Preamble

After September 2023’s marathon attempt ending in a hugely slower than self-predicted time, I decided to recoup my losses and jump back onto the marathon wagon as quickly as possible in search of a new marathon PR. The slow race performance was due in part to a mini heatwave, but I couldn’t let all the training go to waste by waiting for my fitness to disappear and having to rebuild again. I decided to restart marathon training as soon as my body felt good, and to treat the failed PR attempt as a long run as part of a bigger, imaginary marathon training block.

Training

This culminated in a quick ramp up to 60 miles per week a mere two weeks after the last marathon which I held consistently between 60-70 miles per week until this race’s taper period. The initial composition of mileage consisted of easy pace runs with some prolonged harder sessions randomly thrown in. These harder sessions were measured in laps around Battersea Park (1.7mi) which I started running at more often.

After searching for an outlet for my desperation, I signed up for the 2024 Manchester Marathon which was then 7 months away. Since it was in early spring I was under impression it would be a fast one as optimal conditions were to be expected. I continued with my easy mileage and hard Battersea Park laps until 18 weeks before the race, when I decided on using a modified version of the Pfitzinger 18/70 plan (18 weeks with a peak of 70 miles) to train. It differed from the original plan by adding a recovery run on the Mondays (Pfitzinger plans always leave these days free) in order to bring up the weekly mileage and act as a buffer if I wanted to shave a few miles off some of the normal runs if I was feeling particularly fatigued.

This plan is a massive step up from one ones I followed previously. The peak mileage is very close to the average weekly mileage it prescribes, which means I was bashing out 70 mile weeks regularly. Like other Pfitzinger plans, there was a brutal mid-week medium-long run which I found very hard to be motivated for after a day of work. Most of my weekday runs commenced past 9pm where I really just wanted to go to bed. Battersea Park at this time is usually pretty quiet and feels safe, although it’s probably best not to take it for granted. Over the weekends I was able to get some time during daylight hours which helped massively for the long runs and any speed work.

During the first few weeks of the plan, I was throwing marathon pace work into every mid-long and long run. I felt the physical and psychological benefits very quickly from doing this, although it was very stupid as the right side of my hip started to give me nagging aches, and dipping into occasional pain after prolonged efforts. Running at slower paces seemed to avoid aggravating it, however I was unable to be as liberal with these marathon pace efforts later on in the plan.

My performance during this training plan felt like massive progress. I was casually making new half marathon PRs in the comfort of Battersea Park, and on some days, 4:00 min/km felt almost like an easy run. The longer marathon pace efforts allowed me to experiment with energy gels, in which I settled on Torq gels, a change from Gu and SiS, which I found easier to tear the packaging and was easier to stomach.

Milestones

There were two key moments during training where I felt like I had made considerable progress. The first moment came in the form of a 5K PB (18:06) during a self-imposed TT around Battersea Park. I never would have thought I could have achieved this speed and made me question if I was capable of a sub-18 minute 5k in the near future.

The second highlight of my training came roughly a month before the race in the form of a half marathon PR (1:25) on a marathon pace training run. Sub 3 at this stage looked like a breeze and I had secretly set my sights on an even more ambitious 2:50 marathon, seeing how easy the 1:25 PR was to perform. Very naïve!

After that, when the plan switched to VO₂ max sessions my legs suddenly started to suffer. Whenever I would do prolonged runs faster than 3:50 min/kms, my left ankle would ache for days, and this didn’t let up until the tapering weeks. In order to not injure myself any further, I started to dial down the pace on everything and even swapped a VO₂ max workout for a simple recovery run of the same mileage. I swapped back to back days of harder workouts with recovery runs, and was just trying to limit fatigue up until tapering. Bit of a disaster, and probably lost some fitness during this phase.

Change of plans!

About a month before the Manchester Marathon, I realized I had to book a hotel room close to the start. I quickly saw that prices of rooms to stay in Manchester were massively inflated, and I couldn’t justify it, considering it cost the same as a flight abroad! I had to find something else.

Luckily we had planned for a short break in Italy the week before Manchester, and as luck had it, the Milano Marathon was being held there at the same time! Even with the entrance fees and health certificate costs, this worked out cheaper than travel to Manchester and a room, and I was able to be driven into the city on the day by my amazing father in law!

Milano Marathon 2024

The morning of the race went smoothly. I woke up super fresh (maybe 6 hours sleep). My amazing mother in law prepared me a coffee and a crostata ai frutti di bosco for breakfast. My father in law ushered me into his car and we tore down the autostrada into central Milano, and he managed to get me as far as Porto Venezia, where I could easily walk to the bag drop. Couldn’t have been smoother. I had packed in my running belt: my wallet, fully charged mobile phone and 6 Torq energy gels (2 flavours).

The start of the Milano Marathon was in front of the Duomo, a beautiful marble cathedral. I’d visited this place as a tourist loads of times before where it was busy, but at this time it was only full of runners. Getting into the correct corral was tricky, and myself and a few angry sounding Italian guys ended up having to jump a barrier in order to get to the proper starting position.

The build up to the start of this race was very different for me. This was clearly another calibre of race to what I’m used to, with probably the most participants. The countdown to the start was really special, and I had it in my mind that I needed to break 3 hours on the day. It was a sublime feeling: knowing my training had got me here and I was ready to take the challenge on, and that I was fully prepared for the job.

The pacers for the Milano Marathon were set to deliver runners to the finish line based on the gun time. This time they were in the corral in front of mine, which would require me to play catch up with them. My plan was to take it easy and latch on to the 3 hour pacers.

The starting gun was fired, the elites flew out, then shortly followed by the runners in the corrals in front of mine, including the 3 hour pacers. The signal went for my corral to start, and away we went. I had a lot of energy in my legs at the start, probably due to the hype of the race and the spectators and scenery. We flew past the Duomo and quickly turned right, down into the cobbled streets of old Milano. Here was very bottlenecked as there were many runners, some clumped together in huge groups, but I managed to find easy lines by using the pavement. I couldn’t see the 3 hour pacers anywhere, even on the horizon. These early miles were nice - running close to each other as a pack, runners in front signalling to those behind that there were obstacles such as potholes in the road surface by pointing down, etc.

Mile 5

I decided to take a gel at mile 5 (earlier than I would have in training) as a precaution, and continued scanning the horizon for the 3 hour pacers (still no sign of them) while weaving between other runners. The field was clearing out a bit now and people had settled into their own groups of similarly paced runners. I wasn’t part of any pack from here on, maybe running with the occasional runner who I matched pace with briefly, then passed gradually.

Mile 10

At mile 10 I decided to take another gel. Still no sign of the 3 hour pacers. I had passed the 3:15 (or was it 3:10?) group a while back at this point, optimistically thinking it could have been the 3 hour lot. Legs were still feeling good, although I knew the energy wouldn’t last. I’d taken a small sip of water at each aid station so far (at every 5k), which were nicely provided in proper squirt bottles as opposed to the paper cups I was used to. I was trying not to repeat the mistake I made in Richmond last year by overhydrating without any salt intake. The scenery was a bit of a blur - I ran through nice looking streets and a slightly downhill section inside a park at some point, but I was too focussed on running my pace and dodging potholes and kerbs.

I am guessing at approximately mile 13-15 I had finally caught up to the 3 hour pacers. I had ran at an average 4:10 min/km pace up until this point. There was a tight group floundering around them and I kept up with them for what seemed like only 1/2 a mile. By this point, the heat of the day had hit roughly 23C (A lot higher than what I was training in) and my legs were starting to feel the familiar tell-tale signs of fatigue. Knowing that I had made good time by catching up with the 3 hour pacers who started before me, I unreluctantly decided to cruise a bit slower for a bit and let them drift ahead and try to play it extremely safe.

There were patches of the route which overpowered me, namely the long, exposed stretches on the autostrada which made escape from the late morning heat impossible. This was when I started to have doubts about my sub-3 attempt. I had another gel at mile 15 and hoped it would inject some life into my legs.

Mile 16

From mile 16 onwards it was hell. I was hoping the burn and full on fatigue would kick in at around mile 20, but they had already began. I hung with a few consistent runners who either vanished in front of me later on, or behind me gradually. I had another gel at mile 20 and started to wonder if I’d had too much. I was now holding on to the water bottles they were giving out at aid stations as the heat was sapping my energy. Occasionally dousing my head with water and sipping, trying to keep hydrated but not overdoing it.

My memory is fuzzy from this point onwards but I remember running through a small park with a small pond feeling absolutely shattered by the heat, then onto a small park with an artificial hill feeling even worse, then leading into a small footbridge over an autostrada. At this point my pace probably dipped to 4:20 min/km and I was convinced I had lost my chance at sub-3 glory. Time was passing a lot slower now.

Mile 24

Optimism came at mile 24, when, still feeling like I was about to collapse and give up, I did some basic arithmetic in my head and realized that I had a pretty decent chance of running a sub 3 if I kept my current pace. My feet were hurting a lot at this point due to friction in my socks caused by sweat, and my right hip was aching, but at this point I was ignoring these problems.

Final Miles

At mile 25 I was physically grunting and telling myself to "come on" and all that. I noticed that my watch was reading a slightly longer distance when I passed the mile marker which meant that the marathon would end at approximately 26.5 miles for me, but I was hoping to get a glimpse of the finish line at 26.2 miles at least. Nope. At 26.2 miles (on my watch) there was a small inflatable arch I had mistaken for the finish line, but the real finish line was around the next corner which opened up to the Piazza del Duomo. I could now see the finish line arch. My watch was reading a high 2:58 time on the final straight, so I summoned up some power I didn’t know I had, overtook a few people in the final hundred meters and crossed the line as a complete wreckage!

After I crossed the line, I just wanted to sleep and lay down. A race official came up to me to ask if I was OK which I said yes to, although I had never felt so tired after a race. There were a few runners to the sides of me on the floor trying to recoup.

I looked at my watch and instantly knew that I had achieved my goal within a very small margin. 2:59:15!

Conclusions

• The running streak I performed from September 2023 up until April 2024 was a useful and fulfilling experiment in getting used to consistently high mileage (for me, anyway) weeks. While I felt really fit in the initial weeks, it was very difficult to maintain my body weight at this mileage, so I was constantly battling fatigue despite eating 4-5 meals per day.
• Running the initial medium-long and long runs with large portions of marathon pace had destroyed my training prospects early in the game. While I was able to hang on and complete the training plan without any lasting injury, the majority of the training focussed on damage limitation rather than improving speed and stamina. Psychologically I found the mileage to be too high considering my commitments outside running, and it probably took me to the limit of what I would classify as ’enjoyable’.
• The lack of strength and conditioning probably didn’t help matters. I should have addressed my right side hip instability with a workout routine earlier instead of hoping it would just disappear.
• The left side shin splints during the VO₂ max phase later in the plan left me feeling borderline long-term injured. I knew the pain would clear up after a few days of rest, but it felt like Russian Roulette during these weeks. I still don’t know the secret to running hard miles without incurring this pain in the succeeding days.
• The taper was massively reduced in both volume and intensity. It’s hard to say what impact this had on fitness, but I think I did the right thing in choosing to run most of these miles at recovery pace as my hip and shin issues had disappeared by the time I got to the start line.
• I believe I hit "peak fitness" by week 12 of the plan, after which my training then suffered due to fatigue and aches and pains, which makes me wonder if pursuing a 12 week plan of higher milage would be a better option moving forward. At least the mental burden of cancelling due to injury is slightly less intense than calling it off after pouring 18 weeks into training.