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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Race Preview: Toronto Marathon 2016


This will be my 4th Toronto Marathon, and 5th marathon ... first one since 2013.

I took a hiatus from marathons because they are stupid.  They are long and they hurt, and I have never been able to get those last 10km right.  I really just needed a break from it to focus on other things.

So why am I back?  I don't know.  I don't remember.  They're still stupid.  But I'm doing it.

I don't know exactly what to expect - I haven't had huge running volumes, but I got in my long runs and some fast shorter runs and lots of biking... so what the hell, here goes nothing.  Loosely based on the FIRST training program, minus the track work.

My PB is 3:39:24, about a 5:12/km pace.  I'll target 5:10/km, which is a finishing time of around 3:38.

The race is net downhill, but it's all in the first 20km.  After that it's mostly flat, a little up and down, and exposed to whatever wind decides to blow.  So while the conventional wisdom says to negative split, at this race an even effort throughout will mean a faster first half than second half.

0-12km - 5:10/km
12km-20km - Faster, but keep effort the same...
20km+- 5:10/km ... and hold it as long as I possibly can!

Could end up as a death march, could be glorious, we'll see!






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