Good for age?
7 days to go and I thought I would have a little reflect before planning ahead of next week’s marathon.
I’ve settled on a target. One that feels meaningful, possible and challenging.
It’s hard not to compare to previous runs and it’s sometimes hard not to put too much hope into your fitness. However I have been trying to run the long runs to ‘feel’ (with a little looking at the watch) and the good news is that they have been feeling good. Good for age.
Charles Edmonds at Exeter Riverside Park Run (another young Charles from Dawlish Coasters) - It’s been great incorporating Park Runs into the long run to make it more sociable
I think that good for age (London Marathon have qualifying times based on your age) and age gradings are a lovely thing. It’s hard as we slow down or stop getting faster to be encouraged by our running. However the race against time (thank you Richard Askwith) feels like a meaningful one.
https://richardaskwith.co.uk/books/the_race_against_time/
I would like to age gracefully, if possible. I believe that involves staying strong and healthy. Sometimes I wonder if my generation are too focused on longevity and health but then I think about people in care homes, who have lost their independence to frailty and fragility. I would like to be strong, healthy and active as I age. If illness takes me then that would be bad and sad, but at least I’ve given myself the best chance. Cheery stuff….
Well it sort of is. I would like to get good for age at the marathon - 2 hours 52 minutes. The upper limit of my age category is 39. This is the last marathon I will run in my 30’s. What a way that would be to sign out! It would also open the idea of London 2027. If this one goes well, I expect to feel encouraged to do even better next year.
In May this year, I will be 40 and people keep saying I don’t look it. Stop it, you’re too kind. Weirdly I haven’t been I’D since I started looking like an Ade Edmondson impersonator. But it gets you thinking. Quite positively in fact. The pressure to push myself and PB all the time is gently washing out to sea. This means I think more about will that race be fun? Running can become less goal driven and maybe even more rewarding.
But the Marathon, the Marathon is very often about time. I’ve been to Manchester. I’m not really a city centre kind of guy. If you asked me where would I like to run 26 miles I can’t imagine I would say Manchester to Altrincham please! So it would be silly to hide that this isn’t about pushing myself, trying to achieve something. I think I can run something I will be proud of. Learn more about what works for the Marathon and with this information I can also help other people. I went into this training block a little late from illness. So I targeted the things I thought were most important. Training Volume and the Long Run:
Training volume - how much running you clock up - increases your aerobic capacity. The power of your heart and lungs to pump blood around the body. Taking fuel to the muscles and taking away the waste. The Marathon is an aerobic event. Training volume here will be key. Elite marathon runners run 120 miles per week. With a big base build I think I could manage 120km per week but only if work was quiet and all my ducks were in order. In Dawlish this Winter it’s been a tough winter for Ducks. But I’m really pleased with my running volume that I achieved after four weeks off:
The weekly kilometres since returning to running on the week beginning 5th January until last Sunday.
The Long Run - If there was a key run to prepare for the marathon it’s the long run. If I am in great 5k shape I am sure I will run well for the first 5-10k but then it starts to become as the famous Sir Alex Ferguson used to say “squeaky bum time”. To be confident at the marathon you want to have ran some long runs. You want to feel that your body has the stamina, is ready to endure mile after mile. Practicing the long run prepares your tissues to sustain the load the body is about to be put under. The long runs help you to build confidence. They are also fantastic for that aerobic system mentioned earlier. A lot of people sometimes find they become faster across all distances when training for a marathon. After you recover and the fatigue leaves you, having completed a marathon can leave you feeling like a very different runner.
This was my longest run with a good chunk of Marathon effort and it felt good.
Past Marathons were run around 4 minutes per k until the wheels fell off. I hope that I am solving that with better fuelling. 2hrs52 would mean 4.05. So I am allowing that I am not in the fastest shape I’ve ever been in but still believe I could knock 5 minutes off my Pb by running a well paced sensible race.
In the last 5 years I feel older yes but perhaps wiser. My self talk has improved a great deal. I have run almost all the long runs without any music. I am happy in my head and my favourite technique is to talk to myself in the third person. “Go on Chas”, “Come on Baker” and “You can do this Charles”.
If I get extra carried away it might blurt out of my mouth. I remember when people used to phone the home phone in my teenage years. Before the maturation of my vocal cords people would say “Gill?” Then came the proud moment when someone called and they enquired “Will?” Sometimes if I accidentally blurt out my positive self talk my own voice sounds like it’s my Dad. It’s as good as I’ve got to hear from him. As I say he would always encourage me and this is like a wind in my sails. I heard of this talking to yourself in the third person technique in a book called ‘Chatter: The Voice in our head and how to harness it’ by Ethan Cross. There was lots more good in that book. But this one really stuck with me.
When it comes to the marathon the best advice I have been given is;
Run 10 miles with your head - stay calm, keep cool, don’t sprint off with your freshly tapered legs and do anything silly
Run 10 miles with your legs - you have trained to run 20 miles in the build up. You’re just repeating that. You are prepared
Run 10 km with your heart - if you want this it’s time to throw the kitchen sink at it. It’s going to hurt but you are stronger than you might think
Next Sunday I am number 23933. My name is Yes.
If you want to check in I think Adidas have an app (I think I will be called Charles Baker)
Otherwise I am sure I will tell you all about it when I get back
Until then all the best and good luck with your running
BTC
