Five weeks to go until the Jungfrau Marathon

Four months on from the last report, and just five weeks until the big day. So how are things going?

I’ve covered some good distances – not the enormous distances of some, but 900km over those four months, which is consistent with my previous marathon preparation, including a 30km run with three more 30km+ runs to come over the next three weekends.

I’ve done some good speed work (with a new 5km PB along the way), and largely stuck to my Runna training plan.

I’ve perhaps not done as much hill work and leg strengthening as I’d originally planned. I have done all the hill interval sessions in my plan, but not always done the long weekend runs on the hillier routes suggested because it hasn’t fitted into the rest of life (there not being many significant hills in Suffolk on which to run). But the visits to Shropshire and the Lake District and already described gave me some confidence, which was good, but perhaps lessened the pressure to focus on hills – but I’ve still run up 13,400 metres which is 30% more than in any previous year.

I’ve had a couple of trips to the gym with uphill treadmill sessions, including last weekend 10km flat followed by 5km at an average of 12.5% gradient, which went well. I’ve recently returned from a lovely canal boat holiday on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, where I was able to include an uphill run along the derrelict part of the canal from Newport, a run/walk with over 300m of ascent, and a brisk mountain walk with 600m of elevation gain where I wasn’t going all out, stopped for photography and a drink, yet still found when I saved my outing on Strava that I was 4th of 161 people on the ascent. So again, more confidence building – I’m no Bergläufer but there’s still some strength in my legs that I hope will be up to the job on 5th September.

But none of those outings replicates the Jungfrau experience – which is leading me into a split personality where sometimes I’m quietly confident, and then I move into a feeling that I’m being naively optimistic. The sustained, multi-hour effort up from Lauterbrunnen is undoubtedly a huge challenge.

I’ve been watching bits of a livestream from last year’s marathon, which focuses on the elites, and it’s quite interesting how many people near the front (especially the not-quite-at-the-front men who are near the elite women) are walking and struggling near the top. I’m not sure whether to find that worrying or encouraging – of course, I won’t be going as fast as them, and with my much more modest ambitions, maybe I won’t go too fast and they did. Who knows?

But it’s been interesting watching, reawakening memories from some months ago when I watched other videos of the route, reminding me of the challenges and the glories of what I have in store for me.

So five weeks to go – time to build a little more fitness, but time also to relax into the experience and make sure the other elements of preparation are right. I’m expecting the full race information and briefing to be sent out in the next few days, and a bit of attention will then be needed on the logistics – what do I need with me in Switzerland, what am I taking with me on the day, what do I need for afterwards, what am I hoping that I might be passed to me at a spot or two along the route, what nutrition from the 17 water and nutrition stops along the way am I going to chance?

The other “chance” is my footwear. I bought myself a pair of new trainers for the race several months ago, and while I want them to be fresh, I also don’t want to experience them for the first time on the day. They are supposed to be able to be decent road and trail shoes, and hopefully give a little something extra on the ascents – but things I’ve read in recent days have made me a little anxious that I may find them not as cushioned as I’m used to on the tarmac sections – though I’ve run many times in trail shoes on roads, but not over such a long distance. So I’m planning a special outing in them on Thursday to combine some road and some uphill trail, and after that will reach a view on what I do with them, and how much more running in them I need to do to be confident that they will give me the best balance on the day, or whether I need a plan B.

Lots of things to think of, but hopefully the glory of the Swiss mountain scenery to look forward to, and the triumphant crossing of the line on that red carpet.