Going Sub-4

This whole running malarkey started out as “run a marathon before turning 40” bucket list thing. I’d not done any real running since school days and failed twice at that goal 2 years on the trot in my late 30’s due to injury and illness. Fast forward several years to late 2015, a charity place for the London Marathon in hand and a revised “get it done before 50” goal and I was looking at finally getting one in the bag.

Taking some hindsight into the lead-in I gave gave myself extra time to build a decent base (as opposed to a crash 16 weeks from a standing start) and found myself on the start line really not knowing what to expect. How was the race? Brutal. Brutal and amazing and I did a time which held as my PB for the following 4 marathons.

I really had planned to just tick the box and do the one marathon but the bug bit. So much so that I built Runplan to keep me on track with my goals. Going sub-4 immediately became the next goal and I did loads of reading and training towards achieving it. The results were:

I basically aimed to do a Spring and Autumn marathon and maintain base training through Winter and Summer. I felt like I did a lot of running and got loads of injuries (Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, ITB, muscular strains/tears to quads and calf, etc…).

As you can see, there was very little progress.

Come 2018 and the lead up Berlin in Autumn and in frustration with injury and just not making progress I was looking for a different approach and found the FIRST programme on RW. A 3x a week plan – cool! I decided to just chill out and run easy – to hell with the 6x plans. As it turned out, a bit too easy. So much so that it ended up with a boozy 5 pints the night before the race. Berlin hurt. A lot. I was really frustrated. I just couldn’t figure this dam marathon thing out.

On the plane on the way home I read a book recommended to me by my marathon (and business) partner-in-crime Tom: Living with a Seal – it was really inspiring (see SEAL) and a fun read. I decided to change things up again:

• Join a running club (Tadworth Athletic Club – what a great bunch of people!)
• Train
• Shut-up and train more

I got straight into a new plan the week after the marathon which looked like this:

>> Each column is 1 week, green = completed miles, dark green = miles over plan, grey = missed miles

Things that were different:

• I got back into a Freeletics bodyweight program 3x per week for 12 weeks. This was brilliant to tone up, loose weight and build leg strength.
• Running with the club was (and is) fantastic! I was the slowest member proven by coming last in a cross-country league fixture soon after joining. There is nothing better than running with faster people and the club’s weekly hills and interval training though Winter really pushed and improved me. I can’t recommend this enough.
• Starting on the 1st of January 2019 I decided, somewhat on a whim and as a companion to my picperday.com project, to start a 365 day streak. This started a run-every-day mission which has made running really habitual.

My 16 week plan started on 1st Jan and was based on the Runner’s World 4 hour plan:

Did it work?

It was going really well until mid-Feb. I’ve never felt stronger or faster and then my knee blew up. So frustrating. Nothing specific but I guess it was just over-use and the extra runs/miles had caught up with me. This made things tricky as I had my run-every-day goal which was at odds with the recommended recovery of complete rest. I took it real easy for 2 weeks and then along came a planned half marathon race. I was feeling a lot better and thought I’d just see how the day went. Surprisingly the knee held up and I got a PB of 1:42 knocking 6min off my previous best.

This was great as it gave me some confidence in my base and pace. However, the fast half caused a regression in the knee and I needed another 2 weeks really easy to re-recover. Now I was loosing out on the Sunday long runs just when I should be maxing at 18-20 each week.

Inevitably race day came around and it was brilliant to be in Milan. No boozy pre-race adventures this time. Loads of rest and awesome pizza and pasta. The weather was perfect and the race got off to a good start. I managed to keep to my pace and the knee gave me no drama. Things started to drift around mile 20 but there was enough in the tank to get home under the 4 hour goal.

It was tough. It’s always tough at some point but it was a thrill to hit the time and not be completely wiped out.

The learning

I’m sure this is different for everyone but for me it is this:

• (to quote from “Running with the Kenyans“) You have to “build your house”. For me this has meant the last 3 and a half years and 4 thousand miles. All of the running, all of the injuries it was all required. Some folks can just show up and clobber it, for me it takes a load of work.
• I’ve come to love running. It started with with a tick-the-box goal and has become a real passion. From 5 am Summer dawn patrols, bright and warm amongst green fields to freezing cold, pitch dark, wet, muddy Winter slogs – I love them all.
• There’s always more. Having gone under 4 now the next carrot is dangling in front of me. Can I ever get a BQ (3:25:00 for my age!!)? Ultras are intriguing. I grew up in South Africa very close the route of the Comrades Marathon (54mi/87km) and this would be a pinnacle for me, we shall see. I’m definitely still building my house having come to this game very late in life.

Next up: Chicago Marathon 13th October 2019, the journey continues…