Choosing a Marathon For 2019
Choosing a marathon for 2019 has been on my mind for a little while now. The London marathon ballot rejected me once more so it was time to look ahead at another one.
Having planned on smashing all of my PB’s and completing my first marathon this year, things didn’t turn out as I’d expected.
After finally breaking 1hr30 for a half marathon in January and getting stuck into my first ever training plan, it all started to go wrong in March. First there was the cancellation of both Newport (twice) and Reading half marathons due to the snow. Then I got injured.
My first ever marathon bib number that was never worn
That injury caused me to withdraw from Newport marathon and took me out for much of the next few months. It was a frustrating time and it’s only been in the last 2 months that I’ve started to get back to full fitness.
Choosing a marathon
For me, London is on my list of races I want to run. However, it isn’t the be all and end all. There are so many other marathons out there and they all have their pros and cons.
Having thought about doing Manchester or Brighton, I decided to finish what I started with Newport. Its relatively close to home and is fast and flat which suits my aim for a GFA time.
The countdown is on!
There are so many marathons I’d love to run, a lot of them abroad. Like most marathoners, I’d love to complete the Majors one day. In order to do that though, I need to get my debut out of the way.
So, is a GFA time achievable for me at Newport? My coach Simon certainly seems to think so. Of course its not going to be easy. A GFA for me is sub 3 hours which means a lot of work has to go into all of my other distance PB’s to get myself into a position of making it achievable.
I recently watched the documentary “Breaking 2“. If you haven’t seen it and are interested in marathons and elite runners I’d highly recommend it. In it, Eliud Kipchoge and a team of runners attempt to become the first to run a sub 2 hour marathon. Spoiler alert, they didn’t do it but were just 26 seconds away. That’s one second per mile. That’s how fine the margins can be.
It inspired me massively and made me believe I can achieve the times I’m aiming for. So what else have I got planned for 2019?
Filling the race diary
So I met up with Simon to discuss future goals and races. Obviously the big one is Newport marathon and everything is going to be a build towards that. Lets have a look at what’s in store for me so far.
January – In January I will be returning to Gloucester, the place I claimed my quickest half marathon time. It will serve as a good test of where I’m at with my fitness going into the new year and where my times are at. It also had a gorgeous medal!
February – I currently have no races booked this month so the focus will be on training. If it works we may fit in the Burnham Winter Series 5k but we’ll see.
March – This month contains the two half marathons I missed out on this year due to snow. First up is Newport which will be a goal race followed by Reading 2 weeks later. I’m looking forward to both of these, Newport to see what I’m capable of after a long training block and Reading because of the cool stadium finish.
Another unused race bib munber
April – Unless I somehow bag a London place through the Burnham Harriers club ballot, this will be the last big block of training and taper for Newport.
May – This is the big one. The beginning of May plays host to Newport marathon which is now my goal race. I cant wait to stand on that start line and see how close I can get to that all important GFA time.
So there you have it. That’s the start of 2019 planned out. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifice but provided I can stay injury free this time, it will all be worth it.
