Paris, here we come!

I’m booked in – Paris here we come! Race no. 12360 awaits my chest and, unsurprisingly, I’m very excited. I’ve strategically chosen Paris. I’ve been trawling through a mountain of literature on the subject – heavily researching some of the more fundamental preparations – and Paris in April appears to make a lot of sense. An April effort should allow me to squeeze two attempts into 2011. Oh and another solid reason for running the Paris marathon is it’s in Paris – why not!

Training for marathons is tough – they typically require around four months of specific and targeted training. I say training, it’s basically rigid body conditioning. From what I understand, these training months will require me to steadily increase more miles every week as I push my muscles, joints and tendons to breaking point with endless slaps of the asphalt and countless gasps for air. Depending on the programme – and my body’s limits- I’ll be aiming to run around 60 miles during peak weeks and perhaps as much as 750 miles over the whole of the four month programme (maybe more). Needless to say, that not the exciting part… that’s the necessary evil that will get me to the starting line at 8am at the Arc de Triomphe on the 10th of April along with 39,999 co-runners (that’s the exciting part).

From what I’ve garnered from this terrifying research project I’ve set myself, I shouldn’t really be targeting a finish time too rigidly at this very early stage. It being my first marathon – I’ve a hell of lot to learn about my body, my stamina and my mentality. I do have a window in on each of these from my two 10 mile races where everything, and I mean everything, begged me to stop around the 8 mile mark in both races… Jesus, what’s it going to be like after 18 miles of a marathon. Or 25 for that matter! Stop panicking Elmer, it’s a bit early for that.

Sorry. Ok, its news to no one that I want to run in ‘two hours and something’, but my training programme won’t involve ‘As many miles on Monday morning at 6.5 mins/mile, 5 miles on Tuesday at same pace, etc’. Instead, it’s all about pushing my pace into a comfortable zone that will allow me to clock more miles. “Run hard but get those miles, miles, miles”… it’ll be all about the miles. Did someone say miles? They will make or break my marathon. Forget the time, just get over the line… then look at the time.

That’s it… it’s to be that simple (or at least it is with the training programme I’ve chosen to adopt). No heart rate monitors, no carbon dioxide counts, just miles. I will have some variety in the programme (tempo runs, hill runs, and so on), but when March comes round (in 6 months time), I’ll have enough feedback from my body to know my pace for Paris. Hopefully I’ll listen to it and ignore the bet. Don’t get me wrong, it may be the necessary pace for ‘2 hour and something’ (it would be great if it was). But it also may not be.

It’s nearing the end of September now, so that leaves me October and November to start preparations. I’ve joined Leevale AC which puts me in some good company (Ireland’s Silver medal winner from the Europeans aside), I’m training with the winner Marathons, Irelands No. 2 in the woman’s 5k, the World No. 6 in sprint triathlons and many more souls I have yet to meet. That’s exciting. The coach also seems really good too – old school, which I like (he represented Ireland in the Berlin Olympics in the marathon).

So that’s it. There are probably easier means of sightseeing the French capital, the infamous Paris open top bus for instance, but I’ve decided I want to see as much of it as I can from the streets (squeezed into 2 hours and something minutes).

On your marks, get set… go!

202 days to go.