Pre-Race Report: Chester Marathon 2012

There have been lot of post-race reports posted on the website but nobody yet has written a pre-race report - I thought I’d change that trend & commit myself to a target in the hope that this may provide the additional motivation I often require to make myself run well!

Last year the club had 14 entrants - this year it's just me!

This weekend I am running the 2^nd Chester Marathon & my aim is quite simple - to set a PB & also beat the club record currently held by Alan Pearson.  The club record currently stands at 03:13:17 (set at last years Chester Marathon) which means running quicker than 07:22min/mile pace.

Training Plan:

The training plan I have been following (when fit & healthy & not working) is as below:

Monday: Hill/Interval Training (alternate weeks)

Tuesday: 5-a-side Football

Wednesday: Club Run – usually 3-5mile Tempo run

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Long Run (longest 20 miles)

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: General Run – 3-5miles

I’ve not stuck religiously to this & have unfortunately had to miss a couple of the long runs & the hill/interval sessions have also been quite easy to wimp out of but having run a PB for 5k, 5mile & 10k  distances already this year I’ve definitely seem some improvements in performance from including some faster paced running in my training plan.

Pre-Race Preparations:

On the evening before race day I will have the traditional bowl of pasta combined with a tomato based sauce & chicken (for protein).  Race-Day breakfast will be a small bowl of porridge approx. 2-2.5 hours before the event followed by a banana about 45mins before the start.  On the day I’ll drink ~250ml when I wake up (to replenish fluid lost overnight) followed by a further ~250ml at breakfast & then just sips of water prior to the race start…hopefully this allows me to start hydrated but does not require a time consuming toilet stop halfway round!

During the Race:

I plan to take 4 gels to consume at the 6, 12, 18 & 22 miles points as well as taking on a small amount of water (couple of mouthfuls) at every drink stop.

Race Pacing:

Having run the course last year I know that the 2^nd half is hillier than the 1^st half so I’m not planning on running a negative split instead I would like to get to halfway in about 1:34 which will allow me to run the 2^nd half up to 5 minutes slower than the 1^st half & still get a PB.  This isn’t a final plan yet & may be revised but I’m expecting to struggle for pace towards the end so would like to have built up a buffer in the early stages.

I’ll report back next week on how I get on against my target & if I don’t succeed here I’ll just have to try again at the Déjà Vu Marathon!