Thursday 16 October 2014

Nows the time to challenge myself

With just over a week to go to the third and last marathon in my three marathons in three months I am very much thinking about what I have learnt from the experience and what I can get out of this last marathon.

The aim had be to go under 4 hours in at least one of the races, an aim I now realise looking back was a tall order as only one of the events was suitable for a quick time as the other two routes were off road, undulating and hilly.

I have still achieved a decent new PB though knocking over 15 minutes of my previous best.

As I have said before the more I train for marathons and the more I run them the more I understand the challenge that is a marathon.

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about. 
PattiSue Plummer, U.S. Olympian

I realise more an more that I need to push myself harder and not be constrained my own preconceived limitations in terms of how much I can train or how fast I can run.

I know with some decent training and with an event where things work out OK I am capable of running a sub 4 hour marathon but more than that I know I am capable of running much faster than simply trying to just dip under the 4 hour mark.

With this in mind I have decided to run my last marathon blind/naked/watch free.

I am just going to run it as hard as I can without monitoring my progress on any watch or tracking device and just see where that takes me.

Marathon running is all about the challenge of the 26.2, how to train for it? Can you run it all? Will you finish it? Pushing yourself through the pain.

For me I know From experience what the training requires, I know I can cover the distance, I know I can complete it in a decent time and I know I will be OK afterwards.

So now it is time to just worry about running it as best I can with a freedom to allow me to achieve my real potential.


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