Daniel Nazareth's Blog

I ran a Half Marathon in 1:39 in 2023 and 1:44 in 2022. This October, I’ll run a Marathon with a goal of 3:15. 

Why do I run?

Coming out of the pandemic, I was out of shape. I looked and felt like a bag of chips. I decided to make a pre-commitment to hold myself accountable. What started out as a way to get back into hockey and soccer shape, turned into an ongoing running journey.

In 2021, I signed up for a 5k. A month before the race, I pulled both my hamstrings playing soccer. Classic. The years of neglecting stretching had finally caught up to me. I am grateful to the physiotherapist who put humpty dumpty back together and set me up with stretches and strengthening exercises.

The following May, I thought that a fit person would be able to run a half marathon in about 1:45, so despite only ever running max 10k back in Highschool, I signed up for the October race in Toronto.

To save my hammies, I also signed up for yoga classes.

During yoga, I discovered that I was more inflexible than I thought. Downward dog, upward dog, outside dog. I could not do it the way the instructor and other classmates could. Nonetheless, I continued to just show up.

In one class, the instructor was teaching us balance poses. “Focus on your Drishti and drive your toes into the ground.” It was a visceral and funny moment for me, discovering that I had toes. 

Race day finally came around. Standing at a start line with 10,000 people is a powerful feeling. In training, 16k was the most I’d run, so this 21k would be the longest I had ever run in my entire life. 

I buddied up with the 1:45 pacer. Along the way, a ton of volunteers held up signs and cheered us on. My favourite signs read: “Why do all the cute ones run away?” and “You paid for this.”

My Mom, Dad, and best friend also came to the race. They ran their way to multiple lookout points and cheered me on. As the split off point for the half and the full marathon came, I remember thinking that the person beside me who continued for the 42k marathon was crazy. I was gassed and my calf was starting to cramp. 

Within the last kilometer, I looked down at my watch and repeated something my Mom always said to me as a child, “I think I can, I think I can”. At that moment, my Mom appeared from the crowd, “Come on Daniel! You’ve done it!”. 

Feeling supported and cared for by the person you care about most has an incredible impact. My cramp went away and I crossed the finish line with all I had. 

1:44:47

My running journey is not finished. As I prepare for the Toronto Marathon in October, here are my strategies for giving effort:

• Set stretch goals, run your race, make observations
• Embrace setbacks and do things differently
• Just show up
• Never go at it alone
• There is no finish line

Other Resources:

• For motivation, David Goggins’ books:
  • Can’t Hurt Me: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41721428-can-t-hurt-me
  • Never Finished: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63079845-never-finished
• Strava’s Online Community: https://www.strava.com/athletes/108609790
• Training Plans: https://www.runnersworld.com/training/

With care,

Daniel Nazareth