In Search of a Signal :
A Runner goes looking for the perfect
running mate.
by Ray Heraty
It was about 30kms in where I said,
Sod it. I’ve had enough. I finished
the race, but drew a line in the sand.
That had been 10 road marathons in
about as many months and I wasn’t
really enjoying them anymore. I also
wasn’t improving – in fact I was slowing down and I could feel the fatigue
in several ways. Apart from tired
legs, I was no longer feeling that nervous excitement on the start line and
no longer enjoyed the flights, late
nights and early mornings involved
with getting to the start.
I looked at my running schedule and
crossed all the remaining road races
off the list. I kept the trail ultras and
that has been where most of my
running interest has been for the last
18 months or so.
But inevitably I have felt the call of
the marathon luring me back. I decided that I needed a new approach
to marathon racing and that I should
only do road races where I would put
in a real effort to accomplish something new. For me that meant shooting for a Boston Qualifying time; 3
hours 15 mins for my age group.
I selected a race (Naperville Marathon) and I selected a training plan
(Brad Hudson’s “Run Faster” program), put everything into my Excel
Traini