Run 29 Miles for Your 29th Birthday? Sure, Why Not?

I believe that what you do on your birthday will reflect what the next year looks like. I've always tried to do something positive to get me amped up for the year ahead.

For the last five or so years, I've ran a 5K on my birthday. I call it the 'Birthday 5K'. Has a nice ring to it, right? It isn't an 'all-out' 5K, rather a fast 5K to measure my performance over the last year. It's like a yearly measuring stick. It's fun, and it doesn't take too long.

This year was my 29th birthday. It marked the beginning of the last year of my twenties. It's been a defining decade from graduating college, to getting my first job, moving to San Francisco, getting married, buying our first home, and quitting my job to start a company. Years 10-20 were solid too, but I can't recall that much from when I was 10 years old. This year, COVID robbed me of many of my big running milestones, goals, and aspirations, so I wanted to do something a little different...

So, what did I end up doing this year for the last birthday of my twenties?

I ran 29.29 miles…

It was Saturday and I turned to my wife and said, I think I am going to run 24 miles on Monday for my birthday. She was like, why? I said, 'I don't know, it would be cool to run the distance of my birthday date.'  Then, I thought if I do 24, I should go for the full 26.2 (marathon distance). The next thought in my head was like 29 miles for my 29th birthday! I was kind of joking… but once it was in my head, I felt like I couldn’t back down.

On Sunday night, I mapped out a route and decided to go for it. The amount of preparation I did was next to none. I worked out the day before, I didn't meal prep, didn't stretch, nothing. My original plan was to go out and try to run a Boston qualifying marathon time (3:00 hours, 6:53 per mile) and then chill the last 3 miles. Talking with my friend the night before… he said, 'just go easy… enjoy the run. It's your birthday. The last thing you want is to feel like crap running up all the hills to get home'. I thought he was right… so I dropped the idea of running a Boston qualifying time.

Monday morning, I had a couple of meetings to attend to, but then it was off to the races. I woke up to a funny text from one of my good friends.

Just Getting Started...

After the meetings were done, I drank some water, ate an apple, put on my running clothes, and laced up the shoes. I planned my route to go over the Golden Gate Bridge (though it was so foggy you couldn't see anything), past my old office, and the places I've lived at in San Francisco. A little trip down memory lane if you will. The first 20 miles were easy. By mile 20, I was around 7:25ish. I felt good, and it was still almost a minute slower than my actual marathon pace, so I just kept going. The miles were just passing one by one… easy.

I had eaten 2 GUs, and my stomach wasn't feeling 100%...but my legs were just fine. I stopped at a local store to grab a Vitamin Water around mile 23. I knew I needed sugar, but couldn't eat another GU (They're terrible). I haven't had Vitamin Water in like 8 years, but it looked like the best option. That's when it all went downhill (funny enough, I had 2.5 miles of climbing uphill after that). My legs were doing OK all things considered, but my stomach just collapsed.

Downhill...

I made it to mile 26.2… then, I literally had to stop, and I started throwing up in the middle of the street. My co-founder literally texted me as I was throwing up…

The next 3 miles were miserable. Every half mile, I stopped, threw up, took a breath, and kept going. I had consumed one apple, two GU packets, one bottle of water, and ¼ of Vitamin Water… and by mile 28, it was all out of my system.

Mentally, I wanted to give up. I thought to myself, I've already finished 26.2...I can just walk home and be done. But my head went back to… your behaviors today will set you up for the next year. I've always told everyone that running is 90% mental, and I genuinely believe that. It was at mile 28 I said to myself that, and that's what kept me going. I literally went step by step and chose a marker 100 feet in front of me to keep the motivation high.

The Finish...

Finally, I hit 29.29 miles (that was intentional) and then dropped onto the grass and laid there. I called my wife and said, bring me water. Luckily… I fell right in front of our home :) I felt amazing right at that moment. My stomach pain went away, and I felt like a million bucks. I had just completed my longest run ever, first 20+ mile day in 6 months, and first marathon distance in over a year. Honestly, it wasn't meant to be this painful. If I would have prepared correctly, put more into my stomach beforehand, and didn't 'test' new GU packets, and drinks, it would have went better.

Was it really about running 29 miles? No. It wasn't the distance, it was more about whether i could push myself through this challenging journey to achieve my goal. Currently, I’m the co-founder of a small start-up. Every day is a challenge. Some of those challenges are small, some large. I've always seen parallels between being an endurance athlete and being a start-up founder. It's not easy, you make so many mistakes along the way, you want to give up (especially when things are rough), but if you keep pushing, the outcome is totally worth it. Ultimately, I’m proud I could prove to myself that I could still push through, even when it sucked. Honestly, I'll take staying up late to finish a presentation or emails than run a marathon everyday...

Every year, I do something to push myself physically and mentally to prove that I still have it. This year was no exception, and I'm beyond excited to see what the last year of my twenties has in store for me.

So you may ask… will I do 30 miles on my 30th? The answer is no.