"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light." – Dylan Thomas
Quite some time back I wrote a post about dealing with fibromyalgia, where I'd said that I was planning/hoping to rebuild to a good level of fitness and get back to racing. As the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and sure enough things did not plan out as I'd hoped.
For various reasons, some fibro, some personal, my training did not take off as I'd planned, and for the rest of the year I averaged probably less than 25 miles per week. Unfortunately post marathon I let things slip again so am back in the same place of needing to regain fitness, but I'll save that for a future blog.
Coming into the new year with 2 race entries (a postponed half-marathon, and Manchester marathon), and my 16 year-old son joining my running club, I was motivated to try again.
My approach from quite early on was that Manchester had to be part of a complete rebuilding process as it was quickly apparent that it would take time for my body to harden up to the rigours of marathons.
In addition my general physical condition was, shall we say, not the best it has been.
What follows is quite simply the 13 weeks of training from the 3rd of January up to, and including, the Manchester Marathon - my first marathon in 4.5 years!
Any paces listed are minutes per mile, unless otherwise stated.
I usually run to effort, not pace, and my training efforts relative to cMP (current Marathon Pace) are:
Jog: anything slower than 'Very Easy'.
Very Easy: + 2:30
Easy: + 1:30-2:00
Brisk: + 50-60s
Steady: + 30-40s
Fast: + 0-20s
January 3rd - January 9th
Monday: 7.05m (7:26)
Tuesday: 7.43m (7:35)
Wednesday: late am: 7m (8:22)
pm: Track session with a 3m+ cycle either side - 7.48m (7:13)
Session was 2 x 800m, 1 x 1600m, 2 x 800m with 1 lap recoveries after 800m, 2 laps after the 1600m.
Rep Times: 2:54, 2:53, 5:50, 2:52, 2:50.
Thursday: am: 10.1m (7:44) / pm: 5.04m (7:51)
Friday: off
Saturday: am: 5.27m (7:13) / pm: 6.03m steady (6:44)
Sunday: 6.02m (8:00).
Total: 61.42m
January 10th - January 16th
Monday: 8.16m (7:46)
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: lunchtime: 6.02m (8:25)
pm: Track session - 10.64m (7:31)
Session was: 3km, 2km, 1m with 2 lap recoveries between.
Rep Times: 10:59, 7:19, 5:48.
Thursday: 12.33m (7:21) - run as 30mins easy, 40mins steady (6:49), 20mins easy.
Friday: am: 7.05m (7:35) / pm: 4m (8:02)
Saturday: 5.27m (7:59) - included 2 x 1/4m road reps run hard (73.7s, 72.5s), with 1/2m jog between
Sunday: warm-up, 5.86m cross-country race (21st place @ a 6:44 average), cool-down.
Total: 61.47m
January 17th - January 23rd
Monday: 9.11m (7:31)
Tuesday: 'Hills+Stuff' session: 8.56m (7:22)
Session was: 3m warm-up, 1m @ 5:54, 5min jog, 4 x 45s moderately hard uphill (75s jog-back recovery), 3m brisk (7:09).
Wednesday: Road session - 8.35m (7:58)
Session was: 8 x 1min fast/1min jog. Averaged 5:16 pace for the fast.
Thursday: off
Friday: Long run: 15.03m (6:54) 3m easy, 12m steady (6:43).
Saturday: 10.24m (7:02) - short warm-up, parkrun @ tempo effort (18:24 for 5km), 10 x ~10s hillsprints, 4m brisk (7:07).
Sunday: 4.01m (8:14)
Total: 55.29m
January 24th - January 30th
Monday: 8.02m (7:31)
Tuesday: 8.01m (7:11) - 4m easy, 3m @ current MP (6:13), 1m jog.
Wednesday: Aborted road session - 8.01m (7:34). 20mins easy, 3 x {4mins steady, 1min pickup}, 25mins easy. Right lower back and right upper hamstring were problematic.
Thursday: 8.22m (8:17)
Friday: 0.3m (7:07) - still having problems even after chiropractic treatment so chose rest.
Saturday: off
Sunday: off
Total: 32.56m
January 31st - February 6th
Monday: 5.29m (8:19) - still a bit achy and tight post adjustment.
Tuesday: 8.13m (7:23) - 6 brisk (7:10), 2 easy (8:00) - still a bit tight and stiff so eased off.
Wednesday: am: 3.02m jog (8:34)
pm: Track session - 13.52m (7:19)
Session was: 6km tempo (22:32), 2 lap jog, 3.2km tempo (11:57), 2 lap jog, 1.6km tempo (5:56).
Aim was 91s per lap which was estimated HM pace, but the effort came out a little quicker.
Thursday: am: 8.55m brisk (7:01) / pm: 4.01m jog (8:38)
Friday: 7.56m (7:03) - 20mins warm-up, 20mins fast (6:15), 13mins cool-down.
Saturday: 5.16m (7:52) - 2m wu, 4 x 45s moderately hard uphills (jog back recoveries), 2m cd.
Sunday: no running, but plenty of hiking on holiday.
Total: 55.24m
February 7th - February 13th
Monday: off
Tuesday: 9.07m (7:56)
Wednesday: am: 4.01m jog (8:37)
pm: Track session - 11.05m (7:32)
Session was: 2km (7:17), 1600m (5:49), 1200m (4:17) with 1 lap slow jog recoveries. The planned session was 2 sets of that, but a fibro flare-up over the last few days made me sensible and I stopped halfway.
Aim was 88 per lap, but the effort came out at 87.4s, 87.2s, 85.7s for each of the reps respectively.
Thursday: 5.27m (7:26) - easy out, brisk back.
Friday: am: 12.04m easy (7:43) / pm: 6.09m jog (8:28).
Saturday: off.
Sunday: 6.09m (8:06)
Total: 53.62m
February 14th - February 20th
Monday: 12.02m (8:18)
Tuesday: am: 6.09m jog (8:39) / pm: 9.19m (6:55) - 'strong' effort (aka brisk to steady).
Wednesday: am: 6.09m jog (8:19)
pm: Track session - 10.14m (7:36)
Session was: 5km TT (10km effort essentially) - 18:28 - + 4 x 200m with 200m jog (36.2s, 36.1s, 36.5s, 35.9s).
Thursday: Long run: 17.2m (7:45) - 8m easy, 6 x ~430m hills, 6m easy.
Friday: am: 8.14m jog (8:37) / pm: 6.11m jog (8:42).
Saturday: 9.08m (6:46) - 'strong' effort (aka brisk to steady).
Sunday: 6.24m (7:26) - road reps: 15 x 200m @ 1/4 effort / 200m jog (average 37.8s)
Total: 90.32m - things suddenly clicked this week after Monday's run where I was definitely in a bit of a funk and disinterested.
February 21st - February 27th
Monday: off
Tuesday: am: 6.09 jog (8:31) / pm: 9.28m (6:34) - 'strong' effort (aka brisk to steady).
Wednesday: am: 6.10m jog (8:30)
pm: Track session - 10.20m (7:26)
Session was: 5km TT (10km effort essentially) - 17:47 - + 3 x 200m with 200m jog (37.0s, 36.5s, 34.0s).
Thursday: 6.26m (7:54) - plenty after a chiro session earlier.
Friday: am: 10.55m jog (8:32) / pm: 6.11m jog (8:29)
Saturday: 6.19m (8:19) - jog with 6 x 100m hard sprints (average, on grass, in the dark, 15.55s - 3 were at 15.0).
Sunday: 3.7m wu, Wokingham Half Marathon (75:19), 3.2m cd - 20.08m total. Went out hard and tried to hang on. Through 6m in 34:20, 10m in 57:06 (a sub-2:30 marathon pace), before fading out. I'd expected something closer to 79 minutes so happy with progress.
Total: 80.86m
Falling into the 'Sod's Law'/couldn't make it up bracket, I was clipped by a bike on my Thursday run, and then clipped by a car on the pavement on Saturday.
February 28th - March 6th
Monday: am: 9.1m jog (8:36) / pm: 6.09m jog (8:41)
Tuesday: 8.13m easy (7:19)
Wednesday: am: 6.11m jog (8:30) / pm: 10.22m easy (7:30) - too soon for track efforts.
Thursday: off - tripped up by my dog on a night walk last night which tweaked my back/hip/itb.
Friday: off
Saturday: 2.7m (7:31) - still not quite right, so abandoned my run.
Sunday: 8.18m easy (7:31) - all good again.
Total: 50.53m
March 7th - March 13th
Monday: am: 10.07m steady (6:26) / pm: 4.04m jog (8:36)
Tuesday: 13.1m easy to brisk (7:03)
Wednesday: am: 6.1m jog (8:22)
pm: Track session: 11.61m (6:54) - 10km @ current MP (36:54) - in training shoes rather than racers this is close to HM effort.
Thursday: 16.02m (7:35) - easy long run.
Friday: am: 14.03m (6:43) - 3m up, 1hr grass fartlek (6:18 avg), 1.5m down. I started the fartlek with shorter efforts to tire my legs before progressing to longer efforts for strength.
pm: 6.1m jog (8:21).
Saturday: 10.05m (7:04) - parkrun + hillsprints. parkrun was slippery but my target was simply to get around at a quicker pace than Wednesday's 10km, which I did in 18:02, before adding 6 x 10s hillsprints.
Sunday: off
Total: 91.12m
March 14th - March 20th
Monday: off
Tuesday: 12.02m easy to brisk (6:54)
Wednesday: am: 6.1m jog (8:22)
pm: Track session: 12.51m (7:05) - 10km @ current MP (36:38) - 16s quicker than last week
Thursday: 6.11m jog (8:37)
Friday: 6.1m jog (8:34)
Saturday: 9.22m easy (7:21)
Sunday: 18.02m (7:06) - easy out (7:23), brisk back (6:49)
Total: 70.08m
Wednesday saw a small improvement in the 10km on track, but in windier conditions and with tummy problems. It also saw me tweak an old ankle/shin problem which necessitated a few lighter days before a fasted long run on the Sunday.
March 21st - March 28th
Monday: 18.1m brisk (even effort - 6:53/6:47 split)
Tuesday: am: 6.12m jog (8:32) / pm: 8.07m jog (8:27)
Wednesday: am: 6.11m jog (8:39)
pm: Track session: 12.76m (6:43) - 10km TT (35:19) - 17:49/17:30 5km splits
Thursday: 8.11m jog (8:25)
Friday: 4.01m jog (8:29) / pm: 9.19m easy (7:23)
Saturday: 7.34m (7:45) - 3m up, 10 x 100m/100m windsprints, 3m down
Sunday: warm-up, SEAA Road Relays (5.36m @ 5:31 per mile pace - 29:34), cool-down. (10.26m total)
Total: 90.07m
Wednesday saw me take a jump forward in condition. I'd expected 86-87s laps (35:50-36:15) but felt good and ran quicker whilst winding up the pace a little over the last few laps.
The SEAA Road Relays on Sunday was a good run. I held a little back with Manchester due next week so felt that all of a sudden I could run a sub-34 10km on a good course. Very pleasing progress.
March 29th - April 3rd
Monday: am: 7.47m (7:55) - 3m jog, 20 x 60m/50m windsprints, 3m jog / pm: 6.11m jog (8:36)
Tuesday: am: 6.12m jog (8:25) / pm: 8.09m jog (8:19) - having to hold myself back
Wednesday: am: 4.01m jog (8:31)
pm: Track session: 8.05m (7:35) - 2km TT - 6:30 with 3:15/3:15 splits. Last workout before Manchester. Joined by my son for the first 600m, and from 1km-1.6km as his last workout (2 x 600m) before his 3km road race this weekend.
Thursday: 6.1m jog (8:22) - worringly a little bit of calf cramp during this out of nowhere.
Friday: 4.01m jog (8:07)
Saturday: 4.02m jog with 4 x 15s strides (7:54) - felt tight and achy after spending most of yesterday driving. Felt lighter on my feet though.
Sunday: Manchester Marathon - 2:35:06. 2nd v45.
Total: 80.3m
Come race day I still felt very tight after spending several hours driving on Friday, plus was still aware of my calf after the cramping that started on Thursday. I wasn't comfortable at any pace so figured I'd see how far I could get at a sub-2:30 marathon pace and then deal with the afters.
I hit 10k in 35:20 (basically the same pace as last week's 10km TT), 10m in 57:09 (practically the same pace as the Wokingham HM 5 weeks ago), and 15m in 85:45 (bang on a sub-2:30 Marathon pace).
My calf started to twinge at 14m, and more at 15m, so I had to be happy with getting 5m further than I did during the Wokingham HM at a sub-2:30 pace. From there it was a case of managing my calf to the finish and ensuring I got my London Marathon Championship qualifying time as a minimum. If you'd told me 3 months ago I'd run 2:35 for a marathon whilst having some race day problems I'd have taken it, so I have no complaints about this result.
To round off a good day my son won his 3km road race, so I'll have to keep an eye over my shoulder for him at this rate.
