A little whimsical fairy comes to you in the haze of summer and asks, “What if I could get you a guaranteed bib to the Berlin Marathon?” What do you say?
This was the predicament. I had set my heart, soul, and my little legs to crush it in the Chicago Marathon but alas, the fairy, with its convincing fairy dust, swayed my soul and I decided to run back to back marathons this fall.
Before the pitchforks come out and the LetsRun.Com bros explain to me why it’s precisely a bad idea to do this… I say, why not?
When given the chance to challenge what’s possible, to push beyond the physical and mental limits we set for ourselves, which path do you choose? In these moments, I remind myself of Courtney Daughter's perspective on pain and limits.
“We don’t know what we’re capable of, we don’t know our limits until we try, so I want to get to that place. I call it the pain cave: that point where you physically can’t keep going. That’s when your mind takes over and you dig in with your brain to help your body keep going. My goal is to get to the pain cave and go in and make it bigger, with hopes that every time I make it bigger I can reach a little farther into myself next time.”
What helped with this decision was that the whimsical fairy was actually my training partner, Oscar. Him and my other training partner Ryan, all agreed to do the impossible double. We all share the same coach who sadly has to deal with a slew of questionable decisions and choices we make. But to our coach’s credit, there’s an element of trust and confidence where he assures us that we can absolutely do hard things, with the right level of training and patience.
My other training partners, Oscar on the left and Ryan on the right at the Berlin Shakeout!
So the training began…
To not bore you with the training logs, the bloc was largely characterized by building a strong base, incorporating strength training (as much as a runner can), and committing to hard, sustained workouts into our long runs.
The weeks went by, the 5AM long runs became the norm, and pretty soon, Berlin was just around the corner.
High-Fiving my other training partner, Joh
after a Long Run workout at the Rose Bowl
The Berlin Marathon was an opportunity to prove that I could comfortably sub 3:00 a marathon. I knew I could do it, but I didn’t have the confidence. My journey into running and marathoning had been so unconventional, a debut time that has still remained my PR… I personally always thought it was fluke, a luck of the draw… but I didn’t want it to be. So my coach, Greg, and I decided that Berlin was the opportunity to build that trust in myself.
From Greg:
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit"
As you enter the race tomorrow, think about the consistency you've shown the last ~6 weeks. Those workouts haven't been flukes or singular acts. They've been habits you've been building for race day. Tomorrow is just an expression of the habits you've built”
My friends and I jokingly reflected that, “Berlin was a business trip”. I went out conservative, stayed conservative, but just enough to know that I was going to hit it. Everything was going to plan, but my hip cramped at mile 20, but I fought.
I was so happy, proud of myself, and the competitive fire was ignited.
The Berlin course is incredibly flat—pancake flat. It’s a fast course, but the downside is that you end up using the same muscle groups repeatedly, which, without any variation, made my body more prone to cramping. Another thing to consider is that the travel… is a lot. My recommendation is to arrive in Berlin at least 3 days before to acclimate to the time zone, the food, and just feel comfortable and relaxed.
I did get Korean food in Berlin. I can’t go too long without my kimchi. Located in Markthalle Neun!
Sightseeing is a must! Definitely take advantage of their seamless public transportation. We visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which was breathtaking and moving.
The fluffiest cardamom bun at
Still life with Irises by Vincent Van Gogh
4850 in Amsterdam
12 days went by and Chicago was next.
To be completely honest, one of the most unique aspects of running two marathons so close together was having the foundation to approach the second marathon in a distinctly different way. Your memory is fresh and you know how to approach each mile slightly differently.
This was my mindset in Chicago. While Berlin required a hard effort, I was determined to leave everything on the Chicago course, with no regrets. I wanted to abandon any notion of being conservative and see just how far I could push myself. I wanted to reach the deepest corners of the pain cave and confront my inner demons head-on.
Chicago was special because I got to race this course with my Angel City Elite teammate, Grace, who was such a familiar face to see before we toe’d the start line. We wished each other luck and reminded ourselves that nerves were a good thing.
And off we went!
While both Berlin and Chicago both have the reputation of being flat, fast courses, Chicago had just the right amount of baby hills to feel like you were in for a ride. The crowd was electric, biofreeze and martens were abundant, and the crews were roaring.
My split for the first half was faster—much faster than in Berlin—but then my body started to slow down. I just couldn’t shift into that next gear to tap into my full speed. Right then, I realized, “Oh man, my body isn’t fully recovered from Berlin.”
That’s when my friend Phil Shin’s reminder came to mind—something he’d shared with me during a warm-up months ago: marathoning is really about problem-solving. Simple as that.
Mile 23!
So, I focused on staying as close to that next gear as possible, refusing to stop or give up. I kept running, kept smiling, and to my surprise, my time was comparable to my Berlin finish. I thought, “Wait, that can’t be right!” My body, however, was definitely feeling the impact of back-to-back efforts.I crossed that finish line with no regrets—yes, slower than I had hoped, but proud in a different way. I was proud of betting on myself and filled with an incredible sense of joy in seeing that I could actually do it.
So what’s the lesson in all of this? YOLO? Maybe.
Sometimes, doing the impossible offers a glimpse into who we are capable of becoming. Growth only happens when we challenge ourselves, embrace discomfort, and give ourselves fully permission to be surprised. What does that look like for you? I encourage you to ponder this question, whether it’s about running or anything else in life. I feel like I’m leaving this experience with more questions than answers, yet I’m excited to sit with everything this fall racing season has brought.
I admittedly did have to Google at what age women’s prefrontal cortex develops just to make sure that this choice was entirely on my own volition. At the end of it, I felt so grateful. For this opportunity, for this community, this body… What a blessing it is to live this life!
Hugging my friend, Madiha before I went to the start. | Brooks x PNYRS event!
Thank you to my incredible ACE teammates for the support and all the community runs that fueled both me and Grace on race day. A deep sense of gratitude to Clara and the Brooks team that were in Chicago. A big day for our team as we took Top American for both Women & Men’s fields!
I will be racing Chicago again in Fall 2025, so maybe I’ll see you there?
-Rosa
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