I’ve signed up for Challenge Barcelona (Ironman Distance) and with over 50 other Thames Turbo triathletes will aim to finish my 3rd Ironman. What a day out that’s going to be. I’m not going to train to get the best possible time but simply to strike a good balance between family, work and training. I fully intend to have every Sunday off. I also fully intend to take a few days off during the week in the 12 weeks prior to the race.

So I picked up a few interesting links for the t’interweb

http://www.10hoursaweek.com/wordpress/

http://petemetz.blogspot.com/…009-race-report.html

http://ironmanin10.blogspot.com/

It’s 17 days since the marathon and finally I feel like writing something. So why haven’t I done the race report? The answer is I just didn’t want to, not because I’m really down on myself about it but probably simply because I wanted to be writing about how great it was to cruise down the Mall with the clock still showing 2.43 but that didn’t happen. So it didn’t seem like there was any point writing a boring race report with no glory ending. I ran 2.47.04, it was a personal best by 12 seconds but it wasn’t the sub 2.45 I’d hoped for.

So what news on the 30 mins a day? The news is that I’m still rolling with that and today will be the 132nd consecutive day of running at least 30 mins a day. Post marathon it’s been hard……very hard. It’s easier when there is a big goal and you know you need to knock in the big mileage for an event like the marathon. Now the goal is simply to run 30 mins a day it becomes more of an obstacle and a hinderance to a good day. But that period has passed now and I’m setting a few running goals that will hopefully provide some much needed motivation. The good news is all this running and a complete break from golf has result in my handicap dropping to 14.0 after an excellent performance in this weekends Fulwell Golf Club Spring Meeting (our of our majors). So maybe 30 mins a day is the secret of good golf.

One of the hardest runs I did was the day after the marathon. Now that was tough mainly from a physical perspective. Naturally I was beat and my legs we’re very stiff. They would have been a lot less stiff if it hadn’t had been for the lovely Aurélie Heasman from www.thetritouch.co.uk who gave me a rub after the marathon.

So what went wrong in the marathon itself?

Here are the splits:

5K     00:19:04
10K     00:38:34
15K     00:58:11
20K     01:17:34
HALF     01:21:45
25K     01:36:58
30K     01:56:50
35K     02:16:41
40K     02:38:01

So fairly realistic to half way but I simply didn’t have the stamina at mile 22 onwards. Could be because I started running in January having had the whole of 2009 off exercise. I’ll be keeping the running going now until November and then we’ll crank into another big and probably final campaign. April 2011 Virgin London Marathon!

See – click me

So without looking at the article I already wrote…..

1) Sore knee – yep, just went for a 30 min (what else!) run and was convinced I was developing a right knee injury. It cleared up when I forgot to think about it!

2) Skinny legs – yep, I’ve got em and boy do they look weak. But only in certain lights. Funny how you convince yourself that 4 months of training will suddenly disappear off your legs as rapid muscle atrophy sets in.

3) Worries about not doing enough miles – even though I know I did as much as I physically could this time I have still had a few niggling doubts that I haven’t done enough. Silly boy.

4) I’m ill – I’m not ill but I was convinced yesterday that a frog in the throat was the beginnings of a serious cold. Today…..there’s no cold but there’s still time right?

5) General feelings of tiredness – I was so tired on Mondays 30 min run that I had to stop. That was running @ 8 mins per mile too!!!

6) Self doubt – this is a strange one. I haven’t really got the self doubt this time quite as bad. The self doubt has been replaced by nerves. That’s right, I’m nervous. You lay it all on the line, you put the work in, you tell everyone, you publically blog about it……you don’t want to fail right?

If you can think of any other classic last week before a race things then let me know. I’m sure I’ve had them too!

Off to pick up my number soon. Roll on Sunday, whatever happens, I’m going to give it my all.

So the gun went and I tried my best to hold back. With the new super lighweight Asics Gel Hyperspeed 4 running boots on I was feeling great and went through the first mile too fast. Thankfully it really did feel like I was holding back though so I wasn’t too concerned. I gradually eased back down through the field from 8th to 14th over the next 15 miles. I resisted the temptation to go with people as they came past and went through half way in just a shade over 47 mins.  I averaged 157 on the heart rate (about Marathon pace), averaged a shade under 6 mins per mile and finished with a time of 1.35.55. A time I wouldn’t be happy with if I was racing but given it was a restrained effort I’m more than happy. Leg’s felt great at the end and the only problem was the soles of my feet. Badly blistered from the new running shoes. So I’ll be wearing my training shoes in the marathon itself. Not worth risking the whole thing for 100grammes (the difference in weight between the racers and the training shoes).

In 2008 I ran this race 3 weeks out from the marathon and only managed a short 1.35 when going flat out. I believe for sure I could have raced close to or under 1.34 (my time from 2006). So happy with the result and very little soreness the day after which is exactly what the Dr ordered. I gained a lot of confidence from this run and am chuffed to be able to run this fast whilst holding back. I’m not going to change my marathon race strategy of going out on 6 mins 10s per mile though. I just want to get to 20 miles ready to run the last 6 miles properly.  The marathon is basically a 6 mile race that starts at mile 20. If you can arrive in good shape at that point you stand a chance of achieving your goals. Any other approach is madness. Not to say it’s not possible to PB but doing a massive positive split….but generally it doesn’t work out. See previous marathon results from yours truly.

I’ve detailed some stats below. It’s pretty much got every step logged in it. I’ve been using the Garmin 310XT religiously and it’s a fantastic piece of kit / tech. Feel naked when I’m not wearing it.

I’ve been thinking about the taper. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Mark Grattons Hard marathon training programme but have never really tried to follow it seriously. Certainly didn’t think I’d be able to run twice a day every day. However having completed a run every day so far in 2010 I’m thinking that I could probably do this in 2011 if I chose to (which I won’t).

But what I’ve been really been thinking about (god I’m dragging this out) is the taper. Having run so consistently and put in so many miles I’m almost tempted to think that it’s all in the bank and just knock in the 30 mins a day. I know that’s not the right thing to do though. So going back to Mark Gratton’s Hard marathon training schedule I see a nice format for the last 3 weeks of running. Here’s how it looks (beginning Monday 5th April – my biffday)

Mon 5 Apr: 45 mins steady
Tue 6 Apr: 12 x 400 @ 3km pace, 200 jog rec.
Wed 7 APr: 10 miles – picking up pace.
Thu 8 Apr: 8 x 1km @ 10km pace, 2 mins recovery.
Fri 9 Apr: 8 miles steady.
Sat 10 Apr: 5 miles steady.
Sun 11 Apr: 16 miles Breakfast run (@ 6.10 per mile)
TOTAL – 53 miles

Mon 12 Apr: 6 miles steady
Tue 13 Apr 10 x 400 @ mile speed, 200 jog rec.
Wed 14 Apr: 10 miles steady
Thu 15 Apr: Marathon pace fartlek run – hold efforts of up to 5 mins at marathon pace, interspersed with recovery at steady pace (relaxed fartlek style 8 miles)
Fri 16 APR: 40 mins steady
Sat 17 Apr: Threshold run 30 mins
Sun 18 Apr: 11 miles steady
TOTAL – 47.5 miles

Mon 19 Apr: 8 miles steady
Tue 20 Apr: 10 x 200m hard strides in racing flats, 200 jog rec.
Wed 21 Apr: 35 mins steady
Thu 22 Apr: 30 mins steady – start carbo loading with pm meal.
Fri 23 Apr: 30 mins easy – highest carbo intake on this day, high water intake
Sat 24Apr: 30 mins easy – reduce food intake after 6pm, high water intake
Sun 25 Apr: London Marathon – the big day run sub 2.45

A windy, cold and flat race at Eton. Placed 4th in a time of 1hr17m18s. Not bad after the biggest week of running I’ve ever done. Certainly wasn’t feeling fresh and struggled to get the HR up to normal levels for this race distance (normally can hold 170 but was down at 161 average). Funnily enough I did think I had a chance of winning at the 12 mile point. I was only 50m behind the eventual winner and was in 3rd place at the time. Finished 40s off the winner in the end and was overtaken by a flying young chap in the last half mile. Reasonably happy but slightly disappointed about not getting under 1.16. Probably the first time I’ve ever raced a half marathon and not had an easy week before hand. There’s discipline!!

Even if you double the 1.17 and add 10 mins that equates to a sub 2.45

On tired legs!

Here’s hoping.

I’ve been getting regular physio from Aurelie at www.thetritouch.co.uk
I’ve run every day
I’ve built up fairly gradually (although one could argue a little agressively)
I’ve stretched religiously after every run session
I’ve made sure as much of the running is on soft ground

Here’s the weekly mileage stats

Week 1 – 35 miles
Week 2 – 40 miles
Week 3 – 45 miles
Week 4 – 50 miles
Week 5 – 55 miles
Week 6 – 60 miles
Week 7 – 45 miles (first rest week)
Week 8 – 71 miles (yay!)
Week 9 – 63 (suffered with a cold and stupidly pushed myself into a tiz…and had to back off)
Week 10 – 60
Week 11 – 46 (rest week)
Week 12 – 73 miles
Week 13 – going to be around 60 hopefully.