Alex Yee has spent the past four months preparing for the unknown. And triathlon’s most decorated Olympian knows no amount of training can replicate the feeling of haring down Birdcage Walk at this Sunday’s TCS London Marathon.
Yee admits nerves are building as he counts down to a 26.2mile debut that is a “lifelong dream.” But he is already beginning to sound like idol Eliud Kipchoge as he weighs up a serious crack at the “magical distance.”
“Everyone says you come out the other side potentially a different person to who you were before,” Yee says. “Time goals can be the be all and end all but fundamentally we’re doing it as a personal journey. Make sure that the enjoyment factor is at the forefront of your mind.”
Words straight from the copybook of Kenyan legend Kipchoge, who has offered to mentor Yee at the race hotel this weekend. He has already given Lewisham’s finest one sliver of wisdom though – making the start line fit is cause enough for celebration.
“At the time I thought it was a bit of funny advice to give but as you get closer and see people pulling out you realise the importance,” Yee says.
Top Brit Emile Cairess and Kenenisa Bekele are among the withdrawals from what organisers are convinced is the greatest marathon field ever assembled.
And Yee’s training has not been without its challenges. Two bouts of illness impacted training during the winter, one virus forcing him out of the Barcelona half marathon. But the past few weeks have gone well – his training included a 23-mile run featuring around 19 miles close to target race pace.
He has shared much of his work online, wanting to take fans along for the ride. “I’ve probably been a bit resistant to that in the last few years because I’ve very much knuckled down to get everything out of my body to win gold,” he adds. “Now I’m in a position where I feel a small obligation to the sport and people to show what we do is possible.”
For Yee the potential to run an eye-catching debut is there but he insists that he is not fixated on a time. The process and experience are far more important. “I’ll line up alongside 40,000 other people as a complete novice, doing a first marathon,” he says.
The decision to run came before his stunning gold medal in Paris. Partly because he was wary of the post-Olympic blues, believing a fresh challenge would help him refocus. A conversation with Daley Thompson at an awards event pointed him in this direction too.
“Coming off the back of success, how do you keep motivated?” he says. “Once you cross the finish line, you don’t have an answer to what’s next or the purpose. I struggled with that a little bit. To come off the back of it and have the marathon as something I want to perform well in is nice to have.”
But this pursuit is also a way to get stronger before attempting to defend his title in Los Angeles. So much of the Paris build was focused on improving his swimming and biking that running – his strongest discipline – took a back seat.
His mileage has not hit the heights of a typical elite marathoner but he has maintained the frequency of his cycling and swimming – with only the intensity being pared back.
“I knew this couldn’t look the same as the previous cycle. I know that with it being four years and the sport evolving, doing the same thing won’t get the same outcome. I needed something to focus on to keep on improving and getting better.”
Aside from chewing the fat with Kipchoge in the next few days, Yee will try to keep his heart rate low when watching his beloved Crystal Palace in their FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
“If it was on Sunday I’d have made the effort to get across (to Wembley),” he says. By that point he hopes to be beaming on The Mall, his experiment a resounding success. “Hopefully we can both have a good weekend.”
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