So, what now.
While training for the 2017 Gold Coast Half Marathon, I kept seeing the fanciful times that the Race Predictor on my Garmin was displaying and scoffing - "A 1:31:35 half? Poppycock! A 42:50 10k? As if!" Despite allegedly being backed by well founded research, I just couldn't relate those times to how I was feeling in my running.
Well, a few weeks ago I found myself tearing up as I watched Eliud Kipchoge fall short of a sub-2 hour marathon by less than 30 seconds. Despite the artificiality of the setup, the effort was painfully real and it was still a truly incredible thing to see. It made me re-consider my attitude somewhat and despite my better judgement, I got inspired.
If the expected race time for someone with my VO2 max and lactate threshold was as stated, why shouldn't I commit to actually doing it? And if, at that point, I was allegedly fit enough for a 3:18 marathon, with the training I would be doing, that time would only decrease. So, why not go for a Boston Qualifier (BQ) and be done with it.
I've learnt that I need to take things like this slowly, so allowing 2 years or so seems prudent. Righto, that means aiming for a BQ at the 2019 Gold Coast Marathon, when I'll be 41.
The BQ time for a 41 year old is 3:15:00, but if the field is over-subscribed, only the fastest get in, so let's make it 3:10:00 to be safe.
So, the goal: 2019 Gold Coast Marathon, sub 3:10 or 4:30/km
And I need to figure out how to get there, from here.