London here we come!! We’ll you…. but I’m sure I will be there on the day to support any Team Orange taking part. It’s a very exciting goal to have.

I’m really happy with how that first training plan went. I feel like you are really enjoyed the variety of sessions and definitely made some improvement across the plan.

Apart from the fall, which is just one of those things and can’t really be helped I don’t believe there are any real injuries or niggles to concern us.

So it’s a case of keep doing what we are doing but at a slightly more advanced level to ensure we build your endurance and have you ready for London Marathon.

My pace sheet is telling me you’re on track for a 4 hour marathon and I think we can train for that, without necessarily making it a goal. The last thing you need is pressure to achieve a certain time which might add more nerves. But I think it’s good to have that as a training target, which will help set the pace in the key marathon sessions.

We’ve got roughly 20 weeks which is great as it means we can build up the fitness very slowly without having big increases in the weekly volume or load.

As I say the plan is very similar to before. The training pts have increased from 100 – 115, which is about right for stepping up to a marathon. The average runs per week is only 3.43, so that should be manageable.

There will be weekly effort sessions. It really doesn’t matter when you do these. It can be the track sessions on a Monday or Tuesday, or you can join the team later in the evening. Or even doing them solo is fine as well.

There will always be a nice easy run in the plan and the key session will be the Sunday long run. Which again you could do on a Friday or Saturday if you prefer. If your availability is good, I would advise keeping an eye on the weather and picking the best of those 3 days to do your long run. That’s what I have done in the past. You don’t want to be running 16+ miles when it’s pouring with rain and gale force winds.

Some weeks there will be a 4th easy run and I’ve put some quick parkruns in the plan, just to keep you race sharp. If you wanted to add any more races or parkruns we can always squeeze more in.

The S&C will continue as before. If you find it becomes a bit stale I can always create a session that is bespoke for you and will add more variety and challenge you. But I think for now, keep doing what is working.

That’s it really. I love this plan. It reminds me of what Paul Lambert did to knock 20 minutes off his marathon PB at Chester. So if you keep turning up and ticking off the sessions I’m confident London will go well.

Oh and finally, keep taking those gels. One every 30-40 mins on the long run should be plenty for now. You got this!