The following is an exact copy of my training diary from the London marathon to the Olympic marathon. After each week I have added comments to explain my reasoning.
| May 13th | London Marathon | 1st in 2:09:57 |
| Mon 14th | too stiff to run | |
| Tues 15th | rest | |
| Wed 16th | 4 miles easy run | |
| Thur 17th | 5 miles steady run | |
| Frid 18th | 5 miles steady run | |
| Sat 20th | 6 miles steady run | |
| Sun 21st | 10 miles in 65 minutes |
I ran only thirty miles this week because I was mentally drained and my legs were very sore. Steady running for me was about 6 minutes per mile, and an easy run was 7 minutes per mile or slower.
| Mon 21st | 7 miles steady run |
| Tues 22nd | 9 miles steady run |
| Wed 23rd | 7 miles steady run |
| Thur 24th | 5 miles steady run |
| Fri 25th | am. 5 miles steady pm. 6 miles easy |
| Sat 26th | 7 miles including 12 × 100 yard strides with 100 jog, to stretch legs |
| Sun 27th | 10 miles steady. |
| Mon 28th | 15 miles in 90 minutes |
| Tues 29th | am. 7 miles steady pm. Track – 6 × 1000m (with 2m 30s jog) 2 min 57 sec, 2:57, 2:55, 2:55, 2:52, 2:52 |
| Wed 30th | am. 8 miles steady run pm 5 miles steady |
| Thur 31st | 15 miles in 90 mins |
| Fri 1st June | am. 7 miles steady pm. 5 miles steady |
| Sat 2nd | Race – Northern 5,000 metres. 11th in 14:30 |
| Sun 3rd | 15 miles easy – felt tired |
I wasn’t sure how I would go in my first track session, so I ran the first two kilometre reps conservatively. I ran the next pair a little quicker, and because I felt good, I ran the last two quicker still. I didn’t want to start too fast and be forced to slow down, because that is bad for self confidence. The race was a poor performance, but a decent training session. I increased my miles for the week to 91.
This week shows the typical structure of my marathon training. Two long runs; a 20 miler feeling comfortable to build endurance, and a 15 mile run at a brisk pace without straining. Two speed sessions; a track session of 400 metre reps may seem short for a marathon runner, but I needed to work on speed all the time. Even a marathon is a race won by the fastest runner. The other speed session could be another track session or a race or a hill session. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were always steady running to recover from the faster work. My volume of running was up to 101 miles for the week.
| Mon 11th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 8 miles steady |
| Tues 12th | am. 7 miles steady pm. Track – 16 × 200m (200m jog) av 31.4 sec |
| Wed 13th | am. 7 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Thur 14th | 15 miles in 86 mins |
| Fri 15th | am. 5 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Sat 16th | am. Track – 5 × 1600m in 4 min 40 sec with 400m float in 90 sec. pm. 4 miles easy |
| Sun 17th | 20 miles steady |
The Saturday track session was one of my benchmarks. It was basically 10,000 meters of continuous running made up of four laps in 70 seconds, then a lap in 90 seconds, with the whole sequence repeated five times. It adds up to 31 minutes for 10K. There are no rest periods during a marathon, and this session trained me to recover from mile efforts while running at six minute per mile pace. 103 miles for the week.
| Mon 18th | am. 9 miles steady pm. 5 miles steady |
| Tues 19th | am. 5 miles steady pm. Track- 3 × 800m in 2 min 9.5 sec (2 min rec.) I was supposed to run 6 × 800 but my calves were getting a little tight so I changed the rest of it to 2 × 400m in 64 and 5 × 100m strides |
| Wed 20th | am. 8 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Thur 21st | 15 miles in 91 mins |
| Fri 22nd | am. 6 miles steady pm. drove 4 hours to London |
| Sat 23rd | am. 2 miles easy pm. AAA 10,000m. Dropped out 5K (14:35); ran 5 miles in the evening |
| Sun 24th | 15 miles steady – drove 4 hours home |
This was a bad week. My calf muscles were tight from the build-up in my training. I ran the AAA 10K because I was defending champion, but I wasn’t in shape to run a track race at that level, and I wasn’t motivated enough either. It was a mistake to run the race, but I knew my mind was on Los Angeles, and I wasn’t too worried. 89 miles for the week.
| Mon 25th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 9 miles steady |
| Tues 26th | am. 6 miles steady pm. Track – 5 miles on the road in 25 minutes, then 800, 1000, 800, 1000, 800 (all with 2 mins rec.) in 2:18, 2:51, 2:18, 2:52, 2:16 |
| Wed 27th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 8 miles steady |
| Thur 28th | 20 miles steady |
| Fri 29th | am. 7 miles steady Flew to Boston for heat acclimatisation |
| Sat 30th | am. 9 miles steady pm 6 miles with 20 mins of 15 sec stride/15 jog |
| Sun 1st July | 15 miles steady (75 F and 80% humidity) |
The track session was designed to work on pace, with the tiredness of 5 miles fast running in my legs. I swapped the 20 miler to Thursday because I was travelling the next day. Saturday’s session was done with a running watch. Every time the watch hit a minute or 30 seconds I strode hard for 15 seconds, leaving me 15 seconds to recover before I went again. This gave me a high heart rate for 20 minutes, and worked on my speed. I couldn’t do both things for twenty minutes using the long repetitions of marathon training.
Spending the last six weeks in the heat and humidity of Boston was essential if I was going to cope with the weather in Los Angeles. 102 miles for the week.
| Mon 2nd | am. 6 miles steady – hamstring pulling pm. rest and treatment |
| Tues 3rd | am. flew to Atlanta pm. 7 miles steady – leg ok |
| Wed 4th | 8 am. Peachtree 10K road race – 11th in 29:30 pm. 5 miles easy then flew to Boston |
| Thurs 5th | 16 miles steady (85 F and 85% humidity) |
| Fri 6th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 2 miles easy, 1 mile hard effort, 1 mile steady, 10 × 600m Pump House hill, 2 miles easy |
| Sat 7th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 9 miles – felt good |
| Sun 8th | 21 miles interval session on the road. Timed efforts of these minutes 5, 1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 5, all with 5 mins steady running between; 10 mins steady at start and finish, no jogging at any stage. Very tiring, I had to lie down for 2 hours afterwards. |
This was a big week, despite covering only 92 miles. A 10k race, and a tough hill session set me up for the hardest session I ever ran. Sunday’s session was the perfect session to prepare me to race a marathon rather than to run it. Using a continuous watch I ran steady for 10 minutes, ran hard for 5 minutes, then steady for 5 minutes. The next effort was 1 minute, then 2 minutes, then 4 minutes, with 5 minutes steady in between every effort. I repeated the sequence except the third effort was 5 minutes instead of four. I repeated both sequences again. This session teaches total concentration, pace judgement, and the essential ability to surge and surge again on demand as you get more tired. I used different periods of effort so I could go with someone else’s surge in a race, when I didn’t know how long the surge was going to last. This is not a session to get you fit, you have to be fit to contemplate it. It is the session, which I believe, changed me from a marathon runner to a marathon racer.
I needed two days of steady running before I felt recovered from last Sunday. The significant part of the track session was trying to run the miles at the same pace as I ran the half miles. It was nice to win a road race. 107 miles for the week.
| Mon 16th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 8 miles steady |
| Tues 17th | am. 6 miles steady pm. Track – 600 in 93.3, 45 sec jog, 1200 in 3:34, 100 sec jog, 4 × 200 in 30 with 20 sec turn around, 45 sec jog, 1600 in 4:50, 2 min jog, 800 in 2:05.9 (sprint and coast alternate 50m), 45 sec jog, 1600 in 4:48 |
| Wed 18th | 15 miles in 90 mins – tired. |
| Thur 19th | am. 7 miles steady pm. 8 miles easy |
| Fri 20th | am. 7 miles steady pm. Track – 2 sets of 8 × 200 with 20 sec jog. Av 30 sec. |
| Sat 21st | am. 6 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Sun 22nd | Race 8 miles: 3rd in 39:22 Felt flat. |
Tuesday’s track session looks complicated, but it was all about running something fast and recovering at slightly quicker than marathon pace. Friday’s session is one I used to do as a 5,000 meter runner, and fast reps with short recoveries have always helped me to peak. The marathon was getting close and I wanted to be as sharp as possible. I ran poorly in the race because I couldn’t commit myself fully. My sub-conscious was saving everything for the one that mattered, and I knew from past experience that deep in my mind I was still a caterpillar waiting for the right day to transform. 98 miles for the week.
| Mon 23rd | am. 6 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Tues 24th | 28 miles in 2:55 (85 F and humid – lost 9lbs in fluid) felt strong |
| Wed 25th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Thur 26th | am. 7 miles steady pm. 7 miles steady |
| Fri 27th | am. 5 miles steady pm. Track – 10 × 400 with 90 sec jog, av 62 sec |
| Sat 28th | 8 miles easy |
| Sun 29th | 18 miles interval session in 1:43. timed efforts of (mins) 4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2 all with 5 mins steady between, 10 min steady start and finish |
I think it is important to run further than the marathon on one occasion about three weeks prior. I gave myself two days of steady running to recover before doing another speed track session. I finished my intense training with another interval session, but reduced it slightly because I knew I was in good shape and didn’t want to over train. 104 miles for the week.
| Mon 30th | am. 6 miles steady pm. 6 miles steady |
| Tues 31st | am. 9 miles steady pm. 5 miles steady |
| Wed 1st Aug | am. 6 miles steady pm. Track – 6 × 800 in 2:10 with 2:30 jog in 91 F, 85% hum. |
| Thur 2nd | am. 5 miles steady pm. 5 miles steady |
| Fri 3rd | 15 miles in 96 mins (85 F) felt good |
| Sat 4th | am. 5 miles easy pm. 5 miles steady |
| Sun 5th | Race – 5 miles 1st in 24:09 Felt strong |
I reduced the mileage to 84. I felt sharp in my track session, and very fluent when winning a 5 mile race. I was getting nervous, but knew I had trained well.