wb 15.12.14

Monday 15th
I definitely have man flu. Not making me feel too bad generally other than early and late when I feel totally congested. As a nod to being sensible I chose not to run today but did do a decent 25mins strength session at Fitness First at lunchtime. Think I've been inspired by listening to a lot of barbellshrugged podcasts recently and want to get back to feeling like my body is functionally strong and healthy. Did press ups, single leg squats, dead lifts and pull ups. I'm planning my training ahead a bit better again now (aiming to plan 4 weeks ahead) and I'm happy I can realistically still hit 40 miles this week with non-running days today and Saturday. It needs to start looking a bit more like marathon training at some point.
Running aside, my personal productivity was firing on all cylinders today which is always satisfying but particularly on a Monday. As I get older I can't help noticing that I take an awful lot of contentment and inner peace from the simple act of a job well done, regardless of the task. Work is good at the moment, long may that continue.

Tuesday 16th
Felt more ill this morning, totally bunged. Boo. As a result the 4.10am 'early run day' alarm punched a bit harder than it normally does. Needed my little flask of black coffee on the train then as I remain increasingly sure that I'm immune to paracetamol. Even with the caffeine, I couldn't see the '5 min' workout happening today so I replanned to switch in Thursday's longer but slower steady run. As it turned out, an hour on the tready at sub 6:30mm proved too arduous as well so I called it at 10k, sweating like a man trying to beat a cold into submission should.  Coming out of the showers, I noted that I looked palid and sick. No surprise there.
Annoying to be behind the week's planned training already but another good day at work followed which softened the blow. And I feel like what I left in the tank today by not ragging myself through another 6km will pay dividends in the next couple of days training as I hopefully start to feel a bit healthier again.

Wednesday 17th
Felt like I was in a slightly desperate mood most of the day. Not a bad mood as such, more anxious. Probably a result of lots on at work, still feeling pretty ill from the cold and Finn being quite a handful at the moment. He’s taken to throwing tantrums that are so ferocious, each one basically leaves my nerves in shreds. It’s a pretty bad feeling, a toddler absolutely laying bare your insecurities around being inadequate as a parent. A totally irrational little person, simultaneously the biggest blessing and biggest challenge in my life. My rendition of ‘let it snow’ is doing a stella job of calming him at bedtime though which is a nice feeling.
As I was working from home today I got my run in late afternoon, which is a time of day when I usually feel pretty good for training. Revised plan for the week was to do a quality session today, whatever I could manage, to then give a reasonable gap before finally having a proper go at parkrun on Saturday. I was curious to see if my recent block of training had brought me on at all so I set out to do 3x 1 mile on the seafront which is normally a pretty honest view of where I am. Conditions were good, my cold didn’t notably bother me during the session and the results were good:

5:36.3 | 5:33.0 | 5:35.5 – av = 5:34.9 (2:30 rests)

I’m pretty sure that’s the fastest average I’ve ever managed for mile reps, so that definitely improved my mood for the remainder of the day. It’s reassuring that the increased emphasis on quality running seems to be bringing some improvement. That last rep was basically hammering it back from the sea front to home with a fair amount of road crossings and people dodging too. Looking forward to justified easy run tomorrow.

Thursday 18th
This was my facebook status update today:

4:10am - get up
2hr 20min commute
7.10am - Run no.1
8:30-5:30 - work
5:50pm - Run no.2
2hr 20min commute
9:05pm - home
"I don't have the time" is a myth.

Friday 19th
Rest day. These are pretty rare. I'll usually do core or get on the wattbike at the gym but after yesterday's efforts I figured full rest was justified (although I don't enjoy doing nothing).

Saturday 20th
My plan to turn up at parkrun fresh & rested almost worked. But another fractious night with Finn meant I'd prepared with 3hrs sleep instead. I bemoaned this fact to my friends Dave & Lucy who had come down for a bit of parkrun tourism and openly decided I didn't have the mental strength to batter it, so would settle on a light tempo run instead. That's how I set off, and the usual tide of overeager starters ran away from me as I settled in and decided I felt pretty good. But the tide started to come back in pretty quickly and I realised that the two young lads who had scampered off in the lead weren't actually getting away. And so it was about 1km in I decided I would try and expend as little energy as possible whilst going for the win. After some shameless drafting and a confident surge to bridge the gap to the now solitary leader, with 1 mile left I pushed on and attempted to run a respectable final mile split (came in at 5:40) which opened the gap I needed to win. All very enjoyable, and a controlled effort. Considering how pedestrian the first 2 miles had felt I figured we'd run around 19 minutes so the time of 18:18 was a surprise. There was lots left in the tank today so I'm excited to try a harder effort at parkrun in the coming weeks.

Sunday 21st
I decided to forgo the usual Sunday Brighton group run and attempt 12 miles on my own so that we could get into town quicker after for a final flurry of Xmas shopping. Early morning was hard as Finn was super grouchy and inconsolable. He was driving us both crazy, I raised my voice with him at one point and then immediately felt shitty for doing it as he just cried more. What a surprise. So, an out and back route to Birling gap in some pissy, bleak weather felt like suitable penance for being a crap dad. It wasn't fun, but the plain hard work of the climbing and the headwind will probably have a decent training effect. Actually, the final 3 miles of downhill and tailwind were fun, dropping a 5:xx mile split into any long run is always good for the soul.
As is so often the case after a decent run, I feel like I was a better dad for the remainder of the day. We had a fun day of Xmas shopping and Finn seeing his little buddies at a family Xmas party later in the day. I fueled myself entirely for the day with sandwiches and party food. And beer, and Port. Athlete. With just one day left in the office (tomorrow!) the Christmas break is tantalisingly close.

Week 4

"The professional knows that ultimately success is out of their control. They work instead on that which they can control directly - improving their technique, showing up for workouts, recovering properly. They know that success shows up when it wants to, so the pro gets their work done and prepares the way for success to appear. 

“You have the right to work only, but not for the results of work” - consciously or unconsciously the professional adopts the advice of the Bhagavad Gita. And as the old adage goes, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” So yeah, admittedly luck and success does play a part- an unreliable roll that shows up only when it feels like it. We are not in control of the outcome, but are in control of our efforts. So prepare for the worst, and go ahead and allow yourself hope for the best."

Roisin McGettigan - Irish Olympic Steeplechaser

The 4-week break from writing a blog post wasn't intentional. More just a result of me being busier than I was last time I blogged regularly (already by the second sentence, shamelessly if indirectly blaming Finn for my shortfalls), and there not having been too much exciting running performance to update you on.

Its been a strong but unremarkable start to 'the mission' logging 3x 50+ mile weeks on the bounce, before this week carding a less impressive 29 miles as it became a bit of a cutback week. I'd love to say it was the result of a savvy (self) coaching decision, but in fact I drank too much Kronenbourg on Friday night and of course conveniently forgot that I'm at an age now where that has lasting repercussions for about the next 48hrs. Saturdays track session became a big fat zero, and Sunday's long run became a lacklustre 8 miles. My focus on this running lark is usually missile-lock tight but when it breaks periodically, well, it properly breaks.

Anyway, I'm back in the room now and reasonably sober, and on balance it's been a strong 4-week block. Each week has featured a reps session on Tuesday, a 9-mile progression run on the Thursday (a fair amount of near 6-min miling in this each week now) and a long run of 15 miles on the Sunday. If you’re interested you can view the details of my training here. Just click on the ‘TRAINING’ link at the top of the page.

In terms of running a fast 5k, there’s not really been any signs yet. The two parkruns I have done at Eastbourne have both been in wet, windy conditions and ended up as kind of 90% effort tempo runs. Good workouts, but not good races. That said, I’m pretty sure I am in increasing good shape; last week’s treadmill reps were equal with the best session I’ve ever done on the tready and I can only be a couple of weeks away from ending Thursday’s tempo run with a few miles that start with a 5:xx.

So I’m staying patient. It will come if I keep some faith in the training plan. And this month I should get a couple of proper looks at where I am fitness wise as I’m running the Chichester 10k on Feb 9th; and I’m planning to turn up fresh and ready at 9am on a Saturday at least one weekend in February when its not blowing a gale...

Week 1

"I took the toughness and the work ethic that I'd learnt as a child in Gebilay and Djibouti and carried it with me into competitive running. The pain was no big deal. I could handle the pain. If it hurt, it didn't really matter to me. I would keep on running, no matter what."

Mo Farah - excerpt from Twin Ambitions

"I'm in for a fun year then."

My Wife, Lyndsey, on realising the full extent of mission 16:xx last week. Bless her, she is very tolerant. And no, you're not :-)

WEEK 1
M - 6.23M (7:19mm) Treadmill
T - 7.4M inc 6 x 3mins @ 5:45mm average (90 secs rest)
W - R E S T
T - am 9M prog tempo (6:43mm) inc. 4 miles @ 6:26mm | pm 7.2M (8:25mm)
F - R E S T
S - 6M inc Eastbourne parkrun: 18:45, 2nd place, 5:55 / 6:05 / 6:07 / :37
S - 14.64M long run (7:48mm)

WEEKLY TOTAL = 50.8M | 81.7km

Well it's been a solid start. Six runs done, all planned sessions ticked off and a 50 mile week in the bag. But definitely just solid, nothing to get excited about in there. I've got to admit the target feels an awful long way off at the moment, but I guess at this stage that's to be expected. And at the start of the week I was treading carefully to see what energy levels I had as I was still finally getting over the hideous sore throat I had all christmas.

Also, as I'm already rolling out the excuses, the weather has at times been frankly impossible. We've basically had 25+mph winds here all week and as such its quite hard to read too much into the pace of Tuesdays session or of the parkrun - both of which on paper are quite rubbish.

One big positive from this week though; for probably the first time ever I did manage to do two 15-minute core workouts. That's right, two! It's one of those little things I've been thinking for a while I should add-in. The evidence nowadays that it's beneficial for your running is pretty incontrovertible so, good enough for Salazar and Farah et al, good enough for Kevin. It's also nicely highlighted how pathetically weak I am. Not being able to complete 3x 10 press-ups (I got to 8 on the last set. And then did the final 2 after a short rest. What a legend) isn't something I'll be boasting about in gym conversations anytime soon.

Parkrun no 64, Eastbourne - Started off slow because I thought I was being tactical. Finished slow because I couldn't go any faster into the ridiculous headwind. Got out sprinted for the win in the last 50 metres by a 15yr old. Lets leave it at that shall we?

Aims for this coming week are pretty modest, really just to repeat last week and hopefully see some improvement in the finishing pace on Thursday's run. And of course running a bit faster on Saturday would be a good thing. That will be a recurring 'aim' for every week this year I think.

Prologue

This is the picture I posted on fb on New Years day. Its the opening page of my new training diary. It seems apt that I open with it here too.

With any goal or resolution, apparently telling people about it makes you more accountable to it. Yeah I can buy that. Writing here each week about how much progress I have (or haven't) made towards it should also keep me honest.

Although it appears to take the form of a sort of new year's resolution, running sub-17 is far more than that to me. It's something I actually started to think (obsess?) about and work specifically towards at the tail-end of 2012. However after a promising 17:25 run at Brighton parkrun in Jan, from Feb 2013 onwards moving house and becoming a father inevitably meant running was forced to take a back seat. Pesky babies. Such is life and that's ok of course, but thankfully 2014 is looking much calmer. I've had a really consistent spell of training again since August, pretty much averaging 40 miles per week since then and I've used that time to refine what sessions work for me and to get into running habits that fit with my new life of fatherhood and a long commute... which basically boils down to getting up obscenely early and running then.

My thinking behind specifically trying to improve my 5k time isn't just because a PB that starts with a 16: would be a nice thing to have, although it definitely would be. There is also a bigger picture here that I'm thinking of. If I ever want to get down into the 2:4x range for the marathon I think I need to first of all maximise my speed at the shorter distance. Improving your 5k pace should theoretically disseminate down to improvements in your race pace for all the longer race distances. Very basically, if I can make my 5k pace 5:25 miling rather than 5:35mm, then trying to run 6:20 pace for a much longer distance should feel proportionately easier. I believe that logic will play out, 100%. 

One of the big things important to me about this goal is that I tackle it with a training program that I've devised. So much of my running over the past years has been shaped by jumping from one training schedule or marathon build-up to another, copying sessions I've read about, chasing mileage and generally lacking the confidence to stick with any one approach. I'm starting to understand that real progress in distance running comes not from one well-executed training block, but from many weeks, months and even years of consistent running, doing the sessions every week and having that fitness layer-up over time. So the weekly schedule I've settled on now is simple, repeatable, high quality, moderate volume training that I think I can do every week. And I've already been following it loosely since Aug/Sept. I'm looking for my progress to come from the consistency, an accumulation of training, rather than from any single session within it. Consistent with my other delusions of grandeur, I'm calling it The Masterplan - although it is really very basic:

M - Easy Run (6 miles)

T - Treadmill Reps, (600-1600m, total 5km) or 4 mile tempo (alternated each week)

W - Easy Run (6-8 miles)

T - Progressive Tempo Run (9 miles) start steady finish fast

F - REST

S - parkrun

S - Long Run (12-20 miles)

Nothing ground-breaking in there. Easy runs will be kept very easy to allow me to hit Tues and Thurs very hard. Only Tuesday and Saturday are particularly specific to 5km, but I think that is targeted enough. There is a fair amount of aerobic running in there still to start with, in recognition of the fact that much of my early improvement and getting back to the 17:2x area will likely come from that; its no coincidence my current parkrun PB (17:23) came one week before a marathon. But as we get into Spring I expect to introduce more short reps outside (road and/or track) to improve leg speed further.

A final comment for now. The other goal of reaching my 100th parkrun isn't separate from all of this, in fact its very much related to mission 16:xx. Running another 37x parkruns this year will absolutely ensure I give this goal a proper crack. Not all of them will be flat-out efforts, but a lot of them will be. And of course there is the old, but surely very true, adage; 

'If you want to get good at something, do it a lot.'

Fitting it in, and punching your weaknesses square in the face

Friday 13th September 2013

Sometimes the mornings are hard. With the clock reading 5:xx (or sometimes even 4:xx) I shuffle downstairs into the kitchen under a dull fog of tiredness and it feels like gravity is not only keeping me connected to the earth but actually trying to crush me into it. At that point, pre caffeine, I find it hard to convince myself that I could go out for a walk, let alone a run. But that first cup of tea does seem to have magical qualities and once I'm halfway through that my brain and leg function always seems to have improved enough that I can realistically contemplate doing some training.

Despite the challenge of physically getting out of bed, I do like getting my training done early nowadays. Being at my desk (or the dining room table if I'm working from home), showered, another workout ticked off, all before 9am is a good feeling. The height of smug perhaps. Plus, I feel it lessens the impact of my running on my home life, which is important to me now that I'm a dad. Since having Finn, each run has felt like a more valuable opportunity, mainly afforded to me by virtue of having a very understanding Wife. As such, it feels like it makes sense not to take the piss with when I choose to fit it in. It's really as simple as that.

The other thing with training early is, as much as I love my running, it's always nice not to have that anticipation of a run that still needs to be completed casting a slight shadow over your day. That's perhaps more relevant when it's a tough session though and today's is one of those. 5x 400m is one of two short reps sessions that I now do every two weeks (although I’ve progressed it to 6x 400 today). I run these as hard as I can; or at least as hard as I can whilst trying to achieve even splits with a 2 minute rest period. That’s not long enough for full recovery, but long enough to hit them pretty hard. 2000m of quality running probably doesn’t sound like a lot for a session, but the idea is that it really is as high quality as I can manage. I actually lifted the sessions from a mile training plan! The short reps sessions within this schedule (whether the 200m reps or the 400s) are really designed to challenge and improve my absolute top speed as I'm convinced thats one of the key things holding me back from improvement at longer distances. As such, it doesn't feel wholly inappropriate that the sessions I'm using are more designed to develop 1500 or 1 mile speed. If I can improve that, I feel absolutely convinced that the improved leg speed and run efficiency it brings will disseminate down through my other training and racing paces. Once I'm happy that I probably can't improve my 400 metre speed any further, when the times from these sessions permanently plateau (and they will, now I'm 32 and not getting any younger), then I will tweak this session to become a more traditional distance runner's 400m rep session with a shorter recovery and rep speeds closer to actual race pace (so a bit slower).

Today I ran these on the grass recreational ground opposite my house, in my cross country spikes no less (for grip, and to make me feel fast even if I ended up not moving very fast). It went pretty well and being out there early, absolutely smashing myself with only the dog walkers for company, felt suitably arbitrary and quite satisfying. The short reps session is the one I feel most apprehensive about each week, probably because it is the one most likely to unavoidably show me my shortcomings as a runner. All the more reason to make myself feel a bit sick on the final rep...

Fri 13/9 - 6 x 400 av. 71.1 secs (2 min rests)

2:56:22

Two weeks have passed now since the race and, although I think most of you know how it went, I figure I probably owe the blog a bit of closure.

My official time was 2:56:22 and I am really happy with that – particularly because I went through halfway in 1:29:11, giving me a 2nd half of 1:27:11 and a negative split of exactly 2mins. So I’m not just happy with the finish time but, perhaps more importantly, I’m proud of how I ran it. It takes a lot of commitment (I was going to say ‘confidence’ but I wasn’t all that confident on the start line) to go out planning to speed-up in the second half. But if you’ve been honest with yourself about your training and your target-time expectations, there’s no reason that you can’t feel strong in the late stages of a marathon. And when it comes together right, it is the most satisfying way to execute the race as you literally stream past other tired runners on your way to the finish. I think I read a statistic once, based on the London Marathon field, that only about 3% of marathon finishers record a negative split; so it is genuinely hard to do, particularly if you are still attempting to run close to your limits.

RACE REPORT

Anyway, so the race itself. The first thing I remember about race morning was checking the weather outside and seeing the trees by the hotel being buffeted about by pretty strong winds. Even though it had been perfectly still when we were wandering around the city centre the day before. Typical. I think that set my mood for pre-race and my brother, Darren (who was also running) and Lyndsey would probably both attest to the fact that I was a moody bastard on the walk to the metro station. 

It really was windy and cold out there and I just couldn't get it out of my head that it was going to make the run much more difficult. Still, the walk to the stadium, converging with all the other runners, did lift my spirits and I was buzzed and looking forward to it again as Darren and Me got race ready and off-loaded final bits of race kit before going through the runners entrance into the stadium. Inside, in the middle of the track, we went into our separate starting pens and I started to do whatever kind of warm-up I could in the limited space. Had a quick chat with Harry over the fence to the sub 2:40 pen where he was. He was in high spirits, and his pre-race pep talk for me basically involved calling me a pleb for being in pen 2. He did also remind me that the weather is what it is, and that it was time to get this done. So the minutes passed, we all edged forward in our pens and a klaxon set us on our way.

Even with the 150 metres of track to start and getting out of the stadium I was pleased with how much space there was pretty much straight away and I settled into an average pace just under 6:50 min/mile nice and comfortably. I'd decided for this run to only check my split time every 5k, and was just watching my average pace within each 5k to avoid me reacting to every little pace fluctuation. It also basically broke the race into just 8 bits (+ the final 2.2km), rather than 26 (miles) or 42 (km) which was mentally easier to handle. So, along the wide boulevards of the city centre, through Vondelspark, and the first 5k clicked by in 21:23. Bang on sub-3 pace and it felt easy. Saw the WAGs at 6km (Lyndsey and Emily), think I managed to look reasonably cheerful and carried on, feeling good.Working through the second 5k the pace was drifting down closer to 6:40mm and I was consciously easing off a lot to make sure I didn't get carried away with others around me. We completed the first mini 8km loop of the city and then set off east towards the River Amstel where we'd get properly into the long loop of the marathon course. Still consciously holding back as we went through 10km, I was well pleased to see the watch register 20:50. Picking up time already, quarter distance, and it was still feeling super easy!

We turned right (south) and, after a short out-and-back section along a straight road we were joining the towpath of the River Amstel where we would head South for 8km before crossing over, go through halfway, then 7-8km back up the river. This was the most open part of the course and the wind was immediately more noticeable as it whipped straight across us. It all still felt really manageable, but I wasn't naturally speeding up anymore. 15km went by with a split of 20:54 and I was having to concentrate a little more now to hold the pace which was averaging just under 6:40mm now. I just told myself to carry on working, down to the turning point, and not think about what it was gonna feel like coming back up the river (I was presuming more difficult!). As we approached 20km, and the bridge, I knew that the building feeling of needing to stop for a wee was only going to get worse and wasn't helping my temperament, so I made a quick stop in the bushes then got back in the flow of runners and went through the fourth 5km in 21:22. Ok, not a disaster, still comfortably sub-3, lets get over this bridge and see what the other side is like...

Now heading North again, back towards the city, I was immediately thinking, 'actually, the wind's not that much different'. It was helped by the fact that I found myself tucked on the back of a group of about ten guys now, ticking along at the right pace, and enjoying the windshield they provided. We passed under halfway in 1:29:11 and I was feeling really strong. In many ways, this was the pivotal point of the race for me. I figured these guys were going to run 2:58/2:59, but I also knew I really wanted more than that. I was getting itchy feet - so when a guy who looked pretty competent (I don't know before you ask; he was skinny and had nice running kit?) cruised past the group looking very comfortable, I moved out and tagged on with him. Moving faster now, we two ran together passing people consistently for the length of the river. My watch had settled down at 6:34mm for this section, but it felt right so I just stuck in and decided I would reassess at 25km. We literally must have passed 50-100 people along that stretch, it was a great feeling and 25km went by with a split of 20:30! At a drinks station back in the city now, I dropped my new buddy and he didn't reappear so I just carried on at that pace. I kept looking at the garmin expecting to see that I'd slowed, but the pace remained in the low 6:30s and now I was through 30km in 20:32! By now, I pretty much knew it was my day and it was just about holding it together. Going through a pretty bland industrial area the pace did start to feel a bit harder at times but I knew if I could get to the north-east corner of the course (around 34km), then we would pretty much have a tailwind the whole way back as we traveled west through the city.

I made it, we turned left and it literally did start to feel like the home straight as we were now wind assisted. I had slowed a little through 35km, with a split of 20:37, but I knew I just had to dig in from here. I was still overtaking people, although we were very strung out now, and even the undulations of a big road underpass didn't cause me too much trouble. The Vondelspark seemed to take a lot longer to get through this time, but it included going under the 40km barrier (20:52) so I didn't care. I was tightening up and slowing in the final 2.2km but I just concentrated on going quick enough (about 6:50mm) and the stadium loomed into view mercifully quickly. The crowds were back now, past the 500m to go sign and finally back into the stadium. As I turned onto the track Harry was already there giving me a good shouting at and I sped up - for about 4 strides! I was completely done-in, but it didn't matter because I was literally on the track approaching the finish gantry. Over the line, stop the watch and the relief and fatigue consumed me all at once. I stood still, hands on my knees, literally unable to walk. A well-intentioned dutch guy took me by the arm and got me moving, I assured him I was ok and shuffled off to meet Harry. It was smiles all the way from there. He'd run a massive PB of 2:37 and it started to sink in just how well it had all gone, for both of us. My brother crossed the line a little while later in 3:23, a PB by 23mins (!) so it really had been an epic result for all of us.

Ok, enough of me going on already. I hope some of you enjoyed following my marathon build-ups this year on the blog. I've enjoyed writing it, it's certainly kept me honest and I'm coming away from it with a new PB that I am well pleased with. Time for a break from marathon running now (for at least 2yrs is the current plan) and I'm gonna try something a bit different; training specifically to try and improve my 5km time. The change in focus should be refreshing and should teach me some new things about how to train, and what I can achieve...

The blog will be back at some point. Hopefully when I'm a bit faster... : )

It's time...

Ok, so it's Friday, bag packed, off to the airport tonight and I'm really looking forward to it now. Final week of training went great, 50 miles done and the final weekend of running was particularly good. On Saturday I went up to Norwich parkrun (as we were back visiting the folks in Suffolk) and ran 17:40 for 2nd place. Not quite as quick as my pre-London 17:23 but a good indicator all the same. Then Sunday was a final medium-long run run of 12 miles. I didn't expect much from it as I was slightly hungover from a wedding reception the night before, so I decided to not look at the watch and just push-on with it. I knew I was pushing harder than I should have been but I felt good so stuck with it; Darren, if you're reading this, do as I say not as I do right : ) . Still, I was genuinely surprised when I checked the garmin at the end to see I averaged 6:29mm pace! Well pleased with that as it didn't feel brutal, I would have guessed I was going 20secs slower. It was really the confidence booster I needed that something good might be in there.

This week has been pretty light, just a steady run on Monday, 4x 1 mile on Tues (sub 6-min pace felt comfortable) and a steady 4 miles yesterday on the treadmill, just to turn the legs over. I've been making sure I'm getting enough sleep, eating cleanly and on the scales this morning I think I'm the lightest I've ever been pre-marathon (69.2kg). I feel ready, as ready as I'm going to be anyway.

There's been no talk of target times in this blog, I'm aware. And that's been intentional. London certainly knocked my confidence. I'm still pleased I put it all out there and went for the low 2:5*, but I don't think I can justify doing it again (whether I am, or am not in that shape) when my PB is still 2 years old and could be revised with a much more conservative run than that. So being conservative will officially be the plan. I'd happily take another sub-3 of any sort (as although I've spent a lot of time trying to run them, I still only have one to my name), but equally I'm also prepared for it to go completely wrong. Because with the marathon, it's just so long that there's always a risk it might. And I feel better being on-board with that from the start.

It seems likely there will be some sort of race-day tracking on the marathon website so my bib number is 576 if any of you want to see how I'm getting on. Race starts at 9:30am (8:30am UK time) on Sunday...