With just ONE WEEK to go until race day, it’s time for some marathon goal-setting.
When I was a twenty-something first-timer, a very wise old owl at my running club told me that, when running a marathon, you should always have three objectives:
- an ‘A’ goal, which is your die-on-the-spot-of-happiness dream outcome;
- a ‘B’ goal, which is a solid, achievable target that you’d be proud of afterwards; and
- a ‘C’ goal, which is something to cling onto if it all goes to hell on the day.
The same wise old owl told me that you’ve gotta respect the marathon, it’s a beast! So your ‘C’ goal will always be “finish with dignity” (the “dignity” bit being key… and not always as easy as it sounds!!).
I’ve given this a lot of thought and for Montpellier, I’m going to say:
- ‘A’ goal is a PB: 2hr57 or better.
- ‘B’ goal is sub 3hr10. This is the time that would have put me on the “elite” start line and is, I think, a completely respectable mark for a 39-year-old working mother-of-three with a destroyed left knee.
- ‘C’ goal, yep, FINISH with DIGNITY. If it all goes wrong, I’ve got to dig deep and just get it done. Quitting is out of the question!
So there you’ve got it.. I’m being brave and putting this out there for the world to read, so I can be held accountable!
(The photos are from the Abingdon Marathon, 16th October 2011, where I ran my 2:58:58 PB aged 28. That feels like a lifetime ago now.)
