4 months of training. Hundreds (felt like thousands) of kilometers. At least 4 kilos of weight lost.
Through the weeks, feeling my body evolve and adapt to the pounding, surprising myself as I could put behind me increasingly longer distances. Rediscovering old favorites as great cross training exercises - swimming and cycling... and finding out many other things - that Yoga (Bikram) is one of the hardest things I've tried, that chocolate milk is a great recovery drink after training.
So, as I start to taper (and find myself with some time on my hands), time to recap the achievements during the build up and setting clear goals for the race itself.
I have many memorable moments during these 4 months, but 3 of them spring to mind: running with my wife for the first time (hurray for Bix!), running past the 3 hour mark non-stop for the first time in my life and running my second half marathon 3 weeks ago in 1:41 - shaving 25 minutes from my previous attempt...under 30ºC.
Goals. My main goal is to finish the marathon within 4 hours. Aiming at a pace no slower than 5:20/km. I know it'll be tough, but I'll give it a try. This pace is the average of my long runs, plus I think the better hydration, the motivation of the crowd and the cooling weather will help.
Time to go to bed now and for some rest. Have to keep a close check on my training the next few days as I'll be doing some traveling, meaning I can't lose any opportunity to hit the track/road for a light run. Swimming pool in front of the hotel will help the recovery, despite the fact it apparently only opens at lunch time and late afternoon/evening. Is it a French thing? A municipal pool thing? Both?
See you soon.
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