Thoughts on VLM
I am feeling a little frustrated. When I first got my VLM ballot place, I was over the moon. I was disappointed not to get sub-4 in Brighton last year and saw London as a second chance to achieve that goal. I know I am capable of it, it’s just getting there. When I went to Dubai and came across the Dubai marathon I thought it was a brilliant opportunity. Use my time to Dubai to build an endurance base, so by the time London came around the distance wasn’t a problem and I just had to get my head around getting my little legs turning faster.
It didn’t really go to plan. Running in Dubai was much harder than I anticipated and my pace dropped quite dramatically. My plans for mid-week speed work never quite came to fruition because the heat was exhausting and I started to get quite disenchanted with running. When I returned to London I had about six weeks to make some progress, which I thought was better than nothing. Then, something major kicked off at work on my first day back and I worked every hour under the sun (and the moon) for two weeks. I think the highlights included working 10am until gone midnight Sunday, returning to the office for 8am Monday, working through til 6:30am Tuesday, going home for an hours nap and being back in the office for 10am that same Tuesday. I barely found time to eat and was seriously stressed and exhausted - I dropped an inch off my waist in a fortnight and felt like death.
It goes without saying that running didn’t happen. The weekend after our deadline I tried to head out for my 16 miler but just felt exhausted right down to my bones. I managed 7 miles on Saturday, 10 on Sunday and then another couple on Monday night at the We Own The Night training journey launch. This is no good.
Now VLM is just three weeks away and I feel completely under prepared. It feels like sacrilege to turn up to a marathon like London and not give it my all. I’ve considered deferring in order to try and do it justice but the idea of giving VLM up when it’s so close makes me sad. I think the whole thing will be a disaster. Sub-4 is definitely out. To be honest I don’t think I’ll even beat my time from Brighton. I can’t explain how frustrating it is to have best intentions to hit a goal and then helplessly watch it drift further and further away. But, what’s a girl to do? I’ve chosen a career and don’t want to approach that half hearted either. I guess making progress in one area of your life is usually going to mean that other areas will take a hit.
The only thing I can do now is take a positive mindset. London is an incredible race that I am very fortunate to be running, especially with a ballot place. No, I won’t achieve my goal time but there’s so much more to running than times. I plan to turn up, enjoy the route, soak up the crowds and make my way through London with a smile on my face. I’ll see you there!
I’m sure the experience will be awesome. Be realistic with what you can do at this point, and enjoy yourself.
oh no! good luck!! Sometimes rest is your best friend, my planned 15miler failed last weekend and i was sooooo tempted to push my training back a week, but instead after a week of rest I managed to pull off 20miles this week!
Don’t give up hope, go out there on the 13th and enjoy it, you never know you might get sub 4 without even thinking about it!
Good luck xx
oh no! good luck!! Sometimes rest is your best friend, my planned 15miler failed last weekend and i was sooooo tempted to push my training back a week, but instead after a week of rest I managed to pull off 20miles this week!
Don’t give up hope, go out there on the 13th and enjoy it, you never know you might get sub 4 without even thinking about it!
Good luck
Kirsty xx
http://www.balancingburgers.com
I am trying to take the same positive mindset about Brighton Marathon. Injury and illness have scuppered my training and even though I know I’ve done enough to get round I’m not gonna hit the time goal I set myself. Just trying to remember that I will still have achieved something great and no-one will be disappointed with me regardless of time, so I shouldn’t be disappointed with myself. Good luck for London, the atmosphere and experience is absolutely amazing!
As terrible as your run up has been there’s the ‘on the day’ factor to consider… It’s not your first marathon which helps and you may find that you’ll simply dig deep into your reserves and pull it out the bag. The most important thing though is that you enjoy the moment, therefore do your best and give your all. Good luck
Injury has ruined my training for Manchester, so I’m just making it my goal to get round and enjoy it, and forgetting about time. Good luck for London.
I think you do incredibly well to fit in the training you do with your insane work hours & you’re one tough cookie. I think it’d be a shame to run London head down and focused on a PB and miss the atmosphere and scenery- why not try an autumn marathon for that elusive sub-4? Training through summer and then racing in the cool autumn is a great way to do it!
I think the best approach with London is just to try and enjoy it anyway. My sister and I ran it a few years ago, aiming for sub-4, but due to the crowds and runners coming to a standstill at several points along the course we quickly knew it wasn’t going to happen! We both felt really frustrated afterwards and in hindsight we wished we had been thinking less about the time and more about enjoying the incredible atmosphere, which is unlike any other race in the world. So try and just enjoy the race and think of it as one more in the legs for next time - it will still be a massive achievement! GOOD LUCK!