Get On, Clip In, Fall Off

Marathons, plan B

I've been massively lax as far as running is concerned for the past few months. My theory is that due to my taking a ridiculously long time to recover at all after the Dublin marathon last October I didn't have the momentum to keep running through the winter. When you're not feeling all that fit the dark evenings and cold aren't all that appealing. I guess I can also say something about the lack of objectives - I haven't raced (okay, run in a race) since Dublin that I can remember, and losing out in the London lottery didn't help either. What this all adds up to is that at the time of writing I haven't run at all since late February, and my waistline is beginning to reflect this rather embarrassingly.

This means that obviously my desire to do Comrades this year definitely ain't happening, which is just as well given that I'll be in the middle of getting into a new job around that time anyway. But I still want to do at least one big race this year to kick myself into getting back into condition. It's too late for a spring marathon, but this autumn's a different matter. Should it be a classic landmark race, like Athens? A fast, flat PB-certainty of a course like Amsterdam?

Nope. I've got unfinished business with Dublin after the unremitting undulation of the course, which, if I remember, the organisers have the cheek to describe as "largely flat". I suppose it is largely flat on average as the course is a loop, but other than that... well. The unremitting undulation and my own lack of training eventually forced me to intermittently walk over the last few miles, and this time I want to get it right. I'm chasing last year's time (also a PB) of 3:40, which I'm pretty sure I can beat quite handsomely if I prepare properly this time. It's getting on for 1:40 slower than the world record, so there's obviously room for improvement.