The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing

thats exactly what I thought - you'd be a belter at it!! Its not as well attended as you think - theres a lot of people dont run XC.

Nah - Nationals are the week before Seville Marathon - far too close.

As the Sunday World used to say - "I made my excuses and left".

Monday 22nd: Legs felt great actually - they knew they been in a race the day before, but felt good.

10.7km / 5.15 per km

Tuesday 23rd: Oh my Holy Jebus and the Mother Mary - legs in a jock today - felt very tired. Debated taking a rest day but a lunchtime walk with the dogs helped - went out in the PM.

Easy paces with 8 strides at the end - felt much better afterwards.

8.5km

Wednesday 24th: Session: I was flexible with this and was willing to move to Thursday if needed - but woke up a different man.

My sleep quality has been off the charts recently - I've always slept well, but I'm like an Olympic champion at sleeping recently.

The session was 20/15/10/5 mins (all off 3 mins easy jog) - starting at slightly faster than MP and getting faster each rep - I wanted to throw in the addition of 10-15 mins at MP or Steady at the end - depending how I felt.

Ran to PP as a warm up - no strides and straight into the 1st rep - as MP=4.05-4.08 (Sub 2.55 Mara) - I held the 1st set of 20 mins to 4min K's.

I used the Furze/OS road for this and all K's came in within 1 second of each other.

2nd set of 15 mins was at HMP (3.50 per km) - averaged 3.47-3.50

3rd set of 10 mins at 3.40's worked out well for but fatigue was growing and my headlamp battery died - 3.41 ave.

Final 5min set of faster stuff was complete at 3.38 ave - running on fumes, despite being downhill to the zoo.

I debated if I'd add in the additional 10-15 mins but as I set off running up Chesterfield (from the Zoo), it felt remarkably good to be running at 4 min K's - so I kept with it. As 10 mins approached - I debated further if I should extend it to 3km - but didn't - happy to finish with 60 mins at faster than MP. (10 mins at 3.59)

3.5km to home.

23.3km at 4.26 (average)

Was very tired later that evening - but nothing that good food, a few glasses of electrolytes and a good sleep couldn't solve.

Monday 29th: 8.6k / 5.22 pace - it happened - its on Strava - no memory of it.

Tuesday 30th: I was torn between doing a meaty session and taking it a bit easier due to a big workout planned for Friday.

The planned workout was a progression from a prior workout that I had skipped due to the XC Race - so didn't want to attempt that. Instead I chose different workout, that kept the intention of the session e/g/ Faster than MP. - 5km at MP-10 (3.55) + 5x1km at TH (3.40-3.45).

Done this on my 2m Loop (Bloom Loop around the Visitor Center) - 3km warm up - than onto the 5k.

Managed this pretty well - 3.54 ave - took 90seconds and carried on with the 1st KM rep at TH.

I felt fantastic on these - every one felt strong and I felt I could have went faster and done more reps. I took 90secs active rec for each one.

Paces were: 3.36/3.37/3.38/ 3.40/3.39

17km total

Wednesday: Recovery: 8.4km / 5.15 pace - legs felt pretty ok!

Thursday: Body felt ready to go - but I had planned in a rest day and had a big session planned for Friday. Got a little derailed when Wifey announced we were going out on Thursday night. I was somewhat well behaved but eating late is a disaster for my sleep and didn't have the best of sleeps.

Friday 2nd Feb: Session - I had arranged to progress the 60min MP I had done recently with my Tokyo bound buddy - so jogged down to meet him at 2pm on Friday. Wasn't feeling the love or as raring to go as I was on Thursday.

The wind was blowing and it was raining - that hazy wet rain.

1st few k were ok - we had chosen a 4m route that incorporated OS/ Furze Triangle and the Bloom Loop - which was a mistake as in every ~6k loop - the wind was somewhat against us for 4.

After 5-6k I was waiting for the 2nd wind - the pace was being pushed into the wind and I didn't feel in control - I knew early that this would be a tougher run than the 60min a few weeks ago.

Coming up Chesterfield at 9k - I was blowing a bit - at this stage 4.01 was the slowest rep and the wind was just ridiculous. I was getting worried that I'd put in too high an effort and impact my final 2 weeks prep.

We decided to cut out the OS/Furze portion for the remainder - which was a help - but going back up C'Field at 11-12km into the breeze, my legs were really feeling it - I could feel a stitch building which is a clear indicator that I was working way too hard.

I fell off the pace (despite a 3.57 km) at 14k and as we turned to go up C'Field again - I told my buddy to go on and I turned around and ran back the way I came - doing laps of the Triangle by the HITW Pub until 70 mins beeped and I had an absolute belter of a stitch.

I completed 70 mins at 4.02 pace - 17.3k. (My HR was in high 160's for this from the 3rd KM, which is touching TH - on Tuesdays session - my HR maxed at 158 on last K rep at 3.39 pace)

But felt quite disappointed about how I felt and how I didn't control the effort a bit more. I didn't take my drinks/ gels when I needed to (as effort was too high) - which resulted in me feeling quite $hit for the rest of the day.

I had worn a new pair of VF's that were a tester for the Marathon day and while they were fine, I probably wont wear them on the Marathon as I'll associate them with a bad run (its mad how we think).

With WU & CD - close to 27km for the day.

Still a good beneficial session - a lesson to factor in the conditions.

Saturday: just under 7km recovery

Feb finished up with 392km (243miles) - not my highest in a Marathon build by a long shot - but in line with keeping the priority on the Long Runs and making sure they are good quality.

Cheers DD, don't underestimate your comments!!

Solid Gold.

@healy1835 - this is what I was texting you about earlier.

Taper week.

Battling something this week - not too sure what - lets call it a head cold - my HRV dropped from high 50's to low 40's for a few days - but feeling back on it now - all the right metrics trending in the right direction.

I had 1 mini session this week - but it felt like a full blown session towards the end - Taper Week is probably the hardest in the whole block.

3k WU / 5k MP with last K faster/ 3k CD - felt tough.

Went through my race plan - working in KM's is good in some ways but frightening in others - the difference a 5 second swing (per KM) can do to you is frightening. So I need to be disciplined with my pacing.

Looking at my training over the last few months, its been good - theres an obvious shift from how I had done things previously;

• Major focus on Long Run - Quality Long Runs.
• Drinks and Gels on every Long Run
• Lower priority on MW runs - they've been good - but prior blocks were better - this impacted my Long Run previously.
• Less Mileage - focus on rest days 1 or 2 per week and not feeling guilty, once I'm getting the sessions in.
• Periodisation - moved from 3 sessions per week to 2 (from Jan).
• Hill Work in initial period every 2 weeks.

For my long runs - the quality is there;

10 Runs over 30km - including 7 over 32k with the longest being 37km.

thats 5 runs at or over 2hrs 30 + 5 runs between 2.15-2.30 - Only 1 of these was an easy 30k run.

Listing my last 10 long runs (for future ref) - Most recent ones last.

1. 3x6km MP (30k total)
2. 2x13k Steady (32k)
3. 3x5km MP (30k)
4. 12E/13k MP/ 5k St (32k)
5. Vanilla 30k (Christmas week)
6. 4x(3k@MP+40/ 3k@MP+20/ 3k MP) (36k)
7. 10E (7k/6k/5k MP) / 4kE (34k)
8. 32k Steady (Done this the Sunday after Fridays 25k at 4.15)
9. 37k Steady (2hr 45mins - 4.30 ave)
10. 4x(5k MP+2k Steady) 35k

Last shakeout today and travel on Saturday.

Travelling on Sat on purpose to minimise nerves, focus on Carb loading Thurs+ Fri here, dont want to be playing the tourist on Sat like last time (wifey is coming with me).

See you on the other side.

Seville Marathon 2024

Context:

After a real good Spring of racing – I made a royal Fcuk up of NOT keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing – and as a result tried to train for 5k’s, HM and Marathons all at the same time. The result was a hamstring Tendon issue that would scupper my summer races, and also my plans to run ¾ Mara, DCM and Valencia – So I signed up to Seville with the thought process that even if I didn’t make the start line, I’d get a good few days away with Wifey.

Heading into end September, I’d only done a few noteworthy sessions in an extended period of time and running the Race Series HM told me my Endurance was quite low due to the struggles I had.

My Plan was advised from a couple of plans – the BAA Mara plan for the 1st few weeks to Christmas – and then a Runners World Sub 3 plan for the Mara Specific part. I was using them as a guideline.

The BAA Plan had me doing 3 sessions a week – (2 + quality long run) – Hill Work every 2nd week. I had to replace some of the faster sessions with steady runs due to the hammy still impacting me.

Within each plan – I was changing the long runs slightly – but keeping progression intact but changing to ensure the body had the correct stimulus in lieu of the missed faster sessions.

I used a few of Matt Foxs long runs from Sweat Elite – notably 4x(3k MP+40/3k @MP+20/3k@MP) and 4x(5kMP+2k Steady).

Both these runs gave me a lot of confidence that a decent performance was on the cards.

‘Decent Performance’ – this was not going to be a PB race – I wanted to run well – not cramp.

For once I had no real time goal and it was refreshing – but my training was leading me to a 2.55’ish (+/- 2 mins)

Taper:

My last session was a 15k solo MP effort that went very very well – I done this about 10 days out. It made me wonder if I should have incorporated more of these longer MP segments rather than breaking them up as I was doing.

As the taper went on – I began to feel terrible, despite taking multi vit’s and additional Vit C – my Heart Rate Variability dropped off a cliff and each run became a struggle – my last couple of shakeouts at MP effort felt like 5k efforts – ‘its normal’ – I tried to convince myself 😊

Another consequence of the lower training was that my Hamstring Tendon suddenly wasn’t ‘loaded’ as much and as a result, it was giving out a bit more to me.

I put a lot of stock in Carb Loading this year, heavily informed by my 40k training run in the lead up to DCM ’22 – so on the Thurs/Fri/Sat – I consumed over 630grams of Carbs each day.

As I traveled on Saturday – this was a small miracle – I had last meal about 4pm and took a Maurten drink that evening – I certainly wasn’t stuffed or anything.

A very sharp headache on the Saturday and into Saturday night – coupled with still feeling a bit ‘meh’ made me re-consider my plan.

The Race Plan:

This changed a bit in the few days before the race.

Initially – it was to run the 1st 10k at 4.10 per km, the 2nd 10k at 4.05 and then try to run the 2nd half at 4’s with parts slightly faster – but how I was feeling led me to a more nuanced plan of running to feel but not going faster than 4.00 per km at any point (bar the last bit if I could manage it………..as if)

The Race:

I didn’t sleep great on the Sat night – but at least my HRV was ticking upwards. A breakfast of pancakes and Maurten had me nicely filled. I filled up my 3 soft flasks, packed my gels and set off.

I noted that it was chilly at 7.30am – I was wearing an old long sleeved top that I was going to discard – but it definitely felt colder than when I rant his 2 yrs ago – that’s a good sign I thought!

The Bag Drop area in Seville is very well organized and I dropped mine off and made my way to the starting pen – once there I realized I had left my White Hat in my bag - $hit – a moment of panic before thinking – sod it.

After 42 Seconds of Silence for Kelvin Kiptum – we were set off – I was feeling remarkably chilled about this.

KM’s 1-5: (20:37) 4.12/4.08/4.04/4.05/4.05

Keep the 1st couple of KM in control I was telling myself – run into it.

At the end of the 4th km – we cross over a bridge. All good in the hood – I’m running to feel at the moment and glance at the watch – 4.05’s for the last couple of K’s and feeling good.

KM’s 6-10: (20.16) 4.04/4.05/4.02/4.03/4.00

This piece of the race was quite nice – I remember thinking that I wasn’t ‘bored’ unlike previous Marathons and was looking forward to the remaining miles. I recall doing a systems check and feeling quite good – the hammy issue wasn’t an issue and the body was moving nicely – the effort didn’t seem in anyway tough and felt like I was out on a steady run.

At 6k I reached for my gel pouch – 90g of Carbs – the plan was to consume this by 15km (60 mins) – sipping every couple of k.

Well – I opened it and the top fell out of my hand. $h!t, I thought – I tried to fold it and put it back in my shorts pocket – but it would be leaking – so had to carry it – it was still leaking over my hand, causing that sticky hand feeling. At least it served as a distraction to me.

I also took some of my drink – I was carrying 750ml of Carb/Sodium drink (3x250ml soft flasks) – so about 90g of Carbs in the drinks in total, with a high amount of Sodium. But trying to take the drink out with one hand was comical – but it was working.

We passed 10k in 40.53 and I was feeling in fine fettle – deciding to keep the pace at 4.05’s for the foreseeable and not push it too much.

KM’s 11-15: (20:21) 4.02/4.05/4.04/4.04/4.04

This part of the race came back over a different bridge and back onto the same stretch as the start of the race.

All during this part of the race, the sun or the temperatures weren’t an issue – there was a lovely breeze along this stretch (along the river) and all was good – again – I was really happy with how I was feeling and felt quite comfortable with the pace. I was overtaking people along the way – running my own race and not getting too comfortable in any groups that would be going too fast/ too slow – the thing with this race is that there are always groups to run with at this level.

Finally finished my gel pouch and happily discarded it by a water station.

KM’s 16-20 (20:15) 4.02/ 4.01/ 4.05/ 4.04/ 4.01

Nothing too out of the ordinary here in the early K’s of this block – I’m still taking water at every station and pouring it over my head (as I have been since the 1st water station) – I want to keep my core temps in check.

As we get to 18km I begin to notice my left quad tighten up – whats that about I wonder – I remember it happening at this race 2 years ago but that was a lot further into the race after I had ran a very quick 5k split – theres no reason for it here – its very noticeable to the point that I try to run on the opposite side of the road thinking that it might be the camber of the road impacting it (or at least changing it might help it).

At this stage I have went through the 1st 250ml bottle and I discard it – onto the 2nd bottle – these are going down a treat.

At this stage – just before half way – I’m noticing walkers for the 1st time – possibly people who went out too fast or were carrying a niggle – so I make a decision to reduce the pace slightly for the coming few KM.

KM’s 21-25 (20:34) 4.05/ 4.03/ 4.09/ 4.07/ 4.07

Despite saying to myself that I’d slow down – the 1st couple of km’s around halfway were a tad quicker – a lot of people around and going through half way gave me a boost (1.26.33 – ave pace 4.04 per KM – just perfect)

I managed to keep the next few KM’s under control – still drinking the drink but taking the larger Maurten gels (40g carbs in each).

I think just after half way I had thoughts of a DNF as I didn’t want the quad to suffer any permanent damage – it wasn’t hurting me, but noticeable. If it got worse, I’d pull the plug.  This thought made me think about my daughters – they had put a card in my suitcase with instruction not to open it until after the race – I couldn’t DNF now!!

KM’s 26-30 (20:32) 4.00/ 4.10/4.00/ 4.10/4.09

This part of the course – it was noticeable how warm it was getting – it was a bit more open in places and I was regretting not having my hat.

I missed water at this stage – it was crowded and by the time I made my way over to get water to throw over me – it was sports drink – so I left it.

Trying to run in the shade where I could rather than on the Green line that marked the course.

The quad was still impacting – but hadn’t got any worse, so I was living with it – and apart from that all was good.

I was not looking at the watch too much – so paces a bit all over the place – the buildings around here cause a lot of issues with GPS – so not too sure if the km splits are accurate.

KM’s 31-35 (21.02) 4.07/ 4.07/4.13/4.17/4.15

Between 31-32km we pass by a football stadium – I think its Betis and the crowd here is fantastic – a real ‘fanzone’ – gives you a lift.

I’m also beginning to count down the KM’s when I’ll see my wife – As we pass by 32km and right on Q to where it was 2 years ago – I note the familiar feeling in the legs – the onset of cramp – I take some of the Cramp Fix (pickle Juice) and it seems to help – I smile and keep going.

I’m looking at the watch more and change the screen to check my average splits – I wanted to see how my ave was so I could workout my finish time. This was a big mistake.

I get a huge cheer from my wife in the park and it gives me a real lift – we go up and exit the park and I’m passing the area where I nearly DNF’s 2 yrs ago – outside the hotel I was staying in back then. I’m smiling thinking to myself – I’ve beaten cramp – yes, I’ve slowed to manage it – but it hasn’t got me.

Every now and then, I get the feeling of it coming on, but I’m taking the pickle juice and its working.

I look at my watch and see my pace is 4.07’s – this feels great.

KM’s 36-40 (22.02) 4.16/ 4.17/ 4.16/ 4.21/4.50)

I’m onto a nice part of the course now – but it is exposed and its warm – I know there is building cover up ahead and I’ll soon by passing my hotel and then it’s a straight road down to the finish (more or less).

Check pace and see that I’m doing 4.09’s now and feel great about it.

Wow – check that – nope I’ve been looking at Ave Pace – my lap pace is 4.16’s – what a schoolboy error. I get annoyed briefly with myself before asking myself if I could have ran a few seconds faster in the past few KM’s – I’m not sure – but we’ll never know – they are gone so just deal with it.

I tell myself to keep it at sub 3 pace and try to keep it at 4.15 per km – theres just 3-4k to go – so don’t lose a couple of mins due to cramp for the sake of gaining a few seconds.

Out of nowhere – as I can see the 40km sign – I get a massive bang in the hamstring – I have to stop. I stretch it out – I’ve no more cramp juice left – I take the remaining carb/sodium drink – I’ve finished all 750ml. I manage to get going again but I know I’ve bled some time.

KM’s 41-42 (4.26/4.26/4.24 (last 0.5km)

We pass by my hotel and the famous Cathedral and I’m moving ok, I’m doing slower than 4.15’s but that’s ok – I don’t want to cramp and lose minutes.

I pass by the 41km sign and know that I’m nearly there,

Despite running at this pace – I’m still passing people, theres a lot of suffering going on around me. This is quite an exposed road and the sun is quite hot.

I’m approaching the final turn – just a few hundred meters to go – BANG – my right hamstring gets a terrible shot – at the same time, I hear my wife shouting at me – I’m thinking – oh no, she’ll have the video out and I’m cramping, running funny and punching my leg like a lunatic. (She did, I was and I am :))

I remember 2 years ago having to stop on this part of the course – I can see the finish line – I’m not stopping again – If I stop its game over – I can feel the cramp moving everywhere – the inside of my hamstring feels like a big knot that’s being tightened beyond all possibility.

The finish line comes to me and I’m holding my arms out – done it – finished - what a race.

What a relief.

2.56.47 was the official Finish time – so the 2nd half was 1.30.14

My immediate thoughts as I shuffled down the finishing chute;

·      My Christ it is HOT – when I stopped running and noticed my surroundings – the sun was scorching!

·      I really enjoyed that one – perhaps my most enjoyable marathon todate.

·      Yes – I cramped – but I only lost 30-40 seconds when I stopped and managed the last 10k quite well.

·      I’m 51, had a crap summers training and ran my 2nd fastest Marathon.

I’m not going to say – ‘That’s it’ for Marathons – but for the foreseeable future I feel like I’m moving into a new phase of my running life – running with a training group.

We’ve a new track and a great group to train with – something I really need and am really looking forward to.