At the end of last year I decided it would be a challenge to train for a marathon and push myself to run further than I’d ever done before. At this point in time, I’d rarely done anything more than a half marathon distance. To be honest, it hadn’t interest me in the past, I thought I’d struggle with marathon training and get bored. Don’t get me wrong, I still had no intention of actually running a marathon, that would be crazy, I just fancied training for one and setting a challenge for the year ahead.
Training for no race
I much prefer winter training to summer training so come January I was raring to go and keen to start doing longer runs. Joanna had managed to get a place in the London Marathon for April 2026, so I started to tag along on her long runs and join in with some of her training. By the end of the month, I’d done four “long runs” (each over 13 miles) and completed my longest run to date, doing an 18 miler with Steve Ayling one Saturday morning. I was starting to get the bug and really enjoyed running further than I would usually. Much to my surprise, it was fun and I wasn’t getting bored.
Training continued through February with a minor setback – a wonky knee meaning I was out of action for a week or so but as I wasn’t planning on doing a marathon, it really didn’t matter. No pressure, no drama. Anyone who loves running, like we all do, knows that even a week out of action drives you crazy so come March I was itching to get back running and continuing to push myself further. During the month, and as Joanna got closer to her London date, I ran completed three runs twenty miles or more runs.
Running slower to get faster
When I made the decision to start undertaking longer runs, I made peace with the fact that I’d get a bit slower and loose some pace over shorter distances, or so I thought. Up until now a half marathon was my preferred distance with the odd 10k or 5k from time to time. In April I did the Leazers Parkrun as part of our club Spring Series and to my surprise I got a new PB, my new cheat shoes surely helped – thank you Nike Vaporflys. I also did the Gateshead Quayside 5km in April and was even quicker. It was starting to dawn on me that all these longer runs were making me faster, not slower, who knew!
Alongside my running I go to the gym a couple of times a week including a session with a PT. It’s all geared around strength and conditioning and running specific exercises to try and keep me injury free and to compliment my day to day running training. Shout out to Paul Rea for convincing me of the benefits when I was out injured a couple of years ago.
Getting tempted; Getting injured
Come the end of April it was time for the London marathon and a tiny part of me wishes I was doing it. I’d done the training and would have probably been able to get round. I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fast as Joanna but could have lasted the distance and completed the 26.2 miles. By this point several people had told me I needed to actually run a marathon and not just train for one (thanks Steve, Michael F and Swanny amongst others) so maybe I needed to give it a go, pluck up the courage and sign up for one.
May was a mixed month; I eased off the long runs after (not actually doing) the London Marathon and took training a bit easier. I ran the Sunderland half marathon (a favourite of mine) and continuing in a rich vein of form, I achieved a new PB for the distance. Then injury struck during a Dave H training session. We were doing a speed session in Saltwell Park, and I foolishly went off like a clown, too fast, too hard and blew up. Hamstring gone! This had happened once before a couple of years back, so I knew immediately what I’d done. Last time I was out for weeks, and it was this set back that made me to take my none running training more seriously – it forced me to join the gym and do the occasional bit of swimming. I was gutted, I’d gone from loving doing long runs and being able to run consistently fast over shorter distances to a hard stop! The end of May and all of June was a write off. I was out for over a month and ended up missing the Club Legacy 10k race, The Blaydon Race, the Club 1 mile race and had to jog round the Eildon Hills fell race.
As I recovered from the hamstring injury I began to swim more often as part of my rehab. I started to go to Birtley baths three times a week. I’m not the best swimmer and can only do breaststroke but we all know how good swimming is for you, so I thought I’d give it a try. At the same time as Sam H and Graham S were training for their Ironman, I was splashing about in the pool taking an hour to swim a mile. I can literally run 10 times faster than I can swim. It’s pretty boring but it certainly helps. Between all the swimming and the continued gym work and PT sessions I recovered from the injury and could begin to increase my training volume and running distance.
Signing up to Yorkshire Marathon
In the meantime, Joanna has successfully qualified for the Chicago marathon in October, so I had decided to finally bite the bullet and sign up for my first marathon. The Yorkshire marathon was a week after Chicago, so the timing was perfect – we could train together from July through to October and I could piggyback Joanna’s schedule. I spoke to James, Barry and Joanna who’d all taken part in this event before and it sounded ideal. Pretty flat, scenic course and a well-supported route, starting and finishing at York university.
In July I treated myself to a new pair of training shoes (Saucony Endorphin Speeds) and a new watch (a Coros Pace 3) all in the hope of aiding my marathon training. Any excuse to buy new gear, I also purchased a couple of caps and some new marathon specific shorts from 26.2 with loads of pockets for storing fuel and snacks. During the month I entered a 5-mile race and a 10k race to test my fitness and started to build up the longer runs slightly.
Running with friends; Running solo
By August, my injury had thankfully fully recovered, and my fitness was coming back. Joanna and I managed to fit in several long runs and was now up to running 18 miles in one go – my longest since April. September continued to go well, I was still swimming three times a week (but not getting any quicker) and going to the gym three times a week. My longest run of the month reached 23 miles, and I did my first solo long run a few weeks before the marathon. This was tough and boring, for anyone thinking of training for a marathon, it makes such a difference if you can run with other people rather than having to slog it out alone for hours on end. By now I was finally convinced (after nine months) that I could complete a marathon and give it a real go. The race was mid-October, so I began to taper towards the end of September and as Joanna geared up for Chicago I rested and took it very easy. My last challenging run to prepare me of the tough challenge ahead was to run the Saltwell Legacy Series runs (10k, 4 miles, 3 miles and 1 mile) back-to-back in one session. This was both mentally tough and physically challenging but it helped with my final preparation and set me up nicely for the marathon.
The race
On Saturday 18 October Aileen and I headed to York, I wanted to stay over the night before rather than travel down on the day as I knew I’d be a bag of nerves. That night we met Laurie for an pre-race meal at an Italians he’d booked, this was his second marathon, so I was keen to pick his brains for some last minute advice. After the meal it was back to the hotel for an early night. I hardly slept and was up very early on the Sunday, nervous, excited and raring to go. I’d agreed to meet Simon and Sam at the start line and was so pleased to see them. They’d both ran marathons before and really helped to put me at ease and keep me calm. The three of us started together and for the first half of the race Sam and I tucked in between the two 3 hour 15 minute pacers, chatting as we ran and keeping calm and relaxed.
My plan was to go easy for the first half, keep plucking away until the twenty-mile marker and then try and race the last 10k. I’d read so much about not starting too fast, not worrying about being overtaken and just going very easy during the first half of the race. So as not to ruin the run, go too fast or blow up I’d written the following on my arm:
Cruise, 1 – 13 / Conserve, 14-20 / Dig In & Race 21-25 and Go! Final Mile
I’d accidentally used permanent marker so I couldn’t ignore the strategy, and it certainly wasn’t going to rub off or fade during the run. Fortunately, the race went like a dream, the first half was slow and steady, and I ran far more sensibly than I usually do. I then dug in for the next six or seven miles and began to speed up. I avoided the infamous “Wall”, continued to speed up and was still enjoying myself for the remainder of the race, but by the end I was dead on my feet. I was over the moon to complete the race and was absolutely buzzing. I was wobbly and starting to shake as I made my way back to meet Aileen but I was so happy, I’d finally ran a marathon.
Lessons learnt
I’ve now got my eye on returning to York next year to improve on my time and the Yorkshireman Off Road Marathon next September looks great fun, part trail, part fell race. An excuse to run a marathon over seas also appeals so watch this space.
What I’ve learnt about running this year…
- Running with friends is far more enjoyable than running solo and good running buddies make all the difference.
- It’s so important to mix up your running with gym work and/or swimming.
- Slow and steady runs are great for training, not every run needs to be a race or a full-on effort
- You are capable of run further and for longer than you think, give it a go.
- Training for an event or race is the perfect excuse for buying new gear.
- Injuries suck but they make you appreciate running even more.
- Running a marathon really takes it out of you – recovery takes a while but the sense of satisfaction at the end is immense.
