26 April 2009
Race day...what went wrong! At the 15 mile mark I dropped
out ;-(
Defending champion Martin Lel pulled out before the race
with a hip injury, and Paul Radcliffe did not make it
to the start due to injury. It seems that the preparation
is tough on the body.
I set off on pace for my sub 2:30 but at only the 6 mile
mark my hip flexor started to hurt. I can cope with pain,
as well as the next guy, and so struggled on. I had started
running at 5:30 pace per mile and even after my hip started
to hurt I was able maintain around 5:40 pace.
 While
I was on target for my goal time I was willing to struggle
on. At the half way mark I went through in 1:14:05 and
although still on target the pain was now severe. What
a happened next was that my hip locked up and I was forced
to limp. Without full use of my right leg I dropped immediately
down to 10 minute miling, the writing was on the wall.
I struggled on to the 15 mile mark, in the vain hope that
the hip would loosen up again, but after 30mins and only
covering 3miles, I knew I was in serious danger of being
over taken by a Santa Clause or an incredible hulk, as
the fancy dress runners closed in on me.
During my 30 minutes of hobbling I had plenty of time
to think things through. I had just devoted 6 months of
my life to a running a sub 2:30 marathon, I have averaged
over 60 miles a week, running a total of 2,400 miles and
peaked at 130 miles for one week. I had done countless
track sessions at race pace and dropped weight from 70kg
to only 62kg. At work, and with family and friends everyone
around has had to pull a little harder so that I could
get the extra few miles in training, or to allow me to
rest up. I have constantly, promoted the idea that with
a positive mind you can achieve your goals, and yet here
was I about to drop out.
 But
for me, it was not about finishing. I know I can finish
a marathon. If my goal was to finish and raise money for
charity I would have done so. In fact, I take my hat off
to Katie Price who completed the marathon in 7 hours 11
minutes, but as she said, she was going to finish. It
was just a pity that she had to cut up the £70 pair
of elite 2XU compression tights I gave her, so that she
could get her injured knee strapped.
By stopping when I realised my goal was unattainable,
I knew I would get over this hurdle quicker. When I reached
Rieko she took the picture above, and pulled me off the
course, she also knew this battle was lost.
On the positive side, I have really enjoyed the last 6
months, I have got the buzz back for sport, after 5 years
of drifting and am so proud that I have got such a great
family and friends that have allowed me to train so hard.
I also realise that I cannot stop now and let the last
6 months of hard work go to waste, so it is onwards and
upwards.
Last year on the track I ran the 2nd fastest time in the
UK for 3,000m in the in the V45 category, at 8:52, with
very little training, this year I will want to get that
down under 8:50, and run the fastest time. I also want
to run a sun 15 minute 5,000m. Luckily, track training
requires much less time than marathon training, although
the intensity of each session is higher. I will be able
to fit this around my work and family without making too
many selfish demands, and hopefully draw on the extensive
base work I have put in over the winter.
As for next year's London Marathon, I have managed to
pre-qualify at the Reading Half Marathon, so I don't need
to commit for 6 months yet. Whether I run or not I shall
leave that decision to my family and work colleagues!
Finally, it really was a great day, and the crowds were
awesome, I heard my name shouted so many times, that it
made it even harder to drop out. At the end out of 36,000
runners less than 1,000 of us pulled out, and so I assume
most people came away contented, and those that didn't
you have to pick yourselves up, re-evaluate, and set the
next target. But just as I have done, enjoy the journey
along the way.
Keep logging on to see how, I am going back to basics,
using my swim, bike and run background more effectively
to keep me injury free and run faster on the track this
summer.
Thanks for reading my London Marathon blog,
Mike.
24 April
1 day 13 hours until the start of the London Marathon.
With just one day to go to London, the carbo-loading should
be taking place as well as hydrating properly.
For me, I was hoping to spend my last few days before
the run relaxing, but unfortunately as regular readers
will appreciate, the real world got in the way. I have
been at the London Marathon Expo demonstrating Newton
running shoes. The shoes have been very popular and the
work kept me on my toes all day. Not ideal, but that's
life.
But having to cope with reality is what we all face. So
after a hard day's work, it is good to get out a jog for
20-30 minutes to stop all the blood from pooling in the
legs. For me I shall do last my last few 400m reps which
I outlined in an earlier blog entry. This should help
the recovery process.
Most likely, by the time you read this, all the training
will be complete, the only thing to do is focus on race
day. One thing I always do the day before a major race,
is lay out all my kit, to ensure I have it all. I will
also be watching all the weather forecasts to make sure
my clothing is appropriate for the weather.
What is very important is to sit down in a quiet room
and mentally take yourself through the race. This may
sound silly to some of you, but I sit down and work out
what I will be doing on race day.
My start is 9:45am so I shall have a light breakfast,
(usually cornflakes) at around 5am. 600 calories is the
maximum I would eat. All my carbo loading will have been
done the day before. I may go back to bed until 7am or
probably lie there will my legs up and then I may do a
little light stretching.
As I am staying in London I shall get the train to the
start. My aim is to arrive 1 hour before hand. I will
have some old t-shirts, tights as well as a plastic bin
liner to wear just prior to start. These will be clothes
that I don't care if they get lost or stolen.
I pack toilet paper, because it always seems to run out
in the port-a-loos before I get there. I will start jogging
and loosening up from about 20 minutes before the start
and keep this going until the race starts. It is a common
mistake to warm up and then sit down and wait to run,
this will just undo all your good work to raise the pulse
and warm up your muscles.
I have planned all my mile marker times. I can remember
them, but if you are unsure write them on your wrist and
look at them in the race to ensure you stick to pace.
Make sure you take your race nutrition with you.
I assume that I will only get water at an aid station,
anything else that I need, I take with me. I plan to take
one gel every 30 minutes, at the 30 minute, 60 minute,
90 minute and 120 minute mark. I will take 4 gels, attached
to a belt. This pattern has worked well for me in triathlon.
I take my gels just before an aid station and wash them
down with water.
Try to imagine yourself running round the course, keeping
relaxed and fluid, work out where you will drink water
and take your nutrition. Decide what time you will get
to the start and when to hand in your kit back. Once I
have fixed everything in my mind race day is easy because
I know what I need to do and when. It reduces the pre
race stress to a minimum.
The final comment, is try not to make excuses for a poor
run, plan to run well and expect to do well. Enjoy the
day!
17 April 2009
8 days until the London Marathon.
With just over one week to go to the London Marathon,
I have just about done all the hard work, now the hardest
thing to do is rest and recover.
 On
Good Friday, I ran the Maidenhead Easter Ten, a 10 mile
road race and I managed to come 3rd in 54 minutes 04 seconds.
This was exactly the same split I did for the 10 miles
at the Reading Half marathon and I felt relatively comfortable
at this pace. It averages out at 5 minutes 25 second per
mile. At the London Marathon I need just under 5 minutes
45 seconds per mile. I feel confident that I have done
enough to break the magical 2 hours 30 minutes barrier.
However, if I don't rest up correctly, I risk underperforming.
It has been suggested in research that if you get the
pre-race taper right, you can increase blood volume. This
would raise your body's capacity to carry oxygen to the
muscles and give you an extra boost on race day. If you
do not taper you do not get this extra boost. The knack
is to recover, while tricking your body into thinking
you are still training hard; easier said than done!
When you train hard the body builds up extra plasma in
the blood stream, which could help you carry more oxygen
to the muscles. For the more technical of you it is like
artificially increasing your VO2MAX. However, if you are
training hard, your muscles will be tired and this will
counteract the benefits. To make this taper work, you
need to make the brain think you are training, to produce
more blood plasma, while allowing your muscles to rest
up and recover. This is easier said than done, but as
a professional triathlete, one of my strengths was being
able to raise my game on race day, which I put down to
a good taper.
My run taper is very radical, I run intervals every day
in the final week, always at race pace, but reduce the
amount each day. This way, my brain thinks I am working
hard and produces more blood plasma to cope with the extra
stress, but actually by race day I am doing virtually
nothing and so I am well rested.
My final week looks as follows:
• 7 days to go: 12x 400m at race pace (Mike 85sec/400m
with 1min rest between each)
• 6 days to go: 8x 400m
• 5 days to go: 5x 400m
• 4 days to go: 4x 400m
• 3 days to go: 3x 400m
• 2 days to go: 2x400m
• 1 days to go: 1x400m
• Race day: Marathon
I try to keep the warm up and warm down to a minimum so
as not to get tired, but still that is about 1 mile up
and 1 mile down to ensure there is no lactic build up
in the muscles.
If you run the 400m faster than race pace, you will not
recover and will have wasted your whole marathon preparation.
My advice would be to try this taper for an unimportant
race first and see how you go. If it works well you can
then use it as your secret weapon for a major event. If
it doesn't work then nothing is lost.
A more traditional approach would be more like the following:
• 7 days to go: 12x 400m at race pace (Mike 85sec/400m)
• 6 days to go: 30mins jog
• 5 days to go: rest/stretch
• 4 days to go: 4x 400m at race pace (Mike 85sec/400m)
• 3 days to go: 20mins jog
• 2 days to go: rest
• 1 days to go: 15mins jog
• Race day Marathon
Either way, as you cut down the training, also watch your
calorie intake, as most people tend to over eat. Eating
more carbohydrates, does not mean increasing the total
volume of food, to ensure you get enough of the right
stuff! It means cutting down on proteins and fats and
replacing those food groups with carbohydrates. Remember
you cannot eat yourself into a race, but you can eat yourself
out of the race!
Don't forget to drink plenty of water. In order to store
one gram of carbohydrate it takes 3 grams of water, so,
if you load up correctly your weight will go up a couple
of kilos on race day as it stores water and carbs, Think
of this as a full tank of petrol, not as being fatter!
But be warned it can also go up a few kilos in the last
few days, from over eating!
For me, I will eat as usual until the Wednesday before
the London Marathon, but take into account my reduced
training (i.e. reduce the total intake a bit).
After Wednesday, I cut out any excess fat, such as butter
and cheeses, from Friday I also start to really limit
my protein intake, and with just 48 hours before the race
I only eat simple carbohydrate such as white rice and
white bread jam etc. This prevents a build up of fibre
in my bowels. It also reduces my chances of needing the
loo during the race.
On race day, I usually only have 600 Kcals of energy gels,
but no solid foods, any more than this and it won't get
digested. After that it is up to you to push yourself
to your limits ;-)
I hope some of these ideas help, your preparations, and
I hope we can all achieve our target times on race day.
Good Luck to everyone and ENJOY IT!
08 April 2009
17 days until the London Marathon.
I am constantly asked why and how I am still running almost
40 years after starting. The why bit is easy, I just love
sport and cannot image life without it, the how is harder,
as it takes more and more effort to stay fit and injury
free as you get older.
After years of poor performances, due to over work and
family commitments or accidents, I finally got back the
work, life, family, balance. Last Sunday after a 5 year
gap I made it into the Belgrave Harriers A Team for the
Southern 12 Stage Relay Championship at Milton Keynes.
At 46, it was great to take on the fast boys half my age
at a distance just over 5.5km. Belgrave won the relay
in a course record time and I was delighted to be part
of the winning team.
But to get back into that shape after so long has involved
a lot of planning, although after many years this comes
more naturally to me than it may do to others. For ease
of documentation, I have split my approach to training
into 3 simples groups.
1. Nutrition
2. Training
3. Recovery
Although this blog is not intended as a training guide,
I hope that the following offers some snippets that may
be useful.
In terms of nutrition, the key thing I have learnt is
the metabolism slows down with age and so I find it increasingly
harder to lose weight and get down to race weight. It
means focussing on what I eat and not eating any junk
calories, which youngsters may be able to get away with.
When I was an Ironman triathlete using upwards of 10,000
calories a day, I didn't need to think so much, so long
as I ate a variety of foods, I was able to get a good
nutritional diet through the sheer volume I was devouring,
at only 2,000 Kcal a day, I must ensure they all count,
and so I have been forced to dump the junk food...I think
we all know what that is by now.
The right training is key, for me I build up my training
in blocks, two weeks hard one week easy. This has allowed
me a safety net to recover. After the age of 40 I discovered
that I could manage 2 hard sessions a week. Up to 40,
I could cope with three. These days no matter how good
I feel, I never deviate from the rule "2 Hard sessions
a week". I have in the past, and it has always ended
in injury or illness. On top of this, the two hard sessions
must always focus on race pace training, at various distances.
Finally, something I have touched on in earlier blogs,
is the recovery process. I always monitor my sleep via
a Quality of Sleep Index (see the 13 March entry below
for more details of this). Stretching is done religiously
after training, and I make time for at least one massage
a week. I also ice my legs down and take a Jacuzzi most
days. For me I have found that one extra hour sleep over
the eight is needed for each hour I train. It is a simple
but effective rule.
Motivation must never be over looked, you need to enjoy
what you are doing or you will not be motivated, I keep
moving the goal posts to allow me to keep setting tough
but achievable targets.
And Finally keep it fun, remember it is only a hobby?
30 March 2009
Joining the A Team...
 To
follow on from my not so perfect taper, I managed 71 min
40 sec in the Reading Half Marathon yesterday. This run
has given me renewed confidence to break my 2 hours 30
min target for the London Marathon (just 26 days away
now). It should rank me in the top few fastest for my
age in the country. I went through the 10km marker at
32 min 30 sec, but slowed up the last 5km, as I have a
busy schedule coming up and didn't want to aggravate my
injuries.
The best news is that at 46, my recent performances have
just got me selected to the Belgrave Harriers 'A Team'
for the Southern qualifiers of the National 12 Stage relay
Championships, this weekend. And as  defending
National Champions, competition for a place on the team
was hot. I will now turn my immediate attention to a very
fast and furious 5.5km run next Sunday, and aim to maintain
sub 5 min mile pace for the race!
My tip for anyone else considering racing on consecutive
weeks, is to get all the hard training out of the way
first, use the races to develop your race fitness and
ensure that the days in between are spent maximising recovery,
i.e. short easy runs, stretching, massage, icing tender
muscles, and most importantly eating well and sleeping
as much as possible.
If done correctly the races will help to raise you level
of fitness, if not they will burn you out, before the
main event!
27 March 2009
Rocket Fuel for the Body...
This Sunday is the Reading Half Marathon, my biggest local
event and what will be the last half-marathon distance
event before the London Marathon on 26 April. A number
of people also running the event have asked me similar
questions about pre-race food and what is the best way
of storing energy for the race so I thought I'd look at
that today.
Books and books are devoted to this, so my advice is simple.
I follow the traditional high carbohydrate loading diet.
That does not mean pigging out and eating as much food
as I can, it means from 3 days out I start to cut back
on protein and fats and replace those calories with carbohydrates.
You cannot eat you way into a race, but you can eat yourself
out of a race. Too much food and you will feel bloated,
heavy and lethargic on race day, too little and you will
run out of steam!
For a half marathon, you do not really need a full carbo-loading
diet, and could get round the course without taking any
nutrition on the way. I find from experience, that I eat
my usual calories (about 3,000Kcals) the day before the
race but try to keep as many of them as carbs as I can.
I do not eat any meat, fish, cheese or nuts preferring
pasta, white rice or jam sandwiches (no butter). This
may be boring, but I think of it as rocket fuel rather
than food. Too much fibre such as cereals and vegetables
and you will have too much fibre in your body and need
the loo too much on race day.
Get the fuel in, the night before. On race day I don't
take in more that 600Kcals and never eat anything within
4 hours of the race. If the race starts at 8am, I get
up at 4am. This is excessive, but through experience I
know it works and I will always have digested my food
before I start.
I will look at nutrition during the race, nearer the London
Marathon, but for a half, I can run it comfortably with
my stored up carbohydrates, these stores should get an
average 70kg person about 20miles at race pace. So a half
marathon (13.1miles) should be no problem. The amount
I drink will depend on the temp on race day. But for me,
on a cool day about 500ml over the whole race is usually
enough.
One thing I can promise, is that this Sunday for the Reading
Half Marathon, I will not be trying out anything new.
19 March 2009
Ok, so I admit, today's blog entry is a bit off the wall,
but for anyone struggling to lose weight this might just
give you that extra bit of motivation.
I was sitting in the Jacuzzi today after running, complaining
to my wife that I cannot shift the last 4kg I need to
get down to London Marathon race weight.
Last year when I started training again I was around 70Kg
this soon dropped to 66kg with very little effort and
after a couple of 100 mile weeks in Lanzarote over the
Christmas holidays it dropped to 64kg, It appeared I was
well on target to my London Marathon race weight of 60kg,
and feeling very good about it too.
Since December, I have not dropped any weight at all!
I have had my body fat assessed and am still around 13%.
Don't get me wrong, this is actually a very healthy figure,
probably ideal from a health perspective, but for the
London Marathon I need the highest power to weight ratio
I can manage. If I drop 4kg of fat, then the percentage
of my body fat will drop to around 7%. I do not want to
lose any muscle mass, as this is useful weight, it would
be like making a car engine smaller, it would make the
car lighter, but also less powerful. Taking out the rear
seats and removing the spare tire on the other hand would
lighten the car, while maintaining its power, so that
it could effectively go faster.
Back to humans, 7% body fat is very low and I would not
recommend anyone keeping such a low figure for extended
periods of time. Women should try and hold 12% as an absolute
minimum, although many elite female athletes do go lower.
The principle is the same whether you are an elite athlete
or just wanting to improve. Excess body fat will slow
you down on the run.
Looking at this weight issue a little more scientifically,
I can recall that at my peak, while running on a treadmill
at race pace, my maximum oxygen consumption was measured
at just over 5000 litres of oxygen consumed per min. Again,
using the analogy of an automobile, If this was bus, with
a 5 litre engine it would not be very powerful at all,
due the overall weight. A mini car on the other hand with
a 5 litre engine, would have the potential to be a very
fast and powerful racing machine.
In order that we can compare big people against smaller
people this maximum oxygen consumption figure is usually
expressed as a ratio of body weight. At 60kg, the maximum
volume of oxygen I can consume per kg of body weight per
minute is 83 litres. You may have seen this figure called
Vo2max. Thus we can say that at 60kg my Vo2max is 83.
At 64kg my Vo2max is only 78. Or put another way, this
is equivalent to a 6% reduction in the capacity of my
engine.
With age it is suggested that you lose about 1% of your
Vo2max per year after the age of 30. I am 46, so that
if I can lose the 4kg in weight and get down to my target
60kg on race day then I will have effectively turned the
clock back 6 years! For anyone who is not an older athlete
but is slightly overweight, you will boost your power
to weight ratio and thus run much faster if you can lose
a few spare pounds of fat. However you look at it, weight
loss will help me run faster on race day, so I must think
twice before eating. Am I eating because I need energy,
or am I just being greedy?
Next time we'll look at what you can and should eat in
the run-up to a race.
13 March 2009
Let me ask you a question - what is an easy way to stop
over training and prevent illness, injury and underperforming?
Answer...quality of sleep!
As the London Marathon approaches, all the training starts
to take its toll. For me I notice it as little niggles
and injuries. I am constantly tired, trying to juggle
work and family life with the training. Massages, 2XU
compression clothing, supplements etc. can only do
so much to help the recovery process. There is no substitute
for a good night sleep.
On Wednesday after a full day's work I had to run 10 miles
on the track in under 54mins! This was no problem on Wednesday
evening but I struggled to get out of bed on Thursday
morning.
Luckily I have a little technique I starting using with
the Olympic triathletes I used to coach in Japan. They
could be doing up to 30 hours training a week and over
training was a serious likelihood. However before the
body becomes over trained and gets sick or injured, your
sleep patterns become disturbed. This usually happens
about two weeks before any problems appear in your daily
life or training. Hence it is often OK to train really
hard for one week, the body can take the overload, so
long as you allow recovery afterwards.
If you don't take time off after a block of hard training
your nervous system gets out of whack and you will start
to break down. If kept unchecked over a long period of
time, not only will it destroy your training and racing
times, but you will probably get sick often and most likely
injured, but you could even run the risk of getting ME.
So now I have scared you all, what do we do the prevent
it? I use what is called a Quality of Sleep Index. QSI
It is very simple to employ. When you wake up on a morning
before getting out of bed, just note down your resting
pulse and grade your sleep on a scale from 1-7. If it
was the best night's sleep ever and you feel like taking
on the world give yourself a 1. If you feel as though
you have just been run down by a double decker bus, and
had the worst night ever then you need a 7.
Often in the early days of over training you feel really
bad at night, sleepless, restless, hot and sweaty, but
after waking up and having a coffee you feel OK and soon
forget the night and dismiss it as a bad dream.
IT IS NOT...it is the early warning system telling you
to ease up, and it must be listened to.
I usually grade myself a 4 when I have a typical night's
sleep, at the weekend with an extra lie in bed after an
easy day's training I may get a 3 or once in a while after
an easy week I get a 2. After last Wednesday's track session
I struggled and had a restless night. Thursday morning
was definite a 5. If these 5's continue over a week or
so I take extra rest days. One or two after hard training
are to be expected. A 6 or 7 is an immediate rest day.
Your resting pulse is also another guide to help. If it
raises by more than 10% then you are over trained and
should consider a rest day or a very easy day's training.
I slept well last night and gave myself a 4 this morning,
my pulse was its' usual unbelievably low 29. I also take
my blood pressure which was 117/63 so all in all an average
morning for me. The fact that I am writing this in bed
instead of doing my morning run is down to laziness not
tiredness today. But at least I know the difference.
I shall just have to get out in my lunch break for my
easy run.
09 March 2009
For those of you that reguarly read my London Marathon
training blog, you'll know that two week's ago I ran the
Okinawa Marathon as my endurance training. I was surprised
not to have suffered from sore legs following the event...until
now that is! On Saturday I woke up with sore legs! I must
be getting really old, but two weeks for DOM's to set
in is pushing it a bit!
After a good start to this week apart from a few niggles
in the left knee I woke up on Saturday morning with my
legs locked up, so stiff that I had to hobble down stairs...I
then spent 30 minutes stretching and massaging my legs
and luckily they responded and loosened up. At 7:30am
I left home for my regular 5Km time trial round Bushy
Park. I usually run just over 16mins round the Park but
today with tighter legs than usual and a marathon still
in them I knew it would be slow. In fact I was very content
to get round in 16:46.
I had thought about not doing the Bushy Park run today,
but marathons slow you down and unless I do some speed
work, I will not magically get faster, so I did not want
to miss out on an opportunity for some faster than race
pace running. Over the next few weeks I shall continue
to work away at getting the speed back. I wish to emphasise
that my approach to racing a marathon is all about leg
speed. If you are very comfortable at the speed of you
chosen marathon pace then at least the first half of the
run will feel good. If you do not have enough leg speed
and have only worked endurance, then your race pace will
feel tough from the start, and being naturally lazy I
would rather have an easy first 13 miles if possible.
I should add that I have already got my endurance training
under my belt.
Back to the cause of my may DOM's, which I suspect is
not actually from the marathon but caused by an excellent
track session I did at Palmer Park in Reading on Wednesday.
I knocked out 10x1 mile in an average of 5:23 per mile
with only 1min 30 rest. They felt very easy, but as I
know through experience, running 10 mile on a track is
never easy, and will really stress your calf muscles.
Today just reinforced this fact and unfortunately due
to my age the stiffness did not hit until today 3 days
later, proving that DOM's is very real problem for the
older runner!
And how do I cope with it? Well, I am off to have a hot
tub jacuzzi and cold bath therapy followed by a massage
to loosen things up. I have a long run planned for tomorrow...but
nothing is written in stone, if my legs tell me not to
run in the morning. I shall substitute it with the X-trainer,
and swimming. According to the weather forecast, it will
rain tomorrow so I may need a good excuse to train indoors!
03 March 2009
1-month and 22-days until the London Marathon.
Back in the UK and today is raining again!
After the fun at The Okinawa marathon, the build up, the
actual marathon and the buzz of a great night out to celebrate,
I started to get sluggish the day after. I had planned
an easy week to cope with muscles soreness, but to be
honest I didn't get any.
DOMS (aka: delayed onset of muscle soreness). This is
something that affects us as we get older. My kids are
teenagers and don't know what sore muscles are yet. At
20, I was sore for a day then got over it, at 30 it took
2 days. By 40 it took 2 days even before my legs got sore!
Now I just accept that I will get sore muscles a few days
after an event as my recovery slows down, but this time
I kept waiting and nothing happened, so that was the good
news, however, although no sore muscles, I have been jaded
all week and it wasn't until now that I felt ready to
go again with my training for the London Marathon. I was
not expecting this. Luckily I planned an easy week to
help me recover and this is something I would suggest
everyone does after a marathon.
I will settle back down into training again, but on yesterday's
run I noticed that my left knee was aching, it is nothing
serious, but how often have you gone for a jog and thought,
that it's not quite right, but kept on running. The next
day you think the same, but there is a bit more of a twinge,
but still not quite enough to stop you running. After
a while it progresses to a dull ache...and finally a real
pain in the knee which is unbearable! Only then do you
think maybe I should see someone about it, and possibly
rest up!
As runners we get addicted to running and cannot bear
to miss a day's training...Is this you? If so change your
ways as it will ultimately be your downfall!
I am now pro-active and just in case this gets worse I
am cutting back my running to only 4 days a week. This
may seem drastic as I am not officially injured yet, but
just in case I will introduce some swimming and the cross
trainer to let the joint recover from all the impact training.
I am also stretching more than before and icing it 3 times
a day, not to mention consulting with Alex
Drummond from the Drummond
Clinic, and getting some good ultra sound. This may
seem OTT for something which is not yet an injury, but
I have learnt the hard way, be warned and be cautious.
The last time my left knee hurt, and I didn't act fast
enough, it took 2 years to get over it.
I intend to keep the quality in my running as I train
for the London Marathon. This is the important stuff,
all I am dropping is the junk miles those easy runs that
we all love to do because they are easy and fun, but really
will not help our running economy. A general tip is that
it usually takes about 36 hours to recover between runs,
but unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day! By
cutting back to 4 runs a week, I will extend the recovery
time and this should allow me to keep training and ward
off an injury...and so with this in mind, I am off to
the pool for an easy swim today.
24 February 2009
Race Report
On Sunday 22nd Feb over 11,000 people lined up for the
20th Okinawa Marathon.
Okinawa is a sub tropical Japanese Island near to Taiwan.
February is usually the coolest month at around 18°c,
but this year was unusually hot. The temperature at 9am
was 25°c and it was very humid making running conditions
much tougher than expected.
 The
course was not the pan flat marathon I was lead to believe.
It is best described as challenging. A flat fast first
10km, followed by a very hilly 25km with over 300m of
climb, before a sharp 5km downhill run into to the finish.
At the age of 46 this was my first ever stand alone marathon,
although I had run a marathon as part of my Ironman, the
pace in that was much slower. Still, after over 30 years
of running it reminded me of some very basic lessons.
• Check out the course before entering and practice
for that course
• Check out the typical weather conditions and allow
time to acclimatize.
At the front end of the field, the winner Akira Kubooka
from Hiroshima was about 5 minutes slower than usual,
but still well clear of the field.
Apart from Kubooka-san everyone seemed much slower in
the heat.
1st Akira Kubooka 2:24:05
2nd Yoshimasu Kunitake 2:31:41
3rd Junichi Soto 2:36:26
15th Mike Trees 2:43:48
Mariko Yasusato won the women's race for the second year
in a row, in a very creditable 2:49:22. Over 60 people
managed to get round the course in under 3 hours.
For me, I won the over 40's age group in 2 hours 43 minutes
48 seconds (15th overall).
 At
the half way I was in 6th place (1 hour 14 minutes 48
seconds, my target split for the London Marathon). However,
I think that the heat, humidity and hills got to me. By
25km I had severe cramp in my right leg and left foot.
It was so painful I was forced to stop every kilometre
or so to stretch. As to be expected this had a disastrous
effect on my time. And I took just under 1 hour 30 minutes
for the second half. In hindsight, I should have taken
on salts, in the form of isotonic drinks, to help prevent
cramping. This would have meant me preparing my own special
drinks as there was only water at the aid stations. I
didn't, but I should have known better.
However, I was happy with the nutrition, taking about
500kcal of carbohydrate gels while running. I took these
with me from the start, and did not feel low on energy
at any point...It was the pain from the cramps that slowed
me down.
I intend to put the following plan into action, based
upon this test run:
1. At the London Marathon I shall start at the same pace
3:30/km (17:30min/5km) as I still think that a sub 2 hour
30 is tough but realistic aim. In Okinawa my heart rate
did not rise above 150.
2. I shall ensure that I take isotonic drinks to replace
the salts lost from sweat, even though I am not expecting
the same heat at the London Marathon
3. Okinawa was part of my long distance build up and so
I did not taper for this race. My legs were rather tired
on the start line and this may have played a part in my
cramping, so I will also be taking a long 2 week taper
before the London Marathon
4. Over the next 2 months I shall train as planned, I
have now got a rest week to ensure that my legs recover,
and after that shall spend the next 6 weeks working on
marathon race pace work, with just one long run a week.
I now feel more confident about running my target time
at the London Marathon than I did before Okinawa and I
still feel that for me, running a marathon as preparation
for a marathon is the best strategy...time will tell if
I am right or not.
21 February 2009
Tokyo, Japan.
I have had a good 5 days of training. This has been my
long distance training for the London Marathon, and this
Sunday will be my final test...the Okinawa Marathon. As
I said in my previous blog, I am running a marathon as
training for The London Marathon in April, and it shall
be my first 26.1mile run, but my plan is to see how tough
it is, to get my nutrition, water intake, and equally
importantly my pacing right.
I once did an Ironman event in 1994 and was lucky enough
to break the British record in my first and only official
Ironman, however 3 months before doing it I raced The
Strongman in Japan, which is just shy of the official
Ironman distance. Not giving the distance enough respect,
I went off too fast in the Strongman and ended up walking
the last half of the marathon run, a painful experience,
followed by a night in hospital on a drip, which I will
never forget and do not want to repeat again. However,
I leant my lessons well and in Ironman Japan, in May 1994,
I did just over 8hours 50mins, which was then a British
record.
Back to the present, you can now understand why I have
put a marathon in my preparation for The London Marathon.
This week's Okinawa Marathon will come at the end of 100miles
training, so far I have managed 80miles in 5 days! I now
have only 3 day left to the marathon to put in a very
short taper...lots of sleep, food, water and stretching,
and a massage a day is my treat for all the running I've
done.
Although long runs just before a race will tire me, they
also have an advantage to them as they build up blood
plasma which is will raise the body's ability to absorb
oxygen and so if in these 3 days taper my legs recover
enough, I should run OK. 100mile the week before The London
Marathon is not something I intend to do, but as this
week in Japan is officially part of my over distance training
period, I don't mind if I am still tired during the Okinawa
Marathon. You see how it all pans out in my next blog.
Other news from Japan.
I ran on the Oda Field track in Tokyo yesterday with a
good friend, Takashi Arai. He is a very talented runner
with a 10km best time of 28mins 14secs. Triathlon Consultants
are supporting him with Newton
Running shoes and 2XU
apparel , Arai-san tried out the Newton's in his first
ever Ironman at Hawaii last year and did the 3rd fastest
run split in the event with an amazing 2hours 49mins!
On the track yesterday we did a set of 10x1km intervals,
I was testing out my Newton
Distance Race shoes which I shall use on Sunday in
the marathon. After this week's long slow running if felt
great to flow round the track at 3min 06 pace per km (about
5 min miling). If I was in England I would have been the
fastest on the track , however, this is Tokyo, I was just
making up the numbers, following Takashi and others around
as they reeled off sub 2min 50's per 1,000m with only
a 200m jog recovery.
I was euphoric to be able to run with such quality, Arai-san
makes sub 30min /10km pace look easy!
As part of my sponsorship, I have set him a tough goal,
to run the first ever sub 2hour 40min marathon at the
Hawaii Ironman this year, but before then he will need
to swim and ride enough to ensure he qualifies again as
qualifying is not a foregone conclusion. Last year's winner
Craig Alexander, took the run split in 2hours 45mins also
wearing the Newtons...I think the message is getting out
that these shoes are fast. I hope I don't let my Newton's
down on Sunday!!
13 February 2009
This has been a very busy week for me and running has
been knocked down the pecking order. However it was all
accounted for in my training plan and so was nothing to
get stressed over. And it will be followed by my biggest
week of training before I do the London Marathon.
On top of the usual demands of being a taxi service to
the kids, and regular demands of work. I had to help prepare
for and be at The Triathlon Cycle and Run Show at Sandown
Park. On Saturday and Sunday 7th and 8th Feb. From a business
point of view the show was a huge success. Our Newton
Running Trainers were possibly the biggest success
story of the event, selling more than any other brand.
The 2XU
compression was flying off the shelves on all booths
as were the Ceepo
bikes which are now the official bike of Ironman.
At the 220 Triathlon awards The Newton
Running shoes picked up the "Most Innovative
product of the Year" But all this hard work and success
comes at a price...no time to train. I missed Friday's
run due to setting up the stands for the expo. On Saturday,
I was on my feet selling all day, however I managed to
get a stake in the ground and sneaked in 30min run on
Sunday morning. For anyone that doesn't know, and is stressed
out over not having time to train...a 30min run 3 times
a week has been proven to maintain fitness for weeks.
With this confidence I know that I can run hard for a
few weeks and raise my level of fitness. I can also be
confident knowing that so long as I keep slotting in a
30 min run when extremely busy, I will not lose fitness
in my preparation for the London Marathon.
On Monday and Tuesday I was too busy to train again. I
had to get out on Wednesday to keep my fitness. I managed
one hour of hill reps at threshold to stop muscle wastage.
I needed a longer tougher run on Wednesday, because I
would be flying to Japan Thursday and Friday.
If you have a busy life, plan everything. I work out as
far in advance as possible when I will be busy and when
I will have a little more free time and build up my training
plan around this for the London Marathon. You will need
to be flexible and adjust your plans as needed, but this
is much better than making it up on an ad hock basis.
I am now in Japan after a two day journey. After a long
flight it is important not to train on the day you arrive
as you are jet lagged, the muscles dehydrated and fatigued
from the flight. I am used to these long flights and upon
arrival move straight onto to new time zone, drink lots
of water, stretch and sleep to recover.
Tomorrow, is Valentine's Day and I will get up and do
a long slow run. For the record I will only have run 16
miles in a 7 day period but I am confident that I have
not lost fitness. Conversely, forcing myself to run when
over worked and stressed, would only have made me ill.
Like all runners I learnt this lesson the hard way.
Next week is my first big test of the year. I plan to
run over 100 miles in my week in Japan and top it off
with the Okinawa marathon. This will be the last big mileage
week in my build up to the London marathon. My plan is
to run the Okinawa marathon a little slower than race
pace, but to get used to my Newton
Distance S race shoes and my carbo gels and the nutrition
I am planning for London. To me it is imperative that
you practice with and use everything before race day.
Doing a marathon as training is very unconventional, and
as an athlete you have to be disciplined so as not to
run too fast, but for me it is the best way to see how
my stamina is over the full 26.1 miles.
After the Okinawa marathon I will get a lot of feedback
and have a better understanding of whether or not my target
time of Sub 2hrs 30min is still a realistic goal for The
London Marathon.
02 February 2009
This past week has been a great week for London Marathon
training. On the track mid week at Reading, I did a great
set 1 mile followed by 8 x 800m and finally 1 mile to
finish. This is great training for anything from 10km
upwards. The aim is to pick you race distance pace and
hold it the whole session. My 10km race pace is 31mins
which means running 5min miles or approximately 75 seconds
per 400m.
As it happened I went out in 5:03 for the first mile and
then knocked off 8 x 800m in 2:33 average pace before
running the final mile in 5:03. The fastest I have run
for a long time.
This faster running may have been aided by the fact I
was sat at my desk all week so was not as tired as usual
from travel. I didn't wear spikes on the track but had
my beloved Newtons
on which really do give great energy return and make the
whole session easier. If you start off too fast it is
impossible to run the last mile as fast as the first,
so this is a great way to check your pace is correct.
As I only took 90 seconds rest between each hard run.
I am confident that I am capable of running between 31min
30 and 31min flat for a 10km road race at present.
If you structure your training correctly it will give
you confidence in a race. If you are training for the
London Marathon, alter you pace accordingly so that you
are running at your target marathon pace. You body will
become efficient at what it does most, so this will help
your running efficiency at race pace.
This good track session gave me the confidence I needed
for my usual Saturday morning time trial round Bushy Park.
I ran 11 seconds faster than usual; doing it is 16:09.
As it was very cold I ran in my 2XU
thermal compression tights and thermal
top, I think shorts and vest would have been slower,
as I would have struggled to stay warm. Correct clothing
is also vital to running well and enjoying your training.
27 January 2009
2-months and 29-days until the London Marathon.
This last weekend was spent coaching on the Purple
Patch Training camps. At this time of year as many
runners prepare for the London Marathon, their camps are
full with runners eager to learn. This weekend was no
exception, and we had a great time in the Chiltern Hills
near Wantage.
 We
discussed theory of running and training in between 5
guided runs, all catering for mixed abilities. I even
got a chance to show off and demonstrate our Newton
Trainers and 2XU
compression which went down a storm. All food, drink
and accommodation was laid on. I even managed to get a
few snaps to show us running, studying and posing.
I can recommend that any one serious about running the
London Marathon or just improving your running should
come on one of the Purple
Patch camps.
On Saturday, while Chris Donald the camp leader was teaching
everyone of the benefits of hill running I escaped to
London to run the South of England Cross Country Championships.
The great news, for those that have been following my
injury, is that my ankle injury appears to have now totally
cleared up, which is pleasing. It has proved that taking
two weeks off running early allowed the injury to clear,
instead of the usual niggling pain that lasts ages. Most
runners hate resting when injured...but the fact is, it
has to be done.
 Unfortunately,
although I am now officially injury free again, the race
was a disaster, I had lost stamina and running through
the fields of mud for 60 minutes completely wiped me out.
Although I was able to float round a flat fast 5km run
in Bushy Park, the previous week, reality hit me in this
long hard muddy slog. I started off around 25th place
on lap one of 4, but slipped and slid may way backwards
through ending up around 100th out of about 500 to 600
of the best cross country runners in the south of England.
Hats off to all those that beat me, it was a tough day,
and to any that didn't they still deserve a medal for
finishing one of the toughest muddy slogs I have run in
for some time.
Once again I realised that as an ex 1,500m runner I can
cope with road running and track racing, but cold muddy
cross country courses don't suit my long loping running
style, luckily for me and others like me the London Marathon
is on solid tarmac roads!
 After
I finished I was back in the car, to the camp. Sunday
was a recovery run, while everyone else went on a long
slow fat burning run, I kept mine to shorter, only 45mins.
After yesterday's race, a long run would have been a recipe
for disaster. I finished my short run, feeling fresher
than before I started.
I have learned through experience...always allow time
to recover after racing. FYI Monday was even shorter,
only a 30 minute run.
22 January 2009
On Sat 14th after a few weeks of massage, and manipulation
on my ankle joint, lots of ice and ultra sound, and virtually
no running, I decided it was time to test out the ankle
in a short race If I could not complete a 5km fun run
I would struggle to do the mileage I need for the London
Marathon.
As it happened my years of experience, helped me anticipate
my recovery time well. Also one of my newer weapons in
my armoury, are my 2XU
elite compression tights, although everyone rants
on about compression, most tights only use about 30-40
denier lycra. As my tights have 70 denier licra they deliver
more compression to my legs, reducing swelling and helping
my blood flow, which all help to speed up recovery. I
ran pain free and actually raced very well considering
I had not run for a couple of weeks. I won the race in
16mins 20 which was my usual time. So I had lost no fitness,
which is was reassuring. I also raced in my compression
tights as the extra support not only protected me but
also reduced muscle oscillation (shaking) which has been
shown to help you run faster. So my 2xu compression tights
are great value doing two jobs for the price of one!
For anyone who is not sure where to race I can highly
recommend the Bushy
Park Run, 9am every Saturday in Bushy park, and the
best thing about it...is it is free! It is well organised
with everyone getting timed and also all times are posted
on the official website and emailed to you within hours
of finishing, it is great way to start off your day.
The lesson that was reinforced with me last weekend was,
that even when injured, so long as you can keep up some
aerobic exercise and stop muscle wastage, by doing gym
work the human body does not fall apart over night. I
remember reading somewhere that you can maintain fitness
for around 3 months on just 3 x30mins running a week.
Granted you will not get any fitter, but the lesson is
plane for anyone else injured...
Plan your recovery carefully and don't be afraid to rest
to help speed up recovery from injuries, massage and physiotherapy
also help a lot!
I forgot to add the my wife Rieko also claimed her first
ever win in the park with just over 21 minutes. All in
all it was a good weekend, and allowed me to re think
my training. Putting in a combination of running and rehabilitation
work in the gym, until I am 100% clear of my injury.
I have the Sothern Cross country championships next weekend,
where I will get well and truly slaughtered by some very
fast international runners, but I like to mix it up with
the best so I don't start thinking I am better than I
really am. I am also helping out with coaching at Purple
Patch Running, which a coaching group that I help
at. So Juggling my coaching and running will ensure that
I have a full weekend a head.
19 January 2009
So how did I get to start off this blog injured ? Well
actually it was bad luck and not over training although
I was training very hard at the time. I went to Lanzarote
with my family and work college Mike Martin. Mike and
I intended to do some serious running in between entertaining
the kids.
The aim was to get in some distance running in my preparation
for the London Marathon next April. After doing my strength
and conditioning training from September to December,
it was time to change the programme and do the distance
phase of my training. I had planned 10 weeks of longer
slower running at around 80 miles a week, with two weeks
over the Xmas break at 100. Every third week would be
only 50 miles so that I would have time to recover, and
hopefully not get injured.
Training was going well, Mike and I were putting in 60
minutes to 90 minutes runs every morning and three times
in the week, some faster running so that I did not lose
all my speed.
I had one 3 hour run planned this was to be an "over
time run", running longer than my intended race time
of 2 hours 30 at The London Marathon. We set off early
when it was still dark so as to avoid the heat of the
day, and after 60 minutes running round the Club La Santa
track...in pitch black ( I listened to my mp3 to kill
time) we headed off into the desert, over the rocky ground,
which is the kind of terrain I love.
 However
my legs must still have been in shuffle mode from the
track because I caught a bit of volcanic rock and went
flying, landing with a thud and cutting my arm badly.
The arm hurt so much that I didn't notice I had also knocked
my ankle and knee as well.
As all serious runners do, I ran back home washed the
wound bandaged it up and tried to finish my 3 hour run.
But pain got the better of me, as my wife Rieko battered
some common sense into my brain. In times of trouble when
I plan to do something stupid, She will always ask "what
would you tell your athletes to do" the immediate
and correct answer is of course "REST"
But as you know all runners think, MY body is different.
It isn't, but we all like to think that we are different
and that the rules of common sense don't apply to us.
I was however back running the next day and now 3 weeks
later my arm has just about healed. At first I didn't
notice my swollen ankle, however by the end of the holiday
it had started to ache and I realised it was becoming
tender to touch. I must have hit it hard as I fell. In
Lanzarote I had successfully completed 100 miles but at
what cost to my preparation for The London Marathon.
Back in England I rested up and all seemed well. Over
Xmas it was easy to find other things to do and when I
started running after Xmas the pain had gone. I did some
fast interval training in preparation for the Surrey X-C
Championships on 3rd of January. I run for Belgrave
Harriers and had a solid run, coming 15th. Just behind
Will Cockerell our Captain in 14th. Phil Wicks won by
a country mile and Belgrave took the team race. At my
age I am still glad to be making up the team.
The start of January was cold the ground was frozen and
rutted and unfortunately that cross country race was the
last step I took. It is now 19th January and I am still
not running. My ankle is still swollen and I have tendentious.
I am getting treatment and it will recover, but through
experience I know it is a slow process. So I have now
adopted plan B to stay fit, which involves getting up
early and going to my local gym Castle Royle before work
each morning. For anyone who is injured and trying to
stay fit, I shall outline some good sessions next time.
13 January 2009
After 37 years of running, and countless middle distance
track races, road and cross country races, and not to
mention all the triathlons I did in my 20 years as a full
time athlete, this year at the ripe old age of 46 I have
decided to do my first marathon. I managed to get an elite
start for London which gave me an guaranteed entry...
so the London Marathon it is.
I won the British Universities 1,500m title over 26 years
ago and after that turned professional as triathlete,
retiring at 41, after getting up to 2nd in the world in
the related sport of duathlon in 2003. I did manage one
world title although all be it a masters title in 10,000m
All those years when one would normally have thought about
marathon running I was triathloning.( new verb)
My aims for this year after the London Marathon is to
see how fast I can run on the track. I thought I would
document my progress problems along the way, as it may
be informative to new comers and also one or two of you
may find it interesting.
My full time running career ended after I injured my left
knee back in 1984 and was told I would never run again.
It took me two years to get over that, but words such
as never and impossible do not agree with me, so that
was how I discovered cross training and triathlon as a
way to rehabilitate and recover. Later, X-training became
a natural way for me to stay injury free and to reach
peak performance. Over the years I have studied at Loughborough,
Long Beach, Leeds, Sheffield and Tsukuba University in
Japan and also coached Olympic triathletes and so built
a wide base of academic and practical experience. You
would think I would have all the answers.
However I start off this blog rather embarrassingly INJURED
! ( I will let you know how that happened next time).
Since I am injured, the one key thing I have learnt is
to make all negatives into a positive. Ok I have an ankle
injury so I can't run, but I can still use the stepper
and X-trainer which are none impact and I can carry out
a whole series of exercises in the gym to maintain muscle
mass and of course I can use that spare time concentrating
on what all runners hate...stretching.
I have also decided to run the Okinawa marathon 22nd February.
Instead of doing lots of long runs I have entered the
marathon so I can get my nutrition and fluid intake right
under race conditions, and test my stamina. I will however
limit my speed to about 85-90%. For those who are getting
jealous about my apparent jet setting lifestyle...I have
to go to Japan and Okinawa on work. I just thought I would
squeeze a marathon in while there and combine work with
pleasure ( or may it will be work and pain...not sure
on that one!)
Having not run for 10 days now, all these plans look in
jeopardy, but as the cliché says, life is a journey
not a destination, with all the ups and downs I have had,
I still love the journey, so I thought I would keep a
blog to keep a record of may training and racing this
year and all the highs and lows along the way.
Oh and one last comment for this entry, my estimated time.
Well I never do anything in half measures so I set my
self a tough target of sub 2:30... My reasoning if the
target is too easy the challenge is no fun, if it is too
tough you will just give up on route.
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About Mike Trees
> Former World 10km Masters Champion
> Former British Record Holder for Ironman
> 10 Times National Japanese Triathlon Champion
> Triathlon Coach
Mike is now making a 'come back'. After focusing
on building Triathlon Consultants, he is now juggling
business with high performance sport. His ultimate
aim is to become the first British man over the
age of 45 to do a sub 30min 10k.
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