I miss bananas more than coffee.....

Though it has been a while since I last wrote one, my blogs have tended to start with a quote, and/or a link to a song, that fits my mood and the mood of the blog.

Today I start with a statement that no amount of presentience prior to these events could have come up with....

I miss bananas more than coffee! And if we want to extend that further it is probably a draw between coffee and alcohol, so I guess I also miss bananas more than alcohol, which to some people is probably, well, bananas.

Earlier this year I caught a virus. I felt rough, but I have felt worse. I took time off, slept, drank plenty of fluids, and rested. I done what you are supposed to do.

Running? Nope! Everybody knows the rule. Above the neck run, below the neck don't.
I didn't. I waited until I felt better, and then a day more after that, before going for a run.
It is entirely possible of course that was still too soon, just as it is entirely possible I stopped running too late.

It is also equally possible, and more probable that this would have happened regardless, particularly as all my exercise at this time was at very relaxed efforts. As my cardiologist said, sometimes you can get a virus that might only present externally with a headache, but could be wreaking havoc internally.

That virus damaged my heart.

There are many many elements that brought me from that initial virus and damage to this point. I could sit here and ask myself a million and one 'what ifs?' but they won't change where I am. I feel I have a good handle on when it happened, and I am confident that it is more down to pure bad luck than anything else.
Knowing any more than that does not help my situation going forward, which is where my focus now is.

My current situation.
Quite simply, my heart is damaged. The medical term is heart failure, though it does not mean that it stopping working is imminent. Rather it means that it is failing to work correctly.

My personal situation is that my LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction) is in the 20-25% range. It should be over 50%.

I am still in AF, but medication means I am not bouncing from 50bpm to 150bpm+ like I was in the beginning of this. My RHR is in the 60s on a good day, the mid 80s on a bad day. My RHR before all of this started was typically 40bpm +/-.

My blood pressure tended towards the lower end naturally but the medication I am on is keeping this hovering just above 90/60. Until my body adapts and my BP starts to rise again I cannot have any more medication.

And longer term.....
Well that is very much a case of 'how long is a piece of string? From here anything is possible. The facts that I am comparatively young, am still scoring 0 on their risk scores despite my otherwise dodgy readings, and am otherwise healthy and robust are very strongly in my favour.

As is the family trait of stubbornness which runs as strongly through a Russell's genes as the Force does through a Skywalker's genes, though, ultimately no matter how stubborn I am there is the very real possibility that I could do literally everything 100% right, and it makes no difference.

There is a very slim chance that I will fully recover to where I was before all of this. There is a less slim chance that things could degrade. The vast likelihood is somewhere along the piece of string between those two points.

My gut says that I will be ok. I have never backed down from a fight, and will always back myself to the hilt. This situation will be no different; my body has done some wonderful things over the years; it is time for more of the same.

In the meantime though I am going to start coaching again. It will be free, but I am looking specifically for people looking to get the best out of themselves over the marathon distance, so if you are somebody motivated, resilient, and willing to work hard, please drop me a line for a chat.

3 months to a 2:35 marathon

"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.

Fibromyalgia and me (and a return to running)

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” – Alice in Alice in Wonderland

Though I am undoubtedly a different person to yesterday, some constants endure. One of those is that I am a runner (to be more accurate I should say I am a marathoner, rather than a runner, but I'll get to that in a future blog). And it is that, along with it feeling like I'm finally getting on top of my fibromyalgia that has led me to begin blogging again - as a non-runner I didn't feel I had much to write about as far as running goes and for a long period of time I genuinely thought my running days were done.

I intend to blog on both my attempts to get fit again, and technical running 'stuff', as various discussions and comments over the last few months have made me feel that my experiences, knowledge gleaned through various sources, and subsequent thoughts on running, might be helpful to some people. If there is a particular aspect of running you would like to know more about feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to answer (or blog on it if the explanation is a longer one)

This blog however will be more about 'setting the scene' as it will probably help people to understand where I am (and where I've been) before I start rabbiting on about different bits and pieces. The following will be an attempt to balance my wordiness with an attempt to sum up 14 years of running as succinctly as possible, so bear with me (or just come back for the first proper blog :) ).

Beginnings
I initially started running on New Year's Day 2007 (a Monday). My main aim was to get fit enough to set a good example for (my then) 1 year old son, and during my first run of 2 miles I genuinely thought I was going to have a heart attack when I turned around at 1m to go home. In what was, with the benefit of hindsight, a sign of things to come, I ran every day up to and including my first race on the Sunday (a hilly 10k in 48:41 - the last 5km was all uphill and a chastening experience to say the least).

However that first week was enough to remind me how much I'd loved running as a kid and I also remembered that what I lacked in relative talent I made up for in determination and stubbornness.

6 weeks on from that first 2m run I'd completed a 50m week. Through sheer bloody mindedness by early September I'd racked up my first 100m week (losing an awful lot of weight in the process), and shortly after that was lining up for my first marathon (not counting the two I'd run without training in my younger years - the impetuousness of youth!). In the space of less than 9 months I'd gone from a 48:41 10k to a 2:55 marathon around the New Forest.

Rapid progression and problems
Going from borderline obese to a sub-3 hour marathon in less than 9 months was a good enough start on its own, but I managed to continue to improve rapidly from there, running 2:46, 2:39 and 2:35 on my 3 outings across 2008 (the latter two being just 4 weeks apart and yielding a 1st and 2nd place).

Being a fan of BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) I had decided shortly prior to my 2:46 in April '08 that a sub-2:30 marathon was within my capabilities, and by May 2009 I almost managed it - in scorching conditions in Edinburgh I ran a 75:23/74:39 negative split to finish in 2:30:02 (frustratingly the finish line clock was slow and had me at 2:29:58).

After Edinburgh cracks begun to appear. For a variety of reasons (there will be a future blog on this too) by early September I was deep in the throes of over-training. I stumbled from problem to problem after this. Some were running related - e.g. pneumonia caused by racing with a chest infection (I thought it was just a head cold) - and some just plain bad luck - e.g. just as I regained fitness in early 2010 I had a home accident that ruled out the whole year (eventually they found a shard of bone embedded in the fat pad behind my kneecap.

Recovery from that took a long time, and by the Berlin marathon in autumn 2011 I still hadn't rediscovered my mojo, but managed to clock 2:34 running a 5 minute positive split (I wanted to see how long I could sustain a sub-2:30 pace; it turns out to halfway was the answer).

In what was going to become a repeating pattern over the next few years I missed a spring marathon as it took me far too long to feel normal after my autumn marathon. It became so common an occurrence it was jokingly referred to at my club as my 'spring marathon jinx' striking again everytime it happened.

In Berlin in 2012 I again came close to going under the 2:30 barrier, fading out after 35km to finish in 2:30:19, before another missed spring marathon attempt. However, after a summer of semi-decent training I changed tack 2 months out from my autumn target as I felt like I was treading water. Gone were the long marathon runs and in their place were surge long runs and long reps at 10k pace. 2 autumn half marathon pbs followed in quick succession, and lining up in Amsterdam in October I knew I was ready. Despite an early issue I crossed the line on the track in the Olympic Stadium in 2:27:48.

Much like buses, two more sub-2:30s followed in my next two races (2014), one of which was a race win in the closest I've got to a home-town marathon back in Ireland - it seems I like a track finish to a marathon as that one also finished on a track.

The lost years, increasing problems, and finally, a diagnosis!!
For mainly personal reasons I didn't run a marathon in 2015 (though my spring marathon jinx was also a factor), next lining up in London in 2016 where I had probably spent as much time in the gym as I'd spent running. I managed to execute one of my best ever races (though not times) as I got around in the course in 2:33, running evenly and strongly throughout.

My lack of interest in running continued into 2017 where a switch in club, and a return to being coached again marginally improved things. I'd gone across more of 2017 running (for me) very low mileage. Having averaged 35 miles per week for the previous 5 months I managed to pull things together and averaged 75 miles per week for the 11 weeks leading into Valencia in November (still low by my previous standards) where I got around the course in 2:28:57 (splitting 74:28 and 74:29 for the first and second half), and somehow closing the last 2.195km quicker than I'd ever managed before. A good first (and as it turns out, so far only) marathon in my 40s!

The boost in the arm that there was still life in my old legs was quickly offset by my usual post-marathon struggle. I stumbled through a spring 10m race at a considerably slower pace than I'd managed around Valencia. I began to feel more and more fatigued and even resuming iron supplementation after an anaemia diagnosis (lifelong recurring condition) didn't help.
Eventually my wife rather cleverly pieced my symptoms together, and after confirmation by my GP and an expert, by April 2018 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

A stunning display of idiocy and fool-headedness
A diagnosis on its own is not a remedy however, particularly if you have a personality like mine where I can be my own worst enemy..... before I begun to slowly get better I managed to put myself in a truly deep hole during The Ridgeway Relay in June 2018.

The Ridgeway Relay is a 10-leg 80+ mile relay race between a multitude of local clubs with legs ranging from 5 miles up to 11 miles, on a mix of road, chalk, and grass/trail with a profile that is less 'undulating' and more 'f*cking hilly'.

In 2014, in the midst of my two sub-2:30 marathons, I'd run the 11m first leg in just under 67 minutes, and come June 2018, 2 months post-fibro-diagnosis, when realistically I should have stepped back and focused on getting better, I lined up for the first leg again.

My recce of the route a couple of weeks earlier saw me in such a bad way that I had to abort it after getting lost twice and suffering serious dizziness. With a strong club team lining up there was even more pressure on me to get us off to a good start. I came up with a race plan based on the terrain and profile that was about minimising losses and trying to stay as close to 67 minutes as possible, but accepting that if it went wrong I realistically could have been looking at over 70 minutes for the leg.

On the day I not only executed my plan to perfection (the last I checked the various Strava segments along the last downhill mile or so are still mine) but ran so far out of my skin that I became one of only 4 people (at the time) to cover the leg under 64 minutes in 25 years or so - unfortunately it was only good enough for 3rd place on the day, but it kept us in touch enough that we won handsomely over the whole distance. To this day I genuinely do not know how I managed to get around the leg that quickly, but what I realised on the drive home (thankfully I was a passenger and not driving) was that something internal had gone badly wrong. On that day I dipped so far into the well that, combined with my fibro, it took me the best part of 3 years before running felt consistently normal again.

Fibro in brief
Thankfully fibromyalgia is not a life-threatening condition, though for many who have it much worse than me it can be severely life-limiting. I'm incredibly grateful to know, and understand, what has caused my issues and to be able to pick a way through them, even if it has taken 3 years to get to the point where I feel I might be able to run at a reasonable level again.

The diagnosis provided more relief by explaining my symptoms than I can ever explain. Though I don't have it anywhere near as bad as many there were periods when I thought it was never going to improve, which, as I'm sure you can imagine, eventually begins to affect your mood and your sense of self.

I was so fatigued all I wanted to do was sleep, but was never able to get to the point of feeling rested. My pain responses/levels were disproportionately intense - even small things such as bumping my leg off a table or chair could hurt for days.
My hearing, and ability to communicate were appalling which was as hard to deal with for those around me as it was for me.

The symptom that caused me the most concern however was the memory fog (as there is a family history of Alzheimer's) as at its worst I couldn't even manage to find the 'open tab' on a pack of sandwich thins and resorted to cutting the packet with a knife. I was constantly mislaying stuff and my ability to remember anything (I'm notoriously scatty) was at an all time low.

Looking back now it all seems like a bad dream, and if it wasn't for the NHS it is one I would still be in the middle of. Because fibro is a relatively new, and therefore misunderstood, condition, my wife and I had to do a lot of research ourselves, but the NHS arranged specialist appointments and pain clinic courses, which with the research my wife and I were doing, began to piece things together and help me get back to a better quality of life.

Fibro, as it is now becoming to be understood, is characterized by a heightened 'fight or flight' system response. Essentially, as it was explained to me, your fight or flight system is permanently switched on.
This, in turn, means that your brain is constantly looking out for danger, and sometimes this manifests as an inappropriately heightened response to pain, or an inability to hear or hold conversations (think of your brain as a toddler shouting for attention and then try to imagine being able to hear clearly what's being said to you at the same time), and sometimes your brain is so hyper-focused on trying to find the source of danger it thinks exists (due to your fight or flight system being permanently on) that you lose the ability to do basic tasks.
The increased level of stress hormones generated by your fight or flight system being permanently on leads to exhaustion, especially as you often cannot sleep deeply as even when you try to sleep your brain still thinks there is some danger and you never get past the first level of sleep.

Where do we go from here?
So, firstly, if you've managed to stay with my ramblings and read this far, congratulations ;) , and thank you!
As I said early on in this blog, the purpose of this is to provide a background to where I am and to my training and attempts to rebuild. I hope, and am beginning to believe, that now that I may still have a few pbs in me. My increasing age (I'm now 44) is offset by an understanding of why I struggled to put successive training blocks together, and a better understanding of what I need to do to improve.

My next blog(s) will hopefully not be too long in coming, and in addition to some on my own training I will be doing pieces on different training methods (Lydiard, the Aussie complex system, Squires, Canova, Kenyan, etc) as well as some on different aspects of training (LT/tempo runs, repetitions vs intervals, general training structure, the basic mistakes I see people (including myself) make), and so on.
I don't have a preference on where I start, so if somebody has a request now is the time to shout!

Valencia Marathon Race Report

"I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beautiful for myself and for others. That's why I'm here." - Uta Pippig.

Some of you know I love a good quote, so I thought I would reuse the above one from when I wrote my Amsterdam (pb) race report, which happens to beautifully sum up my feelings about the marathon.

Other than slightly overshooting on my carb load (I do all of mine the day before, aiming for 10-11g of carbs per kg of bodyweight across the day, but took in 681g compared to a target of 600-660g), and getting lost on my Friday jog (and therefore running 5m+ instead of the planned 4m), everything went smoothly, and I turned up at the race relaxed, and ready to go.

Given my love of quotes I've decided to do my race report with a quote per split.


0-5km: 17:50 (3:34/km) - "Don't panic." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So I think it's well known that I'm a little on the flaky side....... I'm not sure what else you can call it but flakiness when you think that nipping out of your starting pen just before the off - particularly when that pen is the elite one, which allows you a clear, unencumbered start - is a good idea (memo to self, take a pee bottle into the pen the next time!!).

Luckily my ability to remain unfazed by things matches my level of flakiness, so wandering back, less than 30 seconds before the start, to find that the field has all moved forward, as standard, and the best you can do is in the middle of the pen behind where you were supposed to be, was something that I was just able to shrug off.

The average for this split was 3:34/km, but in reality the first 2 km were spent weaving to make up ground, and the next 3km were about 3:27/km (nearly a 2:25 marathon pace) as I hunted down a group who looked like they were moving at about my target pace.

Side-note: Emmanuel Mutai (2:03 marathoner) is flipping tiny!!!

6-10km: 17:30 (3:30/km) - "Athletes have to be confident and I am thinking like that." - Haile Gebreselassie

By the 5km point I was almost back on a 2:30 pace overall (17:45 per 5km is a sub-2:30 marathon pace), so I resolved to try to lock into a good rhythm. I was surprised to find I was running pb pace and feeling good, but I've always run to feel, so resolved to be confident and go with it. I knew the slightly faster pace was partially due to adrenaline from my start line snafu, and wouldn't last, but, much like running a downhill, it was a case of taking the 'free speed'.

11-15km: 17:38 (3:32/km) - "Just keep swimming" - Dory

This was a pretty non-descript part of the race. I was picking up people going at the right pace here and there, but no group, so just kept on 'swimming' in search of company. Gradually though a group was forming as several of us fell into the right pace, and closed on a few more ahead.

15km-HM: 21:30 (3:32/km) - "From my training I can get a good idea of what I'm capable of." - Paula Radcliffe.

By halfway I had joined a group, being bumped around a bit in it, and sat at the back to avoid getting knocked over, whilst trying to resist the urge to push on. At every kilometre marker I ran through a mental checklist making sure my body is ok, the pace is good, etc. At halfway I asked myself if I could do the same again, and having learnt to read my body very well through my training over the years, the answer was yes.

My split at half-way was 74:28 - to put that in context just 10 weeks earlier I had run a flat-out half marathon on a good course in 75:38.

HM-25km: 13:49 (3:32/km) - “As athletes we have ups and downs. Unfortunately you can’t pick the days they come on.” – Deena Kastor

I passed through half-way feeling good and had just started to push on a little when all of a sudden, right at the 24km mark I got hit with a stitch which dropped me from in front of the group to right out the back of it, in the space of 1km.

26km-30km: 17:56 (3:35/km) "Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually the pain passes and the flow returns." - Frank Shorter

The stitch that hit me at 24km stayed with me until close to 30km, and I had to dig in to stay in contact with the group, though I got lucky as the group as a whole were starting to slip off pace themselves, so it was easier to hang onto their coat tails.

31-35km: 17:46 (3:33/km) - "It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys." - Emil Zatopek

As I hit 31km with the stitch having abated I ran through my mental checklist and realised my legs had gone a little dead - whether it was from the effort of trying to hang onto a group whilst in a bit of pain, or the fact that I was lacking in long runs I don't know, but I sat with the group, who had slipped to a 3:35/6 per km pace, whilst taking stock.
At 33km I realised my legs were getting no worse, and the group were getting no better. This quote came flooding to the front of my mind, so it was time to dig in, embrace some discomfort, and see what happened. The 34th and 35th km were both at 3:30/km pace, to bring me back to a sub-2:30 pace average for this 5km split.

Game on, if I could just grin and bear it for a little bit longer!

36-40km: 17:28 (3:30/km) - "Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder." - William Sigei

As I reached each km marker I calculated what time I needed to hit at the next marker to equate to that 3:33/km pace, then pushed to try hit it. I only hit 1 of the 5 kilometres at the 3:33/km pace, with the rest quicker, ranging from 3:26/km to 3:30/km - my form was holding, I felt strong, and was getting quicker. By here I was not only embracing the pain, but actually enjoying it, feeling almost in a zen-like mood.

Personally I think mental strength is an oft overlooked component of marathoning. I know that no matter how tough the business end of a race is I can gut it out and wring a little bit more out of myself, and the thing is that the more you do it, the more you believe you can do it. You just have to be prepared to push harder when feeling the pain.

41-42.195km: 7:30 (3:25/km) - "Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." - Paul Tergat

When I ran my pb, I closed the last section in 7:35. With no long runs and lighter mileage, whilst essentially still being very early on a return to proper running, I came here expecting to run under 2:30, but not considering I would close so strongly.

Whilst the first past of this section was being run strongly, the main damage was done from the 800m to go point. When I saw the sign saying 800m to go I asked myself if I could give more, and pleasingly found the answer was yes, as I covered it at a 5:19 per mile pace (2:39 for 2 laps of the track basically), even with easing off slightly in the home straight to allow me to soak up the amazing atmosphere.


Summary:

Off of an average weekly mileage of 75, for 11 weeks, following months averaging less than half of that, I followed up a 74:28 first half with a 74:29 second half, for a 2:28:57.

Somehow, off of light training, I managed to run my 3rd quickest marathon ever, coming in only 69 seconds outside my pb, and actually running at, or inside, pb pace, for large chunks of it. The thing is, I wasn't surprised by this. I went out to Valencia knowing I would run inside 2:30, even if to those looking in it must have looked like I was over-estimating my shape. As clichéd as it may sound, I attribute a lot of this to running happy. I'm certainly nowhere near as fit as when I ran my pb, but I'm better at getting more out of myself, and know there is so much more to come.

As a pleasing bonus, it turns out that this run is enough to put me 17th on the Irish National Marathon rankings for the year (and I think there's only one other v40 ahead of me on the list), as well as making me 9th v40 in the UK for the year at the moment (that's including both resident athletes, such as myself, and GB citizens).

And for those of you who like stats, my average time for my 14 marathons to date is: 2:37:41 (a pace of just under 6:01 per mile). I'm looking forward to moving that average down into the 5:5x range by the end of number 15!

Next stop Barcelona Marathon, March 2018.