For marathon runners of all ages and abilities January is an exciting time of year. After the festivities and excesses of Christmas and New Year, all of a sudden attentions turn to the Spring marathon which now seems to be just around the corner.
Training starts to gather momentum and become more marathon specific, and race schedules are firmed up, all with the intention of making sure that you arrive on the start line of the marathon in the best possible shape
Training starts to gather momentum and become more marathon specific, and race schedules are firmed up, all with the intention of making sure that you arrive on the start line of the marathon in the best possible shape
I’d already decided before Christmas that I will be running the Marathon Of The North this coming April. What I didn`t have at the turn of the year however was a structured training plan and racing schedule that will get me to Sunderland in peak condition. Primarily that was because of ongoing problems with my Achilles tendon (a hangover from the final few miles of the Frankfurt Marathon in October) and a need to adjust to my new daily routine now that I am working in Morpeth and have at least two hours sat in the car every day travelling to and from the office. Whatever it was in my Achilles that caused such a capitulation in my performance during the last 5 miles of the Frankfurt race was still lingering around at Christmas, restricting me to an average of just over 40 miles of running a week. I’d be able to run with limited pain for two or three days in a row, but then have to take a day of complete rest to let the Achilles settle down again for fear of causing longer term damage.
Some will say that running such reduced mileage compared to my normal 80+ mile weeks will have done me the world of good, and it certainly gave me chance to spend a lot more time doing strength and conditioning work, but having already committed myself to running the Marathon Of The North this year I’d be lying if I said I didn’t end 2012 worrying about the injury and my increasing loss of fitness.
Then no sooner had the New Year begun and an injury I’d been struggling with for 12 weeks all of a sudden disappeared and I felt like I was running with a new Achilles. The way the body functions defies logic at times. You can be hampered by a niggling little problem for months on end then one day you’ll wake up and its gone. I just don`t get it, but I’m not complaining either. The first two weeks of January have been solid 60 milers, training 6 days a week and even running twice on some days without any pain or inflammation in the Achilles. That, combined with my quick finding of a new daily routine that will still allow me to train properly, has really given me a lift and the self-belief that with 15 weeks to go I can still get into very good shape for the Marathon Of The North. My training plan is now fully mapped out, following a very similar pattern to my two marathon build-ups last year, and I’ve spent this last week also finalising my racing schedule.
Then no sooner had the New Year begun and an injury I’d been struggling with for 12 weeks all of a sudden disappeared and I felt like I was running with a new Achilles. The way the body functions defies logic at times. You can be hampered by a niggling little problem for months on end then one day you’ll wake up and its gone. I just don`t get it, but I’m not complaining either. The first two weeks of January have been solid 60 milers, training 6 days a week and even running twice on some days without any pain or inflammation in the Achilles. That, combined with my quick finding of a new daily routine that will still allow me to train properly, has really given me a lift and the self-belief that with 15 weeks to go I can still get into very good shape for the Marathon Of The North. My training plan is now fully mapped out, following a very similar pattern to my two marathon build-ups last year, and I’ve spent this last week also finalising my racing schedule.
Whenever I’ve ran a Spring marathon in the past my build-up has followed a well trodden path in terms of races. I like to put down a marker in early January with a 10k or cross country race to see what kind of shape I’m in at the start of the year. I’ll then disappear into a two-month block of hard and consistent training, emerging only for a short blast out at the Signals Relays in mid-February. Into March I always aim to do two long races of around the half-marathon distance or slightly longer, one of them hilly and the other quite flat. These two races are key indicators of how my training is going because if I’m not in good half-marathon shape by late-March then it’s unlikely I’m going to be in good full-marathon shape a month later. Provided everything goes to plan in March, I then like to put the finishing touches to my marathon build up by running two shorter races in April - the Elswick Good Friday Relays and a flat 10k. It’s a racing formula that has worked very well for me in the past and I don`t see any reason why I should change it this year. The actual races within that structure tend to change from year to year, but the general distance and timing of the races remains fairly consistent.
I’ve already put down my January marker after running Sedgefield Harrier’s Gerry Kearsley Memorial Handicap Trail Race last weekend. Setting off second from last with a handicap of 23 minutes, I covered the 6.5 mile course (which was so muddy that it was to all intents and purposes a cross country race) in 40:55, finishing in 71st place overall but with the 4th fastest time of all the competitors. It was a solid run which, despite being a long way off my best form, showed that I have at least got a decent base on which to build my marathon specific training. There is a lot of running to be done before the big day on April 28th, but between now and then I will be turning out at the following races:
FEBRUARY 16 : Signals Relays
MARCH 9 : Dent 14
MARCH 17 : New York City Half-Marathon (more about this in a future blog)
MARCH 29 : Elswick Good Friday Relays
APRIL 7 : Blyth 10K
I’m sure I’ll catch up with a lot of you at the Signals in February where I’ll be doing my utmost to ensure that Sedgefield finish as high up in the results as possible. In the meantime, enjoy your running and take extra care on the snow and ice. Til next time ……
FEBRUARY 16 : Signals Relays
MARCH 9 : Dent 14
MARCH 17 : New York City Half-Marathon (more about this in a future blog)
MARCH 29 : Elswick Good Friday Relays
APRIL 7 : Blyth 10K
I’m sure I’ll catch up with a lot of you at the Signals in February where I’ll be doing my utmost to ensure that Sedgefield finish as high up in the results as possible. In the meantime, enjoy your running and take extra care on the snow and ice. Til next time ……