The 111 day struggle

On 13th April 2014 I crossed the finish line on the Mall marking one of my biggest athletic achievements: I had conquered London Marathon, elated after 154 minutes and 47 seconds of self inflicted torture.

I knew it would take some time to recovery and to be able to do another decent race, but the journey that followed was far more difficult than I imagined.

20 days later, after much rest and easy running, I ran a 5000m for the BRAT club. The result shocked me: 16:25 with absolutely nothing to give. Meanwhile my training partner Dan who had finished a mere 16 seconds ahead of me in London clocked a PB of 15:30 on that same day, almost lapping me. I was distraught. I was rubbish. But little did I know that things were actually going to get worse!

On 27 days I ran a track 10k, and albeit in torrential wind and rain could only clock 34:26. Logic says that an easy to write off, but Mark was the better part of a minute ahead, which was enough to play on my mind. On Day 41 I backed this up with an 18:04 parkrun, but on a new, tougher course in Worcester it was difficult to judge. Had I comeback too soon? Had I rushed it? I desperately want to pick up where I left off last summer, where PBs had been free flowing. I was impatient.

Come Day 63, a month later, when I was confident I was now surely returning to some fitness with training going well, I entered a fast 10k. But I followed up a 16:37 opening half with an embarrassing 18:10. That was slower than most of my 5k splits in the capital. In hindsight it was a hot day and I realised later I was still carrying a bug. But it didn't matter. I now questioned everything I was doing, which was another mistake.

I didn't race or a while. Just trained. Day 83 presented an 800 / 5000m double at another BRAT fixture. Nothing spectacular: I got the required result but the 5k was only 16:21. A paltry four second seasons best.

Then it just clicked, out of nowhere. 97 days after London I did Worcester parkrun, my second attempt. On a morning where I nearly didn't bother due to torrential rain, I don't know whether it was finishing first, or whipping 40 seconds from my time 9 weeks prior, but something had now changed. On Day 102 I entered Worcester AC Open and paced by Dan I won the 3000m in a semi-respectable 9:20. My confidence was restored.

111 days after London I finally made the breakthrough. At BRATs final track and field fixture I broke my 3000m PB which had stood since 2012. The time of 9:11 was hardly earth shattering, but it was something that id been unable to do in 5 attempts the previous year, even at a time when I was breaking almost every other PB out there. I was back.

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I learnt a lot from this period. And I know there are other runners out there who've also struggled, especially post-marathon. It's important to remember that everyone seems to recover differently....While Dan and Mark who both PBed at London were breaking their own records within weeks, it took me almost four months. What did I learn from all of this?

- Be patient. Everyone recovers differently. If rested and healthy there's no reason why it won't come good again.

- Whatever you do, don't put pressure on yourself to be ready for a particular event or that you need a good performance now. Just play it by ear, and race when you feel ready.

- Don't rush increasing the mileage or intensity. Luckily I didn't do this one (I still wasn't doing more than 50 mpw 2 months later) but then also remember than if you're doing less miles than when you were going well, it's going to be difficult to reach those dizzy heights just yet.

- If possible, don't change multiple things in your life at once; I moved cities; moved in with my girlfriend; I had a longer commute to work and wasn't sleeping as much; our interval sessions moved to grass; I had a marathon in me....I just couldn't judge how anything was going. There were no 'control' elements.

- Be confident in your ability and training.

- Don't be afraid of what will go on powerof10. Nobody cares that much, it just adds pressure.

- Don't be afraid of trying another distance...something you won't be hard on yourself about and doesn't matter, but that you might draw confidence from. (My 800m at rugby lifted by spirits a lot because I realised that I wasn't too far off even if it hadn't come together yet.)

Warm Weather.....Training

5000m goal : 15:50

5k PB : 16:21

5k SB (post-Sept 2011) : 16:21

I’ve never been on a warm weather training holiday before.  To clarify for the uninitiated, this involves going away with friends to a supposedly warm place, to train hard and effectively in a different environment without the pressures of work and everyday life.  For myself and eight friends over the last two weeks, this was largely the plan, however it didn’t quite unfold like this.

Villamoura instead was the venue for 10 days of celebrity spotting, in which Alex Tovey, who sports a gentleman’s 1500m of 3:46 which he dubiously claims not to have run in Nike Structure Triax footwear, consistently embarrassed us with his audible outcries of recognition. 

Tovey, who is also rumoured to have met Nick Goolab in the flesh, limited the number of miles which were ran in over 7 minutes to a cruel 1.23, with word around the pool stating that this was to test his vast array of running vests at speed to see which would be the most colourful when he lines up at the UK trials this June.

Tovey, Alex can be seen on the BBC, June 24^th-26^th 2012.

Unfortunately his training shadow Millborg, earlier disqualified from the alcopop strawpedo competition, crumbled under the pressure of recently being voted my 2^nd ever favourite athlete, with a late night drunken long jump into the villa pool resulting in a season-ending scrapped knee, which did nothing to help his hangover the next day.  Even Miss Squires herself broke down on the track a few days later in a lactate-enhanced emotional display as she realised the consequences of this drunken night, in which R. Kelly’s ‘Bump and Grind’ was accidently requested seconds before the karaoke bar filled with Liz McColgan’s training group, average age 12.

Millett, back left, scrambling out of the pool in after a 
season-ending rush of blood to the head.

Some of R. Kelly’s finest lyrics were performed to an
inappropriate audience.

Chief Personal Motivator and Head Movement Coach Howard, administering a balanced training programme between mileage and factor 4 tanning oil was my co-conspirator in the tempo run of the year (through a sample of two), draconically efficient in marshalling the range between the fastest and slowest miles to one second.  Its success was such that not only did Eilish McColgan take to the trails to try and join in, but one lucky individual even made off with Nando’s t-shirt as a souvenir, teaching him a valuable lesson in ‘couples karma’.  Withnesses gave a description matching one Dave Howlett, who had previously almost single-handedly dragged up the villa’s daily per-person mileage average to double figures without any fuss.

Amongst the sun bathing, post run dips in the pool and over indulgence in snacks resembling dog biscuits, it is hoped that this athlete (me, that is) managed to bagsy enough training effect to improve on the 3minutes and 1 second which I am adrift from the required Olympic A-Standard ahead of this summers global showdown.  With Chris Thornburg already securing fabricated tickets just to see me, it my sole hope that I wont let him down.

Official UKA sources believe that all athletes on the trip managed to perform at least some token training, including our P.E coordinator, Leigh-Ann, whose new found proficiency in middle distance terminology is reportedly the reason behind a secret recruitment by Alberto Salazar to help Farah get back to winning ways.

A WAG, Emily Armstrong also attended the trip.

Emily, pictured front right, actually cooks a spiffing lasagne, 

and was recruited by this restaurant shortly after.