have had that issue.
So it's just really helpful foryou to understand those
logistics and have someone helpyou through that process,
whether it's someone you know orsome you know company or
organization who's arrangingeverything for you.
The next tip is around, you know, checking your, the visa
(13:38):
requirements or whatever isrequired to enter the country.
So, depending on you know whereyou're from and what passport
you have, you'll have differentrequirements.
So for me, with a US passport,you know I don't have any
specific requirements to getinto France.
But you know, and typically theairlines will also tell you
what you need.
So if you just need a passport,if you also need a visa.
(13:58):
But I have traveled tocountries where they required a
visa and in some cases it's areally long and tedious process.
You know they ask you a lot ofquestions and one country even
asked me questions about myparents.
So you know, this is just againkind of like booking your
flights and accommodations early.
You want to make sure that youcheck into what are the
(14:20):
requirements to enter thecountry early so you can go
through those processes and not,you know, be stressed and not
have to rush through all thatprocess.
So tip number five is adjust tothe time zone.
So this is something that Ithink I did really well.
You know the recommendation isthat you want to get to your
(14:40):
destination at least three tofive days before the race so you
can really adjust to the localtime zone.
I tend to you know when I'mtraveling.
I tend to try to get right inwhen I need to be there and I
try to leave right when I youknow when I'm traveling.
I tend to try to get right inwhen I need to be there and I
try to leave right when I youknow, as soon as I can.
So to kind of minimize the timethat I travel, since, you know,
in the past and even sometimesnow, I travel quite a bit.
So having a lot of time, youknow, away from home is not
(15:04):
ideal.
So I really try to to do it, asyou know, concise as possible.
But for something like this youreally want to get in ahead of
time so you could adjust and youcould reduce jet lag.
So I could tell you, in my case,I left New York on a Wednesday
night, I arrived in Paris onThursday morning, or I arrived
(15:29):
in Lyon on Thursday morning, soParis time, and then I ran the
race on Saturday, so Thursdayall day.
I was doing great, no problemson Thursday.
Friday was a completelydifferent story.
I couldn't get out of bed inthe morning.
I finally got enough energy toget out of bed and by that time
(15:50):
I was able to get out a littlebit and it was just about time
for lunch.
So my first meal of the day waslunch, which is not ideal, and
then even after lunch I evenslept for another hour and then
after that it was okay.
So I stayed up quite a bit andI was able to do my shakeout,
run and do some other thingsduring the day and then that
night I got a better night'ssleep and I was really ready for
(16:12):
Saturday.
But had I did what I normallydo, which is get in maybe like
one day before, I would havebeen in really bad shape for the
marathon.
So super happy that I was ableto get in at least a couple of
days before, adjust to the timezone and then I got ready for
that Saturday for theinternational marathon.
(16:34):
So the next one is pack smartand really pack what you need,
pack the essentials of what youneed.
So for me, I, you know I carrymy all the clothes I think I'll
need.
I carry my hydration, mynutrition, and I've kind of
really learned this in the pastfrom my travel.
Depending on the country that Igo to, the things that I need
(16:57):
aren't always available in thatcountry or easily accessible.
So there's certain things Ijust tend to bring with me and
yeah, so just really think aboutwhat it is that you'll need for
your time overseas and thenthink about what you'll need for
the race and make sure you packthose things appropriately.
Next is plan for your hydrationand nutrition.
(17:19):
So it's a little bit similar tothe last tip, but very specific
to number one, hydration duringyour trip itself, and number
two for the race.
So for the trip itself,especially for long overseas
flights, it's easy for someoneto become dehydrated.
So very, very important for youto consider that and hydrate
(17:44):
appropriately, not only duringyour travel, but have the
appropriate hydration during theactual race of travel, but have
the appropriate hydrationduring the actual race.
So that's what I did and I'lltalk a little bit about what I
did for travel and the race andwhat I do.
So what I do for just generalhydration is that I use Arbonne
for electrolytes as well as forimmunity.
(18:04):
So that's kind of my everydayhydration.
Then for the race, I do acombination of things.
One is I use LMNT, which issodium-based electrolytes.
So I do that.
I don't drink it when I'mrunning.
I'll drink it like maybe beforeor maybe after, or maybe both,
and then during the race I willdrink Tailwind Nutrition, and
(18:28):
Tailwind is sugar-basedelectrolytes and the cool thing
about Tailwind is it hascalories and there's a version
of it with caffeine and aversion without.
So what I'll do is I'll justkind of mix both so I don't have
too too much caffeine in eachof the bottles of water that I
bring with me.
But I get that enough caffeineand enough calories to get me
(18:51):
through the race.
So that works out really reallywell.
So again, I use Arbonne for mynormal daily hydration, I use
LMNT, the sodium-basedelectrolytes, and I do that kind
of leading up to the race andthen after the race, and then
during the race I use TailwindNutrition, which is sugar-based,
and then during the race I useTailwind Nutrition, which is
(19:11):
sugar-based, and it has thecalories and the caffeine that I
need.
So that's what I use.
Obviously, you use what worksfor you, but those are the
things that's really kind ofworked for me.
Next is really kind of know thelanguage and the culture based
on where you're going.
So, again, you know.
Again, this was an opportunityto go to a country that you know
(19:34):
, I'm very familiar with and Ilove being there and I know a
little bit of language, but youknow my French is terrible, so I
know a little bit of Spanish.
That kind of helps me a littlebit.
Plus, I spent some time in thecountry so I can understand a
little bit, but for me to beable to fully understand or
fully speak, that's just not thecase.
So in this case, having friends, local friends or contacts
(19:56):
there that can really help mewhen I need it especially it
relates to language andcommunication is super, super,
super helpful.
Next is you know you want to setrealistic expectations.
So for me, I had really justbroad goals for this marathon
Number one.
I wanted it to be memorable.
(20:17):
So again, kind of doing thistrip overseas in this beautiful,
essentially wine country,absolutely kind of check that
box and I'll talk a little bitabout, you know, my experience
in the race there.
But I also wanted to enjoy therace and not also and also not
feel like I was dying the entiretime.
So you know, I kind of set mygoals accordingly and I'm
(20:43):
thinking okay, you know, if I do.
You know, four and a half hours, that's really a decent time
for me based on what I've donefor my half marathon time.
I think that's a decent pacefor that Um, and also given how
I've been doing my training.
Uh, I came in at five hours,which was totally, totally fine
because I checked the boxes onmy goals.
I absolutely enjoyed the race.
I absolutely thought it wasmemorable.
(21:06):
It was something I'll alwaysremember and really appreciate
the fact that I got to do it.
Yeah, and I didn't feel like Iwas dying the entire time.
Now, don't get me wrong.
It was definitely a hard race.
If you've never run a marathonbefore, if you run a race for
the first time, it's definitelyhard.
I feel like even the last threemiles felt like 20.
(21:26):
So it was difficult, but itwasn't.
I didn't feel like I'm notgoing to make this Like I, you
know, I just kind of pushedthrough and I ran the race at my
pace and I felt really goodabout my performance and and my
time.
So, whatever your goals are,whatever your expectations are,
just set realistic expectations,cause remember you're, if
(21:49):
you're thinking about aninternational marathon, you're
running in a place that you, youknow you may or may not have
been before, you may or may notbe familiar with, and if you're
trying to compare it tosomething else, you know that
might not be realistic.
So just really kind of thinkabout what's important to you
and kind of set yourexpectations appropriately.
And then, last but not least,is really kind of celebrate the
(22:11):
local customs.
So, as I mentioned, this raceis kind of centered around this
festival or the celebration ofthe new Beaujolais wine that
they release for the season, forthe year, and it's just such a
beautiful I would say events.
So the runners I think I readlike 60% of the runners dress up
(22:32):
in costumes and then they havewine and food on the course and
in the castles and you'rerunning through vineyards and
it's just all super beautifuland just wonderful.
And just take the time toreally enjoy and celebrate that.
You know, no matter where it isthat you're running and no
matter what it is.
Then, of course, you know ifwine or alcohol or whatever the
(22:54):
case is, it's not your thing,that's fine, you know.
Then pick a country or pick arace that has some sort of theme
and is aligned with somethingthat you enjoy and that you like
and aligns with you.
So that's the last thing isreally just kind of not only go
to run the race but reallycelebrate and enjoy and partake
of all that it has to offer.
(23:15):
So those are the 10 tips that Iwanted to share with you, and
the things I think I did welland the things I did not do well
, that I could definitely dobetter the next time.
But, all in all, just runningthrough the vineyards, running
up and down the hills, runninginto and out of the castles and
then to the finish line in thecity with everybody cheering,
was just an amazing experience.
(23:35):
And, you know, for me, runningmy first and maybe even my only
marathon you know, this issomething that I'll be talking
about for a really long time and, just again, super happy and
grateful and I'm privileged tobe able to do something like
this.
So, you know, I shared a lot ofgreat pictures on social media
and you know, if you want totake a look, go to Inspired to
(23:56):
Run podcast on Instagram.
You could see some of thepictures there.
And if you're thinking aboutrunning an international
marathon, you know, just hit meup on Instagram and feel free to
ask me questions or give mefeedback on this episode of you
know this kind of resonates withyou.
I'd love to hear from you aswell.
So again, just overall, greatexperience.
(24:18):
I'm happy to share this withyou.
Hopefully I'm inspiring you tonot only run, but run your first
international marathon.
So with that, I want to saythank you for listening and have
a great day.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, are you looking to run your first
marathon, or maybe the next, andmaybe you're looking to spice
things up a little bit?
Well, I'm gonna share with youin this episode about my
experience running not only myfirst marathon, my first
international marathon, and I'mgonna share some tips to help
you along your journey.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Richard Conner.
Hey, my friend, welcome toInspire to Run Podcast.
I'm so excited to record thisepisode and share my latest
journey with you, which isrunning not only my first
marathon but my firstinternational marathon, and I
learned a lot along the processand I want to share with you why
(01:02):
I decided to run a marathonoverseas versus here in the US
and what are the things that Ilearned kind of along the way.
So I'm going to share with you10 tips you can call them do's
and don'ts as you're preparingfor either your first marathon
or your next marathon if it'soverseas.
So first I'll talk a little bitabout why I chose, you know, an
international marathon.
(01:23):
So first I'll talk a little bitabout why I chose an
international marathon.
So about this time last year Ihad set the intention to run my
first marathon and over the lastfew years I have been kind of
on this journey of doing thingsI've never done before related
to fitness, and that includeddoing obstacle course racing, as
well as different levels ofroad races four-miler,
(01:47):
five-miler quarter marathon, allthe way up to half marathon.
I felt like it was time for meto do my first marathon.
This is something I've beenthinking about for a long time.
I don't know if this issomething that I would
necessarily continue to do, butat the very least I wanted to
say at least I ran it once in mylife.
So I set the intention lastyear and then, you know, one of
(02:10):
the big goals that I had aroundrunning a marathon was I wanted
it to be memorable.
And you know I was thinkingabout what if I could run one of
the world majors, like thatwould be really cool and that
would be memorable.
And the one that's closest tome is New York City.
(02:31):
So wouldn't that be great if Icould run the New York City
Marathon.
And if you know, there's a fewdifferent ways you can get into
some of these marathons, likethe world majors Number one, you
can qualify by time, which Iwasn't really in a position to
do.
But you can also do the lotterywhich, depending on the
marathon, you may get in, youmay not, and you could do a
fundraiser or specific to NewYork City.
(02:53):
You could do what they call thenine plus one.
And the nine plus one is yourun nine races in New York City,
sponsored by the New YorkRoadrunners, and do you
volunteer for one race and Ilive relatively close to New
York City, but not close enoughto run nine races and volunteer
for one.
(03:13):
I mean, that would be prettymuch my entire race season for
the year, so that wasn't reallyan option for me.
So I was probably about latespring, early summer where I
just really found out that Iwasn't going to be able to get
into the New York City Marathon.
But I still had that goal torun it this year, to run a
marathon, and I wanted it to bememorable.
(03:34):
And I don't even know how itcame to me.
But I just thought about thismarathon called the Beaujolais
International Marathon in Francethat my friends have run in the
past and they've told me about.
And I spent a lot of time inFrance over the last almost 10
years.
I love being in France, I lovethe culture there, I love the
(03:56):
areas that I visited and I havea number of friends there.
And I just thought to myselfwouldn't that be so cool for me
to run my first marathon inFrance?
And that would definitely checkthe box for being a memorable
marathon.
And I'm sure I can get otherexperiences and other races
across the US.
(04:17):
But this one was not onlyspecial because it's in a place
that I knew and I really enjoyedbeing in.
But it also gave me theopportunity to run the race with
friends, and that was somethingthat was really cool, because
that's not something I get to dovery often, especially for road
races.
So immediately I contacted myfriends, I was like this is what
(04:40):
I want to do, and I signed upfor the race and what I like to
do is kind of share with you alittle bit of the story, as I
share with you kind of these 10tips to make sure that you have
a smooth and successfulexperience.
If you're planning to run yourfirst international marathon,
and let's just kind of get intoit, so I'll share with you,
(05:01):
starting with number one into it.
So I'll share with you.
Starting with number one is youwant to research the course and
the weather.
So this is one that I got halfright.
So the part that I got wrongwas I didn't research the course
, and it's something I don'tnormally do with races, even if
there are US races.
I just don't normally look atthe course, and I really should.
(05:21):
But you want to understand, youknow the course, the terrain,
the elevation, and I didn't doany of that and as I'm talking
about hey, I'm going to do thisBeaujolais international
marathon in France One of mycolleagues had shared with me a
website that I've never heard ofbefore, but it's totally
(05:42):
awesome and I'm going to shareit with you now and I'm going to
put a link in the show notes.
It's called Plot a RouteP-L-O-T-A-R-O-U-T-E and it
basically gives runners theopportunity to map out an entire
course for a race and you couldsee the elevation and other
aspects of the race.
And one thing that I learnedabout this race, pretty much a
(06:04):
week before, was that it wassuper hilly, and I know that I
didn't do as much hill work inmy training, so I wasn't
properly prepared for all thehills in this race that I didn't
learn, kind of until rightbefore the race.
So mentally I kind of knew whatI was getting into, but
physically, you know, I had notprepared in a way that I really
should have.
(06:24):
So this is something that youreally want to check it to, no
matter what race you're doing,but especially if you're
traveling to a region or countrythat you're just not familiar
with, I would say you know,check this out.
And this worked for a race inFrance.
I'm sure it's going to work ina lot of places in other
countries.
So that was one thing, but Iwould say that even though it
(06:45):
was hilly, the course wasabsolutely beautiful.
This was such a beautiful area.
I mean, you're basicallyrunning in wine country and,
just to give you a little bit ofbackground, on the Beaujolais
International Marathon, so thisis the time of year where it's
kind of all centered around theBeaujolais wine that they're
(07:06):
releasing for the season andit's super cool because they
have these festivals and theyhave the marathon and through
the course you're runningthrough vineyards and you're
running through castles and it'sjust such a beautiful area but
they're also serving wine inthese castles and it's such a
super cool experience.
So you know, I shared a fewpictures on social media of
(07:31):
pictures that I took and alsothe professional photos which
just came out so wonderful.
So it was beautiful, it washilly, it was a challenging
course, but definitely check thebox of being memorable.
So the second part of this thatI think I did do pretty well is
around the weather.
So I'm very familiar with theregion, I'm very familiar with
(07:52):
the weather and you know ittended to be a little bit warmer
than where I am in theNortheast, but you know, this
time of year it's still prettychilly.
So I just planned appropriatelyand I just planned for multiple
layers plus my hat and mygloves, so all of that worked
out really well.
I would say that I was a littledisappointed on race day.
That morning it was 29 degreeswhen we're getting on the
(08:14):
shuttle to go up to the startingline, so that was, you know, a
little disappointing that it wasso cold.
But fortunately I was dressedappropriately, so that was good.
And then, you know, I would saythat the temperature rose a
little bit during the day as thesun came out and it was quite
comfortable.
It wasn't really an issueduring the race as much as I
(08:36):
thought it was going to be, butthat's only because I was
somewhat familiar with theweather and I had prepared
appropriately.
So really important point thereto research the course ahead of
time as well as research theweather.
The second tip here is book yourflights and accommodation early
.
So Again, I kind of got thishalf right.
So in terms of booking theflights, when I made the
(08:59):
decision to run this marathon, Iknow in the past kind of
traveling to France or travelingto Europe.
It tended been in the past.
So you know, definitely bookingearly is going to get you, you
know, better price, betterprices on flights.
(09:21):
But you could do whateverprocess works for you.
You could watch the flights andthere's definitely different
apps that allow you to do that,which you know, whether you do
it through like Hopper orExpedia.
But you definitely want to getstarted on looking at the
flights early and then book itwhen you know it works for you.
Looking at the flights earlyand then book it when you know
it works for you.
And then the second part of this, which I didn't do well, as
(09:42):
booking your accommodationsearly.
So you know I wanted to bookthe accommodation.
So, basically, where this racewas was kind of in between where
Paris is and Leon, and Leon isabout, you know, an hour to two
hours South of Paris and Lyon isabout an hour to two hours
south of Paris and the race isjust north of Lyon.
And I wanted to get close towhere the race would be, where
(10:04):
the shuttle will take you to thestarting line, just so I didn't
have to get up even earlier inthe morning and then take a long
Uber ride to the shuttles andall of that, so just as close as
possible.
But I didn't book my hotel asearly as I really should have
because a lot of those hotelswere really kind of booked up by
(10:24):
the time I got around to it.
So in my case it worked outokay because I did book a hotel
in Lyon and I'm very familiarwith the city.
I can get around Lyon very well.
It's beautiful, it's got a lotof great places to eat, a lot of
beautiful place to run.
So it kind of worked out theway I did it anyway.
(10:45):
But again, I really should havebooked it a lot earlier, just
so I don't have that stress ofwhere am I going to stay and how
am I going to get to the race.
So that's tip number two is makesure you book your flights and
your accommodation early.
Tip number three is you want tounderstand the race logistics.
So what does the race packetpickup look like and the start
(11:07):
times and transportation and allof those types of things.
And that's an area where itreally helps to have kind of the
local friends or contacts inthe country that you're
traveling to, or if there's anorganization that manages your
travel, like those destinationtrips, where they'll arrange
(11:29):
your travel and they'll arrangekind of the race for you, which
I haven't done personally.
But now, having gone throughthis experience, I'm actually
very interested in doing that totravel to other places where I
don't have friends or contactsor know anything really about
the country.
I definitely would sign up withone of those organizations or
companies that would reallysupport me in traveling to one
(11:53):
of those places if I don't knowthe country or the language or
the culture, et cetera, etcetera.
So in this case I did havefriends that were able to help
me and it's kind of aninteresting story because I
arrived a couple of days beforethe race and I had dinner with
my friends and one of them hadoffered to go and pick up my
packet for me because it was abit of a drive to get out there
so I'd have to take an expensiveUber to get out there and pick
(12:15):
up my stuff and another Uber toget back.
So he offered to just pick itup for me and bring it to me on
race day, which worked outperfectly for me.
But as he was checking myinformation to make sure my
registration was good, henoticed that my registration
wasn't complete, which was oddto me because I filled out
(12:35):
everything, even after theyemailed me and said complete
your registration, which I did,and they asked me about, you
know, my shirt size and someinformation about me.
And I did all that stuff but Ididn't read everything carefully
and it was in French and I justdidn't take the time to read
everything carefully.
And there was one thing inthere just about, you know,
going through their health kindof checks.
(12:56):
So you had to watch thesehealth and safety videos and
then acknowledge that you're,you know, in good health and
good shape to run the marathon.
And I didn't do any of thatbecause I just missed it.
I didn't, you know, read itproperly.
So had my friend not pickedthat up, who knows what would
have happened.
I wouldn't have been able toget my packet, I wouldn't have
been able to run the race and Itraveled all that way to do this
(13:17):
and you know, I potentiallycould have had that issue.
So it's just really helpful foryou to understand those
logistics and have someone helpyou through that process,
whether it's someone you know orsome you know company or
organization who's arrangingeverything for you.
The next tip is around, you know, checking your, the visa
(13:38):
requirements or whatever isrequired to enter the country.
So, depending on you know whereyou're from and what passport
you have, you'll have differentrequirements.
So for me, with a US passport,you know I don't have any
specific requirements to getinto France.
But you know, and typically theairlines will also tell you
what you need.
So if you just need a passport,if you also need a visa.
(13:58):
But I have traveled tocountries where they required a
visa and in some cases it's areally long and tedious process.
You know they ask you a lot ofquestions and one country even
asked me questions about myparents.
So you know, this is just againkind of like booking your
flights and accommodations early.
You want to make sure that youcheck into what are the
(14:20):
requirements to enter thecountry early so you can go
through those processes and not,you know, be stressed and not
have to rush through all thatprocess.
So tip number five is adjust tothe time zone.
So this is something that Ithink I did really well.
You know the recommendation isthat you want to get to your
(14:40):
destination at least three tofive days before the race so you
can really adjust to the localtime zone.
I tend to you know when I'mtraveling.
I tend to try to get right inwhen I need to be there and I
try to leave right when I youknow when I'm traveling.
I tend to try to get right inwhen I need to be there and I
try to leave right when I youknow, as soon as I can.
So to kind of minimize the timethat I travel, since, you know,
in the past and even sometimesnow, I travel quite a bit.
So having a lot of time, youknow, away from home is not
(15:04):
ideal.
So I really try to to do it, asyou know, concise as possible.
But for something like this youreally want to get in ahead of
time so you could adjust and youcould reduce jet lag.
So I could tell you, in my case,I left New York on a Wednesday
night, I arrived in Paris onThursday morning, or I arrived
(15:29):
in Lyon on Thursday morning, soParis time, and then I ran the
race on Saturday, so Thursdayall day.
I was doing great, no problemson Thursday.
Friday was a completelydifferent story.
I couldn't get out of bed inthe morning.
I finally got enough energy toget out of bed and by that time
(15:50):
I was able to get out a littlebit and it was just about time
for lunch.
So my first meal of the day waslunch, which is not ideal, and
then even after lunch I evenslept for another hour and then
after that it was okay.
So I stayed up quite a bit andI was able to do my shakeout,
run and do some other thingsduring the day and then that
night I got a better night'ssleep and I was really ready for
(16:12):
Saturday.
But had I did what I normallydo, which is get in maybe like
one day before, I would havebeen in really bad shape for the
marathon.
So super happy that I was ableto get in at least a couple of
days before, adjust to the timezone and then I got ready for
that Saturday for theinternational marathon.
(16:34):
So the next one is pack smartand really pack what you need,
pack the essentials of what youneed.
So for me, I, you know I carrymy all the clothes I think I'll
need.
I carry my hydration, mynutrition, and I've kind of
really learned this in the pastfrom my travel.
Depending on the country that Igo to, the things that I need
(16:57):
aren't always available in thatcountry or easily accessible.
So there's certain things Ijust tend to bring with me and
yeah, so just really think aboutwhat it is that you'll need for
your time overseas and thenthink about what you'll need for
the race and make sure you packthose things appropriately.
Next is plan for your hydrationand nutrition.
(17:19):
So it's a little bit similar tothe last tip, but very specific
to number one, hydration duringyour trip itself, and number
two for the race.
So for the trip itself,especially for long overseas
flights, it's easy for someoneto become dehydrated.
So very, very important for youto consider that and hydrate
(17:44):
appropriately, not only duringyour travel, but have the
appropriate hydration during theactual race of travel, but have
the appropriate hydrationduring the actual race.
So that's what I did and I'lltalk a little bit about what I
did for travel and the race andwhat I do.
So what I do for just generalhydration is that I use Arbonne
for electrolytes as well as forimmunity.
(18:04):
So that's kind of my everydayhydration.
Then for the race, I do acombination of things.
One is I use LMNT, which issodium-based electrolytes.
So I do that.
I don't drink it when I'mrunning.
I'll drink it like maybe beforeor maybe after, or maybe both,
and then during the race I willdrink Tailwind Nutrition, and
(18:28):
Tailwind is sugar-basedelectrolytes and the cool thing
about Tailwind is it hascalories and there's a version
of it with caffeine and aversion without.
So what I'll do is I'll justkind of mix both so I don't have
too too much caffeine in eachof the bottles of water that I
bring with me.
But I get that enough caffeineand enough calories to get me
(18:51):
through the race.
So that works out really reallywell.
So again, I use Arbonne for mynormal daily hydration, I use
LMNT, the sodium-basedelectrolytes, and I do that kind
of leading up to the race andthen after the race, and then
during the race I use TailwindNutrition, which is sugar-based,
and then during the race I useTailwind Nutrition, which is
(19:11):
sugar-based, and it has thecalories and the caffeine that I
need.
So that's what I use.
Obviously, you use what worksfor you, but those are the
things that's really kind ofworked for me.
Next is really kind of know thelanguage and the culture based
on where you're going.
So, again, you know.
Again, this was an opportunityto go to a country that you know
(19:34):
, I'm very familiar with and Ilove being there and I know a
little bit of language, but youknow my French is terrible, so I
know a little bit of Spanish.
That kind of helps me a littlebit.
Plus, I spent some time in thecountry so I can understand a
little bit, but for me to beable to fully understand or
fully speak, that's just not thecase.
So in this case, having friends, local friends or contacts
(19:56):
there that can really help mewhen I need it especially it
relates to language andcommunication is super, super,
super helpful.
Next is you know you want to setrealistic expectations.
So for me, I had really justbroad goals for this marathon
Number one.
I wanted it to be memorable.
(20:17):
So again, kind of doing thistrip overseas in this beautiful,
essentially wine country,absolutely kind of check that
box and I'll talk a little bitabout, you know, my experience
in the race there.
But I also wanted to enjoy therace and not also and also not
feel like I was dying the entiretime.
So you know, I kind of set mygoals accordingly and I'm
(20:43):
thinking okay, you know, if I do.
You know, four and a half hours, that's really a decent time
for me based on what I've donefor my half marathon time.
I think that's a decent pacefor that Um, and also given how
I've been doing my training.
Uh, I came in at five hours,which was totally, totally fine
because I checked the boxes onmy goals.
I absolutely enjoyed the race.
I absolutely thought it wasmemorable.
(21:06):
It was something I'll alwaysremember and really appreciate
the fact that I got to do it.
Yeah, and I didn't feel like Iwas dying the entire time.
Now, don't get me wrong.
It was definitely a hard race.
If you've never run a marathonbefore, if you run a race for
the first time, it's definitelyhard.
I feel like even the last threemiles felt like 20.
(21:26):
So it was difficult, but itwasn't.
I didn't feel like I'm notgoing to make this Like I, you
know, I just kind of pushedthrough and I ran the race at my
pace and I felt really goodabout my performance and and my
time.
So, whatever your goals are,whatever your expectations are,
just set realistic expectations,cause remember you're, if
(21:49):
you're thinking about aninternational marathon, you're
running in a place that you, youknow you may or may not have
been before, you may or may notbe familiar with, and if you're
trying to compare it tosomething else, you know that
might not be realistic.
So just really kind of thinkabout what's important to you
and kind of set yourexpectations appropriately.
And then, last but not least,is really kind of celebrate the
(22:11):
local customs.
So, as I mentioned, this raceis kind of centered around this
festival or the celebration ofthe new Beaujolais wine that
they release for the season, forthe year, and it's just such a
beautiful I would say events.
So the runners I think I readlike 60% of the runners dress up
(22:32):
in costumes and then they havewine and food on the course and
in the castles and you'rerunning through vineyards and
it's just all super beautifuland just wonderful.
And just take the time toreally enjoy and celebrate that.
You know, no matter where it isthat you're running and no
matter what it is.
Then, of course, you know ifwine or alcohol or whatever the
(22:54):
case is, it's not your thing,that's fine, you know.
Then pick a country or pick arace that has some sort of theme
and is aligned with somethingthat you enjoy and that you like
and aligns with you.
So that's the last thing isreally just kind of not only go
to run the race but reallycelebrate and enjoy and partake
of all that it has to offer.
(23:15):
So those are the 10 tips that Iwanted to share with you, and
the things I think I did welland the things I did not do well
, that I could definitely dobetter the next time.
But, all in all, just runningthrough the vineyards, running
up and down the hills, runninginto and out of the castles and
then to the finish line in thecity with everybody cheering,
was just an amazing experience.
(23:35):
And, you know, for me, runningmy first and maybe even my only
marathon you know, this issomething that I'll be talking
about for a really long time and, just again, super happy and
grateful and I'm privileged tobe able to do something like
this.
So, you know, I shared a lot ofgreat pictures on social media
and you know, if you want totake a look, go to Inspired to
(23:56):
Run podcast on Instagram.
You could see some of thepictures there.
And if you're thinking aboutrunning an international
marathon, you know, just hit meup on Instagram and feel free to
ask me questions or give mefeedback on this episode of you
know this kind of resonates withyou.
I'd love to hear from you aswell.
So again, just overall, greatexperience.
(24:18):
I'm happy to share this withyou.
Hopefully I'm inspiring you tonot only run, but run your first
international marathon.
So with that, I want to saythank you for listening and have
a great day.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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