Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Going metric

Further to the whole running thing - I'm really taking it seriously now. I've set myself an actual goal to do the marathon in 2008, rather than the wishy-washy 'maybe someday' line I've taken previously.
I'm trying really hard to go out 3 times a week now (definitely twice) and I'm up to 11 km (I've gone metric, that's around 7 miles in old money) in just over an hour. Sounds great to me!
There's a problem though. The marathon is 42 km (26 miles). At my current pace, I'm looking at a finishing time of 4 hours. That's crap. I'd be embarrassed. I'd probably not admit to doing the marathon at all if that was my time.
I've been running regularly since mid-September and I've been cranking it up every week or two since then but to be honest, I really don't see much of an improvement. I mean obviously I'm increasing my distances, but my pace doesn't seem to be getting any better. If there happens to be someone reading this with some useful tips or advice, please pass 'em on.

1 comment:

Gerry said...

1. 4 hours is an excellent time. Anything 4 hours or under is considered very good for a non professional runner. Really. Compare it to Con's estimated time to do it.
2. To up the speed you need to do speed interval training. This would be every few weeks, switching from long runs to doing 5 - 8 x 1 k sprints. So as fast as possible for 1k, pause, repeat as required.

So says me, who's current marathon estimate is 5 - 6 hours