Reflections and Plans

So, having been smiling pretty much like a Cheshire cat for the past week I have been thinking about how this whole build up went and what I should do next to try to continue to improve. Luckily I have a few ideas that will hopefully keep my pushing on to another level.

I started the York build up feeling very unfit after not doing too much after Edinburgh in May. Steady running wasn't that quick and easy wasn't that easy! The effort at getting up for and out for tempo runs in the early stages took a big effort to say the least. As the weeks of consistent mileage and marathon specific sessions progressed I gradually just got in better and better shape. This tells me that if I can get to the start of a marathon specific phase in already decent nick I have a reasonable expectation that I can be even fitter come race day.

My increase in fitness was coupled with some decent consistent weight loss. I managed my diet much better than in previous campaigns and was really pleased to get to the weight I did for race day. I still think I can get a bit lighter in the future without losing strength so will endeavour to do that as I get closer to London Marathon next year.

As much as the science may be flawed I really do feel I get a big boost from the carb deplete and load. Although you feel really rubbish for the three days without carbs it is good in that it means you are very unlikely to put on any additional weight in that last week which is a big risk and as your muscles are full of nice fresh glycogen (is there such a thing? Doubt it!) you really do arrive at race day feeling brilliant.The energy stores seem to really help as you get to the business end of the race too. In actual fact, despite only running 26.2 miles pre-race I still managed to lose 1lb in that last week.

The plan now is two Spring Marathons in London and Edinburgh in 2015. I really want to go back to London and run a good race there as it is just a phenomenal event and a quick course. I like the Edinburgh race, despite them initially refusing to publish race results this year as it is a quick course and I have run two strong marathons there. I'd also like to experiment a bit at doing marathons back to back to see if the first helps or hinders! I am then looking at Berlin Marathon next Autumn, possibly for a sub 2:20 attempt if it doesn't come before.

So in the meantime I have a few other races to keep me busy. I shall be doing a couple of XC races in the West Yorkshire League, The Ribble Valley 10k, The Brass Monkey Half Marathon, the Northern XC Champs, Dewsbury 10k, the National XC and the Wilmslow Half. unfortunately I am going to miss the Yorkshire XC Championships due to me attending a long standing mate's stage do. Having dabbled a bit with XC in the past I certainly don't see it as my forte but think if I can get OK at it it can only help with the strength aspects of my fitness.

I intend to start building in some weight training and a bit more focus on core work as these are things I have completely neglected in the past and could help me chip a bit more time off too. Realistically I need to start doing this sooner rather than later as it would be better to have it as a habitual part of my training for when I start doing the harder stuff!

So having had a week of pure gluttony (I have put on 7lbs - I'm not sure how that's actually possible but it's true!) I am now looking forward to getting stuck in again. This week will be easy/steady running to get me back in the swing of things while trying to regain control of my diet which went a bit bonkers last week. It was fun though!