Final prep for London for Garmin Run Club Ambassadors
With the clock counting down to the biggest day in many of the UK's finest long distance runners calendar, we caught up with one of our Garmin Run Club Ambassador's as he hit the final stages of Virgin London Marathon preparation.
Here's Steve Way of Bournemouth Athletics Club's latest thoughts as race day edges closer.
Steve Way – Bath Half Marathon
"As
part of my marathon schedule I race quite a bit, but apart from the main event
I train through all these races. I do however make an exception for one
half marathon which I put in a mini-taper
for and race flat out. It's a good way of seeing where you are fitness
wise and it also gives you a confidence boost to feel good in a race rather
than the usual tired legs throughout the
rest of the campaign.
2
years ago in the run up to FLM08 I used Bath for my fast half marathon attempt
and it proved to be quite a "breakthrough" run for me. At the time I
was targeting a time of 77min as I wanted to
get the necessary standard to get in "Athletics Weekly". I surprised
myself by finishing in a time of 72:45 and it really showed me how far I had
come and what I was capable of at London that year.
time around and my "fast half" had a little more significance.
Dipping under 67min was this years goal for two reasons, firstly if I'm on
target for a 2:18 at London then that's the minimum I
need to be doing over the half distance to show I've got a chance but the 2nd
reason was that a 66:xx is the necessary standard to get on the elite field at
VLM10. Considering my favourable past
with the Bath Half race what better place to attempt it.
Once
again Bath didn't let me down and even though the conditions were not brilliant
(windy!!) I crossed the line in 66:10 for 10th place.
Two
days later and with the assistance of Glenn Latimer from the VLM
elite offices I was officially upgraded from the championship start to the
elite field, a nice reward for my training so far and a
good morale boost to keep me going through the next 4 weeks of high
mileage training."
Catch up with Steve and his rise from former ''Fatboy'' to serious 2:18 marathon contender in this months Runner's World magazine currently on sale at the news stands. Alternatively listen into Episode 13 of the Marathon Talk podcast at www.marathontalk.com for more from the Garmin Ambassador.
