The Plan to Attack Breaking Three Hours

Hi,

So, going into the Berlin Marathon, I'm going to be trying something I've never done before, trying to run faster than I've ever run before in a marathon, and hopefully break 3 hours in the process.

And almost every race I've completed, it's always been my aim to try and set a new personal best. When I reach the start line, I cannot help getting pumped up and thinking that this is the race that I go out and hit a six (for those cricket fans) or a home run (for those baseball fans).

But what if I don't hit a big one on the big day? It may happen that even though I'm fully psyched up, I just couldn't deliver the goods that I thought I could.

Over the past few days I've reflected on those races where I did well, and those not so well, and tried to figure out the different mental approaches going into each race. After all, running the marathon is all about being mentally strong as well as getting your body physically strong and healthy when you approach the start line.

There seems to be a trend in my relatively short racing career that the second time doesn't seem to go as well as the first. I can only say that in the second time I develop a natural expectation to do A LOT better than the previous time. So I work myself up, knowing that I can do a lot better, only to not meet expectations in the first place. There may be progress, but perhaps not in the grand quantities that I perceived earlier.

When I raced Reading earlier in the year, I was aiming to go under 1:30 and knock over 6 minutes off my personal best. Because I was trying to break 3 hours in a marathon I put huge pressure and expectation on myself to perform that day, and even though I set a new PB in the half marathon the mentality of I'm going to run harder than I've ever run before that I carried into that race made me force the pace and effort very early in the run, which meant I blew up far too early and didn't have enough in the back half to sustain that pace.

On the opposite end, I ran Copenhagen for the first time and I wasn't feeling mentally pumped up going into the race. I had a pretty bad travel experience getting into Copenhagen that I just didn't feel like showing up at all. I didn't have any expectation other than to have some fun and enjoyment in Copenhagen and finish in 4 hours. I finished in 3:43, including a negative split. It certainly wasn't a PB, but it felt like one. I ran faster than I thought I would do on that given day.

So what does that tell me about how I will race at Berlin on Sunday? I think it tells me that I need to take the pressure off by going into Berlin with an open mind. The weather will play a big part and I could hit the halfway point slower than anticipated. Rather than go into Berlin with the mentality of I'm going to run harder than I've ever run before, I'm going to approach it like I did when I ran Copenhagen. This means I'm going to relax and let the effort flow more naturally out of me. I'm not expecting it to be easy, it's certainly going to be a battle that I will enjoy fighting. But above all I'm going to have fun in Berlin and if I approach it with that fun and relaxed mentality then the body will perform better compared to when it's tensed up.

To summarise, going into Berlin on Sunday, which also is my second time, I won't make the same mistake that I did at Reading. I won't be thinking that this is my one shot to hit the big one and that I will be going harder than I've ever run before.

Instead I'm going into Berlin thinking that this is going to be fun and it's going to be a big challenge for me. It certainly won't be easy, but I've prepared for this for many months and know that I'm at the top of my game. So rather than force the pace on race day, I'm just going to let the effort flow naturally as the race goes on, especially in the first few miles where it's so easy for me to go too fast. Above all, it all boils down to having fun and enjoyment on the day.

So, going into Berlin on Sunday, I'm going to let the race flow out of me, and I hope to reach the finish line feeling very proud of my performance.

Aaron

Training Week 42 Recap

Hi folks,

There's only 1 more week to go, and this is the stage where nothing more can be done, where I need to let the body recover in order to be strong on race day. This is the stage where I need to believe in my fitness and the training I have done over the past few months, and beyond that! It is finally coming to an end and right now I should be excited, organised and looking forward to race day. Here's how the week went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 40 mins 19 secs, 5.8 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 35 mins 52 secs, 5.3 km.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 45 mins 49 secs, 7.7 km.

Thursday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 91 mins, 18 km.

Detail: Warm up for 15 mins (approx 2.4 km), then 10 x 3 mins at threshold pace (approx 700m) then 10 mins at steady pace (approx 600m). Cool down for 16 mins (approx 2.6 km).

Saturday

Type: Intervals

Time and Distance: 39 mins 38 secs, 7.5 km.

Detail: Warm up for 5 mins (approx 750m), then 5 x 5 mins at threshold pace (approx 1200m) with 60 secs recovery. Cool down for 5 mins (approx 750 km).

Sunday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 44 mins 47 secs, 7 km.

Total Weekly Distance: 51.3 km

Comments: Another relatively easy week. No long runs, which is great! The final key session on Thursday I managed to get through totally unscathed, and it amounted to 13 km in 60 minutes. This did bump up the mileage slightly from last week, but nothing to worry about.

Improvements: It's marathon week! The final week is going to focus less on running, and more on recovery and staying strong. Being in Oslo on secondment means that I'm eating out a lot for free, but this time I need to be really selective on the food I eat this week, so I'm going to be cooking a lot of carb-rich meals in the apartment. I'm getting a bit more sleep nowadays, but it is difficult getting to sleep on time especially with so much other things going on as well. Finally, I'm a notoriously bad stretcher, so I'll have to maintain the flexibility without tearing a muscle. Now that would really suck!

This week is also going to be an exercise in juggling marathon prep, work deadlines and other obligations and if it wasn't for work deadlines looming I think I would be in a better position. There is a significant work deadline coming up at the end of the week I return from Berlin, and a lot of my tasks are still pending, which means I may have to put in a couple of extra hours in the 3 working days I have this coming week. I leave for Berlin on Thursday afternoon where I'll spend a couple of days relaxing in this great city, before finally letting it out on the course on Sunday. I return back to Oslo on Monday afternoon, and if it wasn't for this significant work deadline in that week I would gladly spend a lot longer in Germany. Work deadlines have to be met of course, but that shouldn't go as far as compromising my preparations for this important race. After all, this race came up first.

I will also need to believe in my fitness and training, and surround myself with positive people. I found a moving video on YouTube featuring American 50k record holder Josh Cox and the magic of the marathon. It featured a runner called Jeff trying to break 3 hours at Boston this year, with Josh acting as his pacesetter and providing encouragement to him along the way. Indeed he broke 3 hours in the end, and I hope that I, too, can replicate that special marathon magic that got Jeff home in under 3 hours. We will see next week!

Starting to believe,

Aaron

Training Week 41 Recap

Hey there,

The long hard road is finally coming to an end! Tapering has started right now, and it's been great to reduce the mileage and looking forward to even more decreases! In terms of keeping myself healthy during this phase, I definitely haven't been doing this well at all, with too many late nights for my liking and getting not enough sleep. With only two weeks left to go to the marathon this has got to change right now!

I also finally managed to get myself a long overdue sports massage in Oslo and I'm really happy with how it went and what the masseuse had to say about the state of my body. I will definitely book another appointment to see her. You can check out Aina Jensen, my masseuse, on YouTube.

Here's how the week went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 35 mins 32 secs, 5.5 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 30 mins, 4.7 km.

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 62 mins, 11.2 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 15 mins (2.4 km). Did 5 mins at threshold pace (1.2 km), with 60 secs recovery. Did 5 x 1 mins at 5k pace, with 60 secs recovery (approx 260m). Did this set twice. Cool down for approx 15 mins (2.4 km).

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 41 mins 24 secs, 6.8 km.

Thursday

Type: Progression

Time and Distance: 31 mins 25 secs, 6.04 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 11 mins (1.6 km). Did 10 mins at steady pace (2 km), then 10 mins at threshold pace (approx 2.45 km).

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 35 mins 29 secs, 5.6 km.

Sunday

Type: 10 km time trial

Time and Distance: 43 mins 40 secs, 10 km.

Detail: Started too fast, and faded in the middle. Km splits were 4:04, 4:02, 4:14, 4:20, 4:24, 4:25, 4:32, 4:33, 4:34, 4:27. Really tired in the end, but also definitely not at my very best for this run.

Total Weekly Distance: 49.84 km

Comments: A lot more shorter stuff, but keeping the intensity at around the same level as the previous weeks. I'm a bit disappointed with the time trial. I was expecting to come in under 42 mins, which would keep me at around my goal marathon pace, but since I started too fast I kind of blew up in the middle stages. It was also a really sunny day in Oslo so I also wilted in the heat. Bislett Stadion only opens from 12 - 6 p.m. on Sundays so I really had to do my time trial in not-so-ideal conditions. Unfortunately these things are outside of my control, so let's hope for the best ideal running conditions in two weeks!

Improvements: Still continuing on the taper theme. There will be two threshold runs coming up, mixed in with some easier running. It doesn't look like the mileage is going to decrease in the coming week as the intensity provided by the threshold runs coupled with the easier runs will result in some significant mileage (hopefully nothing more than 50 km like this week).

The taper period is progressing nicely, but there are a few things I really need to address to ensure that I get the most out of this crucial stage. Proper rest and recovery, adequate sleep, good nutrition and stretching are just a few of the things I need to pay attention to. Unfortunately the Men's Singles final of the US Open is on tonight, and play is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m CEST. If it wasn't Rafael Nadal playing tonight's final, I would give it a miss, but he's on the verge of completing a career grand slam in tennis, with only 6 other men achieving this. It looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight, so I'm hoping Nadal will make it a quick final tonight. Vamos! After that, I will promise myself to get an extra hour of sleep every day!

Talking about career grand slams, I'm hoping that I could complete my own career grand slam of marathons, the top 5 being Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York. So far I've only done Berlin, and if I do very well in two weeks time I could be in the running for a place in Boston, London or New York in 2011. But first, let's just concentrate on Berlin in two weeks time!

Nearly there,

Aaron

Training Week 40 Recap

Hi guys,

At long last the taper session has come! This week was supposed to be one of my hardest weeks, but with work commitments coming up I had to skip a couple of runs. Fortunately they were easy recovery runs, so I treated myself to a couple of days of complete running abstinence. While this week didn't get up to the high mileages of previous weeks the intensity was always there, so here's how it went.

Wednesday

Type: Steady

Time and Distance: 60 mins 49 secs, 12.5 km.

Thursday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 68 mins, 13.6 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 20 mins (3.2 km). Did 10 mins at threshold pace (2.4 km), with 90 secs recovery. Did 6 x 3 mins at 5k pace, with 90 secs recovery (approx 800m). Cool down for approx 20 mins (3.2 km).

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 48 mins, 6.9 km.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 52 mins 29 secs, 8.1 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run + marathon pace

Time and Distance: 120 mins, 25.5 km.

Detail: First 75 mins at steady pace (approx 15.3 km), followed by the 45 mins at marathon pace (approx 10.2 km).

Total Weekly Distance: 66.6 km

Comments: A solid week despite the missed runs. The 5k intervals were very hard, and I was struggling to hold the effort for 3 mins at a time, scraping nearly 800m for each effort. This is also known as Yasso 800s, which is a predictor of marathon performance where the runner can predict their marathon time by running 800m intervals, e.g. 800m in 3 minutes roughly equates to a 3 hour marathon time. Whether this is accurate remains to be seen.

Improvements: Not really an improvement, but the taper period is finally here. Mileage will be reduced next week, the intensity will also be reduced but not too much, in order to keep the legs fresh and energetic. I may do a time-trial over 10,000 metres in the next week, so it will be interesting to see if I can set a huge PB there.

Well the taper period is finally here, and the days of doing long runs, continuous hills and threshold runs have finally come to an end. The hard work is finally over! While there's still 3 weeks to go to Berlin, there will be plenty of running ahead, but not of the type that was done in the previous weeks.

I think it's now time to pat myself on the back for all the hard work that I've done, not just over the last 13 weeks when I officially started FP Run Club's sub-3 hour training programme, but from the very start in January when I came up with the dream of running a marathon in under 3 hours. Sticking to it from the very start is something that I can be very proud of as it's pretty easy to lose focus and quit altogether. While I did lose my focus on some occasions I certainly didn't quit! There have been highs and many many lows along the way, but I think these things have made me a stronger and smarter runner along the way. I guess that's something I can be pretty proud of.

Putting the feet up,

Aaron