The Plan

On my current trajectory, I think my first realistic shot at getting a BQ will come at the Gold Coast marathon (in Queensland, Australia) in July 2019.

There’s a few reasons for this.

First, I’m in no real hurry. I’m in this for the long haul, and my only interest is getting it right. I realise, of course, that this extended time exacerbates the risk of another slide into inactivity as soon as the next significant life changing event pops up. And as it happens, I’m probably due for at least one over the next 12 months or so. I know I can never really inoculate myself against the impact that might have. But I’m going to have to try and deal with it. I expect that my accounting to you, ladies and gentlemen, through this blog will play a critical part in that.

Second, from my initial dalliance with marathon running almost a decade ago, it’s simply not feasible for me to expect to be able to run a reasonable time while carting around a whole lot of excess weight. For the marathons I did run, I usually weighed in at around 86-89 kilograms. For a normal BMI, I should weigh about 70, and it’s been a very, very long time since I’ve been in that sort of territory. But I need to get there - and I need to maintain it. I don’t want to run another marathon until I’m around the 70-75 mark. With my current weight hovering around 92-95 kilograms (albeit starting to trend down), that’s going to take time.

Third, the Gold Coast marathon is probably Australia’s fastest marathon course, and I ran my fastest half marathon there in 2006 (1:50:07). It really is a great atmosphere, but it does have a tendency to get uncomfortably warm later in the event and I much prefer running in the cold than the heat. Chicago in 2006 (4:04) was never above 5 degrees, while London in 2007 (4:32) was probably 20 degrees hotter, even costing one poor chap his life.

Fourth, from 2019, my BQ time is 3 hours, 40 minutes. Before that, it’s 3 hours 30 minutes.

So, to get to July 2019, I’ve decided to focus on running mostly half marathons - around 3 to 4 annually. I figure this will provide me with consistent, stretch goals against which I can measure myself and use as the basis for improvement. For example, if I can routinely finish half marathons in around 1:40 or 1:45, I know I can be confident of having a good shot at 3:40 for a full. It should also build a solid base from which to launch into full-blown marathon training when the time comes. And, apart from simply just enjoying the distance, it gives me the opportunity to do a few runs that have been on the wish-list for a bit.

With all that, and in the interests of full disclosure, here’s the schedule:

1. Sydney - May 2015
2. Gold Coast - July 2015
3. Melbourne - October 2015
4. New York (USA) - March 2016
5. Gold Coast - July 2016
6. Auckland (New Zealand) - October 2016
7. Hobart - January 2017
8. Sydney - May 2017
9. Gold Coast - July 2017
10. Great North Run (England) - September 2017
11. Hobart - January 2018
12. Gold Coast Marathon - July 2018
13. Melbourne Marathon - November 2018
14. Gold Coast Marathon (BQ attempt) - July 2019

First stop on the BQ train is my home town half on Sunday 17 May, in a little under two weeks. It will be my sixth Sydney half, with the previous races in 1996 (2:04), 1997 (2:28), 1998 (2:19), 2005 (2:05), and 2006 (1:54).

I’ve been specifically training for it since October 2014 using a succession of Hal Higdon running plans. I’ve been a fan of Hal’s since my marathon days and I like his style. So I’ve decided that, unless I find myself getting stuck in some sort of rut with my training or not making progress, I’m going to stick with him for the duration.

For Sydney, training started with the first four weeks of his intermediate 5k program (resulting in a 24:28 time trial). That was immediately followed by his 8-week advanced 5K program (resulting in a 22:55 time trial), and then the 8-week intermediate 10K program (with a 53:02 final 10K result).

The 12-week advanced half marathon program kicked off straight after that - towards the end of February 2015. That incorporated one 5K and two 10K time trials, where I recorded times of 23:52, 52:12 and 51:30 respectively.

Overall, the training has been going well. I’ve been largely injury-free (a nagging left Achilles, which is on the mend, hasn’t caused any real problems) and about 90-95% compliant with the overall programs (having missed very few days and stuffing up only a handful of sessions). Nonetheless, I’d prefer to be at least a couple of kilograms lighter, and a sub-90 weight come race day is still possible.

My average training kilometres per week for the first 20 weeks ended up being just over 31K. For the final 12-week half marathon program, average weekly distance will have probably exceeded 37K by the eve of the race.

I’ve decided that my strategy for the race is going to be to follow the two-hour pacers until at least the 15K mark, and then either take off (and aim to finish in 1:57 or so), or hang on to them for the best sub-2 hour finish I can manage.

With the work I’ve done since the 2:00:21 Gold Coast finish in July 2014, I think I’ll be very unlucky not to break two hours this time around. But if I’m feeling good during the run, I also need to be careful that I don’t lose discipline and go too early. This race is essentially a stepping stone and I need to be able to work to a plan and see what I’m comfortable with.

Either way, I fully intend collapsing over the finish line after a sprint finish having left nothing out on the course.

I’ll let you know how it goes!