I’m going to run a sub-three-hour marathon.
There, I’ve said it. I’m not sure of the exact date, but certainly at some point this year.
You can blame it on our Project 26.2 guys. Their dedication, commitment and enthusiasm has inspired me. I too must run a marathon!
In fairness, it’s about time. Over the past three years, I’ve done pretty much every kind of race apart from a road marathon: off-road 10Ks, 50-mile ultramarathons, cross-country events, even the UK Wife Carrying Championships. So it’s high time I had a good go at the 26.2 distance.
A combination of injuries and laziness have led me to favour the ‘quality over quantity’ approach to running, and I intend to bring this philosophy to my marathon training. So I’ll be running no more than four times a week (and often only three), combining this with one day of swimming and one of cycling. I believe it’s called the Furman Method.
If I hit 40 miles a week during the peak of my training, I’ll be delighted. I don’t mean to sound flippant; I am fully aware of how difficult it is to run under 26.2 miles in under three hours.
It’s just that, in my experience, it’s a holistic approach to fitness, rather than mega mileage, that yields results. As such, I’ll be putting the focus on getting strong as well as fit (both will take some time) and making every one of my runs count.
Who knows? It may be a disaster, but I’m excited to give it a try.
