Marathon Training Plan(s)

Sahara Marathon Training Plan

Originally, I'd created a plan that had John and I start training in October. This had a gradual build up of mileage with the plan to do a full length marathon a month before race day (on my Birthday in fact) as a preparation for the race.

You can download my original Sahara Marathon Training Plan and have a look. The idea was that we could print it off and stick it on the wall and tick off and record times for each session and share our successes with each other.

My coach suggested that doing a marathon before the actual date was madness as the risk of injury was too great but that as long as there was a full month before race day, it would probably be OK. My thoughts were along the lines of "well what if we'd been training for an ultra? We'd be doing longer than marathon length as part of our training, so what's the problem with doing a marathon length as part of the training for a marathon?"

Most of the marathon training advice I read online backs up the initial opinion of my coach and I've no yet had a good answer to my thoughts. I guess it comes from the idea that many many people run marathons each year, but considerably fewer run ultras and the science behind ultra-marathon training is lagging behind the marathon training science purely because there's less/no money in it.

Delays, Injury and the 11 week marathon training plan

In late October, I hurt my foot a little and had to take a week or two off and then again in November. Now it's December and we have 11 weeks before the race!

Sadly we're no longer looking at running the race at any kind of decent pace. Now we're training just to get through it :-( I'm actually not that upset because after speaking to a previous runner, they said that while they normally run a marathon in 3:30, they took 5hrs because of the sand! So running a rocket pace isn't a priority for this charity race (a quick reminder that this is for charity and they need your donation please).

So, I created a new, gentler plan and sent it off to my coach, Louise at Run to Become, to check through. It seems that I'm generally too hard on myself because she quickly came back with an even more gentle plan and some great ideas about how to run/pace and really emphasised the importance of the long run over every other kind of running we do on our training.

The Revised Plan

So here it is. The revised plan that will (WILL!) see me through to race day.

There are some important notes that came with the plan:

Recovery Runs

Recovery runs are short-distance runs at an easy pace to accelerate recovery for your next workout.

Cross Training (CT)

Cross training refers to easy walking, cycling or swimming. On Cross Training days you can choose to take a complete rest or do some light cross training.

Aerobic Runs

A moderate-effort run is a standard element of your marathon preparation. Aerobic runs are usually done at a pace that is 20 percent slower than the marathon race pace.

Long Runs

According to the following Marathon Training tips page, the main goal of the marathon long run is to build enough endurance for your marathon race. Depending on your level, these runs usually start at 10-12 miles in length and build up to 20-22 miles. The farther you run, the more time you need for your recovery.

Marathon Pace (MP) runs

These runs are partly done at your predicted marathon pace. So, for example: "18 mi long run / 10 mi MP" means that 10 of those 18 miles should be done at marathon pace.

Lactate-Threshold (LT) runs

Lactate-threshold runs are tempo runs of at least 20-25 minutes at this so-called lactate-threshold pace. Depending on your level, these runs are usually around 15K to half marathon pace. If an aerobic run of 10 miles calls for 5 miles LT, 

I'm not sure I get some of these different run types

I'm training to run the race barefoot style, part of which means a cadence of 180 steps per minute or greater. The difficulty with this is that the difference in pace between the different run types listed above is negligible. 

If I run at Marathon Pace, I'm running really slowly with short, high cadence steps trying to keep my heart rate in the "aerobic zone" (check out the following web page on heart rate zones). The problem is that running 20% slower doesn't involve 20% less effort. 

I still have to keep the cadence high and the steps short, but at that speed I really can walk just as fast, so how do I run an aerobic run at a 20% slower speed than my marathon pace?

The only really easy ones are the LT ones as that's about where I've always run. All my running over the last year has been with a heart rate in the 160-170 range and if I just run as I feel, I generally run at a heart rate of 163, but that's well inside the anaerobic band (past the lactate threshold), so again I'm struggling to run in the aerobic zone.

That said, I've been making a real effort to find and stay inside the aerobic zone and my coaching has definitely helped me on that front and I feel like I'm getting closer.

I guess I'll just have to train and see how I adapt. 

Running shoes for a desert marathon

The terrain of the Sahara marathon is going to be a mix of loose sand, packed dirt and rock, and I had it under good authority (a previous Sahara marathon finisher) that normal running trainers aren't going to cut it in this trail environment.

Fortunately, Vivobarefoot are sponsoring me in the footwear department so, after discussing the options with their team, we decided that the Breatho Trail were the pair to use as they'll be light and airy and have serious tread that should deal with the varied terrain without any problems.

First Impressions

Today, my training pair arrived through the post and, as this is the first time I've been sponsored in such a way, it was with a mix of excitement and the weight of responsibility that I opened the package and took in the sight and smell of my new pair of trail running shoes :-)

I don't know what it is about equipment and sport but there is, for me at least, a strong link between motivation and new gadgets/equipment. Be it a new pair of shoes, a GPS watch or something as simple as an LED light, my desire to go for a super long and awesome run is never greater than when I've just got some new stuff to go running with.

Anyway, I was surprised at the size of the shoes when I opened the box and I was a little worried we'd ordered too big. The advice from the Vivo team (and also printed on their website) is to go a size up because the shoes come in a little small.

Much to my relief, they actually fit perfectly and I now understand why they say go up a size. I don't think it's because the shoes come in small, but rather they're designed to give your feet room and, rather than hold them in and "support" (aka weaken) your feet like other modern shoes, these allow your feet and toes to spread. It also gives them room to grow as your feet get bigger by becoming stronger (or swell... as in from the heat of the Sahara desert).

I know all about the foot-expansion side effects of transitioning to barefoot running; having had to chuck out all my existing trainers and shoes earlier in the year after I discovered that my feet no longer fitted into them at all.

I swear barefooting should come with a wallet warning - it might be cheaper to wear no shoes, but be warned that you'll have to buy a whole new shoe wardrobe for those events when bare feet are not appropriate.

The Breatho Trails felt very smooth and comfortable to wear, not to mention light so I'm really looking forward to getting out for a run in them (but not before I've given my foot a couple more days rest)!

Taking them off to take a photo or two, I noticed that they're actually a single piece of material on the inside which will make keeping the sand out a little easier, though I think I'll still have to find or sew on some gaiters to keep as much out as possible. Advice from people doing the Marathon Des Sables was to avoid getting sand into shoes at all costs because it'll basically be like having sand paper for socks for 26 miles...

Nasty.

Yet another reason to donate a little something on my JustGiving page eh? ;-)

The grips on the bottom look awesome and the trademark hexagonal lugs look as though they were made especially to be little sand scoops to give me loads of grip in the loose sand and dirt of the desert.

Yes that is my cat trying to get into the box in the background.
She goes potty for cardboard boxes. Weirdo.

They'll also be fantastic on the mud and gravel on the Saxon Shore - an awesome trail run along the banks of the Thames estuary and down to Rochester.

Can't wait to go running!

Why am I running a marathon?

Why am I running a marathon?

Hi, I'm Ben and over the last 12 months I have run a couple of the, now extremely popular, mud runs in the UK. Both were 10-12 miles long with umpteen obstacles and both were excellent fun. Having done them lots of my friends were up for signing up for the next one but I somehow felt that I'd "done" them and didn't need to do them again. 

They weren't challenging enough...

Me in the middle of Tough Mudder

So talking with a friend of mine, John Morgan, who ran with me on one of the mud runs and was of the same opinion, we decided that perhaps something a little harder was in order.

We settled on a marathon, but we both agreed that we weren't particularly interested in doing a normal, run-of-the-mill marathon in the UK. We wanted this to be special and interesting, not that running any kind of marathon isn't interesting and special, we just wanted it to be especially challenging (and therefore rewarding).

John and I spent some time Googling and searching the internet and finally came across the Sahara Marathon. Being a bit of an organisation nut, I quickly tracked down the affiliated charity in the UK (Sandblast) and called them up to find out more.

From the initial conversation I was extremely excited. There seemed to me to be many many reasons to run choose this particular marathon:

• Sahara Desert - sand, huge open spaces and nice weather. Check.
• A marathon to run in a challenging environment and incredible scenery. Check
• An interesting and not often visited country to see (Algeria). Check
• A chance to raise a substantial amount of money and make a real difference to people who need it. Check.
• Living and surviving with refugees in their family homes (huts and tents) for a week. Check
• A holiday with a mate (not to be overlooked in its importance). Check

The more I read and watch about this marathon, the more excited I get about being there and enjoying it!

I'm really nervous about the running but I think overall I'm more nervous about staying in the refugee camp for a week. It's totally going to test my modern, western comfort levels. 

No showers! 

Bottled water only - which means I'm going to spend the whole week paranoid about getting the runs or worse.

Sharing endless cups of Sahrawi tea - is it safe or nice? What if it makes me sick!? Will they be offended?

Entertaining the kids - apparently we are recommended to bring lots of small gifts and bits to give to the families and the children which is going to be difficult with a very small luggage allowance and 250-300,000 people to share the stuff with... 

Worrying about security and our safety given that Morocco have a tendency of attacking the camps every now and then and that they've recently chucked the UN international observers out of the country.

I don't even know if there's going to be electricity to charge things like camera batteries and laptops.

It's going to be so awesome and I'm going to be so far outside my comfort zone! 

This is why I chose to run a  marathon in the Sahara.

Please think of the people who have to live in the refugee camp and if you can't think of them, please think of me and support me and them on my JustGiving page.

Thank You.