Marathon Training - Week 1 plus.

Now, the plan for my blog in the run up to the Milton Keynes Marathon isn't to give you a blow by blow breakdown of every run, every training session, every mile covered, but as I've just finished Week 1 of my 16 week plan I thought now would be a good opportunity to set out my stall.  Also, in all honesty, this week did not exactly work out as I thought it would.

I've based my plan on the one that I used for the Yorkshire Marathon in 2015.  It's an amalgam of training plans that I had found online with the excellent Marathon Plan from Graeme Hilditch's book as it's backbone.  This got me around York in 3:59:38, a time that I'd love to emulate in Milton Keynes, so I have no real reason to change things too much.

In a nutshell I'll be running 4-5 times a week, with my LSR* on Sunday being no more than 50% of my weekly milage.  As the distances of my Sunday runs increase so will the distance and frequency of my weekday runs.  I'll be mixing up hills, tempo runs, fartlek, and speed sessions during the week and keeping Sunday long and slow.

That said, last week was week 1 of my training plan and it didn't quite go as I had expected.  A good friend (hello Adam) had pulled out of The Brass Monkey Half Marathon, and foolishly I bought his place from him, so week 1 would end with a half marathon that I had not trained for.  This was not in the book!

I had not run a half marathon since the Dalby Forest half in July last year.  I had managed the odd 10 mile run since then but I was fairly sure that I was on a fool's mission.  The Sunday before the Brass Monkey I took to the Leeds Liverpool Canal and strode out for a 12 mile run, aiming for 9 minute miles to give me the confidence that I could at least cover the distance of the race at a little under the magical 9:09 pace of a 4 hour marathon.

With that LSR in the bag, and a couple of mid week 10ks, I set off for York with a couple of likley lads from South Leeds for company.  I was happy that I could run the distance and wasn't bothered about the time, this was to be the first part of my MK Marathon journey not an end in itself.  I bumped into a couple of other friends from Leeds before taking my place optimistically in the sub 1:45 pen.  I was stood in close to freezing temperatures, wearing little more than a vest with a number pinned to it and shorts, and race day delerium had set in.  I was not going to manage 1:45 but I could dream of past glory.

The race started and, for the first time in over a year, I was racing on tarmac**.  The route took us South of York through Bishopthorpe and Acaster Selby before hitting Appleton Roebuck and heading North towards the finish.  I was keeping better time than I had anticipated and, due to my choice of vest, was getting cheers and comments from runners and spectators alike. 

 

However, by the time I got to mile ten my legs were feeling the lack of training.  Every step reminded me of a lacklustre summer and an over indulgent Christmas.  I knew my pace was dropping and then a knight in shining armour came to my aid.  Chris Sawyer, a parkrun friend from Cross Flatts, caught up to me and in passing told me to drop into his wake.  I've never slipstreamed a runner before so I don't know how effective it was, but matching Chris' pace for a mile was exactly what I needed.  Left to my own devices I would probably have dropped to a crawl and limped home with my tail between my legs.

We got back through Bishopthorpe and struck out to the finish at the Knavesmire.  I had the bit between my teeth and was determined to keep my new found pace to the end of the race.  The supporters and faster finishers who lined the home straight were fantastic,  I even got a shout out from the man with the tannoy mic as I was crossing the line.  I had done it.

 

One of my goals last year was to become fit enough to run a decent pace for a half marathon without having to specifically train for it.  I had thought that goal was long lost, but it turns out I had managed to get myself to a position where I could enter a half at short notice and run a good time.  I had wanted to go under 2 hours at the start of the race so to finish with a new PB of 1:41:48 was astounding and a feat that I'm still struggling to come to terms with.

Click on the pic to enter the MK Marathon

I am training for the Milton Keynes Marathon on the 1st May and have been selected to be one of their ambasadors.  I am also raising money for Bliss the premature baby charity.  You can find my Just Giving page here.

*Long Slow Run
** Last year I swore myself off road races after too many runs up and down Kirkstall Road.

A Tale of Two Shirts

Back in October I, along with countless others, was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the London Marathon ballot. I'd already missed out two years in a row so I managed to convince myself that this time I'd be the one getting the "You're In" magazine.  Sadly I was mistaken.  I now have a hat-trick of "Sorry" magazines and a trio of London Marathon branded winter training tops.  To say I felt a bit deflated is an understatement.  I had already missed out on a place in the Paris Marathon but was determined that I wanted to find a spring marathon for this year to keep me running during winter, and to mark my 40th birthday in April.

I know that I could have applied for a charity place to run London, but having had to raise money to take part in the TrailTrekk I knew how much pressure was involved in raising large sums of money, and I didn't want that on top of having to find the time to train for a marathon.

Rather than sticking a pin in a map to find my next big race I asked running forums, Twitter, Facebook, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, for their recommendations and came up with a short-list of four marathons which kind of fit the bill.  They were, in alphabetical order; Blackpool, Brighton, Edinburgh, and Milton Keynes. I had a good look at all four, price, route, and importantly, the logistics required for me to run them and the family to come along and watch.

Blackpool would have been done in a day, with no need for a stopover, so was winning hands down on cost and logistics, but the route looks tedious*.  I had heard good things about Brighton but it ain't cheap and I have very few favours to pull in around that neck of the woods, so it would have been a hotel.  Of course all of the hotels know that it's the marathon, so prices were already creeping up.  That left Edinburgh and MK, two cities that I have strong links with.

The majority of my family comes from (and still lives in) Edinburgh, so finding somewhere to stay would not be an issue.  I've been visiting Auld Reekie all of my life and I felt like I knew the route quite well and could visualise how the run would pan out.  Milton Keynes, however, is the town I grew up in from the age of 10 until I went to University.  I still have friends who live there that we could potentially stay with but, and this was the clincher, there are huge sections of the route that I used to play on, cycle on, fish along, when I was growing up.  As a race to mark my 40th birthday there could be no other, with its obvious links to my past.  I duly signed up to what will be my second marathon and my first of 2017.

I know that I said that I didn't want a charity place for London, but I decided to try and raise a bit of money for Bliss, a charity that I have fund-raised for in the past following the premature birth of our first son.  The difference in my mind is there is no target.  I can run, put my head into running the best marathon I can, and not have to worry about constantly asking people for money, or worrying about having to find the money to top up the donations should I not raise enough.

Mr Ambassador.

Having signed up for the Milton Keynes Marathon I have subsequently been selected as an ambassador for the race weekend.  Being an ambassador does not come with golden chocolate balls but it does entail writing blogs like this one and encouraging others to take part**. I also got a snazzy t-shirt to wear on my training runs and, for full disclosure, I got my entry fee back as well, which is nice.  On top of all that, having decided to raise money for Bliss, I have also received one of their running vests to wear on the big day.

Come race day this will have my name written all over it.

So between now and the 1st May, I will be blogging my training progress, and sharing my thoughts and reminiscences on the route, especially the section between miles 8 and 17.  I am very proud to be an ambassador for the town which shaped me growing up, I'm excited about running past so many landmarks and landscapes that have played such a large part of my life, and I am once again humbled and thankful for the work that Bliss do to help families of children who are born prematurely or sick.

*I could be wrong.

**Hello Iain, Duncan, and Hannah.

Interested in joining the fun of the MK Marathon, or 1/2 marathon? Click on the link for more info.