In 2013, I wrote about why the Marathon was not for me. I stand by that decision back then.
A lot has happened in that time frame. I got into trail running, and have done two ultras, Surf Coast Century, and WTF Lumberjack, yet officially I have never run a marathon.
You could count Run to Paradise as my marathon, but being not an official event does it count?
I decided that after turning twenty-one again (aka 42 years), I would run 42km at the Melbourne marathon.
Everything was going well, I used Run Melbourne as a race pace gage, and was on track to get a sub-4-hour marathon at Melbourne Marathon.
Life had other plans. I got sick, right at the pointy end of long-distance training.
There were a few options I could do;
- Push through, get the result I want, then fall in a heap, and then suffer long term.
- Run with the aim to finish it and not get my goal
- Downgrade
I chose to downgrade.
It’s important to know your body, when you can push it and when to back off.
Getting sick left me exhausted with little energy. I was struggling to get through my work day let alone an intense workout.
So while I didn’t get to do Melbourne Marathon, a marathon is on the cards, it’s just going to get pushed back to 2023.
Now to decide when and where to do it.