Week 3 - A Speedy Week!

Week Commencing 19th January

Jan 25th, 2015  /  Week 3/ 13 weeks to go

That's week 3 out of the way. Been a bit of an up and down week morale wise. On writing this I've not long been in from a good 15 mile run and finished week 3 on 45 mile so happy at the moment with the training. Kicked off this week with the usual Monday night recovery run. This time running down McMullen Road and back instead of my usual route to Sadberge. Was another cold and damp one. Tuesday, Speed day was another track session which was a simple but effective 4 x 1600m intervals with a 400m rolling recovery. Tough session. Ran the reps at a controlled 10k paced effort but was hard graft. Wednesday I wanted to run somewhere different so ran towards Aycliffe and back on the A167. I honestly thought this would cover more miles but was only 2.9 mile from my house so I had to make up some mileage when I got back into Darlington. It must of been one of the most soul destroying runs in my life. When I got back into Darlington and I needed another just over 2 mile covering I was just going to jack it in. Felt like shit though and running on your own on these dark winter nights does get hard. Thursday, another speed session! I ditched to planned progressive speed session and join some harriers on the track for a 600/400m speed session. That was great and I found myself highly motivated for this. Was also nice to meet some new runners too. We ran 4 sets of 600/400 which was harder than it sounds. Really got tough on the last two but Peter kept me right with his "controlled" efforts. Really enjoyed that one though. Friday rest day. Saturday morning I found myself down the South Park running the parkrun. Originally was just going to marathon pace this but once I got going I put the effort in finishing 18th with a 19:59 time just scraping sub 20. Admittedly the wheels fell off on the final lap (last mile) but hung in there with Dave and Justin. Was content with the time. Still a long way off to where I was and need to be but on the positive its the first time I've been under 20 minutes since last June. Ideally I'd like to get back down to early 19's in the next 12 weeks. Maybe a trip to Albert Park is on the cards. Sunday I ran a good 15 miler with a mixture of Harriers and Quakers. Nice run up to Walworth Gate then back down to Piercebridge and back into Darlington. Comfortable run out just a tad tired at the end. Was nice to be running in milder conditions too. I am running these long runs on only a coffee to teach my body to become better fat adapted come marathon day. After the run I got a good breakfast in me then went into town with the family and got a nice latte from Starbucks :-)

Only lost a mere half a pound this week on the weigh in but a loss is a loss and to be honest not the best week nutrition wise. Still plenty of tweaks to be made. This week I am concentrating on improving my lunch. More chicken and salad! Still no booze since Christmas so that's over 4 weeks now dry and still no takeaways since the new year. Despite only losing that half a pound I'm still ahead of my target with a total loss now of 5.5lbs in 3 weeks.

Monday - 5 mile recovery @ 8:08 pace

Tuesday - Speed - 4 x 1600m intervals on track targeting 10k pace. 8 mile covered

Wednesday - 8 mile steady @ 8:04 pace

Thursday - Speed - 4 sets of 600/400m intervals on track. 5.1 mile covered

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Darlington South Park parkrun - Finished 18th in 19:59 @ 6:29 pace

Sunday - 15 mile long run @ 7:41 pace

This weeks weigh in : 179 Lbs (Starting weight 184.5 Lbs/Target weight 160 Lbs)
Total loss: 5.5lbs

Weekly mileage - 45.1

Week conclusion

Been a decent week. 13 weeks to go! An increase on my weekly mileage once again. The miles are building up nicely. Next week I expect to run around 49 mile. Its the end of week 4 last year I got injured but I'm feeling strong at the moment so I'm not going to do anything daft.

Build up races planned

• Great North West Marathon
• Albert Park parkrun 5k 
• Trimpell 20 (Marathon pace)

Week 2, A week of all weathers!

Week Commencing 12th January

Jan 18th, 2015  /  Week 2/ 14 weeks to go

That's week 2 complete of marathon training. Its been a bit of a stormy week of all weathers. I've ran in snow, ice, wind, rain, sleet and a little bit of sunshine. At the time of writing this I've just got in from a 14 mile long run with Keedy. A good run out in the snow to Houghton Le Side and back. When we first set off it was bitterly cold after a hard frost though the night to put the layers on today. Within minutes into the run the snow started coming down. I like this out and back route as the majority of it is all uphill for the first half to it makes you work hard. I managed to pick up the pace a little coming back.
So 2 weeks in and 40.8 mile ran this week. Miles going up slowly. Last thing I want is a repeat of last year. Its been a very hard week but I'm starting to feel my fitness levels return. I've lost 2 lbs this week which keeps me well on par for my target loss. 5 Lbs lost in total now. I expected the first 2 weeks to be fairly easy. It will get harder now and will just be case of knocking chips off. Still plenty of tweaks to do with my nutrition though. The most important thing for me that's made an impact is no booze and takeaways for a while. In fact I've not drank since Christmas Day making that 3 and half weeks with no booze. Not had a takeaway since New Years Day either which is brilliant for me. I do love my takeaways especially after a long run on a Sunday but planning ahead with meals now to stop any temptation. I've cut right down on the chocolate but I won't cut this out completely. You do need a treat now and again. But must stay focussed as there is a long way to go yet with the training and weight loss.
Back onto this week, kicked things off with the usual Monday evening recovery run. Tuesday was speed which consisted 16 x 200m reps over the track. Reps nice and controlled at 40-45 seconds but was made difficult towards the end when the wind and snow picked up. Wednesday I ran a 7 mile medium long run. The wind was up and it was very cold. Had the wind blowing rain and sleet in my face for some of it, was awful! Was glad to get that one out of the way. Thursday was a marathon scheduled "marathon paced" run. Again the wind ruined this. Set off out ok but coming back from Sadberge trying for sub 7 minute pace against gale force winds it just wasn't happening! The effort was there though and I got out that's the main thing. Rest night Friday. Saturday I was joined by Keedy for a progressive paced run. Felt great on this run. Weather I was starting to feel fit again, I ran on strong coffee, it was running during daylight? I don;t know but I felt great. I was running into the 6:30's by the end of the run so was pleased. Keedy had a good one as well hanging in there not far behind. Then onto today's 14 mile which I've already mentioned. So all in all a good week, just hard wacking out these sessions on the cold horrible dark nights. Next week

Monday - 5 mile recovery @ 8:06 pace

Tuesday - Speed - 16 x 200m intervals on track targeting around 45 seconds. 4.7 mile covered

Wednesday - 7 mile steady @ 8:06 pace

Thursday - 5 mile with 3 mile @ attempted MP (6:56-7:32)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Progressive pace run starting @ 7:52 working down to 6:35 pace

Sunday - 14 mile long run @ 7:59 pace

This weeks weigh in : 179.5 Lbs (Starting weight 184.5 Lbs/Target weight 160 Lbs)

Lost so far since 3rd January: 5 lbs 

Weekly mileage - 40.8

Week conclusion

So all in all a good week, just hard wacking out these sessions on the cold horrible dark nights. I've lost 2lbs putting me ahead of my 1.5 weekly target loss. Starting to feel slightly better fitness wise. No where near race fit yet mind. Next week will see me run around 46 mile. weather forecast at time of writing this its set to be a very cold one to more cold dark nights to come. 


Why I didn't run the Brass Monkey?
For one I did not make the effort in scrapping over a place at 6am on the morning when entries first went onsale. I know some had a smooth transaction but there again some lost out. So my own doing there. I have been offered a place but had a think and I'm no where near in race shape yet. I also feel its too early in the marathon training to be "racing" just yet. I ran this last year and this was the race where I torn my calf. Attempting the race at marathon pace on the back end of a very high miles week. I paid the price.

The 16 week road to London starts now!!!

Week Commencing 5th January

Jan 11th, 2015  /  Week 1/ 15 weeks to go

Well that's my first week of London Marathon training done and dusted. Been a bit of an up and down week. A long tiring week at work. Weather that's the start of rise in frequency of running or just me not getting enough sleep who knows?? Monday kicked off with the 5 mile recovery run which I will do every Monday night after work. Highly motivated that I was running my first training run over the 16 week period. I'm thinking while I'm running that wow thats a long time. But me training for my 8th marathon I know just how fast this goes once you get the first few weeks out of the way. Felt a little sluggish on the recovery run. Tuesday I headed over the track on my own to wack out some 800m intervals with 3 minute rep targets. Tuesday will be speed all the way through the training period. Admittedly this was hard graft. I was failing to reach 3 minutes but didn't want to give it rock all as that was not the point of the session. So just dug in, was very cold too with the track being slippery on some parts. Finished session satisfied. Wednesday is going to be the "medium long run" night. Anything between 8-13 mile typically around 7:30-8:00 pace but this week starting off at just 6 mile. Again felt a bit on the sluggish side. Thursday will be tempo and marathon paced stuff. This week a mere 5 mile with 3 mile at MP which will be around 6:50-7:00 ish. Found it hard hard. Felt more like tempo effort but felt better on the last mile of this! Had Keedy out with me and gave him a slight head start on this so felt a little more up for it using him as the rabbit. Pleasing session as managed to do 3 marathon paced miles (6:54, 6:54, 6:47). Friday will be rest day every week. Really nice getting in from work and just be able to chill so had a pretty much lazy evening. I was thinking of doing parkrun Saturday morning up opted for a lie in with me doing with evening race over Carlton Bank.

Monday - 5 mile recovery @ 7:59 pace

Tuesday - Speed - 5 x 800m intervals on track targeting 3 minutes. 5 mile covered

Wednesday - 6 mile steady @ 7:43 pace

Thursday - 5 mile with 3 mile @ MP (6:50's)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Hardmoors "Three Sisters" night race (6.8 mile) - 1:37 Garmin watch time

Sunday - 9.6 mile steady @ 8:10 pace

This weeks weigh in : 181.5 Lbs (Starting weight 184.5 Lbs/Target weight 160 Lbs)

Weekly mileage - 37.4


Week conclusion

Been a decent week on the whole. 15 weeks to go! An increase on my weekly mileage and frequency. All about building it up now slowly and steadily. Last thing I want is a repeat of last year. I've also got off to a good start with my weight loss. I have set myself an overall 24lb target to reach for race day which will average out 1.5 lbs a week over the training period. Which is doable to me. With 3 lbs lost this week I'm pleased. First week or two though I'm expecting to be easier. So off to a head start with that. Eating a lot better. Reducing carbs but not cutting out completely and increasing fat intake. At time of writing this feeling shattered. Running just short of 10 mile on top of the night race last night has taken its toll so a chilled day planned with a very easy recovery run tomorrow evening. Just shifted an old crt tv to the tip so my back has had a good workout too! Next week I'm expecting around 41 mile so another slight increase. I've got some planned build up races too which I will be entering next week.

Keedy, Scouse Dynamo Michael King & myself at the Hardmoors night race last night

Build up races planned

• Great North West Marathon
• Locke Park 20 (Possibly as a training run)
• Trimpell 20 (Marathon pace)

Garmin Connect - Profile Information for DarloRunner

Garmin Connect - Profile Information for DarloRunner

Pre Marathon Training Update

Marathon training starts tomorrow!

Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 - The Magic Sub 3 #vmlm2015 #vlm2015 #vlm #sub3

The final straight along The Mall

The long story starts here. In December 2012 I entered the 2013 Marathon of the North with a sub 3 hour target. On Monday 7th January last year I started  a 16 week sub 3 hour specific training schedule. The training would consist of the usual marathon training structure I have followed in previous years which has never failed me for me to obtain my targets. Just more intensity and mileage this time round. In my opinion I ran a good 16 weeks of training. I went into this race strong, fit and in good shape to attempt the sub 3. Race day came and the conditions were far from ideal in Sunderland to run a fast marathon but this did not stop me attempting it. A very blustery and overcast morning greeted me on the start line. The course was also not ideal for a fast time with some cheeky undulations, plenty of twists and some council estates! More about this race in my race reviews section. Anyway, the moral of the story is I failed to finish in under 3 hours. Marathon of the North was completed in 3 hours & 3 minutes (03:03:29). Naturally disappointed of course but relieved to have ran a PB and given the conditions that day I was pleased to have ran 03:03. I know its easy me saying this now as I am typing this but had the weather conditions been perfect and a faster course I honestly believe I was in good enough shape to run under 3 hours that day but I never so the challenge goes on. Just to add to that disappointment, days later it was announced the Marathon of the North course was found to be 264 metres short therefore the time could not be officially used as a PB nor a best known performance for my 'Power of 10' profile. The time sits on there but simply down as a SHORTMar meaning "Short Marathon".  At the time all I could think was 16 weeks of training for ***k all!

Marathon of The North

4 weeks later was the Edinburgh Marathon. I had entered this as a back up and had this silly idea in my head that maybe I could reattempt the sub 3. I had 4 weeks to recover from Marathon of the North and with Edinburgh being a fast course surely this was possible? Well I was to find this out the hard way. Felt great on the day. Conditions were a little muggy but nothing like previous years where there has been heatwaves experienced on race day. Set off at marathon pace for around 3 hours and I was absolutely hanging at the halfway point. At this point the demons inside my head took over. I knew it was not going to happen and I knew a friend (Paul Keedy) was gunning for sub 4 so at mile 15 I decided to start walking. I was not injured like the majority of runners that past me thought I was. I just wanted Paul to catch me up so I could accompany him in for his sub 4 which he easily achieved. Again on finishing this I was disappointed. I met back up with Charlotte at the reunion area and word was round that I was struggling on this race. I remember thinking what I was going to post on Facebook to let friends and family know how I got on. I was hesitating but I am not one for just "sing when you win" type of thing. I remember a lot of kind comments coming in particulary for assisting Paul in. But the bigger picture for me still for the failed sub 3 attempt.

Thankfully weeks later I found out that my time gained at Marathon of the North still stood for a qualifying "Good For Age" time for the 2014 London Marathon. So this would be my next planned attack on the sub 3 target. So the time came round once again. On the 23rd December I started my 16 week marathon training for London. Being just after the Christmas parties, bang on Christmas and just before the new year the training got off to a cagey start but once new year has past it was full stream ahead with the training.

Then week 4 into the training disaster struck. After running a 6 mile warm up I attempted to marathon pace the Brass Monkey half marathon at marathon pace but within a couple of mile into that I felt my calf pop whilst springing off the road onto a kirb to overtake some runners. At this time the pain was only mild so I carried on but by mile 7 I had to retire and resorted to the run/walk strategy. Gutted but accepted that this was early on in the training with plenty of time to get sorted. So had a full week off running and came back the next Monday with a light treadmill run to test and all was ok. But by week 13 it caught up with me. The endless miles of marathon training had took its toll and I was out of action again. Made the hard decision to withdrawn for the marathon and defer until the following year, this April. 

So that brings me back to why I am writing this article in the first place. The big picture and my main aim for 2015 will be to smash the London Marathon. The Gold target will of course be the magic sub 3 but an absolute must will be a new personal best time so will need to sub 3:11. So for now I am going to work towards that. I now have a plan set in place with the usual structure of marathon training. The long run, speed work, tempo & marathon paced runs, medium long runs and more important recovery runs. I need to make it on the start line this year. London Marathon only allow you to defer once so I guess I should be saying my main aim should be to make that start line injury free and ready to go!

Update From Last Year: Week Commencing 5th May 2014

Week Commencing 5th May

May 14, 2014  /  Mark Robinson

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 4.73 mile Club Session 5 x 800m reps

Wednesday - 5.74 mile @ Carlton Challenge Fell Race inc warm up

Thursday - Rest

Friday - 5 mile recovery @ 8:14 pace

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - 14 mile long run @ 8:36 pace

Me & a few Quakers at Carlton Challenge fell race

Update From Last Year: Week Commencing 28th April

Week Commencing 28th April

May 06, 2014  /  Mark Robinson

Bit of a pleasing week this week. Managed to hit 30+ miles. Not done that in 7 weeks. I was set a target of getting back up to 30 miles during injury rehab periodisation by the 5th of May. Its not been easy though. Still get niggley on warm ups. On Wednesday I decided to back down from an all out 5k as felt a little niggley and sluggish on warm up. Plus the wind was howling! However ran with Gary and managed to help him power out a 5k pb. So Thursday I felt quite fresh for the 400m reps which I felt good wacking out. Saturday a very slighter than last time parkrun. Ran on just a few hours kip and beer I'll take it as a positive run. A very comfortable steady 10 miler to cap off the week. Feel like I've made a little progress this week. Next week I hit the fells for the first time in ages! Looking forward to testing the new trials.

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 7.3 mile steady @ 7:53 pace

Wednesday - Spring Coast 5k - 3.13 mile @ 6:40 pace with 1.8 mile warm up

Thursday - 4.17 mile (6 x 400m intervals @ club session)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - South Park parkrun - 3.1 mile @ 6:23 pace (19:46) with 1.99 mile warm up & cooldown

Sunday - 10 mile steady @ 7:59 pace

Weekly mileage - 31.5

Spring Coast 5k (20:53)