The Marathon Blog- Big Changes

Well doesn’t a lot change in a month.

4 weeks ago I began to throw a little doubt into whether I was going to get out to Paris or not. The complications, aggro and extra cost made me hesitant to try and get across the channel.

My aim was to train and run a marathon this year so I started looking a little closer to home.

Manchester and Brighton were fully booked.

7 weeks out I managed to potentially secure a spot in London but the prospect of having to raise £2500 in that amount of time was a little off putting to say the least.

Just when I thought all hope was lost I managed to bag a last minute spot in Brighton Marathon, running for Hospice in the Weald.

I have been doing a lot of work alongside this local Hospice recently, so to run with their colours on will be a privilege. There is one catch though.

It’s in three weeks.

Currently my longest run is 15 miles.

And with the time frame I have there is little chance of making significant adaptions ahead of the Marathon so it’s likely that will be the furthest I go.

Not ideal considering these next few weeks where when I would be running the majority of my miles.

But we change and adapt.

I know I am physically the fittest I have ever been, so I am hoping that along with a pacing strategy will be enough to allow me to achieve my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon.

The Plan

My plan moving forwards is to run one last 15 miler this Saturday.

I will then run a 10 miler the following weekend and keep in tempo work throughout the week. I will gradually taper down with both strength and running work, keeping enough to stay active but not so much I won’t be rested.

The on the 12th September I will run the Brighton Marathon.

Plan is to stick to an easy pace for the first 9 miles and gradually speed up. Last marathon I went out hard and hit the wall at about 15 miles so planning on easing in and pushing harder towards the end.

In my head I have two advantages going into this marathon I didn’t have last time. Firstly I ran my fastest ever half a few weeks ago and had a bit more in the tank at the end. Therefore I know if I run a minute per KM slower I should be able to comfortably hold that speed for much longer.

Secondly I know I can do it. Have run multiple Ultras in the past I know I am capable of the distance and more. It’s not whether I can do it. It’s what speed I can do it in.

Let’s see how these next three weeks go.