pickupthepacepaul

I started the “How to run a Marathon Faster Series” for two reasons. The first being that I have decided to improve my marathon time again. I was once in sub 3 shape, but never delivered, so I want to rectify this. I was thinking back about what I used to do and how I would improve my speed, and thought rather than me sharing my advice I would seek that from others with varying experience. This brings me to my second reason. I wanted to share other peoples advice to help everyone improve their marathon times.

In this blog update I want to give a bit of a personal update, and highlight all the fantastic contributions we have had so far (there are more to come).

So first of all for my update. Well, it’s been a mixed start. I haven’t been as dedicated as I would like, but I am definitely making progress. I have had a cabin built in my garden and built a home gym, well it’s getting there and needs more work, but it’s a start. The key component is a treadmill from Nobel Pro. When I was at my fastest I used to train on the treadmill all the time. I always like to complete my short sessions at high intensity and I struggle to do this in the streets. There are two ways to tackle this, on a track or treadmill. I’ve been hitting the treadmill hard, and it’s great to push my upper threshold, but I’ve only just started.

The other way I’m building my speed is by attending more parkruns. I haven’t seen a massive improvement on time yet, but its feeling more comfortable, and I’m pushing myself more regularly. It is this mindset I need to break, to be confident and push hard.

I am entering a few races for myself. I found when I took part in the Winter 10k (blog HERE) with a last minute entry, I was able to sustain my parkrun pace for the whole 10k. I’m struggling to get much faster, but it’s good to see my endurance is serving me well. I have my first half marathon in Benidorm for about 3 years. First I’ve not paced. I am going to aim for sub 1:30 just to see how it feels, bearing in mind sub 1:40 is comfortable when pacing.

It is now getting into pacing season so I will once again up the number of races I do, which will act as my long runs. In previous years this has pretty much been all the running I’ve done. I’m hoping the combination of this and some speed work midweek will see results.

I’m not where I need to be for a sub 3 attempt, there is a long way to go, but I’m getting there.

For my series I’ve had some fantastic contributions, please follow the links to see advice from:

Jordan Foster – HERE

Jordan AKA @projectmarathongirl has had her eyes on sub 3, and smashed it. She has gone from strength to strength and shares here advice.

Danny O’Reilly – HERE

Danny shows that hard work does pay off with his 2:47 marathon PB, and there is certainly more to come.

James Dunne – HERE

James AKA @kineticrev discusses the importance of strength and conditioning when improving your marathon times.

Holly Rush – HERE

Holly has represented Great Britain over the marathon distance and shares her tips for improving your marathon speed.

Adam Holland- HERE

If you want to talk fast, then look no further than Adam. With a marathon PB of 2:24 and an impressive average of 2:45 as part of 10 marathons in 10 days, he knows a thing or two about running fast.

The Running Guru – HERE

From obese to Boston Qualifier, Donato shares his story with his first hand experience of how he was able to #pickupthepace over the marathon distance.

Steve Edward’s – HERE

Steve is an absolute inspiration who, with 854 marathons holds many world records for running fast marathons time and time again. He is aiming for 1000 marathons under 3:30.

There are more great interviews to come so watch this space. In the meantime I hope these contributions will help you on your journey to #pickupthepace as they have me.