The Road To Richmond - 2018

[marathondan]

Week 14 of 18

A tidy week. Took the Garmin along for my 9 mile tempo run to keep me honest. Managed 6 miles below 8:30 pace before the legs couldn't take any more. In the old days my tempo target pace was 8:00. Still, a great workout.

A comfortable 19 mile long run on Sunday. No costume in sight this time. There were aches and pains of course, but it was all very controlled. So much so that I tried to push the pace for the last couple of miles, hoping to get down somewhere near 9 minute miling. What happened was that it took all my effort to keep the pace around 10. An idea has formed in the back of my mind, that after this year's shenanigans, I'll have two years left to try and get under 4 hours as a VM40 (after missing out by 2 sec in 2012). This performance suggests that may not be possible. Finish time equated to about a 4:30 marathon. Still, in this year's context, gotta be happy with that.

Last night I dreamed that I was preparing for a 52 mile ultra, and only discovered at the last minute that it was a single marathon. No doubt borne out of my fear that by half way in the costume, I'll already feel like I've run a full marathon.