Boston Marathon: January 2018 Training Review

From Fatherhood, to new PR’s this is a brief overview of events in my Boston Marathon training programme upto this point.

Fatherhood

Being a parent is the hardest job I’ve had.

The first time I met and held my daughter, I was excited and happy but scared as I wanted to protect her.

Having her here now, means that I want to be a good example to her. My job isn’t to make her a mini version of me or other people, but to help her be the best version of herself.

She’s given me that extra drive, that extra bit of hustle to train hard.

But it’s not easy, I work full time for a corporate company, and get limited and broken sleep. But I didn’t want to make any excuses for myself as others have it worse. So I stayed consistent I kept working, in the back of my mind I know that your kids pick up on the things that you do, rather than what you say. So I want to be a good example to her.

Also she challenged me to reevaluate my subconscious decisions, and to live life more consciously and in a healthy way, for example I’ve started to wear a Troin:Z magnetic bracelet which is an alternative therapy product which has been rumoured to relieve the symptoms of pain and stiffness and increase blood flow. It’s early days but a review will be coming soon. But if you do want to purchase one you can get 10% off using discount code: marathonmarcus

Coaching

Whilst I have a passion for running, and read around the subject my running never improved for a number of years.

Whilst there’s a number of reasons for this, the biggest reason for progress is working with my coach John Starlett before the 2017 Chicago marathon. He introduced the medium to long term structured approach to my training which is adapted weekly. For example recently my Achilles has given me some trouble so I’d remove some hill sessions, or reduce interval sessions for example and replace them with easy paced running.

My coach is a big factor in my progression and I thank him for helping me run a sub 20min 5k and sub 90min Half Marathon.

Victoria Park Half Marathon

Photo by @murraylaura

When I started running I was out of shape and did lots of run and walk breaks! In martial arts they say that every black belt was once a white belt. Whilst I didn’t start my journey running quickly a big lesson I’ve learnt from running is it doesn’t matter where you start. It’s that you stay consistent, believe in yourself when you fall, and keep trying your best. At the moment you want to quit the results will come.

Years back I ran the undulating (cough…) hilly Brands Hatch Half Marathon. It was a hard slog. I ran, shuffled, walked to the finish line, completing the distance in over 2 hours with a lot of change.

Fast forward a few years, and many iffy performances, I only marginally improved. Before hitting my Half Marathon sub 90min PR.

I ran slightly over the half marathon distance clocking 13.23 miles on my Sunnto, finishing officially in 1:28:47. It was a lapped course, but the extra distance came from dodging and weaving other runners, and members of the public on the course.

This is the second time I’ve run this half and each time I PR’d, last year I ran it in 1:41:35.

Overall I can’t fault the Victoria Park Half Marathon hosted by RunThrough, and the things I noted last year have improved, the medal is much better, there’s free race photos, a bottled water station. However running quickly did my face no favours for the photos!!

The race is well organised, with enthusiastic race marshals that keep your spirits up. And the £20 race entry is a real bargain considering everything provided. It’s one I’d definitely run again.

ASICS Frontrunner Team

I joined the team in 2017, I’ve travelled the U.K. and abroad with them. We’ve had lots of laughs and runs together.

ASICS have provided lots of great kit throughout the year, but what’s more important than kit is the wider community that I’ve joined.

By meeting other people who are passionate about running it’s raised my own standards. I’m not focusing on race times here, I’m talking about people who are adventurous and aim to be the best version of themselves. Being around people like this has made me work that bit harder in training to work to be the best runner that I can work towards.

Being around people who raise their own standards is contagious, some of the races or personal challenges my teammates have overcome is amazing.

If you want to join and be apart of this amazing team then worldwide applications to become a Frontrunner open on Monday 15th January until 11th February and will be online via ASICS.

Six Star World Marathon Majors

Running has brought me into contact with lots of great people. I met Stephen when we ran the 2017 Tokyo marathon, and we’ve gone onto run the 2017 Paris, Chicago marathons together. With the aim to run Boston this year to earn our six star medal. He is a top bloke and recently he completed the Disney Dopey Challenge running the 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon over 4 days!

But this recent post made me laugh mate, thanks for trending #TheMarcus