TCS NYC Marathon Training Diary – 6 days to go

As I get ready to run my third sub 3 attempt this Sunday, this is a takeaway of some my thoughts in the buildup.

The reality of goals is they don’t happen overnight, and they don’t always happen when you want them. But that’s real life.

Thanks to Paul Addicott for letting me share my experience in his recent article showing running Dad’s spinning the plates, working, raising families and training.

Coming back to training post Manchester was tough, post Berlin I was aware of this dip and knew I didn’t have much time to have a repeat, hence why I’ve not posted much after running 3:01 in Berlin. As I needed time to focus for my next sub 3 attempt.

The week after Berlin I ran 25 easy paced miles. For the next two weeks Coach John upped it to 72 & 71 miles. It was a combination of easy runs and faster work, mainly tempo miles, the aim was not to add too much stress after Berlin and before NYC.

The week pre NYC taper I completed 58 miles, similar to the format above.

In between the running thanks to the team at R&D Physio who have managed my Achilles niggle, and worked on my strengthening programme.

Also I’ve continued working with performance mindset coach Duncan with the mental side. Which in combination with the physical training has been invaluable in getting me in the right mindset pre marathon.

Here’s a snapshot from my diary yesterday, which is developed from the work we’ve done.

One technique that I worked with Duncan was writing important messages on my race gels, and I wanted to share the example from Jan who implemented our strategy and ran sub 3 recently.