Training for a marathon and more!

 


Its rare that I enter an event just for the bling, but I did love the Milton Keynes marathon badge this year. I've done this event twice before, and didn't enjoy it much the second time - the course had moved to a new route, and it wasn't a patch on what it was before. However, the course is now back starting and finishing at the stadium, and I'm looking forward to it.

I haven't followed a formal training plan this time, but I've tried to cover the gist of it around what I normally do. I try and get in three runs a week - a technical session, a paced shorter distance and a longer run at the weekend. I use my running club's training session on a Tuesday as my technical - this is usually intervals, hill reps or other formal training exercises. The club also runs a paced 10k circuit on Thursday at which I am a regular - it gives me good company and a consistent distance. The only difference that marathon training has really made is that I've been pushing the weekend run distance up from an initial 16km (10 miles) or so up past the 30km mark over the period of three months. I completed my last long run before Milton Keynes on Monday, at 34km round Rutland Water. I'll now ease off onto shorter distances in the last three weeks before the race.

To avoid injury, I also try and get two weights sessions in per week, one on my own (or sometimes with my son) and one with a PT instructor. This has helped me stay pretty much injury-free over the last couple of years, which makes things much easier. I also have a regular weekly on-line cycling meetup with Andy and Tom using an app called Trainer Road, which I've used for some years now.

The initial target is Milton Keynes, but that's only the start of a considerable year, so my training has had more events in mind than just the marathon. However, just for now I'm focusing on Bank Holiday Monday and trying to get a decent time. I feel the need...

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