Shakespeare Marathon Review

I wish I could say that I had planned it exactly as it occurred. But what it all comes down to is a bit of luck, a lot of grit and faith in the 18 weeks of training.

The day started cool and overcast. Pretty much perfect conditions for running. I woke at 6am in the Premier Inn hotel in the centre of Stratford upon Avon and headed down for breakfast at 7. There were a handful of other runners in the restaurant nervously chatting about the race to come. I had a bowl of porridge and a couple of pieces of brown toast. One of the runners was tucking into a full English. I have no idea how that would pan out for him but the thought of a plateful of greasy food rolling around inside me for 26 miles is not on the top of my pre-race food!

Anyway, breakfast done and we headed out to the start which was a few hundred metres away in the centre of town. There were a fair amount of runners out and about. There were plenty of toilets available so I queued as no matter how much I don't think I need to go I always will want to.

Follow the arrow for 26.2 miles

I think there were about three thousand entrants this year but the majority were doing the half marathon and about eight hundred of us were doing the second loop for the full.

My wife captured a snap just before the off:

Our intrepid (stupid) hero

The race got under way on time and we ran the first mile or two around the city centre in a circle before heading out to the surrounding countryside. It was a bit crowded at the start which was a bit frustrating but also helped me not go shooting off too fast. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. There were no timing pens which I suppose would have been difficult to enforce with the two races going on at once.

Once out into the countryside it got easier as more space became available. I decided to go on a gel strategy of one every 6 km as that would mean about two every hour. Water stations were well dotted around the course so I would take a mouthful or two at each one. Gels weren't provided so I brought my own and stuck them on a gel belt around my waist.

The countryside around Stratford is rather beautiful and the course heads through several villages that had a chocolate box quality to them, Thatched roofs and old stone. Even the odd UKIP banner which I found amusing and slightly depressing in equal measure.

I had decided to take a gamble and attempt a negative split. I had never done this before in a marathon and the fact was that if it failed then my goal of 3:30 would be totally out of reach since my planned first half would be over 1:45 and I'd never be able to make it up again. I had been reading up on how to achieve this via an excellent site called the MARCO Marathon Calculator. It gives a good breakdown of the sort of pace you should be aiming for as well as some guidelines on what to expect and feel along the way.

Unfortunately a spanner was in the works. Since about mile 4 I had felt a greater need to go for a wee. I tried to put it in the back of my mind but it kept gnawing away at me. Especially after a long ascent at about mile 8. So after 10 miles I nipped off to the side and had a quick wee in the hedgerow out of sight of the rest of the runners (apologies to the organisers for not using their loos!). In all I reckon I used up about 30 seconds. Not ideal but I felt so much better afterwards and felt confident of making up the time over the next 16 miles. I didn't realise at the time how this would come back to haunt me.

We hit the greenway section of the course which is a dust trail that heads straight back to Stratford. After another couple of miles the half marathoners veered off towards the finish whilst the rest of us doing the full had to run a second lap.

I've run a lapped race before (Richmond Park 2013) and it's not as hard work as it might seem. In fact it can work to your advantage since you roughly know what to expect and when. No more surprises.

I gave a wave to my wife who was supporting me from a bridge over the route and hit the half way mark in 1:46:21. I needed to achieve that negative split!

I haven't run more than 16 miles in training using the Hanson method so I quickly sailed into unknown waters. At mile 18 I ran back up the long ascent after which there were no more inclines. There were considerably fewer runners now on the course and I appeared to be passing them more and more. My legs felt stronger than they ever have at this point before and I took a lot of encouragement from it.

After the steep decline the route headed back to the greenway section and the last six miles of the course. As I hit the greenway at mile 20 I felt amazing. I actually speeded up even more and thought I could run this as a pure 10k! Thoughts went through my head of how brilliant it would be to run a sub 45 minute 10k to end the marathon. This was a bit premature. After about 2 miles my body decided that what I was trying to do was ridiculous and I slowed down a fair bit. Not outside the range that I needed to run at but definitely slowed down. I started ticking off the kilometres (my watch is set to km since they go quicker than miles!). When I got to 4km left I tried to up the pace again. My body resisted but I kept telling myself that I'd run longer intervals in training and knew that I could do this. Again, I struggled. Finally I passed the 25 mile marker. I was shattered but knew there was only about 2km left. I started bargaining with my body, "let me get under 3:30 and we'll never do this again", those sort of lies!

The course looped back on itself and I ran into the final park area of the course. I passed the 26 mile marker with 1 minute 40 seconds left to get under 3:30. That's just about 350 metres. I couldn't let this slip now, not at this late stage. I started to rue going for a wee all those miles ago. I turned the corner and ran into the main straight. 100 metres to go and 25 seconds to run it in. Easy if you haven't run 26 miles previously! I sprinted like I've never sprinted at the end of any race and got over the line with 3 seconds to spare! 3:29:57! A banana, medal and bottle of water were thrust at me and I collapsed on the floor. Happy.

My wife had seen me and ran over with friends of ours who had come for the day to cheer me on. She had thought that I had missed out on my goal because of the time on the big clock but I showed her my watch and said "chip time" before sinking back onto the floor. Much shouting and cheering and I started to get my energy back. Our friends took a photo of me doing that biting the medal thing that Olympians do:

Neither chocolate nor gold

 So, goal achieved. Just.

Would I recommend the Shakespeare marathon? Definitely. It's a small, well run, well organised race that takes in beautiful countryside and has a great atmosphere about it. The inclines are not too steep and there's enough variety in the course to make it interesting. Also there was a fair degree of support out of town. Maybe I was lucky with the weather, In previous years people have come a cropper on the greenway if the temperature rises, but that's all part of the challenge isn't it?

Would I do the Hanson method again? Yes. Given 18 weeks and the opportunity to follow it properly then definitely. I'm planning on running the Chester marathon in October but due to the short time period I will be giving myself to train for it I will use the P+D 12 week plan. But for a spring marathon next year (London, fingers crossed) I would certainly use Hanson again. It's not necessarily easier than any other schedule and I ran more miles in total than ever before but I cannot argue against its results. I beat my PB by over 7 minutes, got under 3:30 and ran a negative split. Any one of those would have been good but all three? That's testament to the method.

Official times

Do the splits!

What's next? Well for the next two weeks, nothing. Absolutely no running. That's what the Hanson method prescribes post marathon and who am I to argue?

After that then I have a 10k at the end of May that I may or may not race properly depending on how I feel. Then it's back home to Swansea for a half marathon in mid June where I hope to beat my PB of 1:35:06.

A bit of a rest and then start 12 weeks of training for the Chester marathon which I might run as a pleasure rather than go for a particular time.

I will write again once I get back out on to the streets in a couple of weeks' time.

Sluggish (adj): like a slug

5 days into the 10 day taper and feeling tired and sluggish. I know this is what is expected because the body is not used to the lack of running so can feel at odds with how I would like to feel with just 5 days until the marathon. I have trusted the plan so far so will continue to trust it and hopefully this feeling of lethargy will pass.

My runs have been reduced to single figures now. 8 miles was the most that I ran on both Saturday and Sunday. We were staying with my wife's cousin just outside Northampton so I took my running gear with me and hit some of the local roads. On the Saturday I ran around a wetlands wildlife centre. It was cold and clear and I remembered to take my iPhone so I could snap some pictures.

A path through the wetlands

There were several people out walking around early in the morning, including a group of runners. I've often thought about joining a running club since I know it can be one of the best ways to improve performance but I just like the solitude of running a bit too much I think.

I took another photo by the main lake and visitor centre managing to capture my shadow at the same time (beginner's error).

Spot the photographer!

This morning I ran 5 miles, which is roughly 5 miles fewer than I would normally run on a Tuesday but because of the lethargy it felt hard work. Tomorrow is a rest day then it's 6 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, marathon. I actually miss being able to run the longer, more difficult runs. I'm sure I won't be saying that on Sunday!

My weight is settling down again to about 77kg which is good but I'll need to carbo load in the next few days to be ready for the start on Sunday. We're eating in a nice restaurant in Stratford on Saturday evening. I'm hoping that pasta or rice will be on the menu.

The next time I write should be a report of the marathon itself, and hopefully of how the Hanson Marathon Method helped me smash the 3:30 barrier. Just as long as the weather plays fair.

It's here!

So this shizzle just got real. 11 days to go.

Messing about on the river

Since it was the boat race on the weekend I decided to run my Sunday long run down the Thames path from Kew Bridge to Chiswick Bridge and back to Ealing. I couldn't go much further since my long runs have now been reduced due to the "taper".

Anyhow, I remembered to take my iPhone with me so I could take a couple of photos along the way. Some times it's easy to forget that I am actually in London since there is so much greenery and waterways around where I live. And in the morning it can look especially beautiful.

View west from Kew Bridge

I notice that there are more runners out at the moment. Some I imagine are preparing for the London Marathon that is on the same day as the Stratford marathon that I am running. It would be nice to eventually run my home town marathon but I'll just have to try again once the ballots open up as it's extremely unlikely that I'd get a good for age entrance.

Thames Path towards Chiswick Bridge

I made my way east down the Thames path towards Chiswick Bridge and ran back past Chiswick House. I had intended to run through the grounds but it was so early that the gates were locked so I just ran through Chiswick up the North Circular (a hellish road that makes me glad I cycle to work) and back to Ealing via Walpole park.

Walpole Park in Ealing, Pitzhanger Manor in the background where I got married!

The Easter holidays managed to contribute negatively to my weight but not overly so. I'm still under my planned racing weight and if I can keep off the remaining chocolates and snacks that we bought for the weekend then I should be fine for the marathon.

Tomorrow is my last strength session and then on Thursday it will be my last tempo session. After that I will be on a ten day taper that will take me up to the marathon hopefully at the peak of readiness. I'm just crossing my fingers that the weather won't be too warm since it's really quite sunny at the moment.

Taper? We don't need no stinking taper!

Last long run done so it must be taper time right? Right? Wrong.

The Hanson method doesn't subscribe to the three week taper that pretty much all of the other training schedules follow. Instead it continues the training up until 10 days before the marathon. Then it reduces the training slightly with only easy runs. The idea is that Hanson believe that three weeks is too long. Personally I've always liked three weeks of reduced running but I'm prepared to put my faith in their methods although my legs won't be send them any Christmas cards any time soon!

 My last long run took me down to Richmond Park. Six miles there, four miles around the park and six mile back. I love running around Richmond Park. I ran through a flock of about 30 parakeets (also known as a chatter of parakeets) that were pecking at the floor. Half of them flew off when I ran through but the rest carried on pecking without a care in the world! I only managed to see one deer trotting along the side of the road but there were plenty of MAMILs out and about early on Sunday morning. Clad in their traditional lurid lycra as they hurtle around the park on their metal horses. I don't suppose I looked any less mental at that time in the morning!

We had guests staying in with us this weekend so I wasn't able to weigh myself as I need to do it on the landing to get a proper signal to my wifi receiver and standing practically naked on the landing is not something guests would like to see first thing in the morning I reckon! Anyway, it was Easter this weekend and I ate a lot of chocolate. Normally I eat very little chocolate but I'm one of those people who can't stop once they start so it's probably best that I didn't weigh myself. I'm expecting to put on a little bit by next week but I should still be around my planned racing weight.

This weekend I have to run two sets of 10 milers. I'm at that point in my training were I look forward to every run since I know I'm able to run them well. Hopefully that will apply to the marathon itself.

Once thing I want to change is to take more photos. I know blogs are much more interesting if photos are included. I'm just trying to find a way of taking my iPhone with me so I can stop and take a quick snap on one of my runs if something nice catches my eye. I'll see how I get on.