In the beginning...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Oh my God, what have I done?

I've committed to a marathon, and it's a scarey thought. I'm filled with all kinds of doubt and uncertainty... distances, discipline, injuries, family hassles, work constraints, lack of time, lack of enthusiasm etc etc ad infinitum... it's enough to put me off my sports drink and energy gels.

Of course, as someone famous whose name escapes me once said, if you already know for sure that you can do something, then it's not a challenge. And challenge is definitely something I need in my mid-life crisis existence. And I guess there's no such thing as a challenge without doubt and uncertainty. Well that's alright then. I feel better now. Coz I have plenty of doubt and uncertainty, so I guess I must be on the right track, yes? As Zaphod Beeblebrox said during a lucid moment when the starship Heart of Gold came under attack from the Golgafrinchams, "Wow, we really must be onto something if they're trying to kill us!"

My running to date, I guess like that of a lot of people, is a constant struggle with motivation. It's not that the running is necessarily unpleasant, but everything seems to conspire against me (oh woe is me!) - either it's too late, or too early, or the weather's awful, or friends are coming over, or I've just eaten, or the dog needs to be taken to the vet, or I'm late for work, or I just can't flaming well be bothered going for a stinking run, okay...?

But then, every day that goes by sans run, provides one less day of training, and one day closer to the deadline (race day), adding twice the pressure and making it even more difficult to get out the door the next day.

So, I finally persuade my reluctant body to get out for a run, knowing all be well once I actually hit the street. And I struggle through an embarrassingly short distance in an embarrassingly long time, add it to my running log, look at the amount of training still required and nearly cry with the stupidity of it. The beer and the chocolate bar stare at me steadily, with their all-seeing, all-knowing calorific wisdom, understanding intimately that time is on their side, and ultimate patience wins ultimately. And it sends me cold. And when you put it like that, then that other icy substance, determination, makes itself available and off we go again... and that deadline doesn't seem so impossible after all.

Of course, if I simply stopped thinking about it quite so much and instead just ran the sodding miles without over-analysing it to blazes, this marathon business would be a cinch. So that's what I'm going to do. I think.

Oh, er. Um.

Okay MLC Man, snap out of it... just do it kiddo. Right.

Anyway, enough of this maudlin talk; let me tell you about the race I'm aiming for. Hobart is the capital of the island state of Tasmania, and my home town -- the place where I lived for the first 28 years of my life before escaping to South Australia years ago *. So it seems a fitting place for my marathon debut. It's sponsored by Cadbury and runs around the Cadbury chocolate factory (proof that chocolate is a training food!) and along the banks of the Derwent River and promises to be a particularly beautiful run. It's scheduled in early January, which of course is summer down here, but January is rarely blisteringly hot in Hobart (I've seen snow on the mountain in January) and the race starts at 6 a.m. just in case. It's a small race (only 50 finishers this year) so a far cry from London or Chicago... in fact I doubt many Hobartians would even know their city has a marathon each year. I guess the lack of crowds will make the race a little harder motivation-wise; on the other hand, smaller numbers probably means more personalised barracking and a greater sense of achievement, perhaps? I don't know - perhaps all you marathon veterans out there can tell me?

What I do know is that now that I have some running under my belt, I do believe this is achievable, and so the more I think about it, the more exciting it's becoming. And I know that if I follow Andy's training and diet regime that has been so carefully chronicled on this site, then I'm a dead-set cert to finish. And being sponsored by a chocolate manufacturer can only help, yes? I'll probably get that glass and a half in this evening. In fact, it'll be a doddle.

MLC Man.



*HTML joke.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Just realised my mistake ... Beeblebrox and co were under attack by the Magratheans... the Golgafrinchams couldn't even attack a spate of gardening...

[El Gordo]

F***ING B****OCKS. F***ING B****OCKS!

Sorry, but I just wrote a long reply and managed to lose it somehow.

F***ING B****OCKS. F***ING B****OCKS!

It was the usual stuff. I may try again later.

Andy

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Hmm, not exactly the kind of response I was expecting... I do appreciate your um, vigour and passion, however!

[Seafront Plodder]

Nice one MLC! 5-and-a-bit months is ample (I said ample )time to prepare.

Good luck! and remember that if your motivation ever wanes, mention it mere for a hefty British virtual arse-kicking!

Shame you'll be reaching peak fitness around about Christmas time isn't it.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

...and to make it worse, Christmas Day is Saturday - long run day! At least by then it's at the start of the taper and is a "mere" 19 kms.

[Riazor Blue]

Wow, you're going for it then. Didn't you say that the Hobart matathon (typo but apt - matar in Spanish - to kill) passes a brewery aswell?

I think 19km on Christmas morning is ideal, gets you out of peeling sprouts and tatties.

Regarding the choccie, you need to practice eating the stuff, just in case it's available at the feeding stations. There's nothing worse than finding out on the day that you can't eat it.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

You have a fine memory RB, but that's the other major distance event in Hobart, the Point to Pinnacle race I mentioned quite some time ago - a (very nearly) half marathon from sea-level to the top of Mount Wellington (1270m) and sponsored by the local brewery (Cascade), which of course the race runs past. Naturally the beer is provided free to runners post-race. I want to run that one too, but perhaps next year?! I've walked to the top before, but I fear running it would definitely be matar.

You have to admit, any place where the major races are sponsored by chocolate makers and breweries can't be half bad.

BTW, your 3:38 in Toral De Los Vados is the part of the reason I decided to tackle Hobart ... after stuffing up my training ( a catalogue of my excuses can be found at http://www.mlc_man_excuses.com ) and missing my goal of running the Melbourne marathon in October (theoretically still possible, but practically impossible), I found solace and inspiration in your run, Antonio's Madrid marathon, Nigel's back to back runs, and it has to be said, Andy's gutsy effort in Copenhagen despite intolerable abuse and impertinence from yours truly... so thank you all.

Enough crawling... I have some serious chocolate eating to do.

Adios,

MLC Man.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Just to wrap up my first week of "seriously back into it" training then: I'm actually 24 weeks away from my big race, so I've a few weeks "pre-training" training to get back into some sort of form before following the Higdon plan. Bit of a head start so to speak.

This week saw me out there for 3 runs and a cross training session. Nothing outstanding or startling - quite the opposite, but at least it's regular running again and on my way back to fitness.

I'd like to make a good fist of this marathon - as a long time bushwalker, the distance alone doesn't frighten me, and so I'd like to be able to say I've "run" it rather than just "done" it. It doesn't need to be super-fast (or even fast at all) but my aim would be to get through in reasonable style knowing I've put the effort in and done my best.

Urrgh, that sounds awfuly pretentious as well as naive, doesn't it? Oh well, I'll let it stand for now.

I re-visited Nigel's training diary entry "T-I-R-E-D – 24.03.2004" and nearly gave up on the spot, but then figured, what the hell, I'm pretty much always tired anyway, so I may as well have a good reason for it. At least I won't die wondering. I may die wandering (about a marathon course) instead! Oh dear, my sense of humour has become even more trite than usual. Maybe I've overdone it already?

Summary
Weeks to race day: 24
Training level: OK
Diet: OK
Motivation: Good
Energy: Moderate
Injuries: Nil

[Nigel]

Many congratulations on making the commitment. Hobart sounds like the perfect race to run, high on personal significance and low on numbers. Congestion along the route won’t be an issue, so you can just concentrate on running.

Don’t worry about the inner doubts, or even ponder too much on the pain of marathon training – some people can get tired doing the training, whilst many others (most of us around here, actually) seem to be able to get tired just thinking about the training.

Here are some random thoughts to mark the onset of your momentous journey:

1. "The first few weeks are the worst, and after that you go into a gradual decline" – isn’t that another marathon misquote from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide ? Doesn’t the number 42(.2) feature somewhere there, too ?

2. The cold calculating revenge of the ruthless chocolate bar and beer glass are ever familiar hazards. Let me see now.....

Latest score (after extra time):
Weight loss over five months whilst marathon training = 8 kg
Weight gain over five weeks whilst no longer marathon training = 3.5 kg.

3. Ahhh – the glass and a half (of full milk goodness) which the adverts poured into each bar of Cadbury’s chocolate. If I can remember that, I must be almost as old as you.

4. I spent several years living not far from the Toblerone factory near Bern in Switzerland. This may, or may not, not be totally disconnected with my need to run now.

5. Matathon – now that really is a thought. Good one, RB.

[Antonio247]

Congratulations, MLCM. I´m sure you´ll manage to do and run Hobart marathon. As it will be your first marathon, I think you should take it easy so that you don´t finish too tired or injured because you want to finish under a certain time. It´s better to finish a bit later but "enjoying" the race as much as possible.

It is good to follow a schedule but you should adapt it to your circumstances. I followed Hal Higdon´s beginner schedule which starts very softly but it gets quite hard by the end.

Well, good luck, MLCM.

Antonio

PS. Life´s a marathon.