The last time your hoddler-in-chief gave a comprehensive review of his running progress, he set a new personal record at the half marathon at 1:28 and finished second overall.
Well, I said then that the next step would be to begin preparing for a full marathon in the spring. And that means putting the final touches on my training base. For me, this entailed keeping my weekly mileage in the high-20s to low-30s with a long run on Sunday. Plus, another half marathon.
So on Sunday I lined up to run another half. Same distance, same course, new result: First place overall with a new personal best of 1:26.
My splits: 6:39.2 / 6:47.6 / 6:37.8 / 6:44.0 / 6:40.5 / 6:42.1 / 6:41.3 / 6:22.1 / 6:33.3 / 6:29.6 / 6:27.7 / 6:26.6 / 6:36.9
I wasn’t too sure of what to expect from this race. The few days before I didn’t get the food/hydration or rest I thought I would need to run it. But when I got started I found myself running a lot faster than the half marathon I did back in September. I contribute that to consistently running 10-14 miles on Sundays the last few months, which made me a lot stronger.
It was an odd experience to run the race virtually alone the whole time. I split myself from the pack within the first mile, leaving myself navigating through a puddle-ridden trail in the fog totally alone. I ended up taking it as an opportunity to appreciate how to run through a marathon with little spectator support, thinking I might experience something similar when I run the Cheap Marathon in New Hampshire in April.
As you can see from my splits I felt more and more comfortable as the miles progressed, happy to settle into a faster pace. The only challenge was running around those doing the 5K around Miles 9 through 11. Really didn’t enjoy having to keep shouting “On your left!” while running at a sub-6:30/min pace.
I didn’t even fall to the floor when I finished the race this time. I felt I actually had another mile or two in me, which makes me pretty excited for the upcoming training calendar.
Because the Cheap Marathon is roughly 18 weeks away, which means I have about two weeks to hang out until I begin my marathon training in earnest. First things in order will be to clean my muddied Adizero EVO SL’s, purchase a new shoe for the longer runs, put together a training calendar and incorporate a fifth day of running into my routine.
But I’m looking forward to it because I enjoy running.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Just for Pleasure, by Young Gun Silver Fox
And now for your links:
Alasdair Gold: “Every word Thomas Frank said as he makes Tottenham vow and reveals what he noticed in Arsenal defeat”
BBC: “Fifa to keep top seeds apart in World Cup draw”