Part Two
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My training for Chicago was certainly far from ideal. It started off okay - I actually followed a plan mile for mile ... for a grand total of four weeks (out of 18) 🤦🏻‍♀️ And that’s when, in pretty quick succession, the shin splints flared up, the temperature heated up and a whole heap of other things that shouldn’t have happened happened. .
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I stood on the start line with around 230 training miles behind me - two months at 35ish miles/month (when I should have been running 35 miles each week), one overkill month of 130 distraction miles and a couple of disciplined weeks immediately before the marathon. Trust me when I say no plan advocates this kind of approach. .
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In some of my photos, you can see a pace chart transfer on the inside of my arm. The target on the chart was 4:50, averaging 11:04 min/miles for 26.2 miles - a time I thought I’d struggle to make based on how I’ve been running for almost two years now. .
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Stood on the Chicago start line, I had a small aim that I would’ve liked but also wouldn’t have been disappointed for missing. I was hoping for a time under 5 hours. Purely for the tidiness of having all 4-something hour marathons in year one (2017), all 5-something hour marathons in year two (2018) and all 4-something hour marathons in year three (2019). Yes. That really is how my mind works. .
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A PB? That wasn’t so much out of the question as just never even considered. I hadn’t worked for it, I didn’t need it, I just wanted to get to the finish line in one piece and have enjoyed the experience.