London Marathon Build Up - Week 3 of 9

This week the work started to get serious ! Last Sunday's race in Bath was a bit of a kick up the arse and after 2 days feeling pretty miserable and wondering how the hell I was was going to be ready in 7 weeks time I got my act together on Tuesday afternoon with the help a Swiss Chiropracter and a damn fine spa !

Doing drills and sprints on monday I realised my right leg was barely functioning - I couldn't bound off that leg or get it through when trying to run fast, the glute max was just flapping around and the psoas was as tight as a nun's habit. So tuesday afternoon I went to see a guy who does a lot of work with one of the pro Ice Hockey teams. And it was a huge step forward. He did some work on my upper back and I could walk out a different athlete. A relaxing hour in the spa followed and on wednesday morning I was running with so much more freedom and power. On such small things can a season turn. Anyway the training for last week:

Mon 72 mins very easy + 30 mins easy and 1 hour of drills/sprints/plyos
Tue 96 mins with last 35 a bit slower than marathon pace
Wed 66 mins incl 3x8mins threshold + 50 mins incl hill sprints
Thr 43 mins regeneration
Fri 2hr 15min fartlek - first 70 mins steady and working the hills then 10x1min fast/1min easy then 15mins moderate then 30 min progressive finishing at MP
Sat 45 mins easy + 40 mins easy
Sun 38 mins easy + 80 min incl 12k of reps on grass (2k, 2k, 2k, 2k, 1k, 1k, 2k) Long reps just slower than 10k pace and short reps at 3k pace to put some lactic in my legs

Marathon build up - week 1

So here we go, 9 weeks until London. Strap yourself in and prepare for another rollercoaster ride of a marathon preparation. This is what makes this sport such fun, the ups and downs, the aches and pains, the great workouts and the miserable slogs when your legs feel like falling off. And at the end of it the reward of being in shape to push yourself to your absolute limit by racing 26 and a bit miles as fast as possible. Insane.

Coming in to this race my shape is OK but not great, certainly not the shape I was in at the start of my build ups to Toronto and Geneva. But then again for both those races I probably peaked a few weeks early so this could be a blessing in disguise. For those of you who follow my blog you will know that 2009 was a bad year with the first part written off by injury and then my plans to run the World Triophy 50k scuppered by ill health which also threatened to end my competitve running. The good news is that magnesium has restored my electrolyte balance and since december i've been able to train without any problems and really enjoyed racing again.

The name of the game is going to be to take some risks in the next couple of months. I've got a huge aerobic base from 10s of thousands of miles over the last 20 years so now is the time to tap into that and let rip. Who knows what will happen !?

Week 1 was all about getting those first couple of marathon specific workouts done and getting the feel for it again. Over the coming weeks these workouts will get progressively more challenging in a number of ways, watch this space.

AM 2hr 11mins starting easy and building the pace on a hilly course, last hour at a good clip (3.40/km)

AM 35mins regeneration
PM 45mins including 5x30secs fast stride

AM 45mins progressive finishing at threshold
PM w/u 18x400m with 200m recovery in about 50 secs. Just running relaxed rather than forcing the pace

AM 55mins easy
PM physio then 35mins easy. Good to get my pelvis straightened out before cranking out the big tempo sessions

AM 45 mins easy - I used to have a complete rest day but find I stiffen up quite a bit so experimenting with just a single easy run

AM w/u then 6x3km Marathon Pace on an undulating course. Horrid weather but got faster as the session progressed. Strarted in trainers and full winter kit and finished in shorts and racers. Could have kept going all day which was encouraging.

AM 67mins felt surprising good after yesterday
PM 43mins

Just over 100miles and 3 key workouts in the bag. A good start to the build up and my appetite is thoroughkly whetted now !

Yeovil Times Marathon Training Articles

This series of articles appeared in the Yeovil Times over the winter of 2008/9

Part 1 of 6 ‘Getting started’

Inspired by the heroics of our Olympians and the sporting soap opera that is Paula Radcliffe record numbers of people are taking up running and setting their sights on completing famous races like the London Marathon in April, or closer to home the Bath Half Marathon next March. Whether you are aiming to raise money for a local charity like St Margaret’s Hospice or just want to challenge yourself to get fitter and achieve something new, running is a great way to go about it.

Over the coming months this column will cover the basics of running. From getting started through constructing a simple training plan, nutrition, preparing for the marathon and finally to some top tips for race day itself.

So whether you are sitting at home looking at your London acceptance letter or just thinking that some fun, cheap exercise is a great way to beat those credit crunch blues then read on.

Getting started really is as simple as putting on some trainers and heading out of the door. And to increase your chances of being successful here are four steps which all aspiring runners should follow.

1. Set some goals.
Dream big. We have so much more potential than we often realise. So dream big. What do you want to achieve in six months time ? Imagine yourself having just completed that goal. How does that feel ? Now write it down. Looking back at this piece of paper through the winter will help remind you why you are doing this.

2. Get some proper running shoes
While you can run in almost anything, and famously Zola Budd ran the L.A Olympics in bare feet, a good pair of running shoes is the only investment you need to make to run. Getting the advice of a specialist retailer like Tri UK in Yeovil is worthwhile to ensure you have an appropriate pair of shoes. Of course, if you want to buy lightweight waterproof clothing and GPS devices to measure how far you have run there is no limit to what you can spend !

3. Start running
That first step can often be the hardest, especially if you have never run before. So here is a great way to start. Get out the door and walk for one minute.

Easy ! Now run for one minute. The speed should be comfortable, so that you can talk while running. Walk again and keep repeating up to 30 minutes total exercise. 3 times a week would be ideal. After repeating a few times start to increase the length of the running segments. Before you know it you will be doing 30 minutes continuously and ready to start a training plan.

4. Run with a buddy
As with any change we make to our lives the most difficult part is keeping momentum. We’ve all seen it before with New Year’s resolutions. They go great for a few weeks then we slip back into old habits. The same can be true with running, with enthusiasm dropping off as the dark nights take over and the Christmas party season hits full swing. The best safeguard is to find a running partner. With two of you on the journey together you are far more likely to succeed. Its no coincidence that the worlds top runners train together in large groups. Running is also a great way to meet new people and local running clubs such as Yeovil Town Road Running Club cater for all standards of runner.

So there you have it. Lace them up and get started.

Part 2 – the challenge of the marathon

Judging by the numbers of you I am seeing running round the streets of Yeovil at the moment plenty of you have taken the plunge with starting training for the London Marathon. If you got rejected from London then a great local alternative is the Taunton Marathon on 5th April. This month we are going to look at the basics of a successful training programme and a few tips on surviving the festive season.

So what makes the marathon such a challenge and how do we best prepare for it ? You may have heard about the mythical ‘wall’, that point in the marathon where people slow down dramatically. This happens because the human body stores enough fuel in the form of carbohydrate to cover between 15 and 18 miles. More than enough for your average iron age hunter-gatherer to pick some berries and snare a wild pig but not enough for modern man to
complete a 26 mile marathon. So the training for a marathon is all about making that fuel last longer.

We do this in two ways. By running regularly our muscles get stronger, we lose some body fat and so our bodies need to burn less fuel to cover each mile. That ekes out our reserves to 20 miles or more. And then the best bit. By doing long training runs we teach our body to burn fat, lots of it. Fat is something that even the leanest elite athletes have enough stores of to run several marathons and this gets you to the finish.

So there are 18 weeks until London which looks like a lot and will fly by so here is how to use the time wisely. The last 3 weeks before the race you will be reducing your training in what we call the taper and the March article will be dedicated to this. That leaves 15 weeks for training. You need 12 weeks to do the long runs required to prepare you for the challenge of the marathon which means just until another month to get into the habit of running regularly before the real marathon training starts. And that month includes the pitfall that is christmas and new year.

The holiday season can be a time when those good habits you have started to build up during november go out of the window. Whether its parties, visitors or having the kids at home from school you need a strategy to keep running. So a good place to start is with some negotiation. Agree with the important people in your life when you are going to be running and stick a list of times/dates on the fridge.

The holidays also give you a great opportunity to run in daylight and that means being able to get off road and run in some new places such as Nine Springs and Ham Hill Country park.

And there is still time to put in a word to Santa for some help from the professionals. If you want a good book which tells stories about many different marathon experiences culminating in training plans for all standards from 5 hours to 2hours 30 mins then go for Marathon Running by Richard Nerurkar, the last British man to win a championship marathon. If your preference is to start from the theory of training which links into detailed training plans then Daniel’s Running Formula by Jack Daniels (the coach not the whiskey maker) is the book for you. Both are very readable and widely available.

Next month – the marathon long run, how long ?

Part 3 - the marathon long run.

If your holiday season was anything like mine then your marathon training didn’t go quite according to plan with chesty coughs and too much food getting in the way. If you did manage a trouble free period of training then you are ahead of the game so well done.

With 14 weeks to go until London now is the time to get down to serious training and that means focusing on building up your weekly long run.

Remember from last month that the marathon is all about making the fuel last long enough to avoid hitting that infamous wall.

The long run is the most important training run you will do because it teaches your body to burn fat which makes your precious carbohydrate reserves last longer come race day. The second effect of the long run is that by ‘emptying the fuel tank’ your body actually learns to store more fuel if you eat properly when you finish the run – more about this in a minute.

So how do you go about the long run ? After all, even for experienced runners, the prospect of running 26 miles in just over 3 months time can be quite daunting but the good news is that there is a tried and trusted approach which will get you there. Remember the last 3 weeks will be saved for the taper so 14 weeks training is actually 11. Keeping a couple of weeks in reserve in case of illnesses, family weekends etc means that you actually have 9 long runs and here is how you can approach it:

1. Focus on ‘time on your feet’ and follow the principle of adding a bit at a time. So starting with 60 minutes you add 15 minutes each week and by the beginning of April you will be able to run for 3 hours, the maximum recommended training duration.
2. Keep the speed manageable. If your goal is 4 hours for the marathon that is 9 minutes per mile. So your long run should be between 11 and 10 minutes per mile. You want to finish tired and hungry rather than completely exhausted.
3. Run with other people. Both Yeovil Town Road Runners and Crewkerne Running Club have organised long runs some weekends so check out their websites for details.
4. Drink water during your long run. You may want to run several loops or have a family member meet you at pre-arranged points with water and spare clothing – this is also a great way of getting the family involved as part of Team You !

So you have finished your long run what now ? The most important task is to rehydrate and refuel. The body best stores fuel immediately after exercise has finished. So get some complex carbohydrates into you within the first 30 minutes e.g. wholemeal bread, potato, pasta. If you have run on Sunday morning and need to wait a while for Sunday lunch then still have a snack in that first 30 minutes to start the refueling and repair process. Trust me you will still enjoy your lunch an hour or two later.

While a long soak in a hot bath may seem appealing the long run does microscopic damage to the muscles which heat can make worse. The choice of professionals like Paula Radcliffe is a dip in an ice bath. While this might be taking things a bit far a few minutes of cold shower water on your legs can prove remarkably invigorating.

Part 4 – Speed training

You know that marathon time is approaching when the days are getting longer and you can start your evening run with the last of the daylight. The excesses of Christmas are just a distant memory and you are starting to feel fitter from the consistent training that you have been doing this year. Last month we looked at the Long Run, vital for building the stamina required to tackle 26 miles. This month its time to turbo charge that new found fitness with some speed training.

Why do speed training ? After all the marathon is all about endurance. Well, running considerably faster than you need for the marathon will do several things. Clearly it will leave you gasping for breath and quite tired if you run fast enough. This is because you can’t get enough oxygen to the muscles to maintain speed. Your body responds to this embarassment by making your heart bigger and stronger and increasing the amount of blood in your arteries.

The outcome, more oxygen going to the muscles which means a fitter, faster runner. This is the human equivalent of adding more horsepower to car’s engine !

Speed training needs to be approached in small bites. A great way to start is by running fast for 1 minute. This should be about the speed that you could maintain for 10-15 minutes continuously before having to stop. After the fast minute, jog slowly for 1 minute. Then repeat until you have run 6 fast efforts.

By the end of this you should be breathing hard. The human body adapts quickly so you need to add more fast running each week. Once you can do 10 sets of one minute fast increase the duration to 90 seconds and then eventually 2 minutes, remembering to take an equal time of easy jogging after each fast run.

If you are looking for an extra challenge you can run some or all of the fast segments uphill. Mudford Road, Bunford Hollow, Lyde Road are all great for adding this extra twist.

A few weeks with a weekly speed training workout and you will feel a different runner, literally. Your other runs at normal speed will feel so much easier than before. Which leads us into the second type of speed training, Marathon Pace training. On your long runs you should be running slower than you plan to run in the race. So you need to educate your body what race pace feels like and teaches it to burn your precious sugar stores economically.

If you are aiming for 4 hours that is approximately 9 minutes per mile. So to practice race pace, warm up and then run for a mile you goal pace. Then take 5-10 minutes of easy running before repeating. As with the fast speedwork the idea is to add more miles at race pace each week as race days gets closer.

On Saturday 28th Feb I will be holding a free coaching clinic at Tri UK, so pop along after midday and get your questions about speedwork and other training answered.

And finally a great way to simulate the marathon experience is to run a half marathon during march. The idea behind this is to give you some confidence by covering half the marathon distance at your target pace knowing that you still have time for more training. There is the added benefit of running with people around you and getting to practice taking drinks on the run. Indeed, if big running events are new to you getting one under your belt before London is a great idea and will make you feel more relaxed on the big day.

Part 5 – the taper

If there is one part of preparing for a marathon that causes endless confusion and heartbreak it is the taper. In fact taper is a slightly misleading word, I prefer to talk about peaking for the marathon. This means taking a very different approach to your last 3 weeks training before race day. Gone are the long runs and hard speed training and everything is focused on producing a peak performance on the 26th April. That means reducing training, rehearsing race pace and fueling up.

The biggest error made during these last few weeks is to test your fitness. I’ve seen people do a 20 mile run the week before their marathon to ‘test themselves’ and feel great. Then 7 days later they struggle round the marathon and wonder what hit them ! Read on and all will become clear. So why do we peak ? The months of hard training for a marathon leave us with microscopic damage in our muscles. Small tears which take more than a few easy days to repair. And while racing with this level of damage might not compromise a 10km race it bites you in the later stages of the marathon.

So 3 weeks of reduced training allows you body to fully repair itself.

This principle also applies to getting the full benefit of your training. Remember, training breaks the body down, recovery is what actually makes you fitter.

And generally it takes 10 days or so to get the full benefit of a training session. So hammering one of last month’s speed training workouts in the few days before a big race is only going to tire you out, not make you fitter. This could also be a good time to get a massage from a local sports masseur like Hannah Manton though leave at least a week between massage and racing, especially if you are not used to it. And finally after all the hard training the body will be depleted of carbohydrates and probably a bit dehydrated too. So easing back allows you to re-stock the stores. You can even measure this by seeing a small increase in your weight during race week. I usually add a couple of pounds as my muscles load up with carbs and water. That's a good sign !

Peaking principles in the last 3 weeks:
1. last long run 3 weeks before the marathon
2. 3 weeks to go run 75% of your usual weekly training mileage.
3. 2 weeks to go reduce this to 50%.
4. race week run 25% plus the race.
5. ensure that your running shoes are worn in rather than worn out.
6. rehearse your race pace - short repeats of say 1km are good for getting used to the rythmn.
7. eat/drink as normal, the decreased training will mean you are topping up your carb stores.
8. practice drinking on the run and if you are going to use the official sports drink then buy some and practice with that as well. The same goes for energy bars/gels.
9. practice your race day routine at least once (wake up time, eating race day breakfast, warm up, running at race start time wearing race day kit and plasters/vaseline to stop chaffing).
10. practice visualising success, whatever that means for you.

So how can you expect to feel as you come to a peak ? For a start, be prepared for some aches and pains to emerge when you reduce your training load. This is the cumulative fatigue of your training kicking in and with 2 weeks to go you may feel very tired. And then by the last week you can enjoy the anticipation of race week when you are like a caged lion, prowling round the house and ready to go.

Next month – race day

Autumn marathon lessons learned

Its now 6 weeks since Geneva and I've had plenty of time to reflect on the race and my build up and put in some serious thinking about what I need to do next time to improve my performance.

Looking back there were several objectives that I set myself for this autumn's marathon beyond just getting into 2.17 shape: 1. Be involved in a 'race' with the possibility of being in contention for top 3 position in the closing stages 2. Try out returning from altitude approx 16 day pre-marathon 3. Develop the long run into something more challenging.

The first one shaped my decision to go for Geneva rather than Berlin or Amsterdam. Its a harsh reality that these days if you are running between 2.13 and 2.20 its very difficult to find races where you are going to have people around you. Even the smaller marathons won in 2.13 have the leaders going through in 65 for halfway and the big city races tend to thin out seriously after a first group in 63 and a second group in 65. So Geneva looked like a good option. On the day the leaders indeed went through in 65 and although they were coming back I wasn't close enough to them to pick up the pieces in the closing stages. Having run 40k alone/leading a small chasing group I can honestly say I dont want to do that again ! But if I find myself in that position i'm at least prepared. It really was a different experience from what I have had before in London, Amsterdam and Toronto.

The altitude experiment was a success and also part of my downfall, but not for the usual reasons which get many athletes when going to altitude i.e. overtraining. After a terrific 3 weeks stretch in St Moritz in July I was really fit - and carrying an injury. Having put my pelvis slightly out of alignmenent 3 weeks hard training had inflamed the muscles in the hip. What was really required was a rest to let things settle but I was in damage limitation mode for the last 7 weeks training. Next time I will be visiting Claire just before going away for a training camp.

This had a couple of effects. Firstly my training just wasn't as consistent as before Toronto. I was able to hit most of the key workouts but in between it was just injury management. To compound this I made a decision to focus on hitting the MP work and dropping some faster workouts when I was forced to choose. Looking back it meant that I did quite a bit of MP at altitude at a speed around 3:20/km and in reality did very little running actually at target sea level MP (3:14) or 10k pace. Come race day I had bucket loads of stamina but running target pace felt mechanically challenging i.e. I felt like I was really legging it to run at 2.17 pace. So I finished full of running (last 2.2km in 6:54) but couldn't sustain it earlier in the race. With hindset I was probably optimally trained to race 50km at about 3:23/km - just don't tell Norman Wilson !

The big reminder for me is that I am a 'slow' runner and need to keep some long, faster (10k pace) efforts in my training pretty much year round. Just doing the hill sprints and strides isn't enough. The other reality check was that training the fuel systems with MP effort running is one thing and training the muscles to run at target MP is another. I need to do both if I'm training at altitude.

And finally the long run. I've found over the years that just going out for 2-2.45 hours doesn't really challenge me much anymore. I'm pretty well adapted and can go out and nail a 20 miler any time of year. So I wanted to make things more demanding by adding some faster efforts. The first time I did this was quite tough. Running some short fast bursts in the first hour makes the last hour a bit more uncomfortable from a combination of having burned off fuel and fatigued the faster twitch muscles fibres which normally get recruited towards the end of a long run when the slow twitch are exhausted. What was really pleasing was that over the course of just three of these more demanding long runs I was able to adapt to the point where I was putting in a significant amount of fast running in the first 2 hours then able to finish with a progressive 5k finish at faster than MP. A big step forward and one that made the closing stages of the race a much more appealing proposition come the day.

So plenty to take in and work with come my next marathon in the spring.

Marathon Training w/e 14th sept - the last long run

This week was the 6th of my 8 scheduled marathon build up weeks and definitely fell into the two steps forwards one step back category.

A couple of easy days got last sundays 3x7km out of my system and then on wednesday I nailed my last long run. I mentioned at the start of this series of posts that I was going to be making my long runs more challenging this time round as just doing 30-40km at a moderate to steady pace wasn't giving me big benefits any more. I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise really. After repeating any training stimulus several times the body adapts and it ceases to be a stimulus ! This weeks long run had quite a bit of faster running in it and I'm looking forward to seeing how this translates into my ability to race the last 10k in Geneva.

The plan was to end the week with a less than flat out effort round the Bristol Half Marathon. Unfortunately doing drills on saturday I managed to tweak an adductor so spent a worried 48 hours clutching the ice pack. Its a classic compensation problem as result of piling on the training when the hip wasn't working properly. Fortunately the adductor is only a strain and i'm back running and a few easy days have also allowed the hip to clear up so all in all not a bad outcome ! On top of that my Saucony team mates Tom Payn and Ben Moreau finished 1st and 3rd and Bristol, just a shame I wasn't able to be up there with them.

Anyway last weeks training (at 6000ft altitude so paces about 5-7 sec/km slower than the same effort at sea level):

Mon 60 mins very easy + 40 mins easy
Tue 45 mins easy + 40 mins easy
Wed 2hr 17 (approx 38km) split 40 mins easy, uphill: 10 x 60sec fast / 90sec easy to burn off some fuel, 25 mins moderate, 25 mins MP into a strong headwind along the lake (bit of psychology for Geneva), 5 mins easy, 20 mins progressive with last 3km: 3:17, 3:14, 3:10 Solid effort and drinking water only - save the Vitargo rocket fuel for race day :-)
Thr 60 mins very easy
Fri rest and travel home
Sat 30mins, drills and aarrgghhhh ....
Sun off and ice

2 weeks to go and its a question of letting the body heal up now while keeping in touch with race pace so that the CNS doesn't forget what it needs to do come race day.

Marathon Training w/e 7th September

With 4 weeks to go until Geneva I'm now at the business end of my build up. Very marathon specific training sessions to get me used to running race pace efficiently and hopefully having a change of gear for when the race really starts sometime after the 30km point.

For this build up I had planned to do a couple of the 'special block' sessions where you do the same hard training in the morning and afternoon but the hip issues in august put paid to that. So instead I'm experimenting with a 10 day altitude 'top up'. Its a technique that Marius Bakken reported getting good results with so worth a test. In the past I've raced really well after about 10 days back at sea level and get better for another week or so but i've never raced a marathon less than 4 weeks after coming down. So on monday evening I travelled back up to St Moritz and will come down 17 days before Geneva, hopefully feeling turbocharged.

So the first few days this week were about recovering from last sunday's long hard effort and re-adjusting to 6000ft altitude before hitting a couple of big efforts later in the week. I must be jinxed because August in St Moritiz was apparently glorious and the rain followed me from home all the way up to the Engadin where its still miserable as hell.

Monday off and travel

Tue 70 mins with last 20 steady then strides + 40 min very easy

Wed 68 mins incl 8x12sec hill sprints + 38 mins easy

Thr 40 mins easy + 50 mins easy incl 7x200m fast stride (had planned a hard workout but hardly slept so pushed it back a day)

Fri 90min including 60min fartlek alternating approx 1km HM/10k pace with 1km steady (average pace for the hour was MP). The emphasis of this workout is to control the pace of the 'recoveries' so that they are a bit slower than MP and this gives the body time to remove the lactate created by the faster segments while still keeping the overall speed up.

Sat 60 mins moderate + 42 mins easy

Sun approx 30km with 3x7km at MP in freezing, pouring rain. About as much fun as 'delhi belly'. At least on days like these you know that some of your opponents are sitting in front of the TV waiting for the rain to stop and when it doesn't then they havent put in training.

So another solid week and just a couple more big efforts to go before backing off and resting up for the big day. The Letsrun Fall Marathon Thread is here

Marathon Training w/e 31st August, back in the saddle

Oh the rollercoaster that is marathon training. From despair to optimism, renewed doubt and finally supreme confidence in a few short days. Money can't buy highs and lows like this ! The week started with painful easy running and a sense of 'will this hip ever heal up in time for my marathon at the end of September' and ended with a flying couple of miles at the end of a solid 2hr 15 min effort and moments of glory once again entering my dreams.

The key has been patience. Religiously doing my exercises to loosen the muscles around hip and get the glutes activating properly again. Its time consuming and tedious but essential. And then the patience to every day just stretch the training a little bit without going over the top. The temptation is to hammer the body back into shape with a few hard sessions. Instead I've concentrated on starting easy and building each day a few more minute of good aerobic running down to marathon pace and then threshold top remind the body how to work. Next week is the time for a really hard effort.

Monday Easy 37 mins and easy 30 mins. Hurting and wondering whether there is any hope
Tuesday 50 minutes with some uncomfortable strides and 30 minutes suddenly feeling much looser
Wednesday 45 mins starting easy but with last 15 mins steady. Still feeling the hip but at last no pain, cautious optimism. Physio and the good news is that everything is still where it should and just need some time for muscles to relax. More optimism !
Thursday 62 mins moderate with the hip feeling OK at last. Evening easy running and 6 hill sprints. Actually able to feel the glutes working on the right side, my arse must have been getting really flabby :-(
Friday 25 mins easy then 40 mins progressive to threshold pace. So hard, blowing out of every orrifice and wondering where on earth all that fitness has gone. Self doubt in spades.
Saturday 50 mins moderate and 30 mins easy. A bit sore from yesterday which is not a good sign after a progression run.
Sunday 2hrs 15 starting easy then at a moderate pace with the last 30mins building to marathon pace. Really helped to have John McFarlane for company on this run especially as I felt pretty rough after about 90minutes before really picking up in the last half hour. Able to change gears in the last couple of miles and felt great. Finished feeling full of belief again.

Not sure I can stand the emotional turmoil of many more weeks like this one so now hoping for a normal couple of weeks then taper down to the race on 28th Sept.

Last night I went to Wembley to support a few of my colleagues at Connectwell as they took part in the Nike Human Race representing London against the rest of the world. You have to admire the marketing genius of the folks from Oregon. Hundreds of thousands of runners all round the world (well at least in their target markets) all wearing Nike T-shirts and just doing it.

It was a cool wet night in London and being on the other side of the fence holding kit and dishing out water bottles gave me a different perspective on our sport. Isabel, Kim and Steve (left with supporters) were all so pleased to complete the 10k in 67 minutes, a big achievement for them as non-runners.

Their excitement was palpable as talk turned to 'next time' and beating the hour mark. Looks like we have three more potential addicts !

It was great to see so many people participating and actually running at a solid pace and enjoying the experience even although it was a miserable evening for running in and even more miserable for the few hardy souls who left the dry confines of the stadium to get out on the course and spectate. Although one young lady running in wave 4 (bottom left) seemed to be taking things far too seriously as she weaved in and out of the other runners with the Wembley arch lit up in the background.

Marathon Training w/e 17th August

Managed to get in two good marathon specific workouts this week though not quite as much running in between as I would have liked due to a slightly sore hip but thats all part of the joy of a marathon build up.

Having stayed up half the night on saturday to watch the Womens Olympic Marathon I made sure that sunday was a really gentle day. It would have been very easy to push too hard and risk over stressing the immune system after not enough sleep.

And what a great race it was. Britain's Mara Yamauchi kept me on the edge of my seat for the last hour as she looked very strong just tucked into the leading group. We were at university at the same time and I don't imagine for one minute that when we were slogging through mud in the students cross country league that Mara would have imagined that 15 years later she would finish 6th in the Olympic Marathon. It just goes to show what is possible with the right amount of focus and progressive training. Inspiring stuff really !

My week looked something like this:
Mon 50mins easy and 40mins very easy
Tue 2hr 15 mins moderate with 10x1min fast/2min mod after the first hour then 20mins MP to finish. The fast stuff put some fatigue into the legs which made the last 20mins more challenging. These long runs are going to get tougher in the next month and hopefully this will pay off in the last 10k of the race
Wed 52 mins easy
Thr off as the hip was sore
Fri 50 mins moderate and 45 mins easy
Sat 5x4km at marathon pace with 1km in 3:45 as recovery. Was able to really put my foot down in the last 2km of the last rep so plenty of power in the engine which is good news.
Sun 60mins easy and 45 mins easy

Marathon Training w/e 10th August

This autumn will be my 6th marathon build up and each time i've had to change things a bit to keep challenging my body to adapt. Last time out I put in a 27km continuous tempo run. For this one I've already gone a bit longer on my long runs so far (2hr 45mins) and run a bigger volume during July. Next I will be throwing in some faster segements on my long runs to get used to running at race pace on tired legs. Should be fun!

I found this week a bit of struggle. Coming down from the mountains it has felt really humid all week and the legs have just been a bit sluggish, that said there was plenty of speed when required so its just a question of re-adjusting to sea level. So the details:

Mon 90mins undulating with the last 30 steady
Tue 45mins easy + 9x2mins fast with 75 secs jog
Wed day off and a visit to the physio to make sure everything was moving properly
Thr 50 easy mins incl 7x200m fast + 45mins very easy
Fri first structured MP run: 8x2km + 35mins regeneration
Sat 65mins moderate + 45mins easy
Sun 65mins with the last 30 steady + 45mins very easy and 7x80m uphill max sprints

This works out at about 160km for the week and after the training in St Moritz actually felt quite easy. I doubt I will still be saying that in 5 weeks time though.

For those of you wondering what pace easy, moderate etc is it goes something like this:
Regeneration = 5min/km
Very Easy = 4.30
Easy = 4.00
Mod = 3.45
Steady = 3.30
MP = 3:15
AT = 3:05
Fast = sub 2.55

And as a general rule I start a bit slower and build up to the required effort and if in doubt run slower rather than faster.

The Letsrun 'Fall Marathon Training' thread is here

5 weeks to London - what to do now ?

Last week I had coffee with one of my team mates who is aiming to break 2.40 for the first time and we talked about his plan for the last hard block of training. While we made a complete plan at the start of his build up we were able to review his progress after 7 weeks and make a couple of small adjustments for the next couple of weeks which should benefit him come race day.

So what do you need to do before now and the taper which starts after the easter weekend ? Clearly it depends on how your training has gone and your race plans so here are some things to think about.

If you are doing a half marathon this weekend then make sure you have a strategy for the race. Are you going into the race tired and running it at target marathon pace ? Or are you having a couple of easy days before hand and really going for it ? There is no ‘right’ answer to these questions. Just keep in mind that you are tired from the marathon training and running a big PB is probably unrealistic. So just be honest with yourself about your goal for the half marathon and stick to the plan. Remember that 13^th April is what really matters !

After the half you need to make sure that you have a couple of very easy afterwards to recover. Your glycogen levels will be low and your immune system vulnerable so eat well, drink plenty of fluids and grab some extra sleep. You will then be in great shape to put in your last long run over the easter weekend.

If you are not racing and feeling that you would benefit from some extra stamina in this last period of hard training then you can sensibly do a long run this weekend and next paying special attention to refuel in that vital first hour after the end of your long run.

On the other hand if you are confident in your stamina because you have done the long runs and a good overall volume of training then you can use these last two weeks to stretch the length of runs you are doing at marathon pace. The key here is extending the distance at MP. The temptation to run faster than marathon pace is powerful and you need to resist. If you are feeling good then just go further at marathon speed. Remember that the marathon is a game of fuel efficiency rather than speed !

Good luck with these two weeks and at easter I will post some thoughts on the taper and a race week checklist.

12 weeks until London ... what's your plan ?

This sunday is 12 weeks to go until the 2008 Flora London Marathon. While the elite field is looking as loaded as ever with Paul Tergat, Stefano Baldini, Martin Lel, Sammy Wanjiru and Ryan Hall leading the way for the men and a Paula Radcliffe v Gete Wami rematch headling the women's race for most people the focus will be on beating their personal best or just getting round if its the first attempt.

You have got your acceptance letter or been successful in the club ballot and the clock is ticking. So what now ? The good news is that 12 weeks is a long time in terms of improving fitness and by following a few basic rules of planning you can achieve your goals whether you are aiming for 2.04 or 4.02 !

When preparing a big race its always wise to work backwards in your planning. Why ? Because the date of the race won't move and every training session you carry out needs to be a function of your current fitness and how far you are from the target race. Its amazing how many people start planning forward from today and then get to race day and find that they missed some crucial aspects of their training.

So starting at the end your first task is to set a realistic but stretching goal for the race. Take some quiet time to do this. Lie down if it helps and close you eyes. Imagine yourself running towards the finish line. See the sights you want to see, hear the noise of the crowd in your ears and notice just how you feel as you head towards the line achieving your goal. Make the image as powerful as possible. As you cross the line have a good look at the clock and get that big yellow number fixed in your mind. Top athletes are forever rehearsing their performance in their minds in just this way. By repeating this imagery frequently it becomes second nature and your chances of success go up !

Your goal is crystal clear so now the 12 week plan. A nice way to think about it is 4 blocks of 3 weeks. These are short enough to keep you focused and long enough to see progress from one block to the next.

So working backwards the first 3 week block is the taper (this will start on monday 24th march). Whether you are looking for 2.04 or 4.02 you have to taper. This is when you body repairs itself after the training that has come before and stocks up on vital glycogen for race day. Trying to make up for lost time during the taper is always counter-productive. You have been warned ! I will write a bit more about the taper nearer the race. For now you just need to know that those last 3 weeks are for the taper only.

The next 3 week block is the 3rd-23rd March. This is going to be the hardest block: the most miles, the longest long runs and 9 weeks of cumulative fatigue by the end of it. This is the time to minimise other commitments and work out how you are going to get some extra sleep to help you recover. Make sure that those close to you know about this now, then they will be prepared for when you decline that big night out or weekend away during March.

The final 2 blocks are all about getting you ready for March in a progressive way that allows you to stay healthy. 11th Feb-2nd March is going to be fairly hard in its own right while 21st Jan-10th Feb is when you get your legs used to long runs again and lay some solid foundations.

Every athlete's individual training is going to be different and there are some great books available to help you plan your build up with detailed schedules. I've listed some of the best in the Recommended Books section on this website. The most crucial training elements for most club runners are going to be the long run and rehearsing marathon pace. Again working backwards its wise to identify what your longest run is going to be. I prefer to work on time rather than distance as its easier to measure even with modern handheld GPS. Lets say your marathon goal is 2:58 and your longest run is going to be 2:40 but your long runs are currently only an hour and half. Well that means adding 10 minutes per week until you hit the longest run 4 weeks before the race. Not so bad after all !

As for marathon pace, i'm certainly not advocating club runners attempting 25km tempo runs like the elite do. However having a good sense of race pace is crucial so that you start off at the correct speed. The biggest mistake in marathons is starting too fast and in a few miles undoing months of good work in preparation. And especially in london with a downhill third mile you can roll through 10k feeling great and then pay later. I've been there and trust me it gets ugly. 32mins at Cutty Sark in 2006 (2.15 pace) ended up with a death march down the mall and a disappointing 2.20. By getting your race pace really grooved in you can start sensibly. You only need to do a few miles at race pace to start off with and you can add more later on if required. Use a track or measured road course to know that your pacing is accurate. Of course these runs have the additional benefit that as you get fitter your race pace runs will feel easier, especially during the taper.

So go and find that quiet space and create yourself a powerful and motivating image of success !