Frederick Marathon – I’m In!

Just realized today that I hadn’t mentioned anything about my latest big race sign-up. Well, last week I took the plunge and registered for the Frederick Marathon on May 4th – my second marathon in 7 weeks. Regular readers will remember I had a solid, but unspectacular, Shamrock Marathon in March after just 11 weeks of consistent training. In typical fashion, a few days after Shamrock I began to wonder what I could achieve if I attempted another marathon in 5 or 6 weeks time and use the 11 weeks training as a building block for another increase in training intensity.

A quick check of the marathon race calendar left me with a couple of options for another Spring marathon, with Frederick looking to be the best choice. I checked their event web site and was somewhat surprised that the Half Marathon had already closed out and the Marathon was almost full too. I emailed the race director who quickly replied with the news there were less than 100 slots available.

Now that I’d convinced myself I wanted to run another marathon, I had to act fast to grab one of the remaining slots – luckily I was able to register and find an affordable hotel room a few miles from the new race start at Frederick Fairgrounds.

I’ve run Frederick a couple of times before (2005 and 2006), but this year they’ve made changes to the course and moved the start and finish of the race too. The marathon is advertised as a “fast, gently rolling course spanning the northern and southern regions of Frederick”, but looking at the course elevation map the second half of the race is going to be tough! (check the “display elevation” box to view an elevation profile).

So, I have just over 4 weeks to race day and after a one week post-Shamrock recovery period, my main areas of focus are as follows:

• Increase weekly mileage to at least 60 miles per week
• Perform speed work at least once a week
• Run 4 long runs of around 20 miles
• Continue core strength program
• Maintain current weight/body fat levels

My previous two marathon attempts at Frederick were both positive performances. In 2005 I ran my third ever sub-3:00 hour marathon (2:59:26) and in 2006 was able to record a new PR of 2:54:51. Two years later, my current PR is 2:51:00 and I’m looking at a possible 10th consecutive sub-3:00. I’ll make no secret of the fact that, despite turning 42 later this year, I’ll be laying everything on the line with the intention of setting a new lifetime best. In the words of one of my favorite bands Coldplay:

But if you never try you’ll never know

Should be an interesting month…..