Breaking4

Even if I am doubtful that Nike will give me much in terms of sponsor money or that National Geographic will make any cool documentaries, I have to admit that my (unofficial) goal with the Amsterdam Marathon is to run the race in under four hours. Doing so would require me to sustain an average pace of 5 minutes and 41 seconds per kilometre (i.e. a speed of 10.5 km/h).

While I ran Tavelsjö half-marathon at a 5:21 min/km pace, I fully understand that maintaining such a pace for almost two more hours is something completely different. With that in mind, I have prioritized volume over intensity this week with the aim of building aerobic capacity, bringing my weekly total to a record 76 kilometres of running.

This Sunday morning, with the temperature hovering just above the freezing point, I went back and revisited the infamous SM-trail, although this time I did not bike back and forth but rather ran all the way, which not only gave me a nice total elevation gain of 586 metres but also allowed me to wrap up the Strava September 2,000 metres climbing challenge. Now, time to come up with some new exam questions for my police students.