So…since my last update on February 22, I’ve made a lot of progress in my training for my first-ever marathon — the 2017 New Jersey Marathon, scheduled to take place Sunday, April 30.
As mentioned in that post, I did complete a 16-mile training run on February 25. A couple of weeks later, as you can see in the picture above, I completed an 18-mile training run.
Going into these longer-distance runs, I’ve made a conscious effort to go at a very slow pace. I’m more concerned at this point about covering the distance without struggling or discomfort. So both times on these group training runs, I’ve run with the slowest pace group (mostly between 11:30/mi and 12:30/mi pace).
You may recall that I went into this training last year with the goal of finishing in around 4 hours. I’ve since revised that to a more realistic 4:30:00 or less. But even that is probably way too optimistic. At this point, with a month to go before the marathon, if I can finish in less than 5 hours, I’ll be happy. Also, it gives me way more room to surprise myself with a better result.
Oh, and one more thing…I was selected in the entry lottery for a spot in this year’s 10-mile Broad Street Run in Philly, which takes place one week after the New Jersey Marathon. This will be my third Broad Street Run in four years. I’m hoping to finish that in less than 1:30:00. That’s right around where I’m at right now for a 10-mile run, so I should be able to achieve that.
If you want to follow my progress, track my training runs via my Instagram feed.
Brian Kelley 