I am not going to lie, from about 5k to the end I knew I was pushing hard, the marathon is very long way to run at high speed and its quite easy to listen to the logical thoughts telling you to slow down or stop and walk!  (came at about 24 miles for me).

We had a top weekend having travelled down on Friday, me and Rose shared an apartment with two fellow DAC runners Janet and Glynn.  Most of Saturday was spent at the Expo (which was across the river from our apartment), we had burgers for dinner and a posh spaghetti bolognaise for tea (Janet and Glynn also had pudding).

Facebook was going crazy, lots of positive vibes flying about.  Had a good nights sleep and got up a bit after 6am.  We planed to leave the apartment before 8.  Food for me before the race consisted of a bowl of porridge, a banana and a SIS energy bar.  On to the crazy packed trains and off to the start area which split us up.

I arrived at my start area at about 9:15 and conditions were ok, it was a bit cool, dry and a bit breezy.  Did toilet queuing, water drinking and handed in my bag.  Quick 2 minute warm up and joined the que to enter the fast good for age start, bumped in to former DAC club runner Ciaran Murray, it was nice to have a catch up having not seen each other for 5+ years.

We had great support from people travelling from Doncaster and across South Yorkshire, thanks to you all!

Kit list – £60 Mizuno Wave Inspire Trainers, £10 Puma Socks, £5 Aldi Cycling Shorts, Doncaster AC Vest, High 5 Gel Belt and Garmin.  Glide on the nipples.

I had hoped to loose some weight in the 4 months building up to the marathon but this did not happen.

It took about 45 seconds to get over the start line and I ran the first couple of miles steady.  I then decided to get my average pace to my target race pace over the next 8 or 9 miles.  I never saw any of the official paces (this was good, if I had seen the 3 hour pacer I would have shot myself lol).

I had 7 SIS gels, I decided to take one a few minutes before the start and then one every 30 minutes.  I more or less stuck to this, I had an extra one in the last 30 minutes.

I went through half way in 1:25:14.  I was a bit disappointed by this as I was going for 2:50:00 and I know that running a negative split is bloody difficult, I have never done it (I have never tried to do it).  Five years ago I was told that to get an idea of my marathon time I should take my half marathon PB, double it and add 15 minutes.  My half marathon PB currently stands at 81:14 so this formula would get me 2:57:30.  Luckily I have always ignored this.

I was feeling quite strong in the second half, 7 months ago at hull I ran the second half 10 minutes slower than the first half, this was an awful second half and I felt much stronger this time.  I ended up running the second half about 1 minute slower than the first half which on reflection I am pleased with.  Spotted a few local club runners in the second half, some amazing runs.

My finishing time was 2:51:24 which got me a PB of about 2 and a half minutes in my 5th marathon, my 5th consecutive PB and 5th Sub 3 hour marathon.  I am hopeful I have a lot more to come in the coming years.

My training plan included 16 races, all distances from 1 mile to 21 miles and on all surfaces from cross country, track, road, grass and trail.  London was race number 17 in 2016.  I have run PB’s in half marathon, 30k and now marathon.

I remain a low mileage runner (averaging between 30 and 35 miles a week), basically I do two hard runs each week – a track session at Doncaster Athletic Club and a race.  All the other runs are either recovery runs (Slower than 8 minute miles) or long steady runs at between 7:45 and 7:15 pace, I trained loosely on the principles described in the book “Advanced Marathoning”.  I am mainly self coached but Paul Brown at Doncaster AC has made me work on my technique over the years and others at the club have helped.  I put my Doncaster AC vest on with pride and I think about my club when I am suffering.  If I up my mileage to 200 a month I simply will not get to the start.  Basically the book I was following guided me to run my recovery runs a lot slower then I have previously.  Also to run my long runs slower than before (with the exception of TMP runs).

Photo by Joe Ormshaw – Doncaster AC’s London and Manchester Marathon runners (4 are missing) – what a team, I am a very proud club captain!

I had one mad week in Wales with Carl Ryde where I ran 82 miles, 2 runs a day along the coastal paths.  I was not sure I would manage this but I surprised myself, increased my calorie intake and had a great time with Carl, his family, Rose and our family and Janet and her family.  This was probably my highest mileage week ever.

My longest run was a 15 mile run to Norton, and then completing the Norton 9 Race so totalling 24 miles.  I like this run, it gives me the confidence I can run the distance and I aimed to do it in 3 hours.

Monthly totals (This includes running with beginner runners with the Doncaster Pacers):

January 2016 – 152 miles over 19:07 hours

February 2016 – 133 miles over 16:11 hours

March 2016 – 176 miles over 22:29 hours

April 2016 – 139 miles over 18:09 hours

I am very proud of my fellow athletes at Doncaster Athletic Club, some were new to running last year and others seasoned marathon runners.  We all supported each other.

Recovery wise I feel good, I ran 5 miles on Tuesday at 10 minute mile pace and 8 miles on Thursday at 7:25 pace (both club runs) and this morning I did parkrun at 6:10 minute miles.

5k training

Tuesday Track Sessions – current 5k pace

3 x 1 mile – 3 mins rest

6 x 800m – 2 mins rest

12 x 400m – 1 min rest (target 5k pace)

Thursday Road Sessions

Road – current 5k pace – run 20 seconds per mile slower if one effort.  If fartlek then mixture of efforts.

5k loop to run – warm up and warm down from track.

10k training

Tuesday Track Sessions – current 10k pace

6 x 1 mile – 3 mins rest

12 x 800m – 2 mins rest

1 x 1 mile – 3 mins rest, 12 x 400m – 1 min rest, 1 x 1 mile (target 10k pace).

Thursday Road Sessions

Road – current 10k pace – run 20 seconds per mile slower if one effort.  If fartlek then mixture of efforts.

10k loop to run – warm up and warm down from track.

As of 15 February I have 7 races recorded on the Power of 10, for 2016, the one which has taken the most out of me was the Stamford 30k (18.96 miles) which was on the 14 February.

My plan was to run a Marathon Pace run (which is defined as a run with most of the miles at your goal marathon pace) – the basis behind these is to provide the precise physiological benefit of allowing you to practice the pace, form and so on of the big race, and they give confidence.

I programmed my watch to keep me in the following pace zones (I did not know you could do this until the day before):

I ran:

• 2 miles at 6:59 pace (down hill so hard to hold back)
• 14 miles at 6:35 pace (the race was hilly and windy)
• 2.5 miles at 7:02 pace (tough to keep at this)

My finishing time was 2:04:53 (this was a 2 and a half minute PB on this race I think).  Previous times on the course (when I raced it) were 2:11:09 and 2:07:17.  Unfortunately I need to go back next year and run 2:04:22.

Race Stats

Garmin Fenix 3

Feature packed multisport watch, brilliant in almost all regards.  Does everything the new Garmin 630 does but if I had the choice I would probably go for the 630 over the Fenix 3.  Garmin have replaced my Fenix 3 due to GPS issues, the current one is working well enough and I am pleased to say Garmin have been excellent at updating the software on the watch.  I purchased it from Go Out Doors.

Salomon Pack

This is an amazing back pack with drink bottles in the front shoulder straps and lots of secure pockets.  I have run 3 ultra marathons with it (all in the rain), its very comfortable and practical.

I purchased this from Accelerate in Sheffield specifically for the Druids Way Challenge which I blogged about earlier.

Salomon X-Celerate 2 Shoes

I was lucky enough to be selected by Intersport to trial some new running shoes which are exclusive to Intersport.

So far I have done 2 runs in them, a steady recovery run and a tempo run.

I have found them to be very grippy which is great, they have “contagrip”.  I usually run in size 10 shoes but I did find these quite fitting so I went for a UK 10.5.

I usually run in Mizuno Wave Inspire which I love and Saucony Omni.  The Salomon are more rigid and I enjoyed wearing them.  I believe people should cycle through different running shoes through the week to reduce the risk of repetitive strain type injuries.  I look forward to taking them out for more runs soon.

Fujifilm X-M1

I can not afford to spend thousands on a camera so I opted for a budget solution, I have been pleased with the results which can be found on my flickr account.  I have uploaded over thirty thousand photos of runners mainly in Doncaster for people to enjoy.

I think the camera is great and quite rugged, I will never use most of the settings but I have been pleased with the results.

New Years Day – Cleethorpes 10k

Almost did not race this one due to pain in my ribs due to the lawn mower incident, went to see my Physio Eddie Fletcher 2 days before the race and after an examination and some work on the painful area I was given the ok to run (I did not mention my next run would be racing lol).

Great conditions but I did not run a great time, 37:22 but considering I had not really done much training for 2 weeks and put on half a stone over Christmas that was a good confidence booster.  Our wonderful ladies from Doncaster AC took the team prize.  PB’s for Rose James and Caroline Wheelhouse.  Sadly Phil Bussey pulled his calf and did not finish.

Yorkshire Cross Country Championships – 9 January 2016

Really tough course, very muddy with a sharp hill, hard to get going.  Doncaster Athletic Club took 18 athletes across all age groups.  Wonderful to see our community of South Yorkshire athletes doing so well!  Thanks to top runner and photographer Mark Havenhand for the photos!  I placed 4th in Doncaster AC’a team, the sequence was Ben Elliot, Chris Morran, Wayne Martison, Martin James and Nathan Robinson.

Thursday 14 January 2016 – Induction for our new runners!

60 people new to running will join us at the Doncaster Pacers to start their running journey and make hundreds of new friends, we will give as much support as we can, we have about 20 (Volunteer) Run Leaders to help them. Most important is that everyone enjoys the course.  £45 for the year so after the course we very much hope the beginners will keep running with us (that is our only motivation).

I qualified as a Coach in Running Fitness supported by my club, Doncaster AC (I am starting to put this to use and am happy to give advice on marathon training). I continued to work with our beginner runners and lots of excellent Leaders in Running Fitness to help people take up running and join our wonderful running community with our recreational running group, the Doncaster Pacers. We all find this very rewarding.
I have no doubt that Doncaster Athletic Club is the best running club in our area, whether you want to run competitively or as a recreational runner.

If you want to reach your full potential then give us a try. In 2016 Doncaster Athletic Club is competing in the British League for the first time.

Total miles run in 2015 was about 1,550 so I remain a low mileage runner – this works for me and I recommend people give this a try. I have had a very successful year running PB’s in all distances I compete in:

5 km – Barrow on Humber – 2015 – 17:51

5 mile – Oxspring – 2015 – 29:46

10 km – Morton – 2015 – 35:56

10 Miles – Snake Lane – 2015 – 1:00:14

Half Marathon – Freckleton – 2015 – 1:22:20

Marathon – Hull – 2015 – 2:53:57

I have raced on the track (relays, 1500m and 5000m), roads (5k to Marathon), trails (Ultra Marathons), fells and cross country (Relays, local league, regional and national championships)  (and not forgetting parkruns).

I became an Ultra Runner , first having a go at the Lightning Run solo completing 53 miles in 10:32 finishing in 7th place (withdrawing at this point due to injury). Later in the year I would run 3 back to back off road ultra-marathons over 3 days finishing in 9th place.
My aim for the year was to race every week, I did not quite manage that but I did do 52 races in total.

My injuries have not been running related (apart from Lightning run), I fell down some stairs on the morning of my half marathon PB attempt and lost 4 weeks running due to back pain (got the PB though). I leant over to get the lawn mower out and strained something in my ribs the week before Christmas.

Wishing everyone a great 2016!