Consistency is key

You read it everywhere. You can’t make an impact without consistency. Whether that’s an impact on your fitness gains, your marathon time, or in terms of engagement on-line.

SO, ITS 2022 (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?) AND AFTER CONSIDERABLE January-reflection I am determined to focus on consistency across the board. In terms of logging thoughts and progress, as well as stringing together training blocks with consistent ‘useful’ work.

Goals

In December 2018 I decided that I wanted to complete a marathon. It had been in my mind for a while, but never took the steps needed to work towards it. In May 2019 I completed the Edinburgh Marathon in 3.32 – 2 minutes outside my target of sub-3.30. I was pleased to complete a marathon, but disappointed to miss target.

I decided immediately that I’d use the fitness and expereince of Edinburgh to go again in October at the Yorkshire Marathon. The aim was to not just go inside 3.30 but target sub-3.20. I ended up running 3.13 on the day. Almost 20mins quicker, and at what I considered an unattainable pace of 7.25 per mile. If I could knock 19 mins off, could I knock another 13 off and go sub-3?

2020 was due to be focused on triathlon, to get some variation for my mind and body, with the aim of returning to marathon in 2021. Covid saw the Stafford Ironman 70.3 postponed, so I hit the road independently to complete an out-and-back 50k route along the river. I’d done some training so may as well put it to use. As the year moved on, my training drifted, until I bit the bullet and entered the 2021 Brighton marathon with the aim of getting close to 3.05. Rested and ready to train I became impatient, and decided to embarked on a 13.1 training block to knock off a sub-90 half-marathon which I needed to do if I was going to get closer to the 3hr mark at Brighton. The 13.1 was scheduled for April, and despite injury and illness interupting training, I was able to hit 89mins. After a 4 week rest, I started the 18 week training block for Brighton.

Too fast? Too long? Where are the gels?

A lesson in Marathon running …

Training went well, and despite a re-occuring ankle issue, I hit the start line in decent shape, and full of optimism. I’d run a few tempos in Nike vapourflys previsouly which helped me keep the pace up for longer, and this gave me confidence to push on the day. I passed 13.1 at 88 minutes – too fast. I’d done the hilly part of the course chasing the 3hr pacer, and he’d got it wrong. The halfway mark loomed after almost 14miles, which made me worry the course markers were out. I was still yet to see a gel station. Do I need to ration mine, I thought? Can I keep this pace if I don’t have enough carbs? Can I keep this pace even if I do?

The answer was no. I was hurting, alot. I could have kept pushing, but started to doubt if I could finish. I was at 16 miles; 10 miles is a long long way when you already feel cooked. I decided to pull back – if I slowed perhaps I could roll in? The miles dragged by, and by mile 23 my Garmin gave up. With little data coming in for reference, I ground out the last 3 miles. My pace dropped from 6.40min/mile in the first half to more than 8.30. I crossed the line at 3.20.

It turned out the course was 500m too long, for which I allowed myself 2.30mins. So I was around 3.17 in real terms. Not too far off Yorkshire’s 3.13, but reflected a 1.28 / 1.49 split.

excuses

So it was clearly the fault of the pacer, the course organisers, fuel stations, and Garmin that I blew up in Brighton. Obvisouly it wasnt. I had my Garmin for 23 out of the 26 miles, and most notably for those first 13.1 so I should have guage my pace better. I was fooling myself that I was in sub-3 shape. I tried to run light and hope the course had gels where I needed them. I’d done little fuelling in training, so why was it so important to me on race day? And I didn’t miss target because of the extra 500m. I missed it by 20mins, not 2.30mins.

Some lessons learnt here.

so, about consistency..

Its now more than 3 months since Brighton, and a bout of Covid followed by Christmas has had me away from consistent running for most of that. My relative fitness score (Strava) fell from 83 in September to 6 by the end of the year, and I’ve put on a stone in weight.

It’s clear I’ve been too relient on events as a motivator for training consistently. This year I’m mixing the running with cycling to get in shape for the Etape in July. Ater that I’ll maintain the consistency, before booking in another marathon or two in late 2022 and/or Spring 2023. Perhaps then I’ll be able to target the sub-3.

And to be fair, from almost a standing start in December 2018, it will still be less than 5 years.