2017 - My big fat review of the year (and a little skinny look ahead in 2018)

Well there we have it - another year done and dusted! It doesn't seem 12 months ago that I wrote my blog marking out a few targets for 2017 - including doing a summer track season (hmmm 😒😂) and here we are now setting new goals and plans for another new year.

2017

Overall I couldn't have wished for my running year to have gone much better. I racked up 3,595 miles in total - averaging 69 miles per week for the year as a whole. I avoided any major injuries - which is always the main base target in order to allow continued consistency in training, and maintained my focus and motivation throughout the year - in spite of a few times where it could have wobbled.

Last January my main aims for the year were a sub 15 minute 5k, a sub 31 minute 10k, a sub 70 minute half marathon and a sub 2:30 marathon.

The one targeted time that I missed out on was the half marathon, so perhaps it would be best to start reviewing from there. Early in the year I ran a pleasing half at Wilmslow. Despite missing out on a pb by 10 seconds (and missing out on my target by 40 seconds), in the weather conditions on the day and after a troubled build up with back and knee problems, it was a run that I was still proud of and I believed it was an indicator for better things to come. The other half in the year was Freckleton - my biggest failure of the season, but also a huge motivator for me through the second half of the year. I had been running well in the build up to the race and knew I was in great shape. Sadly conditions conspired against me and I ended off pulling up just after half way and suffering a DNF. It was a devastatingly frustrating moment for me at the time, but looking back I am 100% certain that I made the right call.

I used that disappointment to fire me up for the start of my marathon training ahead of Berlin, and it spurred me on to prove a point both to myself and others. I trained harder and with more commitment and determination than ever before and over the 12 weeks I averaged 84 miles per week, with some serious sessions involved too. I got my reward with a finish time of 2:28:37 and I have now put the marathon to bed for a little while again.

The first goal I successfully achieved in the year was the sub 15 minute 5k, which I achieved twice in the spring at Mid Cheshire (14:52) and Christleton (14:57). For a long time this year this was my biggest achievement, especially off little track work - it is definitely a distance that I feel I still have a lot of room for improvement if I can put a bit more focus and specific training in place.

Around the same time as I was running my quick 5k times, I also went close on three occasions to running a sub 31 minute 10k, running 31:12 at Cheshire, 31:10 at Trafford and 31:01 at Salford. With the postponement of Telford in December, I though I had just missed out on dipping that particular barrier...

I have been really pleased with my form over the last couple of months since the marathon. I have managed to hit the ground running (excuse the pun 😏) and have put in without my best performances to date off the back of it. The 10 mile result at Brampton to Carlisle (50:06 and winning the northern championships) is definitely my most complete run to date. Then to round the year off I managed to finally go sub 31 for the 10k at Ribble Valley on the last day of the year, running a big new pb of 30:25.

2018

So what next? For starters I face a bit of a new challenge in my training, as Ribble Valley was my final performance under the coaching of Rob Affleck. Rob has been fantastic for me and we have worked great together over the last 4 and a half years, but this is a decision that we have been discussing for a while now and both agreed that it was time for me to try and push on in perhaps a slightly different direction. Without doubt I will definitely still seek advice off Rob and use his knowledge to help me plot out races and some training plans and I'm sure we will still do some of our running together. I have seen the time I've been advised and guided by Rob as being like an apprenticeship, I was new to the sport when I first started training with him and didn't have much idea of how to structure a week of training or how to work to specific targets, etc. In many ways this is the end of that apprenticeship and is just the start of me looking to kick on now and make my own way, I still believe there is much more to come.

My main objectives this year performance wise will be to get my 5k and 10k times down as much as possible in order to help me eventually achieve the best marathon time possible when I return to the distance further down the line. Having now got my England standard times for 10k and 10 mile, I would also love to try and add the 5k and half marathon standard times to the collection too. I will probably look to target a half in spring and autumn and focus on the shorter stuff through the rest of the year. 

Blogging wise, I have struggled to keep up with it a bit recently Although I still have the same passion for both the sport and for my writing about it, circumstances have made it a bit more difficult for me to find time and means to produce a weekly write up - so for 2018 I will be moving towards a monthly review instead, with perhaps the odd race report in between where necessary.

Thank you to everybody that has followed me on the journey so far, I promise there is still much more to come and I can't wait to get stuck into 2018!

December training and Ribble Valley 10k review

A lot to get through this time, it has been a while since the last blog - I will begin with a little apology for that, it's been a busy month! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and are all set for an even better new year! I wish you all happiness, health and good fortune in achieving your goals over the next twelve months.

Ok so I have decided to split this blog up, in order to best get through everything that I feel I need to cover this time out. I will also do a bit of a separate blog to cover my review of the year and to take a little look ahead towards 2018.

Firstly, I will begin with a brief summary of my last 4 weeks of training, leading up to my final race report of the year at Ribble Valley 10k.

December

We left off on the last blog with me building towards Telford 10k, which I intended to be my final race of 2017. I had been in good form and was confident of a pb being around the corner.

The first full week in December was also my final week of training in the build up for that particular race. My main sessions for the week comprised of 12 x 1 minute effort, off a 1 minute jog recovery on the Tuesday, and a 5k tempo taken steady at 5:20 pace on the Thursday. 

Physically I knew I was ready and in prime condition to run well and continue my good form, unfortunately though a snowstorm on the Friday saw the race cancelled and my plans scuppered - or rather, altered...

Total mileage for the week: 65

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:22

Total mileage so far this month (December): 111

Total mileage for 2017: 3415.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.93

The week following Telford had been pencilled in as a bit of a recovery week after what I had imagined would have been a hard race weekend. Although the race was cancelled, I decided to stick to the original plan, take a couple of days off and do some easy running and lower mileage. I wanted to stay fresh both physically and mentally and set myself a new goal.

I got in touch with the organisers of Ribble Valley 10k and managed to secure myself an elite entry number for their race on New Years Eve. This gave me a new focus and impetus for my training through to the end of the year.

On the Thursday I did 2 x 1.5 miles in 7:18 and 7:13 respectively - meaning an average pace for the session as a whole of around about 4:50 per mile.

 Total mileage for the week: 54.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:23

Total mileage so far this month (December): 165.5

Total mileage for 2017: 3470

Average miles per day 2017: 9.89

This week saw a fresh approach to my training - with thanks to one of my training partners Joe Monk, who persuaded me to head to the track for the first time in almost 6 months. We did a session of 16 x 400m off a one minute recovery. Whenever I have an extended break from track training I always dread going back - I build it up in my head to be this horrible, painful thing that is going to hurt! The truth is, I loved every minute of the session, and it was great to get back to work on my top end sharpness. I managed to average 66 seconds per effort.

Then, the Thursday saw me repeat my 2 x 1.5 mile repetitions from the previous week. This time I recorded times of 7:10 and 7:07, for an average pace of 4:45 per mile for the session as a whole.

Total mileage for the week: 69.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:29

Total mileage so far this month (December): 235

Total mileage for 2017: 3539.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.89

Race week was also Christmas week! This meant altering my usual build up, but also ensuring that I didn't go too daft and overboard on the festivities through the week! I took Christmas Day off and my only real session was on the Thursday when I did a 3 mile tempo at 5:04 pace with Ben Johnson.

I was all set for my final effort of the year...

Total mileage for the week: 56

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:15

Total mileage so far this month (December): 291

Total mileage for 2017: 3595.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.85

Race Day

The race itself couldn't have gone much better. There was a nice sized pack of around 15 runners tightly packed throu the first couple of kilometres, and then as that group broke into two at about the two - three K mark, I took a split second gamble to go with the pace of the lead pack. 

I knew that I was pretty much on my limit, and I was right at the back of the pack, but I knew that I had to go with the pace if I wanted to help my chances of running the sort of time that I was looking for. I drew confidence from my experience at Brampton a month earlier, where I had been in a similar situation early on before growing into the race and finishing strongly.

That front pack of 8 then began to stretch out and became a new front group of 4, with the other four of us falling a little bit further back and starting to get strung out somewhat by halfway.

Fortunately for me I was just about able to hang on to the back of Ben Fish through this section of the race and made sure that I stayed with him through 6k, then 7 and then 8. Gradually we picked off a couple of runners in front and were gaining pace and momentum all the time.

So much so in fact, that I recorded 4:44 for my sixth mile and managed to sneak in front of Ben as we approached the final corner and the last 400 metres or so of the race. I managed to maintain that lead all the way to the finish line to take 6th place (and 4th in the incorporated Northern Championships) and take a huge chunk of time off my pb and to go sub 31 for the first time. I ended the year with a new 10k pb of 30:25!

Wesham 10k / The Marathon Programme

We have quite a bit to catch up with since I last blogged, after a busy fortnight of both racing and training. We will start off with a round up of the Wesham 10k weekend before last, and move on to my trip to the Forest of Dean a little later in the post.

I was a bit unsure of how exactly to approach the 10k race the other week, as it was just off the back of a serious effort at Brampton, and also of course I am wanting to keep myself in the best possible shape ahead of my next - and possibly final of the year - target race at Telford 10k this Sunday coming.

I began the week absolutely buzzing about how Brampton had gone, and on a high I began to debate the possibility of having a crack at the course record on my home club race - which has stood for quite a while at 30:56. It would have required me to run a pb to beat, but I was confident that should I really give it a go, I was in the right shape, form and confidence to do just that.

However, as the week went on I continued to umm and ahh over it, as to whether it would be too much to ask on the back of a very hard run one week earlier, and just two weeks out from Telford I was conscious of not wanting to jeapordise a better chance of going quicker on a course with a serious reputation of being extremely fast and with a packed entry list.

As the week went on, I learned that Joe Monk - likely to be the main competition to push myself against - wasn't in condition to race and so I would be all alone at the front end. It made my mind up for me that I would run fairly hard, but also relaxed and almost treat the race as a hard tempo run, rather than a flat out effort. My target was to run in and around 31:30-40 depending on the conditions on the day.

It turned out that the weather wasn't particularly favourable come the morning of the race, with heavy rain/hailstone and a stiff wind throughout the race. Nevertheless, I got off to a good start and soon opened up a good lead, I was running within myself for the first few miles, but feeling in fairly good nick and knowing all the while that there was a couple of gears I could move through. I passed the 4k mark averaging 5:07 minute mileing, and so knowing I was pretty much bang on for my target time. 

I suppose it is a sign of my confidence and form in recent weeks that I seemed to gradually and naturally move through the gears from there on in, moving down to below the 5 minute mark for each of the final three miles, to finish in 31:17, to claim my third successive win on home soil for the Wesham 10k by a decent margin - a hat-trick that I could only have dreamt of when I first joined the club six years ago! 

The fact that I was only some 20 seconds off the course record despite starting so comfortably was both pleasing - as it gave me even more confidence for what I will be able to hopefully do going full boar, but also a tad frustrating as if I had decided to really go for it, I do believe I could and perhaps should have gone for the record.

But the main aim has been Telford for quite a while, so as long as it all comes together there on the day, then it will all have been worth it.

My mileage for the week was down this week, as I took my first complete day off in 8 weeks on the back of Brampton! 

Stats for the week:

Total mileage for the week: 58

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:26

Total mileage so far this month (November): 241.5

Total mileage for 2017: 3260.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.84

Moving on from the Wesham 10k (and a hugely enjoyable Annual Dinner Dance and Presentation evening), and the week just gone saw another big event for me to look forward to. I headed down to the Forest of Dean - near Gloustershire - on Friday, to meet up as part of the New England athletics marathon performance programme for the weekend.

There was around 50 athletes and coaches present in total, and it was a jam packed opening weekend full of running, talks, interviews and a bit of downtime to get to know the rest of the team too.

The Friday drive down took quite a bit longer than anticipated due to an accident on the motorway and having set off at half 11, I eventually landed at the camp at just after half 4 in the afternoon. I shared the journey with Ben Johnson of Southport - and made the most of the opportunity to pick his brains about his recent England debut in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last month! 

Me and Ben went on our opening run of the weekend straight after the bag drop, but as darkness had fallen we were quite restricted to a fairly basic route that became a bit of a hill session, but blew away some of the tiredness from the drive down. We had tea and then an opening workshop introducing us all to the aims and ambitions of the project and getting to know each other.

Saturday was a full day - getting up for our first run of the day at 7am, and sitting down for our first workshop of the day at 9am. The final talk of the day finished at 9pm - so that gives you some idea how much we managed to cram in to the day! We ran three times in the day in total, clocking up 23 miles, with a quality tempo session of 6 x 2.2k being the main course for the day just before lunch. The reps were all fairly quick, but made much easier by the fact you was doing them as part of big packs of quality runners - it certainly makes a difference.

We heard interviews from GB international marathoner Tracey Barlow, her coach and the programme lead Nick Anderson, and also legendary coach Bud Buldaro, as well as discussing the physiology of the marathon and recovery methods, amongst other things.

Sunday saw us discuss the long run - its importance, the different types and methods in which you can use it when training for the marathon, as well as how best to structure your long runs in the 10-12 week block of training building up to a marathon. We then put some of what we spoke about into action with a group long run through the forest, before we returned for lunch and a final wrap up of the weekend.

The whole weekend was hugely enjoyable, informative and positive. It was fantastic to be a part of such a quality weekend of running and to become part of this movement striving to improve both the depth and quality of marathon running in England over the next few years. I would massively recommend this programme to anybody seriously looking to run 2:28 or below and wanting to push themselves to become the best that they can be - I believe I have learned a lot already and am looking forward to gaining even more knowledge about the sport at the next workshop in February.

Total mileage for the week: 90

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:32

Total mileage for the month of November: 227.5

Total mileage so far this month (December): 46

Total mileage for 2017: 3350.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.97

Brampton to Carlisle 10

Off the back of a fairly successful race at Cheshire 10k a fortnight ago, I turned my attention towards attempting to improve my 10 mile PB, set this time last year at the Preston 10 when I managed to take a fairly comfortable win - in what was a big pb itself at the time of 52:32.

This year, I decided to travel a bit further afield in order to get into a race with a more packed front end at a race that has a reputation for producing quick times.

This year the Brampton to Carlisle 10 incorporated the Northern Championships, which again drew me towards wanting to choose this race as it promises that there will be a quality field attracted.

The race itself was an 11:30 start, so a bit later than most, which was handy as it meant that I didn't have to get up too early for the journey! I was fortunate enough to be offered a lift to the venue from Simon Monk, as Joe had opted to choose this race too. This was one less thing for me to stress about before the race, so a big thanks to Simon for that! We got there in plenty of time and had a little walk around the village to stretch the legs before our warm ups. It was definitely cold out, but thankfully the conditions were pretty much perfect for running - no wind, clear skies and the sun eventually burnt through enough to make sure the roads were all thawed out in plenty of time.

The race sets off from a road just outside a high school in Brampton, and it is a point to point course which sees you travel 10 miles to...Carlisle - obviously! The course is apparently a net downhill, but it certainly isn't a case of setting off at the top of a hill and plummeting down the ten miles to Carlisle - but we will get to that soon enough.

The race is though a down hill start, which ensured that the pace was quick from the outset. It levels off after the first turn at about a quarter of a mile and the rest of the first mile is nice and flat, you hit a bit of a hill at around a mile and then have a nice long stretch of gradual down hill through to two miles, then the third mile is nice and flat too - again all condusive to a fast start to the race.

From the off, I found myself determined to stick with the front pack, but I have to admit that as I was fairly unknown as to what time I was targetting I was a little apprehensive as to whether the early pace was actually too fast for me. At around about this third mile, I had a look over my shoulder and saw a fairly big gap already to the pack behind. It made my mind up for me that whatever happened, I just had to try and stick in amongst this group for as much of the race as I could - otherwise I could be in for a long, hard slog on my own.

The front pack at this point was pretty huge - there were 10 of us that I could count in there, and I was pretty much right at the back of it, although it was a nice tight pack and not opening up at this stage.

We took a turn left off the bypass in the fourth mile and into more like country lanes for the next few miles of the race. I remained tucked neatly in the back half of the pack and started to grow in confidence and felt more comfortable with the pace. I don't know why, but when we hit the 5 mile mark I decided to make a move to the front of the pack and stretched my legs a bit. I was feeling fresh, strong and just wanted to prove it to myself. It was a bit of a surge, but didn't take up too much energy as I didn't increase my pace too much. Marc Brown and James Douglas soon joined me again and the others followed too, at the 6 mile mark I dropped back into the pack again and rode off the back of the others for a stretch. The pack was down to 8 now, which still seemed huge for the halfway stage! 

I never look at my watch during a race, and thankfully I didn't do through 10k in this one, as Marc has since told me we went through in 30:55, which would have given me palpitations if I'd have known!

By mile 7 a few had dropped off and the pack had become four strong - myself, Marc, James Douglas and a runner from Morpeth. I had been warned that the course started to get a bit tougher from around this point and that there would be a fair bit of climbing in the last 3 miles. I felt strong, but also wary in case the pace suddenly began to take its toll, or in case anyone decided to start stretching it out from distance.

The first big climb came towards the 8 mile mark, and before you hit it it looked massive and I was dreading it...as it was I still felt great attacking it and knew at this stage that I still had enough in the tank to last out the final two miles at this intensity. Me, Marc and James were all taking turns at the front through miles 7 and 8 and the time seemed to fly as a result, before I knew it we had hit the 9 mile mark as we entered Caslisle itself and I found myself back at the front as we approached what I guessed would be the final climb. I decided that I had to take a risk now and run it in hard from here on in. I had come this far, so might as well give it everything to try and win it now...I got to the top of the climb, around a bend, and then thankfully saw a nice downhill stretch to the finish. I just threw myself down it and around one final corner and over the line to take the win.

This is by far my biggest race win to date as it is one with a rich history, and I was stunned by it in all honesty as I knew I was in and amongst some seriously quality runners. My time shocked me even more - clocking 50:06 for a huge new best for the distance.

It is a fantastic race and hopefully it can attract an even bigger front end next year, I will certainly be returning to try and go faster still if I can.

My attentions now turn to the Telford 10k in three weeks time and I just hope that I can now hold my form and replicate this performance there to try and end the year on an even bigger high.

Week one stats:

Total mileage for the week: 75.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:22

Total mileage so far this month (November): 120

Total mileage for 2017: 3139

Average miles per day 2017: 9.97

Week Two

Total mileage for the week: 63.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:27

Total mileage so far this month (November): 183.5

Total mileage for 2017: 3202.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.95

New chapters - Cheshire 10k

After a few pleasing weeks of training since my rest up following the marathon, I made a fairly late call to run the Cheshire 10k this weekend just gone. Having cancelled holiday plans for the week, it meant that I had time on my hands and a free weekend to fill - knowing that I had ran the course twice previously (and PB'd on both occasions) I was fairly confident of going well.

Over the last couple of weeks I have started to do more of my pace work and harder sessions with Joe Monk. Anybody that knows Joe will be aware that he is a very promising distance runner, but he is developing quickly too and is well on the way to being a class act already. Working in tandem with him has enabled me to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit more than I can do on my own. We have worked together in training well so far and get on well too - which is always a bonus(!) - so hopefully this is the start of something beneficial to both of us moving forwards.

The last two Tuesday's have seen us put together sessions of: 1) 10 x half a mile off 60 second recovery - on this session each rep took an average of 2:23 (or 4:46 m/pm moving pace); 2) 5 x 1 kilometre off a minute recovery - this was a session deliberately chosen to be shorter and sharper in order to polish up a little bit ahead of the race, I finished up with an average moving pace of 4:42 minute mileing which was very pleasing and a good indicator that I was in decent nick for the weekend.

Sandwiched between these two efforts, we also met up on Saturday morning for a fartlek session around the docks. We did 3 sets of 4/3/2 minute reps off a one and a half minute jog recovery. We averaged around 5:10 pace for the efforts and clocked over ten miles in total.

My Thursday tempos with Rob were also continuing to prove pleasing as we got a little bit quicker still over our last 4 mile effort,  clocking 20:18 for an average pace of 5:04. The final session before Cheshire was stripped back and ran relaxed over 3.1 miles at 5:21 pace - I did feel a touch leggy though and so decided to limit myself to a 20 minute easy jog on the Friday evening before race day.

Cheshire 10k is a fab course and I always seem to run well there. It is traffic free and ran along nice rolling country lanes, there are no hills as such and so you are able to get into a nice solid and consistent rhythm. Unfortunately for me it fell on a busy weaken of races this time around and so the depth of quality in the field was effected. 

I ran most of the race without company and so found the middle section of the race a bit of a slog once I lost sight of the runners ahead of me. I dropped 10 seconds in the third mile which impacted my time.

I recovered well enough and finished strongly, so much so that despite the poor third mile I was only 3 seconds shy of my pb, and agonisingly close to a sub 31 run as I passed over the finish line in 31:04 for fourth place.

This was something of a bonus race for me, as it was one I hadn't anticipated doing, and so it is good to see that I am in this sort of shape with another good month of training ahead of me before the next big target race at Telford 10k in December.

Before then I will be travelling to the Forest of Dean for a weekend of running, having been invited to take part in an England Athletics elite performance programme for the marathon. It is a fantastic opportunity for me, as there will be some seriously quality runners and coaches of the highest possible calibre there to learn off and seek advice from. I am sure it will give me an even bigger push to carry on seeking to improve my all round running game that bit more. 

Stats for the last fortnight...

Week 1 -

Total mileage for the week: 72.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24

Total mileage so far this month (October): 280

Total mileage for 2017: 3000

Average miles per day 2017: 9.97

Week 2 -

Total mileage for the week: 63.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:26

Total mileage for the month of October: 299

Total mileage so far this month (November): 44.5

Total mileage for 2017: 3063.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.95

Back on it - Green Drive 5

It is hard to believe it - but it is already five weeks gone by since the Berlin marathon. In the first few weeks I was a bit drained both physically and mentally through the effects of the training, the race itself and a few other non-running things I've had going on too.

But in the past fortnight since my last blog, I have started to pull things back together again. I started back with a couple of speed work sessions two weeks ago, and chucked in another park run at the end of that week as I continue to find out where I am at fitness wise once again.

I still have some work to do to get back to top form, before I can then start to think about pushing on further, but I have put down some decent markers now to build on in the coming weeks.

During that last week, prior to this week, the main sessions comprised of a session of 7 x 1000 metres with Joe Monk on the Tuesday (Joe did 8, but I cut short as I was finished!) it was a really good session for my first real one back. I didn't really know how my legs would react to the first bit of pace work in a few weeks, so we had been a bit cautious with our aims for the session, targetting an average of 3:10 or so for each rep. As it was, I actually felt quite strong, and despite quite blustery conditions we managed to average 3:01, which was a promising indicator that I haven't lost too much sharpness in the last few weeks.

On the Thursday, I had my first tempo session back with Affleck. We did a shorter run than we have got used to (!) but also aimed to go a little quicker than we had been doing in the longer reps through summer. We did 4 miles and I managed to get around in 20:36, averaging 5:09 pace. Again, we had been pretty cautious with our aims for the run, as we didn't really know how it would go after the break. Having set the objective at getting around in about 5:15's, it is safe to say we were pleased with the outcome.

I did the Preston Parkrun for the third week in a row on the Saturday, and having struggled with some rustiness and having to run low 17 minute efforts the past two times, this time around I was starting to feel much more back up to pace and clocked 16:16.

I did my longest run in four weeks on the Sunday, with 14 miles at 6:15 pace, completing a very pleasing week of work.

Total mileage for the week: 66

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:19

Total mileage so far this month (October): 142.5

Total mileage for 2017: 2862.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.97

Onto this week, and I continued to add a few more bits of pace work to my weekly plan. I was a little bit stretched for time for my speed work on Tuesday, as I had a massage booked in for the evening. I managed to fit an hour window in though to get a bit of something done straight after work, so chose to do a 15 minute warm up, 6 x 4 minute on, 1 minute jog recovery fartlek, 15 minute cool down. I averaged 5:15 for the efforts on an undulating loop, so although it wasn't especially quick, and not ideal, at least I did get some sort of worthwhile session in.

Again on the Thursday, Affleck and myself replicated our 4 mile tempo from the previous week. Despite the rain pouring down throughout, we managed to go a little bit quicker than the previous week, and I averaged 5:05 pace for 20:20 overall, four seconds per mile faster than last time.

I was lucky enough to pick up a number for the Green Drive 5 this weekend, despite it selling out - due to an injury meaning I managed to transfer someone else's number into my name (thanks Chris McCarthy - I owe you one!). I wanted to do this race as a little tester to find out exactly where I am at fitness wise. Thankfully, the race went ahead in spite of storm Brian, and despite being effected by the gale force howling winds, it was definitely a worthwhile exercise.

I got off to a good start and soon moved to the front of the field as we took off through Green Drive in the first half mile of the race. On reflection, the first half of the race was pretty much all down wind, and my splits definitely show that! With a first mile of 4:49 and a second mile of 5:02, I felt as though I was going strong - until we turned around down the back country lanes and straight into a booming head wind! 😂

The following miles were spent battling the elements and gasping for air, all whilst tackling the ankle deep steeplechase sections that the previous nights rain had left for us between miles 3 and 4. The splits show how much I suffered through this section as miles 3 and 4 were recorded as 5:24 and 5:29 respectively. 

The wind died down a little bit as the course headed back into the park and the cover of the trees in Green Drive itself, and I finished with a fifth mile of 5:14, crossing the line first in 25:54.

In the conditions, and with it being the first race back, it was a pleasing return to racing, and to have run quite strongly is promising for the races ahead with a few more weeks of training in the bank.

I am now booked in to do the Cheshire 10k on November 4th, so the next couple of weeks will be spent brushing up a bit more ahead of that.

Hopefully now I have managed to re-introduce some pace work, I will also now be able to start creeping the mileage back up into the 70-75 mile a week ball park.

Total mileage for the week: 65

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24

Total mileage so far this month (October): 207.5

Total mileage for 2017: 2927.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.96

Re-setting the bar

So the dust has settled from a successful marathon campaign, and I have taken the last two weeks to start thinking about the direction that I want to move forwards in for the next stage of my development into a better all round runner.

I took 5 days completely off from all running in order to rest up after race day. My calves and quads in particular were in a pretty bad way in the aftermath of the marathon, and I was definitely ready for some time away from running to get myself back to normal. I did do a light gym and swim session on the Wednesday after the race, and also managed to get a massage booked in to shake out some of the badness from the legs.

By Saturday I was fed up of kicking my heels and felt ready to have a little run out. I wasn't looking forward to it and knew that I would probably suffer, but I decided to jump back in with a park run at Preston, to try and have a little short, sharp blast out to wake the legs back up. I didn't expect much, and actually ran ok - albeit well short of my form when I set the course record 4 or 5 weeks previously! I got around the 3 laps in just under 17 and a half minutes, holding a steady 5:43 average pace throughout, and although my legs felt pretty battered again as soon as I finished, it felt good to be back up and running.

I followed that up on the Sunday with a steady 10 mile run on heavy legs, averaging just a touch under 6:30s. By the end I was starting to realise just how much the marathon had sapped from me energy wise, and knew that it may be a process that takes a good few weeks to get back to my normal shape and form.

Week one of recovery stats:

Total mileage for the week: 18

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:30

Total mileage for the month of September: 219

Total mileage so far this month (October): 10

Total mileage for 2017: 2730

Average miles per day 2017: 10.00

On to this week, and thankfully as the week has gone on, my legs have started to feel more and more back to normal. I have enjoyed a steady week of running, just making the most of being able to get out for an hour or so each evening and turning the legs over without the pressure of particularly having to chase specific targets or aims. It has been nice to just enjoy running for running's sake for a while, I will probably return to some proper sessions in the coming week, but this week was all about ticking over and enjoying getting out there again.

I used the Parkrun again as a way of motivating myself to get out of that little comfort bubble of running steady, but decided to extend the session by running the 8.5 miles from my house to the event venue at Avenham Park. I enjoyed the run there, averaging a decent 6:15 pace there, but once I got going in the park run itself I started to feel a bit unwell. I had a dodgy stomach (I have also suffered from a bad cold in the aftermath of the marathon) and felt quite quezzy from pretty early on, so I was pleased to run just a little bit quicker than the week previous, in spite of the illness and the extended warm up.

I finished this week off with a good paced 12 miler. I averaged 6:15 pace overall, but miles 6-11 were very consistent and I found a really nice rhythm, ticking over with splits of 6:07, 6:06, 6:07, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:02. I couldn't have been any more consistent than that - which was especially pleasing the morning after a heavy session on the ale at a beer festival!

Total mileage for the week: 66.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:20

Total mileage so far this month (October): 76.5

Total mileage for 2017: 2796.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.99

I have started to plan for my next block of racing and targets, although things are still at an early stage and I need to meet with Rob Affleck to discuss properly the direction that we take from here. For now, I am entered into Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile road race and Wesham 10k in November, and Telford 10k in December. Depending on how things go between now and then, I may also add Ribble Valley 10k to the list at the end of the year, as well as hopefully a few crosscountry events.

My main aims for the rest of the year now are to really target pb's at the 10 miler and also to reduce my 10k time. I have taken a lot of confidence and learned a lot about myself and my training over the recent months, and I believe that I still have scope for big improvements across all distances. I am determined now to get my 10k time down as far below 31 minutes as possible by the close of the year.

Up until now, my targets have always been incremental improvements, and small aims to gradually move in the right direction. That is still very much the case, and each time I hit one of those targets, the bar gets re-set and adjusted accordingly. The marathon performance was by far my most accomplished so far I would say, but I now believe that there is plenty more to come where that is concerned. I am not in a rush to do another one, and it may be that I don't attempt the distance again now until as far away as 2020, but when I do I want to ensure that I maximise my chances of fulfilling my full potential. To do that, I need to get faster, stronger, fitter and cleverer with my training. 

Next year will have to be all about getting as fast as I can, whilst I can. I want to reduce my 5 and 10k times as much as possible, and to do that it may be the case that I finally have to dip my toe into the world of track racing. It is a difficult one for me, as that would probably have to mean joining another club, either as a second claim, or a higher claim for track purposes - as Wesham aren't affiliated to any leagues or track competitions. I don't really know how that works, so it is something that I am going to have to research and look into over the next couple of months.

Breaking through the Berlin Wall

All the training was done, all the miles and hours upon hours of running were in the bank, and by the beginning of last week there was pretty much nothing more that I could do to aid my preparation for the marathon.

As the week started, I was actually in quite a nice reasonable head space and felt prepared and ready for the challenge ahead. But the marathon is a difficult beast to tame, and unless you have actually encountered it yourself, it is hard to describe the mental anguish and psychological mind games that you go through as the event draws nearer.

By Friday - at this point already in Berlin and number collected - I was starting to get nervous, on Saturday I sent myself loopy with cabin fever as I confined myself to the hotel room for the vast majority  of the day, and by Sunday morning I was something of a wreck - mentally and physically feeling exhausted as I headed downstairs for my pre-race breakfast.

Why do we put ourselves through it? I will come to that question in better terms later, but in essence for the sense of belonging and the sheer euphoria as you cross the line knowing that you have really achieved something meaningful - regardless of the time that it takes to complete.

Those that have followed the blog for a while, will be aware that this has been by far my biggest training block and most seriously targeted race I have done so far by some distance. But it has been much more than a 12-14 week journey. I have been building for this one ever since the day I crossed the finish line at the London marathon in 2:36:52 in 2015. That day I had ran an 8 minute pb, and of course earned a lot of memories in the process - but I was determined that I didn't want that to be my pinnacle, or what I was most remembered for in my running. I want to be remembered for my own achievements and the times that I run - not just for being lucky enough to finish with one of the greatest runners of all time, but for running great times of my own.

In the aftermath of London, I made a decision to step away from the marathon for a couple of years. I wanted to get stronger, quicker, more experienced - to really work hard to improve and to come back and do myself justice. I knew back then that Berlin was the venue I wanted to return to the distance at, and I knew that this summer was when I wanted to tackle it.

I have reduced my pb's across all distances in preparation, and increased my main block of training mileage from 14 weeks at 62 miles p/wk in 2015, to 12 weeks at 84 miles p/wk this time around. Rob Affleck has been brilliant with me in guiding me in the right direction every step of the way and allowing me to learn from all his previous experience. He has been a fantastic coach and friend and I can't thank him enough for helping me get into the shape of my life.

The final days of the taper went as follows: Monday - easy 6 miles at 6:50 pace, Tuesday - easy 5 miles at 6:40 pace, Wednesday - 2 miles easy, 2 miles with strides, 2 miles easy, at 6:30 average overall. Thursday - 5k at 6:45 pace. I took both Friday and Saturday completely off running and substituted with just an easy 45 minute walk each day.

As the race got underway, I took advantage of the fact that Rob Affleck was there too, and we set off through the first couple of k's together, easing into it with a couple of steady miles. At around 3-4K though, I knew that I was feeling good - much better in fact than I had been anticipating after feeling horrible in the couple of days building up. I made the decision to press on and catch the back of a group forming just ahead. I went from 5:48 pace on mile one, to 5:38 pace on mile two, and then down to 5:28 pace on mile three.

My pace settled down, and I was feeling in a fantastic rhythm. I knew that I was going well, and I was growing in confidence with each passing kilometre - but was wary that there was still a long way to go. At around 5 miles, I got into a conversation with a runner from San Fransisco, we chatted briefly and he told me that his intended time was in the region of 2:24-2:25. At this point I was just starting to think about reigning it in a touch! He asked me my target and I was honest and said I didn't really know - I had just come to run as hard as I could and get a time as quick as I could. I told him my previous time and said that anywhere around 2:28-2:30 would be nice. He commented that it would be interesting to see if I would cramp up as we were on around 2:27 pace at this stage, before he increased his pace and steamed on. I thought about reminding him of this comment as I passed him underneath the Brandenburg Gate shortly before the finish line, but thought better of it! 😂

My pace was steady and fairly consistent throughout. I moved from one pack to another and tried to keep pushing on each time as much as I could. Settling and tucking in at the back of the pack didn't appeal to me - I wanted to feel in control of my own run and to be the one pushing the pace, not hanging on.

I got into a conversation with one other runner on the course. A German lad a similar age to myself, around the half way stage, he pointed to my vest and said "hey I know you, we have run together before!", and then I remembered him - we had battled it out the first time I won Palma Half Marathon in 2015. It is a small world, and it brought welcome respite - it was good to be running with a familiar face, and it gave me added determination to make sure I beat him again! 😂

Unlike past marathons, when I haven't spotted any of my friends and family along the course, this time I was able to see my mum, dad, Molly, and friends from the club and other clubs multiple times along the way. I can't tell you how much it helps and gives you that extra punch and drive to keep going!

The race couldn't have gone more to plan, right up until about the 38k mark, when I started to feel the effects. Whether this is related to only training up to 24 miles, I don't know, but the last 4k hurt. My pace didn't drop too much, and I stayed in touch with the runners that I had been in and around for the miles leading up to that point. By this stage, doing my maths, I knew that I was on for my sub 2:30 as long as I didn't do anything daft, so I wasn't overly concerned to be slowing a touch, as long as I kept my rhythm fairly consistent. 

I found a last bit of energy down the finishing straight to sprint (ish) home and over the line in 2:28:37 - knocking 8 minutes and 15 seconds of my previous best time. I finished in 89th place overall out of some 40,000 runners, so I can be proud of my achievement.

I am now on a week off from running, and will start to think about my next aims and ambitions over the next few weeks. But I am leaning towards another extended rest from the marathon and another stint at trying to get quicker over the shorter distances once again for a while, before returning to the longer stuff in a few years time again.

It was great to also get to enjoy a few of the sights and learn more about the history of the City yesterday before returning home too. I will leave you with a couple of snaps from my trip - all made possible of course, because of the brilliant Mick's Tours 👍

Total mileage for the week: 47

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:06

Total mileage so far this month (September): 211

Total mileage for 2017: 2712

Average miles per day 2017: 10.20

Strawberry sauce and sprinkles

There's not long to go now - this time next week and the marathon will have been ran, and all the training - and now the waiting - will hopefully have been worth it.

In many ways it would be easy to think that there isn't much more left that I can do at this point, but judging the final weeks (the taper) and getting the balance between rest, recovery, and keeping the engine ticking over just enough, is still crucial in order to make sure I hit race day in prime condition.

The taper is something which has a reputation that precedes it of course, and - as with much of my training this summer - it is still very much a trial and error and part of the learning process for me. Luckily I have guidance from more experienced heads around me, but ultimately you just have to trust your own mind and body and approach it as you see best.

Personally, I am delighted with how the 12 weeks panned out and am confident that I am without a doubt in the best physical condition that I have ever been in. That I have got a solid 3 months of uninterrupted, injury free training under my belt is half of the battle and these two weeks in between that block and the race day itself are all about adding the finishing touches. 

The metaphor I am using in my head is that I have bought myself a very nice ice cream in these last 12 weeks, and it's going to taste nice either way - but now I am adding the strawberry sauce and sprinkles to make it just that extra couple of percent tastier! 😂😂😂 

This last week has seen me reduce my mileage down to a smudge under 55 for the week, but whilst maintaining the same intensity to the work that I have been doing. I ran a steady 8 on Monday, then did a reduced short, medium intensity session on Tuesday, before a gentle 30 minutes shake out on Wednesday. The Tuesday session consisted of 9 x 1 minute efforts (at 4:50 minute per mile pace) off a 1 minute jog recovery. 

Thursday was my main session of the week and the final real bit of serious pace work that I intend on doing before the race. Affleck set us a 10k tempo session, with the aim to get around in approximately 33 minutes. Now, I forgot my watch, so had to record the session via Strava on my phone and I am not 100% sure what time I ran - according to my phone it was around 32:20, but according to Rob's Garmin, it was more around 32:40. Either way, it was a really good session, done to a high intensity but without going over the top. I felt brilliant throughout, so hopefully the beginning to drop down the volume of training is starting to pay dividends.

Friday was an easy 8 miles jog home from work, whilst Saturday was just a 3 mile plod. On Sunday I did my final run of any real distance, with 13 miles at a comfortable 6:30 pace throughout.

From here on in, it is all easy running and rest. Basically I will just be playing at it a bit over the coming days. 

So here we are, there's not much left to say, and all the training and miles are in the bank. The next time I blog, the marathon will be done and dusted and we will know the end result either way. There are just a few thank you's I would like to say ahead of whatever may come. Firstly to my mum and dad for helping me through the summer and keeping me sane, fed and watered properly. Also to all of team Wesham that have helped me and given advice and asked about how it's been going through the summer. Rob Affleck for coaching me to this point and dragging every little bit of effort and energy out of me and setting me on the right track with my training programme - not just this summer, but throughout our 4 year journey together! To Moll for the nightmare that I will be in the coming week 😂😭. And finally to you the reader, for giving me the excuse and platform from which to vent and put down into words my thoughts, plans and general training diary.

See you on the other side!

Total mileage for the week: 54.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24

Total mileage so far this month (September): 164

Total mileage for 2017: 2665

Average miles per day 2017: 10.29

Berlin Marathon training week 12/12 - clean sweep

So here we are, at the end of the twelve weeks block that I had set myself in order to try and give myself the best possible chance of setting a big new pb at the Berlin Marathon. It has been, without a doubt, the biggest and most demanding spell of training that I have undertaken. It is also definitely the best and most consistent spell of training I have ever done.

Twelve weeks ago, I set off with two main aims: 1) to average above 80 miles a week, in order to give myself the best possible endurance base ahead of the race; 2) to try and get a few carefully selected races in, and as much pace work each week as possible, in order to try and keep as much of my top end speed as possible.

My mileage at the end of the 12 weeks reads as follows: 83, 85, 79.5, 85, 87, 78.5, 88.5, 89.5, 77, 90.5, 87, 69.5. This means I ran exactly 1000 miles over the course of the 12 weeks, at an average of 83.33 miles per week.

My racing has gone well, and I have ticked off as many boxes as possible and got as many of my long runs done as planned to give myself a great deal of confidence that I couldn't have done any more now to get in shape to pb on the day. Now I need to concentrate on making sure I judge the next two weeks dropping down well, and hope for a fair wind and ultimately a performance whereby I do myself justice on the day itself in Berlin.

This week, my main sessions were done back to back on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings. These were the final interclub race of the 2017 series, and an 8 mile tempo around the docks with Rob the day after.

The race was hosted by Red Rose, at Worden Park in Leyland. It was around 4.3 miles long and quite a twisty, turny course. Fortunately for me, there was a few runners missing from the front end and I was able to round off the series with a comfortable victory, without exerting too much energy. It was a pleasing win, that allowed me to complete the full set - an interclub Grand Slam! - with 7 wins out of 7. It is nice to have that little record, as I've been told it hasn't happened before, and having recorded 6 wins from the first 6 races two years ago, I had to miss the final race and the chance of the record then due to holidays. 

My 8 mile tempo went better than expected on heavier legs than normal. I started off rather conservatively and finished up stronger to record an average pace of 5:33.

I took Friday off, rather than doing the planned 8-10 miles, as I had ran every day for the previous 20 days and had a massage booked in. I decided that the rest would probably do me as much good as the easy run I had planned.

On Sunday, I rounded off the final week of the block with a 17 mile long run, as I begin to reduce down the miles for the next couple of weeks. It's starting to get all the more real now, and I just hope that I can perform as planned on the day to do everyone proud.

Total mileage for the week: 69.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:23

Total mileage so far this month (September): 109.5

Total mileage for 2017: 2610.5

Average miles per day 2017: 10.36

Marathon build up week 11 - Golden Ball 20

The first half of this week was mainly about easy and steady miles, as I was feeling the effects of the previous week of hard training - especially the back-to-back park run and 24 mile weekend effort.

I made the most of the bank holiday and ran earlier on the Monday morning, with an easy hour, and then had a much needed massage in the evening.

I was running on tired legs and wary of pushing it too hard before my body was ready to go again, so I opted against any hard session on the Tuesday. I continued to run fairly easy on Wednesday, but doubled up to get extra mileage in.

My first proper session of the week was the tempo run on Thursday. It was the third week out of three of our 10 mile tempo efforts, and as targeted we have managed to get a little bit quicker each week. Having completed the previous efforts in 55:11 and 54:11, this week's I got around in 53:44. I was really pleased with this run, especially as I hit a few obstacles this time around - getting unlucky with the traffic at one mile, and shortly afterwards had a bit of an altercation with four chavs purposely blocking the path on their bikes! Having forced my way through them, I put in a bit of an effort for the next mile as they followed after me giving me abuse 😏😂

I ran easy on Friday morning as a recovery, and then a steady hour long run home from work on Friday evening.

I had an easier day on Saturday with a 7 mile jog at lunch time, opting to rest up a bit as I was booked in to do the Golden Ball 20 mile road race on Sunday as my final long run.

I was caught between a rock and a hard place on the Sunday somewhat, as I was conscious of the fact that I am getting ever closer to the real race day now, and didn't want to race this one too hard. I wanted to turn it into a hard long run, which is the reasoning behind me doing the race as opposed to another solo long run, but I didn't want to use too much energy. In the end, I opted to stick to roughly 6 minute miles throughout. I ran the first few miles with Matt Lalor and Mark Leadbeatter, and we grew through the field through the opening miles. By 7 miles Matt pushed on and flew through the second half to take a well deserved and thoroughly convincing win. I was happy enough with my run out, recording 2:01:04 (6:04 pace).

It is another box ticked off and another step closer to the real thing in three weeks time. I have one more real week of training planned now, before I start to ease back, which fits in fairly nicely with Molly's return from her American adventure this week. 

Total mileage for the week: 87

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24

Total mileage for the month of August: 383.5

Total mileage so far this month (September): 40

Total mileage for 2017: 2541

Average miles per day 2017: 10.37