Brighton Marathon 2012

'A' race for the year.  One target, sub 3:30.  McMillan running calculator said it was on based on my times.  I've not drunk booze, eaten chocolate, crisps or junk this year.  I've also not had any caffeine.  (The only exceptions to this regime was my wife's birthday and Valentine's day)  I'm at weight of 81kg, about 5kg lighter than last year.  I've run sometimes twice a day, done long runs and intervals.

I turn up for the race with kit, strategy and even the weather absolutely perfect. I had a slight wobble on footwear but in the end realised that the barefoot shoes I had done all my training in were the ones to wear and not my racing flats which wind the ankle up.

In the end, the attached graph sums up the story.  All on track until mile 18.  I even got to the halfway bang on schedule (this was the point I blew last year) Then gradually the pace slips away and by the end I am crawling my way home the same as last year.  The difference being, this year I only walked for about 30 seconds to take in a gel.

I think the problem is that my longest training run was around 2:50.  I based them on time rather than distance, assuming that I could dig an extra half an hour out of somewhere on race day, though it is likely all the race "goodwill" would go on lifting the pace.  Maybe I needed to make those long runs longer?  Confusingly this is also close to the magic 20 mile mark (sometimes referred to as "The Wall")

We always told that we need to run negative-splits.  I don't know how possible this is.  I saw a statistic that only 5% of runners achieve this.  Maybe you need to run the first half a little bit faster to get some time in the bank for when you inevitably go bang in the later stages.

I also think some longer intervals would help getting me used to running faster for longer.  My core strength is also abysmal other than that I have built up through running.

It's still a PB and it's still a marathon.  Other than a little towards the end where work encroached into my training, I set out and executed the plan, and it wasn't good enough for a 3:30.   Maybe 3:30 is beyond me and my limit is around 3:40.  The exciting thing though is it's a little project to work on.

42km (Marathon) 3:42:53 (PB!)