So far so good.

My marathon training program consists of 18 weeks training broken up into 4 cycles. The first and second sections are both 5 weeks long and the third and forth are 4 weeks each. Each section has a purpose and hopefully put together will put me in good shape for Berlin.

Today sees the end of the first cycle. This section was about building up the miles and trying to keep it consistent. So far so good and each week has returned 50+ miles and a 5 week total of 243 miles. The only downer was in week 4 where I had planned to bring up the mileage close to 60. A toe injury knocked me out for a night so that put an end to a 60 mile week. The week ended up with 52 miles. If that’s the worst thing to happen me then I won’t lose any sleep.

This first session has also seen me get in my first 20 miler. A gradual build up over the weeks has help me put in a 20 at 7:40 average pace. Last week I put in an 18 mile run and did it with one of the lads in the club. It was a lovely run and time seemed to fly. This week however the 20 mile run was done on my own and it was a difficult run. Left home at 7:40am and drove the course to put water for my run at the 6, 10, 14, 17.5 mile marks. Started the run at 8:00am. From mile 10 I felt like I was running from water stop to water stop and breaking down the miles in my mind as if this was going to make it go faster. Running on my own is boring but if anything it teaches good discipline. This evening my legs feel tired but today I wore compression socks and the normal stiffness I suffer after a long run is not there. I have used these socks before while doing hill work and they work a treat in the prevention of calf cramps.

Last Thursday night saw me making the trip to Shanagarry for the Ballycotton summer series. This series consists of four 5 mile races. My target is to end up in the top 50 after the 4 races. Coming into last Thursdays race I was in 67th position.

I found the race itself tough but enjoyed it. Keeping to form I went out way too fast in my first mile. 5:45. I knew I would pay for that. Mile 2 was 6:00, Mile 3 was pay back time. 6:46. I really suffered in this mile. Mile 4 6:33, Mile 5 6:34. The next race will be Churchtown south. I am going to try target even splits. Need a pacer I think. Total time 31:46.

In general I was happy as I usually find this race a lot harder than the first and usually loose about a minute between them. This time the difference this time was 24 seconds. Maybe the hill running on Saturday morning is starting to pay off. Not that it felt like it at 2.5 miles :-)

As this is the second race there is usually a natural drop out from the first race. My starting position was 67 and after last Thursday I am now in 56th. I would think that most of the people that ran the first 2 races will now complete the final 2. This will mean that every second will be important. Fingers crossed for the next race.

Anyway on to my second cycle of the marathon program. Another 5 weeks but this time the mileage should hit a max of 66 miles in week 8. Along with the mileage increase my Tuesday night speed work will change a bit. Most of the runs will be 8 to 10 mile runs with roughly 5 miles run at 10 mile race pace. Saturday morning will continue with hill work for this cycle and I do plan on doing a 21 mile run. Next Sunday see’s a drop back to 15 miles - Time for the body to recover before the next big hike. Next race will be the 22nd so here’s hoping that I will get back under 31:30.

Next update in 2 to 3 weeks.

New year new marathon plan

It’s been a long time since I have updated this blog but as I wasn’t training with any marathon in mind the blog was also on a break. All that has changed in the last few weeks. Training has begun and it’s 15 weeks to the Berlin marathon. My program is made and I plan to stick as close as possible to it. As always there are always the odd week that training can get interrupted due to work and injuries but now is not the time to worry about what might happen so I will take it week by week.

It’s no secret that long term I would love to break the 3 hours for the marathon so I look at each marathon to learn what I need to do differently to bring me closer. With that in mind I have changed a few things in my program this time. First thing I am planning differently is going over the 20 mile mark on 2 of my long runs. With 10 weeks to go (week 8) I plan on a 21 mile run and with 6 weeks to go (week 12) I plan on running a 23 mile run. The second thing I hope to try differently is to run 2 long runs at marathon pace. On week 7 I hope to run 18 with 12 miles at marathon pace and on week 15 for my last long 20 miler I hope to run 13/15 miles at marathon pace. If I can get these into a race then that’s all the better. I find it hard to keep a steady marathon pace while training so I’ll be looking for some help with this.

Race wise I don’t plan on doing that many this year during my program. I plan on running the Ballycotton Summer series and the Streets of Galway 5 mile as breaks from the normal routine and to see if my sharpness is improving. I would really like to get a top 50 position in the Ballycotton series. Other than those races I will just concentrate on training and probably try to fit in one or 2 races over 10 miles during the program. Maybe run them at marathon pace.

Onwards to the training. The program is 18 weeks in total and started at a 50 mile week. Normally this would be way too much for me to start at but I was putting in 40 to 45 mile weeks over the last few months so my body should be well able for it. There are some problems that I can see in the schedule for example between week 6 and 7 shows a big jump in mileage. Nearly 13 miles. This will need to be changed but I will look at this closer to the time. Previous experience has proved that I get injured if I increase mileage too suddenly.

I suppose for now my main target is to get the first 5 weeks of the program done. This should give me a good base with my mileage increased and plenty of hill work to help build up stamina. With 14 weeks to go my weekly mileage will be up to 60 miles and a recovery week ahead.

Mileage so far.
17 weeks to go 51 miles

16 weeks to go 38 miles. (Drop is due to Cork half marathon on Monday the 7th. No long run on the Sunday)

15 weeks to go 52 miles.

Next update in 2 weeks.