What next?

It is a question I have been asking myself for the last few months. After April my schedule for the rest of the year has changed so many times as I keep changing my mind.

May and June were initially the problem months but now all of a sudden they are clear cut. 2 club championship races, Troon 10k in early May and Kilpatrick hill race in June. Not that I am looking to compete for the club championship, I am a long way off that. For me it is just fun, running with lots of people from the club and if I pick up a point or two for the club champs that is a bonus.

The big question really was what direction I wanted to take in my running after Lochaber: Hill running, stick with road running or ultra running. After running the marathon on Sunday the answer became clear. I would like to get some more marathons under my belt. So road running it is. I am still going to do Clyde Stride in July but I am going to treat it as a fun run and run/walk it from the outset and aim to finish. I still have goals for the 'race' but even the gold target is not too taxing as long as fueling goes ok. So over the next couple of months I will try and get 2 longer runs in which will be run/walks and be between 25-35 miles either on the West Highland way and/or the Clyde Stride route.

So the aim for the rest of the year is more half marathons then go for Loch Ness Marathon again in October. I did think about going abroad and doing a flat marathon like Berlin, Frankfurt or Cologne but then I remembered the views over Loch Ness, also I do prefer undulations/hills and it's easier to get to. So my training during the week and the weekends I am not doing one of my longer long runs will be geared towards marathon training.

I looking forward to the next few weeks as first up on the 1st May is the Kintyre Way relay which we now have more than enough for 2 teams pushing on 3! The Troon 10k will be interesting as it is my last PB from 2004 to be beaten and would make 4/4 PBs for 2010! On paper I should do it easily as I've run 10ks in half marathons quicker. So I have set the following targets for the 2 new races:

10k
Gold - Sub 43
Silver - Sub 44
Bronze - Sub 45

Clyde Stride

Gold - Sub 8 hours
Silver - Sub 9 hours
Bronze - Sub 11 hours

11 hours is the time limit so hopefully will be finished before then! Sub 8 hours is based on a run/walk strategy - 20 miles in 4 hours - 5 miles per hour - 15 mins jog/5 mins walk/eat repeat! then adjust strategy accordingly. That is what I am going to practice during my 2 longer outings so see how it goes.