Option 1 - Winschoten 100k
The standard for next year's World Championships is likely to be sub 6:55 and I feel I have this in me. As readers will know I ran my first ultra at this year's British Championships but was unsuccessful in completing the distance. I got to 85k before I called it a day. I learnt some valuable lessons and if I can rectify the mistakes I would hope to get the required time to represent GB at next year's World Championships. There is no doubt that I will have my work cut out. Firstly the standard in GB ultra running right now is pretty phenomenal. Lee Grantham ran a genuinely world class 6:42 at the British Championships and Steve Way ran a staggering debut 5:48 at the 87k Comrades Up run this year, finishing in a brilliant 9th place.
These two guys have to be first on the selection list for next year's Championships given their performances. The qualifying criteria has yet to be published and so it is unknown how many (if any!) athletes will be taken but if I am to have a chance I need to be at least on a par with these types of performances. It is highly plausible that some other athletes fancying a pop at selection will also be giving the distance a go.
Lee Grantham is currently ranked no 1 in the World this year over 100km thanks to his run in East Yorkshire in May. I am so pleased (and a little bit jealous) of him for this fantastic achievement. Running that sort of time in a World Championships would get you very close to the top of the podium in most years.
Option 2 - Berlin Marathon
Given the break and starting from scratch again, this is probably my preferred option and it is also tempting in that it will allow me the opportunity to have one big go at the sub 2:20 before properly moving on to concentrate fully on ultras. 12 weeks is also far away enough to get in very good marathon shape.
Option 3 - Yorkshire Marathon
This is where I had my breakthrough race in 2014 and knocked about 6 minutes off my previous PB having plateaued for a bit so it is very tempting to go back and see if I could get close to 2:20. It isn't quite as fast as Berlin due to some undulations and the depth obviously isn't as strong but I know the course and area well and it would also be nice for my family to come and watch. Of course if I did do this as my target marathon, I could probably afford to run Winschoten 100k as well as they are four weeks apart.
Writing this down has been quite carthartic as I think I am coming to the conclusion that Option 3 may be the best solution. It will give me the opportunity to try and get the standard for the World Champs as well as a reasonable chance of a marathon PB at York providing I recover sufficiently. I could then do Gdansk and Berlin as training runs. I would be grateful for any thoughts that any readers may have so please do comment.
One thing that I have been toying with of recent months is whether to really give this plant-based diet a proper crack or not. I have I admit had many lapses back into meat and dairy and I always end up feeling the same - CRAP! I am becoming more and more convinced by the evidence to suggest that a plant-based diet is by far and away the best for one's health. But bigger than that the environmental impacts of animal agriculture are far more shocking than I ever realised (I highly recommend watching the film Cowspiracy - it will shock you and not in a gruesome way). Eating a plant-based diet is by far and away the single most important thing you can do to help save the planet. Aside from that I have also been reading about Carnism and how eating meat has become the norm but when you break it down to basics, it is quite ridiculous. Why for example is it perfectly acceptable to eat a pig but not a Labrador? If you have a spare 20 minutes, watch this YouTube video by Dr Melanie Joy. Just like Cowspiracy, it's incredibly enlightening.
Current stats
Weight 150lbs
Body Fat 13.7% (20.7lbs)
Lean Body Mass 81.85% (122.85lbs)
Water 60.4% (90.7lbs)
It may be silly to target a specific race weight but I know if I can get to 140lbs or just under I tend to be running at my best at that sort of weight so I have a while to lose about 10lbs. I suspect the first five or six pounds will drop off fairly quickly, the rest will be a little more tricky! I have put some target stats below, based on what I was carb-depleted pre-Toronto last year.
Target Stats
Weight 137lbs
Body Fat 8.6% (11.78lbs)
Lean Body Mass 86.86% (119lbs)
Body Water 67.8% (92.89lbs)
Brilliant read Jason and option 3 looks like a great option allowing you to still run Berlin and Gdansk as training runs. Regarding plantbased diet do you have any goto websites or books to inspire your cooking. As I imagine initially it could be hard to keep it interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Mark. As you may have read I am going for Berlin instead!
DeleteThere is a great book called 15 minute vegan by Katy Berskow which I highly recommend.
Hi Jason. Great read as always. Very interested to see how you get on with a plant based diet. I've been toying with the idea as well having also seen Cowspiracy (try what the health on netflix - its by the same people) and read a lot of evidence that it is the healthiest way of eating (also have a couple of friends in my running club who swear by it). Going to try a "vegan" day tomorrow just to test it out... Then maybe phase it in (have one or two days a week vegan or change certain meals to vegan in a day etc).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment John. I've set up another blog called plant-based obsessive.
DeleteBeen meaning to give the What the Health a go.
Let me know how you get on with trying vegan!
Great read. Very interesting and exciting to have you back! My advice would be Option 3... Sub 2:20 is a huge ask after the last 6 months and with the new diet. I think Yorkshire with it's location and the opportunity to have all your family around you alongside targeting what now seems to be your main priority (the 100K qualifying time)literally ticks all the boxes! Best of luck and can't wait to follow your progress!
ReplyDeleteCheers, John & Kelly