First and foremost a very warm welcome to my blog and thank you to RunThrough for agreeing to host it! Well done to all of those who took part in the Wimbledon Common 10k this morning, hope conditions weren’t too windy out there!
I aim to write a weekly blog which will cover a few key topics:
- My personal training and progression as I prepare to take on The London Marathon in April 2014
- Running tips for those also training towards a Spring marathon
- Brief discussion on marathon results from around the globe
- A motivational quote for the week – these will not all be original and I will acknowledge who’s quote it is if known – no copyright infringement will be intended – promise!
Please do feel free to comment on my blog and give me your feedback on how you find it…
I started running when I was 22 years old. I had previously run 4 marathons between the age of 19 and 21 but with no structured training and no real aim as to what I wanted to achieve. Embarking on a gap year with a difference I ran 12 marathons in 8 months over all 7 continents. Some of the highlights of this trip were running in places ranging from Antarctica to Hong Kong, and from Easter Island to Tasmania.
In the year after the 12 marathons trip I managed to finally complete a successful world record attempt to become the fastest person to run a marathon on all 7 continents aggregate time. The final marathon that was included was the Rio Marathon 2010 in Brazil, South America. From May 2012 I decided to increase my training and soon became a member of a running club in October 2012 and haven’t looked back since.
I now hold a championship qualifying time for the marathon distance. Current PBs:
5k: 17.26 10k: 36.03 10mile: 58.39 HM: 80.11 Mar: 2.43.36
Follow me on twitter: @nick2mee
My Fist Blog
SO to start…I competed in a 10 mile race in Twickenham last Sunday, which was a target race for me and I managed to break my own personal best (pb) by over 2 minutes 30 seconds. I was however very disappointed with my performance due to my lack of discipline in pacing in the first two miles. I went out at 5.30 min/ mile pace despite the plan being to stay at 5.48 min/ mile pace until 5 miles and kick on from there. This school boy error meant that I was working hard too early into the race and dropped two bad miles at 8 and 9 damaging my time. On reflection, a week on, I can take the positives of a pb from the race and hope to have learnt an important lesson for the future regarding pacing discipline.
Today I trained with my training partner who is preparing for the Valencia Marathon in three weeks. I joined in the last 1 hour 40 minutes of a 50:50:50 (2 hour 30 minute) progression run. The idea of this run is to do the first 50 minutes at marathon pace plus 1 minute 40 seconds per mile (e.g. 8.00 min/mile pace), the next 50 minutes at marathon pace plus 40 seconds per mile (e.g. 7.00 min/ mile pace) and the final 50 minutes at goal marathon pace (e.g. 6.18 min/ mile pace). The examples given are for a 2 hour 45 minute marathon but works for whatever aim you might have by adjusting the paces. It was a windy session and took a big effort from my partner to ensure the pace was kept to, taking into account that this session comes at the end of the peak of their training. From this point volume of mileage will reduce but the intensity of sessions will be maintained up to the marathon with of course a sensible tapering period.
Nick’s tip of the week
Everyone training for a Spring marathon at this point should now start thinking of getting into some fitness before the 16 week specific marathon programme starts sometime in December (dependent on the actual race you are running). Getting in the habit of a long run once a week will be key later in your training so starting to get used to it will be great! This may start at 60 minutes for some, and 90 minutes for others but at this point anything over 90 minutes would not be beneficial in my opinion. Remember that at the moment the focus should be on time running as opposed to concerning yourself with the pace you are running at. Go steady and maintain the pace…if you find you went too slow you can always pick the pace up a little next week. Going too fast may lead to a bad sessions during the rest of the week or a dreaded injury! Practice your pre-race routine before every long run, that way when it comes to the big day the process will be automatic and your body will be used to it; it also gives you the opportunity to experiment with different things like food, etc. When I say routine, I mean waking up, eating breakfast a suitably long enough time before starting running, appropriate clothing, planning the route for the run and how you will get fluids/ energy into your body during the session.
Races around the globe
On races that happened today…
The Bupa Great South Run, Portsmouth (10 miles)…the winner, Kenya’s Emmanuel Bett finished in 48.03 in windy conditions after finishing 2nd early in the month in the Great Scottish Half Marathon in Glasgow in a time of 61.40. The women’s race was won by Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat in 53.53, who early this year finished in 6th position in the London Marathon in a time of 2.27.05.
The Frankfurt Marathon, Germany…won by Kenya’s Vincent Kipruto in 2.06.15, only a second ahead of Mark Kiptoo also of Kenya. The women’s race was won by Kenya’s Caroline Kilel in 2.22.35. A massive congratulations to American Carl Selya-Hammer of Ranelagh Harriers who broke his pb by 17 seconds to finish in 159th place in a time of 2.40.40.
The Venice Marathon, Italy…by now you hopefully have seen a pattern and we can all assume that the winners of all races are Kenyan unless otherwise stated. Nixon Machichim won in 2.13.10 with the women’s race being won in 2.31.14 by Mercy Kibarus. Congratulations to Czech Lida Ford for completing her 64th marathon in a time of 4.24.44.
Quote of the Week
“Be it a 12 minute mile or a 4 minute mile, it’s still a mile”
Until next week…keep running and enjoy the journey not matter what distance it is.