About the runner’s blues

So it’s been almost 2 weeks since the marathon. I could easily start writing about the runner’s blues. I’m sure every marathoner goes through the same feeling of nostalgia and sadness. It’s like closing a chapter of your life. I get that same feeling when I finish watching a great box set I’ve really enjoyed. Knowing that you are relieved you don’t have to put in that level of commitment again but not quite yet ready to move on completely.

Of course that feeling is always tainted by whatever the outcome of the marathon was. If the race went well, the lingering feeling tends to be of inner peace and closure, but when the race has left you with doubts or unfinished business, that runner’s blues CAN BE dominated by a feeling of anxiety and of wanting to get back on the horse as soon as possible, sometimes without being able to gain an appropriate sense of perspective.

Either way, I find, there needs to be some time for recovery. Mental and physical. I don’t know how long that should be. In fact, I know there is no set time, it will always depend on each person and their circumstances. I have always trusted myself to naturally recognise those signals rather than being too prescriptive about it. I let the mind and the body dictate.

Right now, I seem to be enjoying not running. I have gone out for a few jogs but I am finding myself not wanting to prioritise running so I have been spending more time at home with the family and at work… mostly family ;-)

This week I have told myself I should be going for a run a few times but ironically I have not found the time to do so. And that is indeed extremely ironic when you think that I only had 2 days of rest in a 12 week period (excluding the 4 days forced rest by illness) when marathon training. Not going for a run for 4 days and saying I don’t have the time is clearly just a mindset. It just means I am not prepared to make the time in detriment of other activities.

And, for me, that is the reason I don’t have a set number of days or weeks of rest. I feel that by not listening to that internal urge we might only be delaying the so important recovery. Last year after Berlin I spent 3 weeks without running and then decided to get back on it. After 6 weeks of trying to force the volume back up to 60 miles a week I ended up running myself to the ground and taking another 7 weeks of pretty much no running.

So right now I am enjoying not forcing myself to anything. I will spend the holiday break just enjoying my time with the family and friends and going out for a run whenever I fancy it but with no obligation.

I am actually hoping that takes me to early/mid-January when I can start building again for the new year. And that takes me to my goals for 2019…

At this point I only have 3 confirmed races in the calendar:

• 10th of March: The Big Half
• 15th of April: The Boston Marathon
• 22nd of June: Race to the King (53 miles)

Of course I am likely to run several other races but for now those are the 3 key dates in the calendar. I would very much love to get in decent shape for the half marathon in March with the view to contest my PB but after that the mentality will switch to non-competitive training.

Boston is really an excuse to go to the States on holiday for 2 week with the family. I am only running it because I have always wanted to tick it off my bucket list, and 2019 is the perfect excuse as it’s right in the middle of the kids’ school Easter holiday.

The actual marathon is almost at the end of our 2 week holiday so my aim will just be to enjoy myself and get a respectable time (2.45–2.55).

As for the ultra-marathon, I feel is the product of several factors culminating in me wanting to have my first taste of ultra-running next year. In the “ultra” world 53 miles is a pretty short distance so it’s perfect for my debut.

My thinking is that as I tick another year of my life my margin for getting faster at shorter distances is reduced. That doesn’t, in any way, mean I can’t PB anymore, quite the opposite; I feel that I have it within me to get faster. I am only saying that that window of opportunity is simply getting narrower. This means I am starting to think about not delaying that first taste of ultra-running just in case I like it or I happen to be suited to it (secretly hope not).

So, in fact, 2019 will be mostly a year of enjoying my running more and not being so strict with the right approach to marathon running. The aim is to relax a bit and come back in 2020 with a fresh mind and potentially even stronger physically from some of the sessions for the ultra-marathon (still need to train to some degree for it, only not so structured or with such focus on pace).

The long term plan, I guess, would be to be extremely competitive in the marathon in 2020 and get a shot at low 2.30 or even sub 2.30 as a V40. And for that I will need to arrive at day one of my proper marathon training as mentally fresh as I can be.

It’s interesting how when I first started taking part in marathons I treated each one of them in isolation. Almost as if that was the last marathon I would ever run. I guess that was a bit the mentality, that I was not a marathon runner, only a guy who liked running and trying my luck at the marathon distance. Almost expecting to finish the race and eloquently declaring how lovely it was and moving on.

Until I realised there are runners and then there are marathon runners. The same way I suspect there are marathon runners and “ultra” runners. And as soon as I realised I was a marathon runner I started broadening the full picture. I started planning ahead. Not just the 2 months of marathon training. I started running a marathon to prepare me for running a marathon. What best way to build a base for marathon training than marathon training?

I was finding that 3 months of training was giving me some small improvements but then I had to stop for another few weeks just to recover. I also knew I could not extend my full on marathon training to 6 months so I ended up preparing a marathon at about 80% with the view to gain a good level of fitness and not attempt a PB. Instead I would use that platform to catapult my proper marathon training for the following 3 months.

Using that system I first broke 3 hours (3.02 and 2.54) in 2013 and also got under 2.40 (2.45 and 2.37) in 2016. I think that, if I’m going to have a shot at sub 2.30 (not any time soon) I need to get to a point where I can train at 80% to place me at 2.35 to then put in a 16 week period of hard training to get me to that 2.29.59

Look at that… already making plans for future marathons! I must be a marathon runner!!