Paris Marathon : Update 02

Test Week. This is an important calibration of where my fitness might be positioned right now. A part of the training plan was a 10k race around 5 weeks ago but many local races have been cancelled due to a really tough winter here in Scotland. However yesterday the postponed Nigel Barge Memorial 10k Road Race took place in Glasgow.  The race is staged by the Maryhill Harriers Club and the website gives the background ..

"This is one of Scotland's oldest road races, being run now for more than 60 years. The race commemorates Nigel Barge who was killed in action in Dunkirk during World War II. Nigel was an outstanding officer who trained as a Royal Engineer and was killed at Dunkirk. He came top of his class at Woolwich and helped prepare and map defences around Dunkirk. Nigel assisted in the repairing of small craft to ensure the debarkation of his comrades. He was also a licensed pilot and a keen athlete. Nigel’s father was Kenneth Barge, late of the Bengal Lancers, a member of the committee of Maryhill Harriers. The race has run every year since 1943."


The standard seems very high for this race and a triathlete seems a little out of place in this world of "elite" club runners. The race is normally run the 1st weekend after New Year so it's a super "opening statement" of where you are compared to a year ago. If you're involved in a spring marathon it's ideal. 

Being Glasgow everything is "down to earth" and not taken overly-seriously - the runners might be psyched for this race but the admin is easy going with a light touch: "There are only left turns on this course, if you find you've turned right .. you're lost." "At the wee bridge over the river Kelvin be sure to go over the bridge - not under it." No timing chips here. Old school and none the worse for that. I now have done this race for 5 years and it's become an annual ritual. It's also the only time I'm ever in Maryhill so I need to remember to have a fully charged Sat Nav - unlike yesterday where I improvised a route with 35m to the start. Could so easily not have made the start. Not ideal ! Anyway : I dropped a couple of training sessions this week for a mini-taper and after 2 * 5k loops yesterday afternoon I'm left with a PB of 40m32s. I was delighted with this as the race felt good and I seemed to feel in control (for once). It's also 50s better than last year.


But what does it mean ? Back to Jack Daniels.... (the famous running coach not the bourbon, focus please ! - you can see the background to this kind of stuff on the blog entry : DareToTriLife Book Club 02).  Sadly this performance, while drop-dead-good amazing for me , is not quite where I needed it to be in the hunt for a 3H marathon. But lets explore :  here's the excerpt from Daniel's VDOT (sort of VO2 Max) tables ...

Note the "51" line 


Note the 40m39s 10k time 

This performance suggests a 3h 07m Marathon time


So it seems my VO2Max has improved but by only 1 line from last year ! To secure the 3H marathon goal a 39m 10K time is closer to the required reality. Suddenly a "thud" back down to earth. Yes, "groovy PB John" but way off the mark for where you'd hoped to be at this point. The truth is 800k of running so far on this campaign and perhaps a 5m better time than last year is possible ? Am I depressed ? No. it was a great race yesterday and I loved being part of it. Actually it showed the value of racing as a really important part of training. You'll never get an intensity session as good. The vibe was good. You'll also learn things like : pacing, nutrition, when to "pull the trigger", the importance of charging a Sat Nav the night before an important race and a completely new thing : that wearing an Ironman-branded race belt encourages young runners to surge at you with 200m to go ! But lets face it. I've invested 800k of my and my family's time in developing these chunky calves and thighs - it's great to finally try them out. Burn baby burn !
Today it was back to the Sunday "long-run" after the intensity of the day before. Covered about 33k today in around 2:40: something. 

Lots to think about after yesterday. But mostly had a sense that the training schedule was working and I maybe should start to adjust the pacing sessions a little more in the 5 weeks remaining. There's a little disconnect in training on the trails around home - the pace is necessarily slower than on the road and you're just not always sure if you're really improving. Yesterday shows I am and while today was a tough grind out there I managed it and I'm feeling so much better about the whole project. There are a few more long runs left but there's now a sense of the Paris Marathon as being a real event which is just a few weeks away. There's another test week ahead : the formal Half-Marathon race looms. Mr Daniels and his elegant table think I should be able to cover that distance in 1:30:02. If so that too would be a PB and already I'll have gained a great deal from the last 16 weeks. We'll just have to see. Time to replace the Brooks Addictions - TrainingPeaks tells me their time is up. Maybe Wiggle can do me a deal. So folks get inspired and get out there. If I can you absolutely can. Bottomline : Older and Quicker over 10k. But can I carry this off over 21k ? Find out, next time, right here on the daretotrilife blog.