I will be so pleased to see tarmac.
And mud.
I keep saying that, but it's true.
I have so much running to do.
I've also been thinking about how fast I run. I need it to be faster. Not just because I want a good marathon time, but because I really don't want to be out there for that long.
I was speaking to a bloke earlier and he mentioned he was training for the London marathon, and that he was really sticking to the plan this time as he did Loch Ness in 5:48, and it was horrific. He was woefully under-trained, and said he had awful blisters and the DOMS from hell for a week. Those things didn't worry me half as much as the idea of being on my feet and moving for nearly 6 hours.
It's fine if that's 6 hours of beautiful hiking with a picnic on my back and good company, but trudging along in agony for nearly 6 hours sounds like an utter nightmare. No looking about and enjoying the view, just that awful nagging feeling that you're slow. And Hopeless. And the end is miles away.
Most of all I want to enjoy Edinburgh. I haven't been there for years, and even then I saw virtually none of it. I want it to be a really good day, I want to be smiling and waving back at people. I want any race pictures of me to not be a fat, red faced woman who looks inches from death.
I don't think I've got time to train to be proper fast, but anything less than 4 and a half hours I could cope with (for a first marathon.)
I know you will have this totally in hand (when it's a little less shit out there) but get that long run extended and don't worry about the pace! You, like me will be on your feet 4+ hours on a marathon and you're going to need to get used to that. Once you make 10+ miles a regular LSR (and building it up to 20 or so) once a week then shorter distances will get a whole lot easier and speed up.. Meh, hate preaching to people what they should do, but for me, slogging out a LSR I didn't think I could do early on has really helped me!
ReplyDeleteAye aye Neilio :) this week I will be doing 9.4 miles (to make it a round 15k) as my longest run. I know you're right, the confidence will come when the miles stack up :)
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