Edinburgh Marathon 2012

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S  26.2 miles in 2:29:33 (5:42mm avge)

Total  BIG SMILEY FACE

I flew up to Edinburgh on Saturday evening and was staying with a friend, Fraser who was also running the race. We managed to get in a sneaky drive of the course as well which is great for seeing all the quirks, and helping you to visualise getting through each stage. It also reminds you of how bloody far 26.2 miles is!

Got to bed in pretty good time, and I had a good four and a half hours sleep before I woke up needing the loo. As soon as I was awake there was no going back to sleep, no matter how much I tried. So I just lay there waiting until it was ready to get the kit on! Needless to say I felt pretty knackered when I got up, but I knew once the day and race got going I wouldn't be able to feel it.

The concern for the past few days has been the weather with the UK enjoying beautiful summery weather. Fortunately it looked like it wasn't going to be too bad on Sunday and I just had to hope it didn't heat up too much. I also told myself that it wouldn't be too hot to negatively impact my race. I only really started to feel uncomfortable because of the heat at about 22 miles.

Anyway, to the start area Fraser's wife dropped us very close to the start and then we had a little mooch down to check out the whole area, Fraser dropped his bag off and I made my way to the 'Elite' start. I spotted Peter Tucker who is a local athlete that runs for Blackheath and Bromley and someone I rate very highly. Unfortunately he has struggled with injuries this year and so was racing on a very compromised build up. We shared what our intentions with each other and agreed that we may run together. As it turned out we did but not until long into the race.

As the start time approached I could feel my excitement building as I focused the mind on the task ahead. Steady there, though. Rmember you need to feel like you're driving with the handbrake on. 

Soon enough we were on our way and I set off very steadily indeed. The first couple of miles are very down hill so I expected to be roughly on pace by this point but having not expended much energy getting there. There were already hoards of folk that had shot off into the distance and I think I was in about 25th position after the first mile (although I missed the first mile marker hence the double tap at 2 miles). I let them go, I was running this my way and I was so committed to running to how I felt. I usually race marathons with my heart rate showing on my Garmin but this time decided to run without it for once and just go completely to effort and not let the heart rate reading have any influence whatsoever I am glad I did as the looking at the data there was a serious spike in the first mile which must have been to do with a very poor contact and had I seen the reading I would probably have been worried!

The race went on and I felt like I was running really well, I was relaxed but running with purpose. I was running at my Marathon Pace. We hit the sea front and there was a definite breeze but it was reasonably refreshing as opposed to particularly draining. Just before half way I started to eat into the gap where I could see Stuart Kerr and another guy up ahead to try and get on terms with them. I manged to catch them just as we went over the timing mats. I split in 1:14:13 unofficially. That was basically exactly as I had planned. Not too fast but not too slow. Just right. I then ran with Stuart and Mr X (who was clearly working way too hard - I assume he ended up having a bit of a blow up!) for a while and then about 15.5 miles I started to open up some ground on them. I then focused on the next two guys up front, one of which was Pete Tucker and an Italian guy called Marco Verado. They were still some way into the distance, perhaps 150 metres but a target nonetheless.

The course at Edinburgh basically turns at 17.5 miles and then you run back to Musselburgh which we had passed about 9 miles into the race. Just before I caught up with Pete and Marco they had gone past Stephen Dawes and I quickly went past him. I got level with Pete and Marco at just after 30k (18.75 miles ish). At this stage I still felt incredibly strong and even felt like I could possibly push on a bit more. But I was glad I still kept it all pretty controlled. Marco and I suddenly had a few yards on Pete and we began to pull away. Marco's Garmin had broken just before the race so he was constantly asking for splits, how long to go and although I wouldn't ordinarily mind, it was getting to the business part of the race where I prefer to just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It was great running back along the road we had just come as you see all the other runners coming the other way shouting their support. I got to 22 and then I started to feel pretty hot but by this time it was not long to go. Just ticking off the miles. But the legs were definitely starting to hurt and I was conscious that I may be starting to cramp a little so really had to concentrate on my stride.

We reached 24 and I knew that by this time I should come in under 2:30 unless something drastic happened. I don't know if this psychologically made me back off, or if I was truly knackered but I really struggled to get my legs turning over and so the pace was gradually slowing despite aerobically still feeling OK. The legs were just starting to say 'no'! Just keep them going. Marco gradually pulled away. Although my calculations were pretty sound I got to 25.5 and thought it was going to be bloody tight and you're never 100% sure whether your mental arithmetic is that accurate after that long. I still didn't know that I was going to do it until I turned into the final straight and saw the clock at 2:29:10 and had a short matter of 100m 'sprint'. There wasn't much of a sprint but the relief of knowing I had achieved something I'd dreamt of for so long is so incredibly satisfying. I can now move on and focus on the shorter stuff for a period of time. I will come back to the marathon, possibly next spring but more likely in Autumn 2013.

I thought I had finished 9th but the results show me in 8th for some reason. I think it may be because a pacemaker decided to go on and finish the race so his name is not showing in the results just yet. Even so very pleased with 3rd Brit and a whoppingly satisfying PB.
 

21st - 26th May 2012

M  6.07 miles recovery (7:09mm avge)
T  7.19 miles general aerobic (6:22mm avge)
W  8.11 miles, including 2.04 miles @ 5:38 (6:15mm avge)
T  6.21 miles recovery, including 6X100m strides (7:05mm avge)
F  Rest
S  2.36 miles recovery (7:13mm avge)
S  Watch this space......

Total  29.94 miles (6:43mm avge)

Finally here! This week has gone as well as possible given the lack of running and how that plays with your mind in the taper. I have touch wood managed to escape any further lurgies and my carb loading has gone absolutely fantastically well. The menu has been pretty similar for each day and will be for the rest of today although I'll eat my last big meal about 3:30 this afternoon.

For those interested my diet on Thursday and Friday has been

Breakfast
1pint of banana, raspberry, passion fruit and pineapple smoothie
Large bowl of cornflakes
Two crumpets

Morning snacks
1 litre of fresh apple juice
two toasted white bagels with lashings of raspberry jam (a tip from Steve Way (yes, I did plagiarise the format of his blog in creating mine ;-) ))

Lunch
Two large ham sandwiches on Thursday and large sushi & tub of chargrilled chicken pasta on Friday
Yoghurt
Large fruit salad

Afternoon snack
1 toasted bagel with raspberry jam

Dinner
c175g of pasta with a tomato sauce

Lots of water throughout the whole period, and a few salt tablets to get myself as hydrated as possible.

Training wise, I have done very little, and I even decided to give myself a complete rest day on Friday, just to really help freshen the legs up nicely.

I had a good little marathon pace test on Wednesday morning which left me feeling very comfortable of the pace I need to run tomorrow.

So this is it, I will be hitting the start line in the morning, hopefully in peak shape. I feel great, I really do and I'm glad I decided to pull out of London as in hindsight if I had run round I know I would not be feeling how I am today. My confidence is sky high of how the race will pan out. My training has been first class for me and I am  ready to move up a level. The weather looks like it wont be perfect but hopefully it will not be too bad and wont impact the run too much. All I can do is control the controllables and run my race. I wont win the race as there are too many top athletes running, I may not even come in the top 20 but I don't care where I come. This is about running a great race for me. I want to run like I have never run before; stronger, lighter, faster and being brave to hold back when it would be easy to push on and push on when it starts to get tough, but most of all I want to look back on the race and be proud of what I have achieved. This is the next step in my journey, and I truly believe it will be a giant leap forward.

To be continued.....

14th - 20th May 2012

M 6.07 miles recovery (7:18mm avge) AM, 4.16 miles recovery (7:03mm avge) PM

T  10.13 miles general aerobic, including 10x100m strides (6:22mm avge)

W  Rest

T 12.23, including 4.51 miles @ 5:16mm (6:00 mm avge)

F 10.07 miles general aerobic (6:26mm avge)

S  6.39 miles recovery (7:13mm avge)

S  13.18 miles progressive (6:16mm avge)

Total 62.23 miles (6:31mm avge)

So first week of taper and I even decided to put in a rest day! Only reason was I was absolutely shattered from the first day of a two day conference with work and when the alarm went off at 5:00am I figured some days are just meant to be rest days. If there’s a time to take them, it’s in the taper too. It was nice that this coincided with my wife Hania’s birthday as well so it meant I could spend some time with her and the baby before getting up and going to day two of the conference.

Thursday I got up and set off for my last session before Edinburgh and knew within the first 500 yards that it was going to be a good run. Usually after a rest day my legs are somewhat jaded but this time they felt light and springy and really up for a bit of an effort. So after 5 miles of general aerobic running, I started a lactate threshold effort. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the pace under 5:20 per mile and not only was this quicker than I generally do them but the effort did feel very comfortable. I would say that it felt as if I was running with the handbrake on for all the way too. The session ended up averaging 5:16 per mile at an effort which I would suggest was somewhere around half marathon pace effort. This gives me great confidence for the Autumn where my main focus will be to break 70 minutes for the half marathon. I may be in sub 69 shape by that time too judging by this run. I then did a short run home.

Friday and Saturday was just a bit more filler running and then Sunday where I did a progressive 13 miler keeping the effort nice and controlled. I felt like a coiled spring and the legs were eager to get going which is a really positive sign seven days out.

Overall this week has gone really well, I have been conscious not to push the efforts too hard and general and slow mileage has been very disciplined so I have hopefully avoided pushing the envelope a little too far. This week the mileage will drop by another 50% before the big day with only 2 miles at MP and a few strides planned as faster running.

My number arrived this week and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised when this little number dropped through the letterbox.

So far I  have managed to avoid (touch wood will continue to do so) the lurgy although I am ever more conscious of folk sniffling around me. There was a lady who had a streaming cold who decided to sit next to me on the train during the week and then she tried to ask me a question about getting to the tube station on exiting the train. Poor woman must have wondered what on earth I was doing when I suddenly took about three steps back to stop her breathing on me!

7th - 13th May 2012

M  6.23 miles recovery (7:15mm avge) AM, 4.19 miles recovery (7:09mm avge) PM

T  10.15miles, including 5X600m VO2Max Intervals (6:18mm avge)

W  15.11 miles progressive (6:27mm avge) AM, 4.16 miles recovery (7:10mm avge) PM

T 9.04 miles general aerobic, including 8 X100m strides (6:27mm avge)

F 7.18 miles recovery (7:09mm avge)

S 9.56 miles, including Dulwich Parkrun in @ 5:02mm (6:04mm avge)

S 20.11 miles mildly progressive (6:31mm avge)

Total 85.74 miles (6:36mm avge)

Another good week where if anything the focus was really a bit of maintenance before I start to taper down (again!). Tuesday’s intervals session was pleasing so shortly after Sunday’s mammoth 22 miler with MP sections. I tried to keep the pace nice and controlled on these and was pleased to see a decent return for less effort than last time I did these. The legs were however quite tired on the warm down.

Wednesday was pretty much exactly the same as last week with a rather mild progressive run into work. It was a fraction quicker than last week for a similar effort so perhaps I have gained a couple of seconds per mile of fitness (they all count!).

An then Thursday and Friday were slightly easier runs as I tried to freshen the legs up a bit ahead of a Parkrun blast on Saturday morning. I chose to do this at Dulwich which is a relatively new Parkrun venue and I know it to be pretty flat and therefore likely to be fairly fast as I have done some decent long Marathon pace tempo runs there in the build-up. I was pleased to see Richard Ward on the start line as it meant I would get a hard run. As an under 20 Richard was ranked higher than Mo Farah, Scott Overall and Andy Baddeley in the 1,500m rankings so if I could beat him he would be a great scalp for me. He had also done a 15:10 5k earlier in the year. Off we went and I planned to stick close to him as possible, after about 600m I noticed that we were running at 2:55 per k pace which is ridiculous! It slowed down quite a bit after that though and the first k was ticked off in 3:02.7, the second k where we were still fighting for position was a 3:05.1 and then the third marginally slower at 3:06.9. By this point I knew I had the beating of him and now it was about coasting to the finish. My Dad had also sent me a text earlier in the week reminding me not to overtrain so with that clicking over in my mind I didn't have the desire to really push on and try for a PB. The 4th k which was all marginally uphill was a 3:16.4 and then the last k in 3:07.3. I then measured it another 9 seconds long but Garmins are never 100% accurate. I broke the course record with 15:48 (it's only been going five weeks) and was very pleased with the run and actually rate it as a better performance than my 15:34 PB at Hackney marshes. Dulwich is a slightly tougher course and I didn't really go to the well in this one like I did at Hackney (and my Garmin measured it a touch long ;-) ) so all in all I think I am in a better position than I was two weeks before London. This is especially encouraging considering the lack of VO2 Max stuff I have been doing recently which is absolutely essential to fulfil your potential at 5k.

Sunday was a 20 miler at a fairly easy pace. I had wondered whether I needed to do a 20 two weeks out and although I am sure I could have got away with only doing an 18 I really feel I cope better off a shorter taper. And as I said in the past couple of weeks, I had a short time to build my training up before reducing it again for Edinburgh given that I had the benefits of a full and long taper for London which didn’t happen so I have been trying to strike a balance between doing enough but not too much. As we know I didn’t manage to finish at London and this could well have been because I pushed the training a little bit too hard which made me susceptible to bugs – but the reality is we will never know. I have to commute to London every day meaning I have the pleasure of sharing a train carriage with 70 odd people who always tend to be coughing and spluttering so it’s no doubt that I will pick up stuff from time to time! The run went well anyway but the legs were certainly tired after Saturday's 5k exploits.

So this coming week looks quite nice with a c30% reduction in the miles of this week and only one hard run to think of. The cake is mixed, baking and about to come out of the oven, I just need the timer to ping and it’ll be full steam ahead at Edinburgh two weeks today.

30th April - 6th May 2012

M 8.05 miles recovery (7:07mm avge)

T  8.48 miles general aerobic (6:22mm avge)

W 12.48 miles, including 2X3.5 miles @5:20mm (5:55mm avge)

T 15.07 progressive (6:32mm avge) am, 4.16 miles recovery (7:22mm avge)pm

F 8.27 miles general aerobic, including 8X100m Strides (6:27mm avge)

S  6.62 miles recovery (7:!2mm avge)

S 22.26 miles including 3X5M @ 5:36mm avge (5:55mm avge)

Total:85.36 miles (6:25mm avge)

This was the first week of two of normal training that I'm trying to squeeze in before reducing down again for Edinburgh in three weeks time. And I have to say it went rather well. It could be because I'm relatively fresh because of my taper for London but it is always nice to have some confidence boosting sessions.

Tuesday was the first session for a while and it felt great to be running quickly again. I think I mentioned last week that I wanted to focus a bit more on tempo/lactate threshold type running in this mini build up to Edinburgh than VO2max stuff which I had been doing a reasonable amount of prior to London as I need to ‘re-bake the cake’ a bit. I have to say I was a little scared about this session and was relieved on the first 3.5 mile interval that the pace felt very manageable, indeed I had been expecting closer to 5:25s than 5:20s. What would the second interval hold? Well as you can see from above it was virtually identical, in fact a whole 3 seconds quicker and although the heart rate was rising it was definitely at the right effort level across the session. So that was nice.

Wednesday was a progressive run into work which I took a little easier averaging 6:32 per mile as I wanted to ensure I didn’t push into the realms of overreaching which may have been to blame for me picking up the colds back in March and prior to London.

And then to today's run which was a mighty session of 22 miles with three 5 mile efforts at Marathon Pace with a mile easy between the efforts. The plan with this was simply to get a lot of MP miles into the legs but without the stress of doing them all in one go. Having seen some friends' results at London it is clear that 2:30 will not be an easy mark to break and so if anything it gave me a bit of a wake up call to try to run more on the comfortable side with a view to hopefully picking up the pace towards the end of the second half at Edinburgh and perhaps sneaking under 2:29 if everything goes well and I race well. Anyway, today's run was another great confidence booster; the first effort felt very good indeed as did the second, it was only in the third that the legs were tiring a little bit but aerobically I was well in control and it was nice to see the pace increase a little throughout the workbouts. Full details are below.

All in all, this week couldn't have gone much better but I do need to get back to regular stretching and core work as I felt this was really starting to help a few weeks ago.