For my 40th birthday a friend gave me a trio of single malt miniatures. I promptly drank the first one and promised myself to save the other 2 for special events.
The next one fell when I finally (after several hard years of studying) got my Open University diploma in computing I had been working on.
The final one is still sitting in my tea/coffee cupboard and has been mocking me since 2009!
This last bottle of liquid heaven had been saved for when I finally manage to secure a GFA place at London. For me that's a 3:15 time.
Back in 2009 I was in great form, I was hitting PB's most races and got a 3:16 time for the last race in the year. Next year I thought - but no, well into winter marathon training I landed awkwardly going down a slope and something pinged in my right foot.
Basically for the next 2 1/2 years this has flared up and down pretty much prevented me from getting proper fit again.
Now in 2013 things started to look up. Endurance is back, speed was getting better but still somewhat off the pace. Winter training has gone great and now my last marathon last week netted a time of 3:17:32 which is my second best time ever.
My next marathon is in 6 weeks and I have a half in between which should help with the speed, so with everything crossed I delve into a period of speed work and endurance maintenance in prep for what I hope is a sub 3:15 and a well earned drink that has been sitting there for the best part of 5 years.
CTP out.
Wednesday 12 February 2014
Monday 10 February 2014
The value of the taper.
Having just completed a marathon in a great time (for me) compared to my last marathon which was 4 weeks before on exactly the same route in very similar conditions, I notice the biggest difference was the training I had done leading up to both races was very different.
For both races I had the same mind-set when I set out - that was to maintain a steady target 3:15 pace (about 7:26 mpm) and see how things developed.
For the first marathon I had put several long runs in and was attempting to condition myself to run on already fairly tired legs.
In the 4 weeks leading up to this race I have recorded the following long runs: 21m, 23m, 31m. Other runs included several 9-12m steady runs and the usual interval and tempo runs, only reducing things 6 days before the event.
Here are the splits for marathon 1:
1) 1m - 7:47
2) 1m - 7:40
3) 1m - 7:23
4) 1m - 7:10
5) 1m - 7:18
6) 1m - 7:19
7) 1m - 7:26
8) 1m - 7:28
9) 1m - 7:23
10) 1m - 7:30
11) 1m - 7:40
12) 1m - 7:46
13) 1m - 7:53
14) 1m - 8:05
15) 1m - 8:07
16) 1m - 8:07
17) 1m - 8:15
18) 1m - 8:13
19) 1m - 8:20
20) 1m - 8:20
21) 1m - 8:24
22) 1m - 8:39
23) 1m - 8:45
24) 1m - 8:32
25) 1m - 8:32
26) 1m - 8:19
27) 0.12m - 52
You can see that from mile 11 onwards my desired pace of sub 7:30 was no longer possible. The resulting time was 3:27:12
Now the 4 weeks between the 2 races I just did 1 long run (20m) a few interval and tempo runs but really slowed things down from a good 10 days before race day number 2.
Here are the splits for marathon 2:
1) 1m - 7:25
2) 1m - 7:21
3) 1m - 7:16
4) 1m - 7:17
5) 1m - 7:16
6) 1m - 7:16
7) 1m - 7:24
8) 1m - 7:19
9) 1m - 7:19
10) 1m - 7:15
11) 1m - 7:22
12) 1m - 7:20
13) 1m - 7:25
14) 1m - 7:25
15) 1m - 7:30
16) 1m - 7:32
17) 1m - 7:32
18) 1m - 7:32
19) 1m - 7:45
20) 1m - 7:48
21) 1m - 7:58
22) 1m - 8:06
23) 1m - 7:58
24) 1m - 8:01
25) 1m - 8:06
26) 1m - 7:52
27) 0.16m - 1:14
For this I maintained a sub 7:30 pace until mile 15 and even after this I didn't slow to + 8:00 pace until mile 22. The finish time of marathon 2 was: 3:17:32.
This shows that I could maintain this pace for much longer and the only significant difference between the 2 races was the training leading up to them - the second having less hard sessions allowing me to recover properly. There is no way the speed sessions between the 2 races could have made up for this improvement, so it has to be the reduction in hard/long sessions.
The morale of the story - rest is just as important as hard training and recovering properly before a key race can make all the difference. In this case 10 minutes in the space of 3 1/2 weeks.
Happy resting everyone
For both races I had the same mind-set when I set out - that was to maintain a steady target 3:15 pace (about 7:26 mpm) and see how things developed.
For the first marathon I had put several long runs in and was attempting to condition myself to run on already fairly tired legs.
In the 4 weeks leading up to this race I have recorded the following long runs: 21m, 23m, 31m. Other runs included several 9-12m steady runs and the usual interval and tempo runs, only reducing things 6 days before the event.
Here are the splits for marathon 1:
1) 1m - 7:47
2) 1m - 7:40
3) 1m - 7:23
4) 1m - 7:10
5) 1m - 7:18
6) 1m - 7:19
7) 1m - 7:26
8) 1m - 7:28
9) 1m - 7:23
10) 1m - 7:30
11) 1m - 7:40
12) 1m - 7:46
13) 1m - 7:53
14) 1m - 8:05
15) 1m - 8:07
16) 1m - 8:07
17) 1m - 8:15
18) 1m - 8:13
19) 1m - 8:20
20) 1m - 8:20
21) 1m - 8:24
22) 1m - 8:39
23) 1m - 8:45
24) 1m - 8:32
25) 1m - 8:32
26) 1m - 8:19
27) 0.12m - 52
You can see that from mile 11 onwards my desired pace of sub 7:30 was no longer possible. The resulting time was 3:27:12
Now the 4 weeks between the 2 races I just did 1 long run (20m) a few interval and tempo runs but really slowed things down from a good 10 days before race day number 2.
Here are the splits for marathon 2:
1) 1m - 7:25
2) 1m - 7:21
3) 1m - 7:16
4) 1m - 7:17
5) 1m - 7:16
6) 1m - 7:16
7) 1m - 7:24
8) 1m - 7:19
9) 1m - 7:19
10) 1m - 7:15
11) 1m - 7:22
12) 1m - 7:20
13) 1m - 7:25
14) 1m - 7:25
15) 1m - 7:30
16) 1m - 7:32
17) 1m - 7:32
18) 1m - 7:32
19) 1m - 7:45
20) 1m - 7:48
21) 1m - 7:58
22) 1m - 8:06
23) 1m - 7:58
24) 1m - 8:01
25) 1m - 8:06
26) 1m - 7:52
27) 0.16m - 1:14
For this I maintained a sub 7:30 pace until mile 15 and even after this I didn't slow to + 8:00 pace until mile 22. The finish time of marathon 2 was: 3:17:32.
This shows that I could maintain this pace for much longer and the only significant difference between the 2 races was the training leading up to them - the second having less hard sessions allowing me to recover properly. There is no way the speed sessions between the 2 races could have made up for this improvement, so it has to be the reduction in hard/long sessions.
The morale of the story - rest is just as important as hard training and recovering properly before a key race can make all the difference. In this case 10 minutes in the space of 3 1/2 weeks.
Happy resting everyone
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