One Month Later. What’s Been Happening?

The last time I posted something, I’d just completed a 26.2 mile training run. A lot has happened since then, but I guess the big news is that I have a real marathon to run this weekend in Richmond, VA. Before I share my race goal(s), I’ll attempt to *briefly* summarize the last four weeks.

10/12 – 10/18: Mixed bag of easy cycling and running before jumping on a plane on Friday and flying to Wales for a much needed holiday. The week ended fantastically as I ran the Cardiff Half Marathon in a surprising 1:20:42 — not bad considering six weeks previous I was still wearing an aircast boot for my 2nd metatarsal stress fracture.

The event was tremendous, with perfect weather conditions and numerous family members all showing up to cheer me on. I also have to mention the support of Les Croupiers Running Club too — such a friendly, enthusiastic and passionate-about-running group of people. Thanks everyone!

10/19 – 10/25: Spent the week with family in Wales so not too many opportunities to run, although we did walk miles over the course of seven days. Think I fitted in 4 x four milers which took in some of the nice Cardiff hills. I miss the hills!

10/26 – 11/01: The week started with a full day of travel; leaving Cardiff at 7am UK time and arriving home in Virginia Beach just past midnight. Tuesday was back to work, collect the dogs from the kennels and generally playing catch up from being away for ten days — too tired to even think about running to be honest. Wednesday rolled around and I realized there were only 19 days to the Richmond Marathon — time to start training!

The next three days I ran an easy four, seven and six respectively before lining up for the Great Pumpkin Chase 5k on Saturday 31st….Halloween. I managed to duck under 18 minutes for the first time in a while, but I think that had more to do with the slightly short course than my speed. I was, however, pleased with my consistent pace and mile splits of 5:53 5:52 5:53. Second place overall was a nice bonus too.

Sunday was a desperate attempt to regain some endurance and despite a nasty blister on my left foot, I managed to battle through 20 miles in 2 hours 26 minutes.

11/02 – 11/08: Typically, two weeks out from a marathon I’d usually be tapering — decreasing the miles, the intensity and the frequency. However, my non-typical situation (i.e. still really in recovery mode from the stress fracture), deemed that I keep logging the miles in the hope of gaining some kind of endurance and resilience. I started off the week with an easy seven on Monday and a steady nine on Tuesday. Wednesday I stepped it up and ran ten, which I followed up with a confidence-boosting eight miler on Thursday and an easy six on Friday.

Heading into the weekend I was feeling good and looking forward to the Saturday morning Yorktown Battlefield 10 Miler. The race went well, and after a difficult-to-find-a rhythm couple of miles, I finished strong in just over 61 minutes. My second half of the race was faster than the first and I actually felt like I could have maintained the pace for a couple more miles. For the record I finished 7th overall and 1st in the 40-44 age group in what turned out to be a pretty strong field.

Sunday should have been a rest/recovery day, but again with the marathon just one week away, I was desperate to log one more long run before beginning my mini-taper. I headed to First Landing State Park and ran a solid 20 miles in 2 hours 23 minutes — no real blister problems this time and definitely feeling better at the end than the previous week. Oh yes, the 20 mile long run put me at 75 for the week, which somewhat surprisingly is my highest ever week of mileage. I guess it’s a PR?

11/09 – onwards: This week is all about easy running and preparing as best as possible for the Richmond Marathon on Saturday. So far I’ve just shaken out the legs with a four and a five miler, and don’t intend on doing much else at this stage in the game.

Race goal and prediction: Just over nine weeks ago, I was still wearing an aircast boot to help protect my broken foot. Hopes of running Richmond were slim, but I kept the thought in the back of my mind anyway. Over the weeks my goal has changed from getting to the starting line in one piece, to crossing the finish line in an uninjured state. Last week I posted on DailyMile that my plan was to go out at 6:52 per mile pace with the aim of reaching halfway in 1 hour 30 minutes. Of course, with my lack of endurance I would expect to fade in the second half, but would do all I could to minimize the inevitable slowing down. A 3:05 would be a pretty lofty goal and a creditable performance I thought.

Since Saturday’s race and Sunday’s long run, I’ve started [foolishly] to think a sub-3:00 could be possible. I must admit it would be pretty sweet to gain revenge over my Frederick Marathon humbling earlier this year, but maybe I’m getting ahead of myself? To complicate things even more, if a sub-3:00 finish seems impossible, I’ve even started thinking about a 2:56 goal which would give me my fastest marathon of 2009. Sound doable? I’m not sure to be honest, but I’ll have a better idea when I cross the 13.1 mile mark on Saturday morning.

Anyway, long story short, here’s the plan —

Goal #1 — finish the marathon with a smile on my face and a happy left foot. Naturally this would be a major victory after spending six weeks of the summer in an aircast boot and the last nine or ten weeks building up from a one mile walk to a 26.2 mile attempt.

Goal #2 — run the first half in 1 hour 30 minutes and fade as little as possible to a marathon finish around 3 hours 5 minutes.

Goal #3 — run the first half in 1 hour 30 minutes and maintain pace for the second half to record a marginal sub-3:00 marathon.

Goal #4 — run the first half in 1 hour 30 minutes and pick up the pace in the second half to finish in 2:56 or quicker.

Now that they’re down in black and white, I’ve made myself accountable…..and I like it that way. Of course, a smarter runner would stick with Goal #1 and be happy with it. I, on the other hand, am obviously not that smart and will be “going for it” from the gun. It may get ugly towards the end, but to be honest, it’s the only way I know how to run.

Finally, if you’re interested in tracking my progress on Saturday, the marathon starts at 8:00am. You can sign up for text/email alerts at the Richmond Marathon web site — just search on my last name “SPEIRS”. Also, good luck to wife Ally who is running her 2nd Richmond Marathon (9th marathon in total). I have a sneaky feeling she’s going to do rather well herself….