Milton Keynes Marathon 2013 - An honest appraisal of my training

I will be writing a separate blog to review the Milton Keynes Marathon and my experience on the day. First though, I wanted to look back on how I prepared and trained for the race.

One of the reasons for choosing the Milton Keynes Marathon, was the timing. Because it is one of the later Spring marathons, I thought that starting my training at the end of January would make things a bit easier. Little did I know.....

Everyone in the UK knows what a long winter we've had and the combination of the cold and the snow/ice but primarily for me, the strong winds, have made it particularly tough going. I can honestly say that training for this marathon has been, by far, the toughest training block I have completed for any race.

One of the elements I wanted to build into this training block was the inclusion of more 'race paced' efforts, both as a part of my shorter runs and during my longer runs. I also wanted to add one more run per week (taking me from 4 to 5) with a view to adding more miles. I had trained on a '2 week hard, 1 week easy' cycle, which served me well for Brighton (in 2012), so I decided to stick to this.

I had already built a good base, largely thanks to the Strava #basemileblast challenge. I started well, adding a 4 mile recovery run on a Monday morning as my 5th session. I also built my long runs well from 12 to 18 miles, over the course of the first 5 weeks and was coping well with the marathon paced sections. During this phase, I also ran the Belvoir Challenge, which although not fast was good for endurance and provided some good hill training.

I had planned to run the MK Half Marathon but managed to get the date wrong, so had to drop a 20 miler which I had planned for the same day. I decided (at the last minute) to run the MK Half hard and despite strong winds and blizzards, managed to get a PB (1:35:56). Looking back, this was probably my best session of the whole 14 week training block.

Around this time, the wind really started picking up, making any faster sessions or long runs really quite unpleasant. One of my key sessions during training is a long tempo run of 2 x 6 miles (inc 5 min recovery). In the past, this has been a good barometer of my fitness. I remember running this session at the end of quite a tough training week and tired legs, combined by the wind, meant that I wasn't able to hold the pace in the second half. It was a big dent to my confidence. As my Sunday long runs increased in length, I was finding it increasingly difficult to get up on a Monday morning for my recovery run. I decided that the rest was of more benefit that a slow 4 miler, so I dropped the session.

About 4 weeks out from race day, I realised that I had made another mistake with dates (I really must learn to read a calendar!). Because the MK Marathon was on a Monday, I thought I had one more week of training than I did. If I stuck to the plan, it would mean me having to run a 24 mile run (inc last 5 at MP) just 2 weeks out from the race. I had no choice but to drop the session. My last long run would now be 3 weeks out, a 23 miler (with a planned last 5 at MP). Other than the tempo session I mentioned above, this was the other real low point of my training. Again the wind took its toll on me, so much so, I even had to walk parts of the last few miles. Again, I felt it was another key session that I hadn't 'nailed' and I was really beginning to feel that I hadn't done enough.

Having felt really sluggish during my last taper, I had already decided I would reduce the volume but try to keep a bit more intensity (through some MP efforts and some easier intervals). I also decided (at the last minute) to run my last long-ish run at race pace. This was no doubt a last ditch attempt to try and squeeze a bit more out of the last few weeks of training. I managed to hold the pace (8:00m/m) for those 12 miles but it felt tougher than it should have done. Although I felt better than during previous tapers, it was clear that, one week out from race day, my legs didn't feel a fresh as they should. The final nail in the coffin, was running a faster than tempo paced parkrun just 2 days before race day (I know!).

Setting the conditions aside for a moment, I think missing 2 long runs (of 20 and 24 miles), combined with a taper that was too intense meant that I was not set up as well as I could be for race day. I always tend to get to a stage in training where 'I just want to get the training done' but this seemed to happen much earlier in this training cycle. I became very frustrated, particularly with my longer runs and quite bored of some of the sessions and routes. This tells me, it is time to freshen things up.

Listening to Marathon Talk recently, Tom and Martin spoke about assessing your training and making a list of 5 things that went well and 5 things that you could improve upon. Here are mine:

5 things that went well:

1) I was able to up my training volume and stay injury free
2) I stuck to my stretching/physio exercises and improved my flexibility and strength
3) I got a half marathon PB
4) It got me through my 4th marathon (3rd under 4hrs)
5) I met some great people along the way

5 things to improve on:

1) I need to pay more attention to dates!
2) I perhaps need to reassess my race day goals if training doesn't go to plan
3) I need to trust in the taper!
4) I need to freshen up my training
5) I need to take nutrition more seriously

What a difference a day (of running) makes....

Generally I am a pretty positive person but having found my long run on Saturday tougher than I expected, combined with still feeling pretty sore (following a recovery run on Monday morning) I had a bit of a moan yesterday. Maybe it was just down to it being Monday, I don't know.

Anyway, what a difference a day makes! I met with Mike this morning and as he is currently involved in a #hillagechallenge on Strava, I swapped out my planned marathon pace 6 miler for a social run through Sharphill Woods. We splashed through boggy, muddy puddles (sometimes up to our calves!) ran up and then and flew down hills in low light conditions (which was slightly scary!) and explored fields in search of a mythical underpass under the A52!

I can see the pub from here!

It was just the sort of tonic I needed. In the end it was probably a tougher session than I had planned but unlike my long run on Saturday it didn't feel like it because we were having so much fun.

Anyway, having been a bit negative yesterday, I wanted to reflect on how different one run can make you feel. The moral of the story is that you are only one run away from feeling good again.

So, if you are feeling a bit fed up, lace up your trainers and go and run somewhere different, explore like you are 10 again, splash through some puddles and get yourself muddy. Remember running is fun!

Tech review - Garmin Sync

I will say right from the start that I am not particularly technically minded. I can get by when it comes to computers but I am far from being an expert. So anything that is going to make my life easier has got to be worth a look.

There are so many websites available that will allow you to log your runs/rides/walks these days that it can be a bit of a mission to upload your activities to them all if (like me) you are using multiple sites. Some, such as Fetcheveryone rely on you adding your activities manually or by uploading your Garmin files. Others, such as Strava and Runkeeper have apps that use the GPS in your smartphone to record your runs (in fact Strava also allows you to upload runs from your Garmin device).

I use my Garmin 405 watch to record the majority of my runs and I use Fetcheveryone as my principle training log. However, I will sometimes use Runkeeper on my iPhone if my Garmin is not around/out of charge. I have also recently started to use Strava because a number of my friends use it and I enjoy the social elements, the challenges and the fact you can bag CR's/KOM's for particular segments of your runs or rides.



I have looked in the past for a tool that would allow me to interact with these various sites but not have to use up half of my day manually uploading them! I recently (after running a Google search) came across Garmin Sync which allows you to set the site to automatically upload your Garmin Connect activities to both Strava and Runkeeper. It also (and this was something I particularly liked) allows to upload all of your historic activities. This meant that although I was late to the party with Strava, I was able to very easily and quickly upload all of my old runs, thereby giving me a chance to compete with my friends on the various challenges!

My only initial gripe with Garmin Sync is that it did not copy across the name of the activity if you had given the activity a name in Garmin Connect but this has been fixed in a recent update.

So, if like me, you want to be able to automatically upload your Garmin activities to Runkeeper and/or Strava quickly and efficiently, give Garmin Sync a try!