As this is my first update since the Saucony Stanmer Park Brighton 5 mile race I would firstly like to say it was a great event and over time could really grow in popularity. There is certainly a place in the market for a few quality road races over the summer months.

I enjoyed the race and on reflection was fairly pleased with the result. My only regret was not sticking with Ben (Moreau) and Luke (Cragg) early in the race as we were running the same pace for much of the race, and after finishing so strongly I could have certainly challenged for top spot had I been in the mix over the last 800m. However, credit where it is due – I just didn’t have the race sharpness over the first mile to bridge that gap.

Both this race and the 10km I had done a few weeks prior served their purpose for the next stage of my preparation for Daegu and I am pleased to report that training has gone extremely well. I have been following a format of a 10km type session on Tuesday/Wednesday and a marathon workout at the weekend.

It occurred to me that I have never actually discussed the specific nature of my marathon specific sessions so I thought you may be interest if I gave you an insight into a few of my longer workouts from the last few works:

• First up was a 24 mile run getting progressively quicker each 6 miles around a hilly circuit. If I had continued for a further 2 miles I would have run a 2.22 marathon!
• 12 miles at marathon pace on the Saturday, followed by 2hrs30 steady the next day
• 24 miles, first 10 miles at 6 minute miling, 12 miles at marathon pace, 2 miles warm down
• 18 miles around marathon pace on a 3 mile undulating trail 

The latter of these was the toughest as it was around a challenging loop and I had to contend with a number of dog walkers and horse riders. Rather unhelpfully I found myself having to steeple chase a dog at 14 miles after it changed direction at the last minute. I certainly could have done without this so late into the run when my legs were already feeling beat up but hopefully such challenges will make race day feel easier when I am running on smooth tarmac.

I think I mentioned previously that July was a busy month for me at work. This has proven to be the case but I have changed my routine slightly to accommodate this, taking a slightly longer lunch break and performing my second run of the day around 12.30. This has meant that although I have been working reasonably long hours I haven’t had to worry about running at some of the unsociable times that I faced over the winter. Besides allowing me to spend a bit more time with my wife in the evening I have also found a few decent routes around the country lanes near our office and have been able to run in the heat of the day (a relative term in when speaking of the British weather) so it is proving beneficial.

This coming weekend I have my longest run of the marathon preparation scheduled so it is vital that I try and stock up on carbohydrates over the next couple of days. Following this I will be competing in the Sale 10 on August 7^th in Manchester. This is the same course that I set my 10 mile pb in 2009 so I will be looking for another good performance. I feel extremely strong at the moment so hopefully there will be a competitive field and we can ourselves towards some good times.

I am flying to Daegu on August 22^nd. I am really excited about the opportunity to compete against the best in the world and think that the tough conditions could provide a bit more of a level playing field than a big city marathon. As a side note the Kenyan team was announced yesterday and the slowest member of their five man squad had still run quicker than the British record!! A definite chance to claim a few major scalps!

Monday, 1 August 2011