Heatwave

This last week has seen some of the hottest weather we have had in some time, and I sure felt it, particularly on today's long run.

Having been to watch Coldplay with Moll last night, we stopped over in Manchester and took advantage of being a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre to get some bits and pieces ahead of our holiday next month. That meant that my long run was delayed until late afternoon. 

I had hoped that having waited until half 4 to set off on my run, that I might be through the hottest of the weather. That seemed to be far from the case however, as the conditions became more and more humid and difficult to come with, eventually becoming unbearable and leaving me having to stop and walk my way home the last mile and a half, having stopped at 15 miles feeling dizzy and dehydrated.

I tend not to take water onboard on any of my training runs, choosing not to carry a bottle. Usually this doesn't prove to be a problem - today however I really struggled from 13 onwards and really should have taken some with me.

It does at least provide me with a good dummy run of the conditions that I am likely to be faced with at Freckleton Half Marathon in just two weeks time. The race continues to be run at mid afternoon on what is always one of the hottest days of the year.

On bank holiday Monday, I did a steady 8 miles in the evening, having been out for the day at Cartmel races with Moll, slightly less Han I do on a usual Monday. Having to work on a bit on Tuesday meant that I missed my track session, so substituted it for a 10k tempo run through the lanes at 5:34 pace, with a further 8 miles progressive tempo banked on Tursday with Rob Affleck, at 5:40 pace. Saturday saw me do another 8 miles, with the Preston Parkrun acting as an extra speed session in the middle of the session for me, with 16:44 for the 5k being exactly what I ran there last week too!

I love getting out into the lanes away from all the traffic and busy roads in the summer, but unfortunately there is one big drawback for me - I suffer quite badly from hayfever and in the months of June and July it always seems to peak over a six week period, leaving me with itchy eyes and a streaming nose. This last week it has been particularly bad and despite taking my medication it doesn't seem to have eased the symptoms much at all. If anyone has and remidies that works for them, please let me know!

A break from training for a brilliant night out watching Coldplay with Moll at the Etihad, Manchester.

Total mileage for the week: 67

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

Total mileage for May: 282

Total mileage so far this month (June): 49

Total mileage so far 2016: 1549

Average miles per day 2016: 9.92

Gung-Ho

Last summer I managed to set a course record at Catforth 5k, one of the more local courses to me on the road racing circuit. It is a fast, flat course and as it is a race series that is run through the summer season, it tends to lend itself to being held in favourable conditions too. With the right competition and level of runners it is, in my opinion, a possible PB course.

On the back of Chrisleton 5k last week, the weekend just gone provided me with the first opportunity of this season to try and defend this record, and indeed improve upon it too.

There was very good competition to pit myself against too, with the returning Dave Rigby, of Salford Harriers now back fit again, and Ben Johnson of Southport - on the back of an outstanding run at the London marathon last month. So I knew I would have to perform well if I was going to be able to compete.

In the early stages, after a little confusion on he start over the signal, I was content to settle in behind Ben and allow him to set the early pace. I had intended to stay tucked in for a while longer, but after half a mile or so and the first couple of corners I found myself getting itchy feet as the going was already starting to feel tough. I took the decision to try and push the pace on even more in order to try and stretch it out a little. It didn't work much and instead the three of us passed through the first mile marker in 4:40!

Obviously I didn't look at my watch, and if I had known how fast we were going I may have tried to reign it back a tad, as that pace was some ten seconds faster than my target pace to try and run sub 15. That early pace was just too fast to make a 4:50 average possible - if anything, by going off too quick, rather than getting ahead of the rate I had used up too much energy too soon.

The second mile at Catforth is the slowest, with a very gradual incline catching many unaware - being a regular I know what to expect there now and put a little bit extra in through that section, but I still found myself unable to pull away, and we were all still packed tight through the second mile. 

Luckily, despite tiring and slowing through the final mile, I managed to open up a bit of a gap behind me and broke clear to run home in 1st place by 10 seconds in the end. Plus despite slowing I had still done enough to beat my previous year's best effort on the course, setting a new course record of 15:20. It is a good starting point for the series, and I am confident that with better pacing, there is still a fair bit of improvement I can make on that time in the coming months.

During the week, I enjoyed a tough track session on Tuesday, with 8 x 1000 off a 1 minute recovery with Helen's group. It was one of the longer track sessions I've done, and I really enjoyed it actually - it made a nice change after 4 or 5 weeks of 400 metre repeats on my own anyway!

On Thursday I did a 8 mile progression run with Rob, averaging out at 5:45 pace. Then on Sunday, I completed my week with a very leggy 15 miles at 6:45 pace the morning after the 5k race - it was hard going, but at least I got it done!

Catforth proved a successful night for the Danson family and Team Wesham, with the men winning the team prize, being followed up by the women also taking the team prize - with my mum forming part of the team and also bagging herself a pb in the process too! Well done mum 👏

Total mileage for the week: 69

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

Total mileage for the month so far (May): 264

Total mileage so far 2016: 1482

Average miles per day 2016: 9.88

One for your diaries...

Having struggled to find form and rhythm in my running for some weeks since Cardiff Half in March, this week saw my running take a turn for the better once again at last.

Don't get me wrong, apart from that one disastrous run out in Cardiff, I don't think I have necessarily been running particularly poorly. However I haven't felt as though I have had quite the same bounce in my step in training in general, or quite the same zip in races for the last couple of months. 

It hasn't been something that has overly concerned me, although I have obviously been trying everything that I can to bring about a return to form as soon as possible. It is impossible to maintain the same levels of performance consistently throughout an entire calendar year without any dips, peaks or troughs, especially when you factor in any injuries or illness that you might encounter. 

So it has just been a case of keeping my head down, banging out the sessions, playing around with my routine a little bit to freshen things up and having a little bit of rest to allow my body to recover. It has been a slightly frustrating period, but I think I am gaining from it - mentally I am becoming tougher all the time, but also I am learning and becoming wiser about how to construct my training and race plans. Sometimes I think it is good to step back and evaluate what you have been doing and what you can change for the better.

I have been training hard, but off reduced mileage in an attempt to leave myself fresher for races, and have been racing a bit more in an effort to 'race myself into form'. The best way to describe how I have felt when running recently would be 'flat', not necessarily suffering from any pain, discomfort or niggles, not exactly underperforming either, but just not quite feeling on it. I've been missing something, even if I'm not quite sure what that thing is.

For whatever reason, this week whatever it is, it seems to have returned. With a Friday night race in the diary I decided against a midweek track session and instead opted for a steady 10 miles on Monday and another quicker 10 mile run on Tuesday at almost tempo pace. For the first time in weeks, it felt effortless. It is a wield feeling, but it is what I had been striving for, running at a decent pace, but feeling as though I could just run and run and crank it up at any time.

It was certainly a timely confidence booster, and just in the nick of time too ahead of my latest targeted race. I ran easy on Wednesday and Thursday in order to taper off ahead of Friday evening and the Christleton 5k road race.

For anyone that hasn't heard of it, or done the race, I have just one piece of advice. Get it booked in for next year now. Like right now! I have to say, it is one of the most professionally organised races I have had the pleasure of participating in. For a 5k, with a limit of 500 runners, to be chip timed is a rarity in itself, but everything from the marshalling, to the number collection was absolutely spot on. I couldn't speak highly enough of the whole experience.

Most importantly though, I'm sure you will understand, was that the standard at the front end was top notch, and also the course was one of the best that I have come across. When you put both of those things together into one race, and get decent conditions too (which we were fortunate enough to have) then you will produce fast times. Christleton is on the way to Chester, so it is a long way to travel on a Friday night, straight from work, for just 5k - but it is 100% worth the effort.

During he race itself, the winner led from the start and left us all standing, running some 30 seconds clear of the next man home in 14:24, but other than that, things were fairly close at the front. 

I ran the first 2k loop - it is a 1 and 3/4 lap course with the the start 1k from the finish - sensibly and sat bang in the middle of the chasing pack, which was about 6 or 7 man strong. The first kilometre was fairly flat, followed by a gradual downhill kilometre. At this stage I felt very strong, and with hindsight I was in a very good position sheltered in the middle of a good sized pack, but as we approached the 2k mark I made a move to the front of the pack and tried to draw the pack out through the middle stage of the race. The third kilometre is all uphill, with the climb being more noticeable than the downhill sections. If I had stayed in the group I may have expended less energy, but I am happy with my decision to be brave and attack that middle section as I like the hills and on another day it could have paid off.

I came through the 3k mark in second position, but was soon passed by the guy that went on to finish in 2nd by a considerable margin. A bit further down the road, at about 3.5k Joe Vass and Nigel Martin, both of Sale, passed me and I managed to latch on to the back of them in 5th position. From about 4K  my legs began to feel a little bit heavy, as the pace began to take its toll. I didn't wear my watch, but it would be interesting to see what pace I was on for at that point of the race. I lost a bit of ground through the last kilometre, but still managed to hold on to my position and finish 5th in 15:08, missing out on a new pb by just one second. The extra 10 metres from last week's remeasure of the course cost me dear! But at least I know this time it won't be scratched off.

My dad also travelled for the race, and had a superb run, knocking some 80 seconds off his time to record 25:28. Well done dad!

The rest of the weekend saw me take part in the Preston park run, before doing a 17 mile long run on the Sunday.

The little collage above is a snippet of the information that my new tomtom watch feeds to me through the accompanied mobile app. It allows me to trace everything, from my average pace, to a map of my run, through to my heart rate through the activity. I have been using the watch for 5 weeks now and I have to say I am very impressed with the range of options that it allows me to use and play around with. I have been able to use it to set myself interval sessions and rep work to good affect, whilst keeping tabs on the effort I have been putting in to my training to ensure I am working to my optimum levels too. It is early days, but I am enjoying using it, and not missing my garmin so far!

The picture above illustrates how my heart rate and pace looked through a session of 8x400 metres off a minute recovery a couple of weeks back. I thought it was worth sharing to show how useful a tool the app is proving to be, as I am able to reflect on hard I was working and how fast I was running through each rep, but also how my heart rate recovered through the 60 seconds rest.

Total mileage for the week: 62

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

Total mileage for the month so far (May): 195

Total mileage so far 2016: 1413

Average miles per day 2016: 9.88

Where will it stop?

So a few weeks ago it was announced that the Greater Manchester marathon had been officially declared short between the years 2013-2015 (not 2016 due to a change of course). One of the explanations given at the time was a fault with the calibration wheel used to measure the course length when the original race certificate was validated.

That explanation raised a few eyebrows at the time and left some people wondering what that meant for other races measured using he same wheel, seen as the error hadn't been identified for so long.

This week that question was answered. To an extent. But in truth that in itself has led to even more questions, rather than any real sort of satisfying conclusion. Instead, now runners are being left scratching their heads and tryin to figure out exactly what is happening to the sport we love, and what on earth have the running authorities been up to to allow our local sport to be left in such a sorry state.

It is now alleged that all races measured using this particular calibrated wheel, as well as some others measured using wheels calibrated using he same base strip as that one, are now being investigated for the validity of their course accuracy. In total some 38 races are now being looked at, and some have already been declared short, with some high profile races having seen their results wiped out and declared null and void after remeasures have shown them to come up short.

But still, even there the story does not end. Trafford 10k is by far the most high profile casualty of he latest round of controversy, but the race organisers are far from happy with the allegations and are appealing against the ruling. They are unhappy with the way that the remeasure was conducted and with the process of remeasure carried out. Apparently, when the course was originally measured and set out, it was done so with the official race line being set one metre from the edge of the curb all the way around the course. The new measure took a different line, hugging as tight to the curb as possible in order to find the shortest route. There has been no explanation, as I understand it, as to why the remeasure took a different route from the original course measurement. Under this scrutiny the course is now said to be some 100 metres short.

This again raises yet more questions - Dave Norman, race organiser at Trafford, points out that the metre from the curb measure was in line with regulations from all course measurements carried out in the 70s and 80s. So if this is the case, why have the rules changed, and when did the change of rules come in to play? If it is no longer an acceptable method of measure for road racing, then how will the measurements of previous generations courses stand up to the same levels of scrutiny? Why were race organisers not informed about these investigations and remeasures before they were carried out and made public?

At first it seemed that it was just races in he Manchester region that were under scrutiny, but as the week has gone on, it now appears that races up and down the country are now likely to be looked at to assess their accuracy. Garmin and strava readings from some of the leading races in the land are now being looked at to pinpoint races for a closer assessment. Whether this will lead into a full scale investigation is unclear, but it is putting big question marks over the future direction of road running in the UK.

Run Britain and Power of Ten have become powerful players and influential sites in encouraging runners to take part in certain races that looked like 'PB courses', they also became a leading database for storing athletes times, race history and form. Now though, races are being wiped away as though they never even existed and erased ad though they no longer matter. Surely this cannot be right? It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth once again. 

If you was to ask me what my official 10k pb time was now, the genuine answer would be that I do not know - Cheshire 10k is also apparently on the list of courses being checked for validity, so it might be back to the drawing board yet again, despite me being 100% sure that the distance I ran there a few weeks ago was absolutely bang on. It's a sad state of affairs.

Luckily the interclub series is not about official distances or times, as none of the courses are officially certificated anyway. On Wednesday night I took part in the second race of the 2016 season, held at the home of Preston Harriers. It was a bright, warm, sunny evening and fine racing conditions. I ran a strong race and led straight out of the blocks, opening up a gap early on an stretching it out consistently through the 4 mile, 2 lap course. I won the race from Rob Affleck in second place, by some 50 seconds in 20:31, a time that was some 28 seconds slower than last year - albeit ran in very much different circumstances as I felt comfortable throughout.

The weeks training was really built around that midweek race, with no track session, or tempo session to speak of through the bulk of the week. Instead, I did something of a speed session yesterday, doing 6 x 800 on the roads, off a 400 metre recovery. The session was a good one as I averaged sub 5 minute mile-ing throughout the efforts. This morning I completed my weeks training with a steady long run along the canal with Rob Affleck, making the most of the good weather with an enjoyable 15 miles at 6:30 pace.

A big well done has to go to my mum, Maureen Danson on her two races this week - with 4 mile and 10k pb's recorded either side of her special birthday celebrations this weekend - she's only going to get quicker too. Well done mum 😄

Total mileage for the week: 68

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

Total mileage for the month so far (May): 133

Total mileage so far 2016: 1351

Average miles per day 2016: 10.00

Natural Born Winners

Over the last few weeks, one of the best things that I have been watching on the television is a series called "Natural Born Winners" on the bbc - if you haven't caught any of them already then I highly recommend that you look the 4 part programme up on the iplayer as it is well worth a watch.

The idea of the show is that they follow 4 ex professional athletes, each of whom have been champions of their own sport, as they attempt to get to grips with new challenges and new sports across the world, as they battle it out to prove themselves the best all round athlete. The four competitors focused on in the series are: GB sprinter Iwan Thomas, ex-Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas, Canadian 100m Olympic champion Donovan Bailey and Former Speedway racer James Toseland.

In the first episode the athletes take on a gruelling 22.5 mile fell race, known as "man vs horse", as 15 minutes after the start of the run, horses are released and the race is on to see if any of the competitors can make it back before them. The second episode sees the men in Turkey competing in a traditional Turk sport of oil wrestling. Third, they head off to India for a martial art battle known as 'Kalari', and finally they end the series with a trip to Japan as they take each other on at 'Yabusame' an ancient Asian sport of horseback archery.

The fascinating thing about this programme is listening to each of the athletes stories of life as champions and adapting to life after professional competition.

Without wanting to ruin the show for anyone, there was a standout performer throughout the process, as James Toseland took to each event like a duck to water, adapting to each one and overcoming all the obstacles laid in front of him. As he stated himself - you have to be a quick learner when you are throwing a bike around corners at 200mph! 

Iwan Thomas was competitive throughout, Gareth Thomas was hindered by his size and phobias, but gave each competition his best shot. Donovan Bailey on the other hand proved something of an enigma. Obviously unfit and overweight, he also struggled to muster any motivation and failed to become competitive, let alone master any of the sports.

Bailey was the fastest man in the world when he won Olympic gold in the 100m in Atlanta 1996, however in the first episode he claimed another - much unwanted - title, the slowest competitor in the history of the "man vs horse" race, slugging over the finish line in an agonising 8 and a half hours!

The final part of the programme proved eye-opening, as the athletes compared their tales of injury, competitiveness, training and desire to be the best. 

Iwan Thomas admitted that he had struggled to accept his career was over and still desperately craved competitive sport. This despite not having ran on a track for some 10 years.

Similarly James Toseland was near tears as he spoke of the "bereavement" at having to retire early from motorbike racing due to serious injury - he had, he admitted, struggled to fill the hole that the adrenaline Motorsport provided him with had left behind. 

In contrast, Gareth Thomas and Donovan Bailey were somewhat of a polar opposite - having spoke of accepting that their own time was over and instead choosing to sit back and enjoy the performances of the next generation. There was, they claimed, no jealousy or need to feel competitive any more.

Which brought a question to me of how I would cope with no longer being competitive in running? I would like to think that running will always be a part of my life, as it has become such a huge part of it over the last 5 years. Hopefully I have a few years of improvement in me, then eventually I will peak, then the performances will begin to tail off. Injuries may play a part, or other aspects of life may take priority - that is life. 

But I bet it must be difficult. To be at the top of your sport, even at a local level, and then admit to yourself that you are no longer capable of the level of performance you strive for. To become a slower runner, to be beaten by people that you know you would have previously have been in front of. I suppose that is why many of the front runners drop off the scene once they have peaked? Whereas some accept it and continue regardless in their veteran categories etc, some fall by the wayside and that must be a shame to the sport.

Whilst I am able to and have the motivation, I aim to make the most of it and improve as much as I can and claim times and race wins wherever possible. Because that is what I enjoy. Fun running to me is winning or running pb's - yes I am a competitive sod sorry!

This week I continued my push to try and race myself back into some form by competing in the Beaverbrooks Blackpool 10k. 

It proved to be the hottest day of the year so far by some distance, as the temperature must have easily hit the mid 20's. That combined with a thin front end of the field reflected in the time that I recorded (not sure, but around 33:20), however I was pleased to claim a comfortable victory and to run almost pain free having struggled with a bad back again in the last week.

Training-wise, despite the back pain I trained fairly well through the week. I did a solo track session on Tuesday, setting myself quite a tough session of a 1 mile tempo (4:55), followed by 8 x 400m 68's off a minute recovery) and 4 x 200m (30 seconds off a 30 second recovery). Then on Thursday I recorded an average pace of 5:43 for my 8 progression run, in comparison to 5:51 the previous week. I think the rest during the previous week did me some good, hopefully I will reap the benefits in the weeks to come.

Total mileage for the week: 65

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 

Total mileage for the month so far (May): 65

Total mileage so far 2016: 1283

Average miles per day 2016: 10.02

Resting up

This week had been pencilled in as something of a rest week, following on from the completion of my winter season and the first lot of my targeted Spring races. 

I must admit to feeling more than ready for some respite after a challenging few weeks both physically and mentally after a few recent set backs. Hopefully the little mini break in training will allow me to attack the following period of training and races with a renewed confidence and on recharged batteries.

I had a total of three days off through the week - including not running for the full weekend, the first time I have taken back to back days off since the turn of the year. Typically on the first day off I twinges my back so would have been unable to run anyway! It must have been my body's way of telling me I was ready for the rest!

Despite taking a few days off, I made sure that the days that I did still run saw me putting in some quality sessions. I tried to make sure that I took something away from every run that I managed throughout the week - and this reflected in my average pace at the end of the weeks training.

On the Monday I did a steady hour of running, totalling 9.5 miles. Tuesday saw me do a solo session down on the track, and as something slightly different, I decided to do 60 seconds of 'effort' off 60 seconds jog recovery. I did 15 sets of repetitions and maintained a good rhythm and regular pace throughout. Wednesday was my first rest day of the week, followed by ten miles on Thursday, with 8 miles of a progressive tempo run built into it. The average pace for the run equalled 5:50 pace, having started at 6:40 pace and gradually cranking it up through the run. Friday saw me run for 20 minutes in the morning and 35 minutes in the evening as I struggled to fit some mileage in around work before my planned weekend off. 

Despite knowing that I was ready for the rest, I still felt guilty for taking the time out of training and itching to run. I have got that used to banging out the miles every day now, that it just seems normal to go out and train every day - having days off - and especially more than one in a week(!) - almost feels like cheating although I know it will do me good in the longer term.

The break in training did have its benefits, as it coincided with a weekend away in Silverdale for a get-together with Molly's family and allowed us to spend lots of quality time together and enjoy a few drinks and lots of food!

Total mileage for the week: 38

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:16

Total mileage for the month (April): 278

Total mileage so far 2016: 1218

Average miles per day 2016: 10.06

Let's talk, Manchester

I am writing this week's post on the back of watching this year's Virgin London Marathon and tracking all of my friends progress throughout the race - I have to say I was envious of everyone when I woke up this morning and the unbeatable, incomparable atmosphere that they were performing in front of.

Before I get into the blog proper, I would like to congratulate everyone on their achievements, Stuart Robinson, Grant Johnson, Ben Johnson, Gary Pennington who all ran excellent races and achieved fantastic times. Also, all of my Wesham pals who ran and did the club and themselves proud once again - well done to Garry Barnett, Troy Watson, Nicola Unsworth, Carmel Sullivan and Peter Cruse. Big kudos to all of you that ran - and I hope you aren't suffering too much on the back of it!

Away from London, it hasn't been such a good week for another of he UK's leading marathons however. On Thursday of last week, the Greater Manchester Marathon hit the news for all the wrong reasons. Having already come in for criticism over a problem with the baggage drop for this year's participants, which saw many people waiting hours to be reunited with their property after they had finished the event, a much bigger problem was declared to have been found regarding previous year's events.

After years of whispers and rumours regarding the validity of the race distance, it was announced to have been officially declared some 380 metres short between 2013-2015. That is to say that the distance participants ran was almost a quarter of a mile shy of the actual marathon distance supposed to be run over the course of those 3 years events.

The company (AUKCM) that was employed to measure and certificate the course over those years had this to say via a statement on their website:

"Manchester Marathon 2013-2015

The Marathon course was measured by an accredited measurer in 2013 and was used for the race that year. The measurement was also used as the basis for the races in 2014 & 2015, with some adjustments. Following the 2015 race, there were suggestions that the course was short and AUKCM used GPS traces and video evidence from runners, together with satellite mapping services, to check the distance run on the day...After extended discussion with the organisers, it was agreed that AUKCM carry out a verification measurement of the course as run in 2015 in conjunction with the measurement of the course proposed for 2016. This measurement was done in October 2015 and showed that the course run in 2015 was 380m short.

AUKCM were unable to identify any error from the original measurement report, but increasing differences in the positions given for mile markers compared with the verification measurement indicated a possible error in calibration of the wheel for the original measurement. A check of the calibration course used showed that it was short, the error accounting for about half of the deficiency.

AUKCM regret the error in measurement and the effect it has on runners times.

The revised course used for the 2016 Manchester Marathon is not affected by this error. It has been measured by two measurers and both National and IAAF/AIMS certificates have been issued."

Xtra Mile Events, who put on the Greater Manchester marathon and organise the event, released their own statement in reply to AUKCM on their website, saying this:

"Xtra Mile Events, organisers of the Greater Manchester Marathon would like to respond to the statement issued by AUKCM.

Responsibility for measuring of the length of the course in 2013, 2014 and 2015 laid with AUKCM, and we relied on AUKCM certification in holding the race over the specified distance. It has been confirmed that the course was measured incorrectly most likely due to a calibration issue. AUKCM have agreed that the course was the same as had been certified.

AUKCM have taken responsibility for this by issuing this statement.

Xtra Mile Events understand the anguish and huge disappointment this creates, and want to assure our runners that we share the upset and emotion from the AUKCM news regarding the race distance.

The 2016 Greater Manchester Marathon was not affected as it took place using a new course which is fully IAAF/AIMS certified."

Now, although Xtra Mile Events may believe that they themselves have done no wrong with regards to the measurement of the course, it is hard to believe that after years of doubts over the actual distance of the course being run, that they were ever really unaware of the situation.

The reality of it seems to be that hands have only now been held up because the race organisers wanted to reach IAAF standard, and were aware that questions would be asked as to why the finish had been moved in comparison to previous running a of the event.

This may not be the case, but I suspect it probably had something to do with it. Either way, the handling of the matter has been exceptionally shoddy and has done nothing for the reputation of the race, which at this moment lies in tatters somewhat.

It is a real shame, as Manchester offers marathon runners a genuine alternative to London, and as the 2016 results have proven it is still a fast course anyway. It is also disappointing to think that this might unfairly overshadow this year's event - however that is nobodies fault but the organisers and their handling of the issue. If they had been proactive and honest about the mistake prior to this year's event taking place, some of the anger and sting would have been taken out of the situation. 

According to these statements, the organisers knew about the short course (at the very latest) back in October 2015 - so why was it kept hush? In fact, there has still been no direct apology from the organisers to their paying customers, each of whom paid around £50 a time to take part in good faith. That is beyond poor, that is bordering on incompetency. 

Whether they themselves had measured the course or not is irrelevant, they had accepted people's money to put on an event that they simply failed to deliver. People would not pay to watch a football match, have the full time whistle blown after 85 minutes, when anything could still happen, and just accept it. Running is also not a game of cricket, we can't just apply some formula like the Duckworth Lewis method and round up the results from that.

I myself am fortunate that my only experience of the race, back in 2013, came before I took up the training side of the sport seriously. My time of 2:52:18 wasn't even my best at the time, however that isn't the case for many others. Many of my friends have recorded what they believed to be PB's, although now they have been stripped of those times. So if they haven't got times to show for their months of hard work, what exactly have the organisers been paid for?

Whether they can rescue the reputation of the race from here is questionable, as although they state that the course is now 100% accurate, it is somewhat tarnished. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. I had planned on a return to Manchester for my next marathon, but now am having serious second thoughts if I would ever do it again - is it worth the risk when you have put so much into the training? 

It is possibly the best advert for other potential Spring marathons though, Edinburgh, Brighton and co mustn't be able to believe their luck!

Anyway enough of the ranting...

This week's training has seen me reduce my mileage, and increase the intensity of my sessions. I have to admit to feeling rather flat since my chest infection. I have probably become too obsessed with making sure I run 80 miles a week, and not focused enough on the quality of the sessions that I've been doing. 

Now that we are through the winter and I am happy that I have got plenty of miles in the bank though, I am now hoping to focus on doing lots more shorter, sharper training to get my top end speed up for the summer season.

I have been given advice from a few different people who are far more experienced than me, and he concensus seems to be that fewer, but more quality miles is the way to go over the coming months, so it might be that I try and cap my mileage at around 60-70 a week, rather than the 80 I have been doing. Hopefully this will leave me feeling a bit fresher on a race day once again as a result.

This week I did 16x400 in an average of 67/68 seconds per rep off a minute recovery, a 4.5 mile tempo in 5:20 pace and a run out at the local Preston park run in 16:17 for the 5k course.

Total mileage for the week: 65

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:28

Total mileage for the month so far (April): 240

Total mileage so far 2016: 1180

Average miles per day 2016: 10.26