Overview

Well: this will be my third consecutive FLM.

1st time out, in 2007, I was frustrated by an amateur approach to training that resulted in staccato mileage and a slightly disappointing 3:31 on a hot day.

Better prepared in 2008,  starting with a 1:29 January half marathon and an optimistic programme, until a nasty knee problem kept me on the bench from mid-Feb to early April, I still decided to run and posted a much better 3:18.  It was still very much a "what might have been" attempt: I had the speed in the legs as well as a fair few 20 milers from Jan & Feb, but the 7 weeks off had taken the edge off the performance in the latter stages of the race.

Buoyed by that, I took a serious run-every-day approach to an Autumn marathon, and posted a 3:02 on a hot, windy Mablethorpe September day.

And so to today.

The remainder of 2008 was quiet, running-wise, punctuated briefly by an epic race at December's Round Rotherham 50.  I had run it in apocalyptic conditions in 2007, and wanted to do it again in 08 as it couldn't possibly be a worse day.     - of course it was! 

That took me just over the 2,000 mile mark for the year, and 1,200 for the last 6 months.  I have parked that statistic firmly in the "good" category of a strong base, to start the FLM09 preparation.

And so to 2009.

Racing is difficult for me to arrange alongside duties associated with my young family, so I have to select events carefully, and tiptoe through the calendar negotiations...  So far the diary has 2 entries: January's local Brass Monkey half marathon, and FLM. (I've not mentioned the low-key Yorks Road Race league in the summer; they are a nice evening's distraction and don't take quite so much out of the family time).

And down to the business of the half marathon.

Brass Monkey is so-named for good reason.  It's always in January and always bl@@dy cold.  It's deservedly popular, and I ran on a breezy day last year to break the 90 minute barrier (by 20 seconds) for the first time.  My training is a long way on from where I was 12 months ago, so I was expecting a decent showing subject to the forecast strong winds.

I ran a rather uneventful race, with dreadful preparation.  The winds were thankfully modest rather than strong, and didn't really affect the pace.  It was bright enough for vest and shorts - more my kind of thing than FLM07's 25+ degree heat.  I ran, as ever, to HR rather than pace.  I couldn't raise the HR above marathon (160bpm) effort- I usually aim for 170bpm on half marathons.  Even so, I ended up with a 1:24:05 and a storming thrashing of the previous best by around 30 secs per mile.

And the lessons?

Untapered, and overtired: I still managed to work up a decent effort.  It felt hard, but controlled.  A gel at 8 or 9 miles can be useful, even if not necessary.  If I can run a 1:24 off 160 bpm HR now, then that puts me in a very positive place for a sub -3 attempt in April.

Of course there is a world of difference between a decent half marathon and corresponding marathon success.  Results sheets are littered with the litany of failures: those that have started too fast and faded; those without the endurance training in the legs to match their speed; those who don't plan and execute a proper drinking and feeding strategy.

It's far too early to make confident predictions.  Indeed I shy away from being too precise in any marathon predictions.  There's a whole lot of training to be done between now and 26th April.  But I am certain that, from this vantage point, the next few months are looking pretty decent.