Pre Marathon training December 2014

Mileage = Tues 6.53 , Weds 5.93, Mon 6.00, Weds 8.93 ( the last two readings have been blighted by poor GPS reception) => Total 27.39 miles 


I have started my pre marathon training with hills being central to building up the fitness needed for the new year. I have not decided on the training plan that I will follow for the VM London Marathon next year, but I want to lay down a good base before Christmas. The great thing about hills are that you can run them in different ways; slow, fast, long or short. I do not have any monster hills near me but I do have lots of undulating roads and paths to explore. Last night was a long, slow grind uphill all the way from the airport to the High Street at Rayleigh. It was a nine mile round trip and taken at an easy pace. I have also run hill repetitions in the last week. These are fast, intense uphill runs followed by easy, recovery runs on the down hill sections. The sessions are all to a certain extent free runs at the moment. I can quite easily see how I feel on the day, go out and enjoy myself. After all, it is about enjoyment as much as it is about fitness. When the training schedule kicks in on 1st January 2015 the goals change. Fitness comes to the fore and enjoyment may arrive in a more twisted format. Having a schedule helps to keep you on track until you arrive at the start line in April. It gives you a reason, a compulsion to step outside the door. On the really bad days when you do not want to go running you can blame the schedule, but at least you will have the miles in the bank.

I guess I have a few weeks to decide what training plan to follow. I used the Hanson Marathon Method for Chelmsford 2014 and it worked well. I would like to revisit this plan at least one more time, because I do not feel that I gave it my all. My IT Band* injury in February 2014 really messed up the rest of the year and so I could not do all the sessions that the Hansons programme requires. It was not until the last few weeks leading up to the race that i could complete the six days a week sessions and feel the benefit of the cummulative fatigue central to the method. The alternatives all seem to start with fewer, shorter sessions during the week and  a much longer weekend run, typically on the Sunday. Well I do not need to choose just yet, but I bought the Hansons book so I guess I should re-read it before January.

If you have any running related questions I am happy to help out, but I am no expert. I have simply absorbed a great deal of information from different sources which I am happy to share with you.

* Iliotibial Band Syndrome