Just One Marathon

The Long Road Back

Since I started training for the marathon last May, it’s safe to say that things have gone from bad to worse. My pace has been slower for each run, and even more significantly, I’ve been feeling just terrible. That’s pretty discouraging, considering that I’m supposedly trying to improve my marathon finish time by a whopping 36 minutes. 

Then -- lucky me! – I discovered that I have low iron. Why lucky? Because it’s an easy fix. I can take pills to make me faster without having to lie to Congress or anyone else. How cool is that?

And I am, finally, getting faster. It’s been easy to track my improvement over my last three long runs:

Three Sundays ago: I had taken the preceding week off from running because I figured that over-training was my problem. I started out on my 26K run with the very modest ambition of not logging RWOS #4. Mission accomplished. But it wasn’t pretty.

 

Average pace per kilometre: 6:30 minutes (i.e. it took me an average of 6 minutes and 30 seconds to complete each kilometre).

How I felt: Like hell.

Two Sundays ago: I started iron supplements and reduced my mileage, planning a long run of between 12 and 15 kilometres. It felt weird to run so little just when I should be working my way up to the longest runs in my training schedule – but it felt sensible, too. And it worked. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could actually moderate my pace throughout the run. I was even able to speed up a little at the end.

 

Average pace: 6:15 min/km.

How I felt: Like hell. Again.

Last Sunday: Following coach Barb’s instructions, I headed out for a 20K run, with instructions to shorten it to 18K, if I didn’t feel well. My aim was to see if I could comfortably maintain last week’s 6:15 pace. When I clocked the first three kilometres at around 5:50 min/km, I thought I was going too fast. But I simply couldn’t slow down. I was having an incredible run, and after 15 kilometres, still maintaining that pace with little trouble. I wasn’t just feeling a bit better – I felt fantastic.

 

Average pace: 5:48 min/km.

How I felt: Heavenly.

I can’t wait until next week. I’m trying to temper my expectations and get ready for some potential set backs as I quickly ramp up my miles. On the other hand, I’m feeling more hopeful about my capabilities than I have in ages.

Here’s the adjusted long run schedule I’m considering, heading in to the last few weeks before the marathon:

August 29: 26K

September 5: 32K

September 12: 26K

September 19: 18 to 20K

September 26: 8k

Race Day: 42.2K (gulp)

Yay, me

I haven’t skipped a run since I started training for the Wineglass marathon. That’s quite an accomplishment for someone who skipped close to a third of her scheduled runs leading up her last half-marathon just seven weeks ago.

 

Why? Well, the fact that I’ve got a new, inspiring goal is probably part of it. Having an awesome coach certainly helps, too.

 

But the bottom line is this: the marathon distance terrifies me. I have only run 42.2 kilometres once in my life, and I’ve run more than 30K maybe a handful more times. If I start missing training runs through the week, I worry that my long Sunday runs will become little more than an endless forced march through the land of muscle pain and gastro-intestinal discomfort. That’s not fun. And running should – at least intermittently – be fun.

Four Seasons in One Day

It’s time to begin that all-important last-minute race prep activity: obsessing about the weather. For me, this activity is made more challenging and complex  by the fact that I’ve never run a marathon and have no idea what ideal race-day weather would be.

 

Yesterday, for example, the forecast called for scattered showers, with a high of 22 degrees Celsius (or 71 degrees F) and a low of 6 degrees C (or 43 degrees F). That sounded okay, if “scattered showers” meant occasional refreshing sprinkles of slightly-less-than-body-temperature water droplets. But if it means cold, driving, relentless rain, forget it. I’ll hold out for something better.

 

This morning, the forecast said sunny with no cloud cover and a high of 23 degrees C. That could be okay, too, though a bit of shade would be nice. Also, that’s getting dangerously close to hot weather – not a good thing for a runner whose last event was called the “hypothermic half”.

 

You might argue that there’s no point in worrying since there’s nothing I can do about it. Good one.