2015 London Marathon - Week 4: 23/3 - 29/3

M  7 miles (7:18 mm), 4 miles (7:34mm)
T  12 miles (6:29mm), 6 miles (7:04mm)
W 16 miles (6:24mm) 6 miles (6:56mm)
T 11 miles (6:46mm), 6 miles (7:12mm)
F  Rest
S 6 miles including Northern 12-Stage Short Leg
S Rest

Total - 75.4 miles (6:48mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 946 beats per mile average
Average Weight 142.5 Lbs

So a delayed blog for last week with the only reason being I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself! After the half marathon last week I was keen not to overdo things too much but like the numpty I am probably did which resulted in me feeling completely smoked by half way through the week. With the Northern 12-stage looming on the Saturday I could feel a dreaded cold coming on too. This is exactly what I didn't want at this point which is supposed to be my peak mileage, peak session time.

I took the rare opportunity to take a rest day on Friday in the hope that it would keep the cold at bay and although it did enough for me to run on Saturday I found the race incredibly tough. I was on our 9th leg which was  a 2.4 mile short leg and my team mate passed over to me with us in second place with a short lead over Morpeth in third. Despite setting off quite strongly and feeling quite comfortable it only took me about a kilometre before I really started to blow! I grimaced (literally, see below - photo credit Simon Deakin) my way around the rest of the course averaging around 5:06miling absolutely all out. I hope that was down to the underlying virus rather than my ability or current underlying fitness! The Morpeth guy who was chasing me came past and so I unfortunately left the team in third with some work to do with three legs to go. Somewhat fortunately on the last leg we had got back into second place and the leaders Liverpool went off course, meaning we were winners by default. It was of course an undeserved victory but one that enabled us to retain our title as Northern Champions. It is the National in a couple of weeks time and I wont be able to make it due to holidays unfortunately. That said, not sure I'd make that team anyway given the performance on Saturday!

I was lucky enough to have some input from Leeds City and former international star Mike Baxter (28:16 for 10,000m!) who suggested quite rightly that I should back off a bit if feeling so rough. Sometimes it helps to hear it from someone else as I know what I'm like and I would have talked myself into going out and doing 20 miles on Sunday morning had he not suggested it. In a way I was quite relieved as it allowed me a day to recharge the batteries.

It is now the middle of Week 5 and although the beginning of this week has been far from what I had in mind about a week ago I feel like I'm coming out the other side of the virus. Full details should follow on Sunday/Monday.

Aerobic efficiency had gone down a bit, possibly due to the onset of the cold but weight remained constant.

2015 London Marathon - Week 3: 16/3 - 22/3

M  10.5 miles (6:28mm), 6 miles (6:59mm)
T  8.5 miles (6:42mm), 6 miles (6:57mm)
W 17.5 miles including  24, 18, 12, 6, 3 mins (all off 3mins rec) (5:43mm), 5 miles (7:01mm)
T 8.5 miles (6:21mm), 6 miles (6:56mm)
F  6 miles (6:56mm)
S 5 miles (6:49mm)
S 17.5 miles including Wilmslow Half Marathon 10th place & 69:05 PB (5:16mm)

Total - 91.2 miles (6:21mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 939 beats per mile average
Average Weight 142.5 Lbs

The aim for this week was to cut back a bit on the miles, try and freshen up a bit for my half marathon this weekend but still get in a big marathon specific workout on Wednesday. All in all it went to plan thankfully.

The session on Wednesday was a big one again with 24 mins, 18 mins, 12 mins, 6 mins, 3 mins off 3 mins recoveries with the aim of starting at Marathon Pace and gradually getting quicker. I near enough managed it although I feel I probably did the first couple of efforts a touch too quick which meant I struggled with the final three efforts and it wasn't quite perfect. However I covered just over 12 miles in total during the 63 minutes worth of effort so around 5:14 per mile within the 17.5 mile run. The faster bits weren't quite as quick as last time out but the marathon bit felt more comfortable for about 8 secs per mile quicker.

After this big session I wanted to taper rather quickly to try and get some freshness in the legs for a PB attempt at Wilmslow Half Marathon. I had heard that it is a decent course for a PB and it usually gets some top quality athletes so I was hoping I wouldn't be too lonely! In honesty I felt like I had a decent chance of getting somewhere around 68:30 and if my legs were completely fresh maybe dipping under 68. In hindsight those were both pretty lofty goals given the miles of recent weeks but I cant really complain  with the result (I ended up with 69:05 - a 21 second PB) because I will have got a great training stimulus from it and although feeling aerobically very comfortable, the legs really just weren't up for the challenge the second half of the race. The second half is quite a bit more testing than the first (in fact I went through 10k in a PB of 31:55!) but I just seemed to lack any sharpness at all and found it very difficult to push myself as hard as I know I can in a half. My HR averaged 180 beats per minute for the race which is a good 3 beats per minute off what it averaged at my last half marathon PB pre-Yorkshire Marathon and this really supports the thought that the engine is in good shape, I just needed a fresher set of wheels! I managed to finished 10th in a decent field so that was pleasing not one person went passed me, with me moving up from 14th to 10th during the second half of the race.

Bearing in mind my half today and the big session on Wednesday that's around 25 miles run this week at an average of 5:15mm so a decent chunk of quality.

Weight has pretty much remained static this week but I have eaten like a horse today, celebrating my Mother in Laws birthday at Gusto in Didsbury. I need to ensure I don't lose my focus with my diet over the next few days to make sure I don't over eat too much at this stage. I still have about 3 possibly 4 Lbs to lose before marathon day. Its certainly achievable but not if I let my rampant appetite win!

Aerobic efficiency has dropped again to the same level as it was the week before Yorkshire Marathon, so I'm pretty much where I need to be from an aerobic perspective, maybe if I can improve it yet further a decent PB will be on the cards.

The aim for this coming week is mainly to run easy as  I look to recover from this hard effort but with one eye on the Northern Road Relays next Saturday where I will probably have a short leg. It'll then be two big weeks to really get that last bit of hard work in before the big day!

2015 London Marathon - Week 2: 9/3 - 15/3

M  12 miles (6:33mm)
T  12 miles (6:39mm), 5.5 miles (7:03mm)
W  16 miles including 4X15mins (5:51m), 6 miles (7:18mm)
T 10 miles (6:52mm), 6 miles (7:12mm)
F  10.5 miles (6:34mm), 6 miles (6:56mm)
S 27.5 miles including Middleton Marathon - 2:37:39 (6:00mm)
S 11 miles (6:45mm)

Total - 124.2 miles (6:31mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 956 beats per mile average
Average Weight 142.4 Lbs

Another big week of training in the bag this week and it's been one with a few ups and downs! I started off the week quite nicely with the usual decent length aerobic runs on Monday and Tuesday. Then it was time for the big marathon session on Wednesday which was to be 4X15minutes at marathon pace with 3:00 jog recoveries.

The session went really well and pleasingly from an aerobic perspective I was very comfortable. The issue was that my legs didn't really like the pace too much. Perhaps this was because I had done the previous couple of days a bit too hard leaving me a touch tired. On completion of this I looked back to the corresponding workout pre-Yorkshire Marathon last autumn and I can see that I averaged c5:31 for the MP sections and 5:25 this time for a marginally lower HR this time out. That has to be encouraging and as the legs freshen up during the taper I can hope that it will all come together for a strong run on the day. I would take a 6 secs per mile improvement now! 

This session however did leave my legs, especially my calves in complete bits. They were very stiff. Possibly due to doing the session in a fairly low profile pair of running shoes. I then also had a sports massage on Wednesday evening meaning my run on Thursday morning was quite hilarious. I just couldn't really move! Friday the legs started to improve and I was aerobically asleep for my 10 miler in the morning but there was still some residual tiredness in the legs. Luckily the two very easy days had been helpful in getting ready for the weekend's exploits.

Saturday was mega run day with only one longer in the campaign planned. The plan was to do somewhere around 27 and I thought it would be quite fun to run a marathon split on a flat loop which I do all my tempo work in the hope that I could keep a fairly consistent pace. It meant an early start though as I had to be back to take my eldest daughter to ballet. So I started out at 5:30 on my training marathon. As you can see from the link above I managed to cover the distance in around 2:37 excluding a couple of stops to relieve my bladder! I felt really strong the whole way and in fact lifted the pace quite a bit for the last nine miles. It also gave me the opportunity to try out my proposed marathon shoes, the Adidas Boston Boost. A beautiful shoe with slightly more cushioning and a bit less flat than the Adios make it perfect for me. Its a funny old thing this running lark as my legs felt far better throughout and indeed after this effort than my much slower 24 miler last week. I put it down to the fact that my legs were pretty shot last week due to the step up in mileage.

Aerobic efficiency has improved a bit again and also managed to drop another pound in weight which is good. Now a slightly easier week in terms of miles to try and freshen up for the Wilmslow Half Marathon next week. I'm confident of a PB if I get good conditions.

2015 London Marathon - Week 1: 2/3 - 8/3

M  12 miles (6:37mm), 4 miles (7:10mm)
T  12.5 miles (6:30mm), 5.5 miles (7:13mm)
W  15 miles including 20 mins, 4X3mins, 20 mins (5:55mm), 5 miles (7:08mm)
T 11 miles (6:27mm), 6 miles (7:03mm)
F  8.5 miles (6:41mm), 5.5 miles (7:04mm)
S 24 miles steady long run (6:28mm)
S  12 miles (6:21mm), 5 miles (7:06mm)

Total - 127.3 miles (6:36mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 973 beats per mile average
Average Weight 143.5 Lbs


So my winter didn't quite go as planned! I basically got a bit lazy and was suffering quite severe blues after the Yorkshire Marathon. I managed to put on over a stone in weight and arrived in January in a bit of a mess from a fitness perspective. Luckily, I had relocated my mojo big time and was really ready to crack on. Which I did. Not right away but on the 6th January as I had a old friend's stag do to attend the first week of January and that was always going to be a touch boozy with limited exercise on the agenda! The big target for spring is London marathon so the past few weeks I have been trying to get some consistency together with some decent mileage. I frequented the club a few times through February to get a bit of intensity back and thankfully the fitness started coming back quick quickly, especially as the weight started to drop off. I did have a cold for a couple of weeks a short while ago which did interrupt training for a few days but nothing major and soon got back to things.

So I found myself 8 weeks out in actually pretty good shape. Not marathon fit and not as lean as I need to be but probably in a better place than I was at the same point out from Yorkshire Marathon.

This week was the second of three high mileage weeks before I cut back for the Wilmslow half marathon and I think, I haven't checked but I think it was my highest mileage week ever at 127.7. Generally I have just tried to add a mile on here or there to try and boost the mileage from last campaign whilst still following Steve Way's magic marathon sessions.

This weeks was 20 mins, 4X3mins, 20 mins with the goal of the 20 minute efforts to be somewhere around MP. Although MP is a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment and the effort almost certainly felt above that the pace came in quicker than the corresponding workout last build-up. Only marginally but I'll take it and for pretty much exactly the same HR. the 3 minute efforts were a bit slower on average than last time. This could have been down to a couple of reasons; it was pretty blustery and also maybe just the shock of running at that sort of pace was quite a lot at this stage of things! Even so they were pretty nippy for me and running them hard means the second 20 minute effort is run on tireder legs which is great for the specificity factor of the marathon.

Other than that I had a 24 mile long run which was a bit of a grind really. I (or at least my legs) didn't enjoy it too much at all but aerobically I was very strong.

On the aerobic efficiency aspect that I tracked last time I am in a good position with well under 1000 beats per mile average across the week which considering that first week was over 1200 is quite good indeed.

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!

2014 Yorkshire Marathon Race Report

M Rest
T 6 miles (6:25mm)
W 8 miles, including 2miles @MP (6:13mm)
T 5miles (6:45mm)
F 4miles (6:41mm)
S 3miles (6:47mm)
S Yorkshire Marathon 2:22:49 (5:27mm)

Official splits

Pre-breakfast race day weight 139.0 Lbs

So race day arrived and I absolutely knew I was in the shape of my life. Never had I put such a consistent block together. My injuries of previous months had gradually faded to virtually nothing; no sciatica, no dodgy glutes, no nasty hamstrings. I felt great. Even the stars had aligned to give me prefect running weather with no wind whatsoever and a nice cool temperature. I had also managed to hit race day at the lightest I've been probably since I was 12!

I had a mini taper wobble midweek having worn my heart rate monitor on a couple of easy runs early in the week while I was carb depleting. HR was relatively sky high so I ditched it for the remaining runs of the week which certainly seemed to help the mental state a bit more. Now it was just about convincing myself that I was going to deliver. I only got a place in the race a about 11 weeks ago but thought it was worth one big effort to see where I could get to. I'm just a little too obsessive not to have a marathon to think about!

Carb loading went great and although I had an absolute tonne I stuck to an average of 11 g per kg of body weight which is what the experts say is about right but it still felt like I could have had more!

About Five O'clock on Saturday evening I had a dilemma about my race day shoes. I had been planning to run in Adios Boosts but they had really beaten up my feet in the half marathon a few weeks ago and when I told my wife Hania her face suggested I consider another pair! I thought the fact that they'd done so much damage to my feet was down to the fact that I'd worn a thinner sock and I hadn't quite tightened the laces enough but it was too much of a risk to take. So I spent about an hour trying them on and then putting on my Puma Faas 300s, swapping back then went to get my Adidas Bostons which had 450 miles on the clock but that I'd run Edinburgh in. I gradually decided that I wanted to race a marathon in a lighter weight shoe for a change but that it wouldn't be the Boosts it was to be the Faas 300s which is nice and lightweight but feel quite nice and spongy.

Bloody hell I haven't even started talking about the race yet! So race day morning. I woke up at 3:30am as I tend to. In fact I had only slept a total of 10 hours in the previous two nights. That seems to be normal for me now ahead of a big race so I didn't let it concern me too much but I would like to get to a race where I've had a good couple of nights sleep. Maybe one day. Cup of tea, shower, breakfast espresso and off! Got to the start nice and early and settled into the VIP/Elite area listening to some tunes and making sure all necessary body parts were well lubricated!

Little jog to warm up and then to the start. I wanted to try and keep it really easy for the first mile which I managed to do with quite a few folks streaming past me. I knew that I was going to be in for  a lonely run given the quality of the field. There were a number of sub 2:20 calibre runners then me a 2:28 man so I was aware that it would be me on my own with my thoughts. Some say it's easier to run in a pack, I'm not too sure that's completely necessary in the marathon unless conditions are really bad. When Steve Jones won in Chicago in 1985 he went out from gun to tape with no intention of running with anyone, not that anyone could have stayed with him but it proves that you don't NEED someone to run with in a marathon. You just have to do what you have to do and run the race as optimally as you can. With others I genuinely believe you are unlikely to unless you get very lucky and happy to be running with someone who is exactly matched to your ability and fitness!

Anyway, back to the race. I felt really easy from the off which was a great sign. Got my head down for the first few miles and just concentrated on getting into a rhythm. I wore my HRM as I do like to keep an eye on it even in a marathon these days. I don't let it dictate my pace but it is a helpful guide and now after 12 marathons I have a pretty god idea of what is sustainable. Once I got to three miles I knew for sure if I kept a cool head I was going to obliterate my PB. All the signs were good. I felt relaxed, I was moving well, breathing was all very under control and I was focused.

I reached the first 10k split in 33:28 feeling good. As I went through the next couple of miles I could see Dave Webb who finished 15th at the World Championships in 2011 coming back to me. I couldn't quite believe it. That would be a scalp that I would be very proud of if I could reel him in! I caught up with him about 9 miles and we ran together for a mile or so before I gradually pulled away. I went through the 20k point in 66:56 so another 33:28 split. Then it was on to half way which I think they had placed the timing mat a bit too far on as the time was 71:23 and I think I got there a bit sooner than that.

The next part of the course was quite tricky in that there was a gradual down hill and then a long drag very slightly uphill from 14 for a couple of miles to 16 before dropping down again to 18. It was in this section that I started to feel that I was working and having to concentrate quite a bit more on my cadence and keeping the legs turning over. I saw my club mate Mike Burrett who was out supporting on the course (and doing his long run). He gave me some helpful info in terms of how I was looking and gave me some much needed encouragement. Then there was the turn back section to work back up the hill for a couple of miles before getting to the business end of the race. I went through 30k in 1:41:26 so about 34:30 for that 10k split which shows the slightly trickier nature of this part of the course. Then it was on to 20miles and the last 10k.

My legs were now really starting to scream at me, I could feel a bit of hard skin under my right foot which was causing me some bother but not enough to really cause too many issues. I just had to try and ignore it. At this point of the race it really was just about one foot in front of the other and concentrating so intently. I just focused on the next mile marker pushing and driving. I managed to pick off a couple of 'genuine' elites at this stage which was highly gratifying. I was flying past them. A mile seems quite along way when you're 23 miles in but although my pace was starting to drift a bit I was still keeping pretty strong. I had seen that there was a big hill in the last mile which I was conscious that I needed to save some energy for as there was no way I wanted to be walking up it! Either way it was going to take a monumental effort to get up it. As I reached the point I just got my head down and I could feel the strength of my very recently late Auntie Di help me drive up the hill. As I reached the top I went past the 26 mile marker and I knew with one last push I could come in under 2:23 which would be a whopping PB. and with that I absolutely emptied the barrel, I poured it on, there's no point in leaving anything out there and some how managed to cover the last 0.22 of a mile in 4:39 pace. The crowd were going mental and I lifted my hands above my head and actually felt like I'd won. It was just ace. I crossed the line at a full on sprint and as I came to a stop the emotion of the day got on top of me. I was a really wuss as I couldn't stop crying. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure but I did eventually. I then had a couple of television interviews which I will no doubt look like an absolute idiot in. It's really not an ideal time to be interviewed a couple of minutes after the monumental effort I'd just put in. It was incredibly pleasing not only to get the mahoosive PB and finish 5th overall but also to be the first Yorkshireman home was very special indeed.

Shortly after I took up running a few years ago I had a dream that I would go sub 2:20 one day and with today's performance I've taken a big stride towards that.

Yorkshire Marathon - Week 9: 29/9-5/10

M 10 miles (6:35mm), 5 miles (6:55mm)
T 10.5 miles, including 10 mins(3mins), 8X2mins(1min) (5:49mm), 5 miles (6:56mm)
W 6 mile (7:03mm), 5 miles (6:10mm)
T 10 miles, including 10k Tempo in 32:12 (5:43mm), 4 miles (7:04mm)
F 6 miles (7:00mm)
S 14 miles Steady (6:07mm)
S 10 miles (6:20mm)

Total - 87 miles (6:23mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 938 beats per mile average
Average Weight 140.06 Lbs
Average Resting HR 32

This week was the first week of taper then and it was hoped that this would start to see my legs freshen up. The week basically consisted of a couple of sessions, which were a bit more speed focused than in the past and then some decent aerobic mileage filling in for the rest of the week.  All in all it went brilliantly.

My weight has dropped again very slightly to pretty much 10 stone dead! I suspect I shall be a little heavier on the start line next week but that's fine. I shall be carb depleting having had a decent experience of it pre-Edinburgh this year so I shall be extra grumpy for the first three days of this coming week, but it'll all be worth it I'm sure!

Anyway, to the runs of note, Tuesday's session of 10 mins, 8X2mins was another of Steve Way's specials and it went really well. The tempo bit was run at 5:10 pace feeling like I was driving with the handbrake on and then the 2 minute intervals averaged around 4:47 pace. To be fair I didn't even know I could sprint that fast so to do 8 reps of 2 minutes of that was very pleasing indeed. It was nice to get a decent chunk of minutes (26 in total) way quicker than marathon pace. Theory being that next week should make the pace feel easy. Thursday's run was a 10 miler with a 10k tempo in the middle. I had planned to keep this around half marathon effort so it feels like you're working really quite hard but by no means pushing into red line territory. It's nice to do this run when you are in very good shape as it can give you such a big confidence booster. I ran it in 32:12 which is only 7 seconds slower than my actual 10k PB. I was also getting quicker all the way through and finished feeling really strong. Looks like I need to get myself a new 10k PB at some point as with that sort of effort I should be able to go at around 60 secs quicker in a race.

I mentioned last week that I expected my aerobic efficiency to start ticking down (average HR going up for a given pace) as the mileage reduces. Although it did for the first few runs of the week it has ended up staying exactly the same as it averaged last week and with the legs starting to feel really fresh. Saturday's 14 miler came in as the most efficient of the whole campaign to date at 899 beats per mile. To be fair there has been a significant temperature drop the past couple of days so maybe that could also have had some impact.

So this time in a week it'll all be over. Whilst that may not sound like a long period of time, I know this week will drag beyond belief as I double check my calorie intake every 20 minutes and wear out the F5 button on my computer as I refresh the page for the weather forecast on the met office website.