10 min read

London Marathon

Scratching that marathon itch

Way back in 1999 – a looong time ago now – I ran the London Marathon. Ever since I’ve fancied running another marathon, but I’ve never been successful in the lottery draw whenever I’ve thrown my hat into the ring.

A few weeks ago Shelli mentioned that Time To Talk – a mental health charity she works with – had a charity place for this year’s London Marathon in October, and whether I’d be interested (read here “stupid/mad” enough!), to which I obviously said a resounding yes! So, she put my name in the running (excuse the pun) for the place but, sadly another lady got in there first.

Last week it transpired that the lady could no longer do it, so here I am now with 74 days to get my fat arse into shape to “run” 26.2 miles – gulp!

First thing to sort: the training plan! Now, I can pretty confidently go out and run a 5km, 10km, or even a half marathon with little to no training (not because I’m super fit but more because I’m super stubborn and won’t give up!) but a marathon? No. This needs some proper training to try and make sure I get round the course okay. Like I said, I was considerably younger when I last ran a marathon, and back then I had trouble with one of my knees going completely at mile 23, making me limp my way to the finish line. As I said, I’m a stubborn shit!

Training

After a little research here’s the training plan I’m going to be following:

Week Day Date Planned Training Actual Training Time (HH:MM:SS) Total Miles
1 1 19/07/2021 Rest Day 0.0
2 20/07/2021 3 Miles 4 Miles 00:46:32 4.0
3 21/07/2021 4 Miles 3 Miles 00:34:06 7.0
4 22/07/2021 HT: 8 Reps @ 1 Minute 8 Reps @ 1 Minute, 10% Incline & 9km/h 00:19:00 7.0
5 23/07/2021 Rest Day 7.0
6 24/07/2021 4 Miles 4 Miles 00:47:42 11.0
7 25/07/2021 8 Miles 8 Miles 01:30:23 19.0
2 8 26/07/2021 Rest Day 19.0
9 27/07/2021 4 Miles 4 Miles 00:45:42 23.0
10 28/07/2021 4 Miles 23.0
11 29/07/2021 HT: 9 Reps @ 1 Minute 4 Miles 00:46:54 27.0
12 30/07/2021 Rest Day 27.0
13 31/07/2021 4 Miles 10 Miles 01:48:02 37.0
14 01/08/2021 10 Miles 4 Miles 00:46:55 41.0
3 15 02/08/2021 Rest Day 41.0
16 03/08/2021 5 Miles 5 Miles 00:53:29 46.0
17 04/08/2021 4 Miles 46.0
18 05/08/2021 HT: 10 Reps @ 1 Minute 4 Miles 00:41:39 50.0
19 06/08/2021 Rest Day
20 07/08/2021 4 Miles 4 Miles 00:41:31 54.0
21 08/08/2021 12 Miles 12 Miles 02:15:41 66.0
4 22 09/08/2021 Rest Day 66.0
23 10/08/2021 5 Miles 5 Miles 00:51:05 71.0
24 11/08/2021 4 Miles 71.0
25 12/08/2021 ST: 2 Intervals @ 1 Mile 4 Miles 00:37:05 75.0
26 13/08/2021 Rest Day 75.0
27 14/08/2021 4 Miles 75.0
28 15/08/2021 14 Miles 75.0
5 29 16/08/2021 Rest Day 75.0
30 17/08/2021 5 Miles 75.0
31 18/08/2021 4 Miles 75.0
32 19/08/2021 ST: 3 Intervals @ 1 Mile 75.0
33 20/08/2021 Rest Day 75.0
34 21/08/2021 4 Miles 4 Miles 00:41:41 79.0
35 22/08/2021 16 Miles 16 Miles 03:14:44 95.0
6 36 23/08/2021 Rest Day 95.0
37 24/08/2021 5 Miles 5 Miles 00:56:26 100.0
38 25/08/2021 4 Miles 100.0
39 26/08/2021 ST: 4 Intervals @ 1 Mile 4 Miles 00:43:29 104.0
40 27/08/2021 Rest Day 104.0
41 28/08/2021 4 Miles 4 Miles 00:42:22 108.0
42 29/08/2021 18 Miles 18 Miles 03:26:24 126.0
7 43 30/08/2021 Rest Day 126.0
44 31/08/2021 5 Miles 126.0
45 01/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
46 02/09/2021 ST: 5 Intervals @ 1 Mile 126.0
47 03/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
48 04/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
49 05/09/2021 20 Miles 126.0
8 50 06/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
51 07/09/2021 5 Miles 126.0
52 08/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
53 09/09/2021 ST: 6 Intervals @ 1 Mile 126.0
54 10/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
55 11/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
56 12/09/2021 6 Miles 126.0
9 57 13/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
58 14/09/2021 7 miles 126.0
59 15/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
60 16/09/2021 ST: 6-7 Intervals @ 1 Mile 126.0
61 17/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
62 18/09/2021 4 Miles 126.0
63 19/09/2021 20 Miles 126.0
10 64 20/09/2021 Rest Day 126.0
65 21/09/2021 5 Miles 5 Miles 00:54:09 131.0
66 22/09/2021 Rest Day 131.0
67 23/09/2021 4 Miles (Easy Pace) 131.0
68 24/09/2021 Rest Day 131.0
69 25/09/2021 4 Miles 131.0
70 26/09/2021 10 Miles 131.0
11 71 27/09/2021 Rest Day 131.0
72 28/09/2021 40 Minutes (Moderate Pace) 131.0
73 29/09/2021 20 Minutes (Easy Pace) 131.0
74 30/09/2021 20 Minutes (Easy Pace) 131.0
75 01/10/2021 Rest Day 131.0
76 02/10/2021 Rest Day 131.0
77 03/10/2021 Marathon! 27.27 Miles 05:29:15 158.27

 

Runs & Routes

Some of you may remember that I started a Virtual JOGLE run, which took a bit of a break due to home improvements/inaccessible treadmill/loss of enthusiasm, even though I’d managed to complete over 400 miles and nearly 50% of my planned route.

Not wanting to completely give up on that challenge after all of the effort so far, I’ll be doing my short runs on my treadmill (with the 2% incline set so that they can be used for that challenge too. I should also be able to add my speed training runs (ST in the table above) as these will be run on the treadmill as well.

I’ll aim on doing the longer Sunday runs out and about so they won’t be able to be counted towards the Virtual JOGLE run, but will really help me to get used to running off the treadmill before the 26.2 miles through the streets of London.

As my training progresses I’ll update the table above with the actual training I did.

I’ll also be adding the routes from my long runs below so that I can remember just how hard they were when I look back on this madness.

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