My home for the last 4 months - The Mall

I’m a pretty comfortable distance runner. When I start a long run or race, I know that I’ll be able to finish. But finishing in a reasonable time has always been a struggle for me. I’ve yet to hit a sub-4 marathon. Yes, I do struggle with nutrition, but I think that my drop in pace toward the tail end of a long race is largely down to the lack of one simple element in my training; hard work!

I’ll follow a training plan as far as mileage is concerned. And I’ll maybe occasionally do a hill session. But when I’m on my own, I’ll rarely do the actual fartlek or repetitive speed training that’s asked of me. So if there’s one thing I’ve done differently during my Virgin London Marathon 2011 training this year, it’s to incorporate a lot more speed sessions.

High intensity, speed training is the hardest part of training for a marathon (for me) by far. Running up and down a straight piece of road, or around a running track doesn’t hold much appeal at all. So in order for me to start training in this way I had to enlist the help of my work colleagues and join them on their Tuesday sprints session up and down the Mall at Buckingham Palace.

On my first go, a lunch-time session of 4 x 1200m with 2 minute rest periods, I did what anyone would do. I tried to keep up with everyone else. By the 3rd rep I was nearly 400 metres behind, with a face as white as a sheet and feeling as though I was going to throw up. It was really hard. My colleagues were encouraging, but many of them were in hard training (one of which can run a sub 3-hour marathon) and their pace was demoralising.

I stuck with it each week and reaped the benefits of having an experienced marathon runner on hand to develop the different sessions. These consisted of long, sustained sessions (like 5 x 1600m), or shorter, faster paced sessions (like 5 x 400m + 800m). Without the group element, there’s no way in hell that I’d have added these speed sessions to my training. My competitive edge had emerged.

Because the intervals vary so much, it’s sometimes difficult to see any improvement week on week. I was feeling stronger during my long runs on the weekend and could run at an improved pace for longer. But a real test of improvement came in the form of a weekly 5K handicap race against the people at VLM that I mentioned in my last post. This is the most fun I’ve had in running since my cross-country days as a kid. If you’re not aware of the handicap format, it’s when a group of runners with mixed-abilities set off at varying intervals, with the aim that everyone finishes at roughly the same time.

Sub 20 minutes baby!

This race is addictive and extremely competitive. Journalists move meetings with PRs so they can attend and not miss out on the Golden Shoe (awarded to the person who attends the most races in a year). I even heard one chap ‘joke’ about taking his holiday somewhere in Surrey, rather than abroad, so he could come back and run during his break! It’s immensely entertaining, and since I started in January (with a time of 23:34) I’ve run a PB 7 times, and my current best 5K time stands at 19:56 (which I’m very chuffed with)!

I’m in to taper week now, feeling in the shape of my life and ready as I’ll ever be for the marathon in a week’s time. And it’s all thanks to speed work. I can’t recommend it enough. If you fancy it, my only advice is to take it slow in the beginning. It’s very easy to pick up an injury by over doing it in the early stages. I managed to pick up achilles tendonitis (a painful creaking in the heel) and had to rest solidly for nearly 2 weeks. Luckily it subsided after a lot of icing, but I could very easily have ruined this year’s marathon. There’s some good advice here.

Okay, so you’re a competent runner. You’re a 10km pro, perhaps have a few half marathons under you’re belt, and maybe even a marathon and, towards the end you’re usually overtaking – and that makes you feel good. But, when the time comes up after the race, there’s a nagging doubt that perhaps you could be doing better. But how? How can you shave off a few minutes here, some precious seconds there, and start to improve those times? Well, thankfully, here are some tips to help you smash that PB:

1. Race everything
   
   You see that other runner plodding along 60 meters away? Yeah? She’s going to win £1,000 instead of you unless you catch her in two minutes. Oh and that tree blowing innocently in the wind? It’s going to fall on you unless you’re past it in under 45 seconds. Basically: find motivation, whatever it is, to make yourself run faster than you need to. Overtake other runners, see how long you can stay ahead of a cyclist coming up behind you, imagine a dog is about to attack you, and so on. Anything you can do to exert extra energy will help you reach a new level of fitness. And it’s fun too. This is essentially the Swedish running style known as Fartlek (Speed Play) and is a good way to have fun, and increase your speed, while out running.

2. Push yourself
   
   Perhaps this will sound obvious but you’ve got to push yourself. This though, needn’t mean running like Usian Bolt and sweating more than Lee Evans, it just means easing yourself from a position of comfort while running to one of, well, a bit less comfort. Next time you find yourself ticking along nicely, gradually start to accelerate. Nothing major, but a slow, steady increase, so that after about 200 meters you’re doing a good speed. Now maintain that pace for about three minutes, or as long as you feel comfortable with, and then ease back down to a comfortable pace. Speeding up gradually and then easing back down will help to shift the boundary of your most comfortable running speed to one that’s slightly faster than before.

3. Time yourself
   
   Investing in a good watch is a great way to go faster. Being able to accurately record how fast and how far you’re running while out and about provides you with a much better way of being able to assess your ability. And using the Fartlek running style (mentioned above) means you can put a specific speed and/or distance limit on each sprint you do – say, 0.4km at 4.30 minutes per km. Garmin, the most well-known brand, have watches that start at around £60 on Amazon and a little shopping around will help you see what seems best.

4. Plan your race
   
   This is the time when you might feel like an obsessive runner. Pick a race that’s flat, on a smooth surface, and avoids laps. Have a good breakfast (and a banana) and make sure you’re there in plenty of time to warm up. The race itself is also something you need to plan. The first 3km could dash any hopes you have if you go too slow or get caught in a crowd, so get to a good position in the start and ensure you begin at the pace you’ve planned for. Through 3km to 8km, you want to find that rhythm you’ve built to in training and stick to it: this is where your fancy watch will come in handy, telling you your exact pace, and alerting you if you’re going to slowly, allowing you to pick up the pace before you fall too far behind. Then over the last two kilometers really push it home, using the adrenaline of the race environment, the knowledge you’re close to home, and the fact you’re about to smash your PB, to really shave off as many seconds, or indeed minutes, as you can. Hopefully, this will see you home in your best time yet; and there’s something intensely satisfying about that.

Only trouble is once… now you’ve set it you’ve got to break it again. Back out on the road you go…